[poseidonsvoice]

Hi fellas,

My digital setup is as follows:

SonicTransporter I5 (Roon) -> TP Link WIFI Router -> Internet
                                                            |
                                                            |
                                                             ----> microRendu -> Curious USB -> Auralic Vega (Auto Mode).

Both the I5 and microRendu are powered by the Uptone Audio JS-2. Connections are all ethernet cables except where specified. The SonicTransporter I5 has my entire music collection on an internal SSD.

I was experiencing dropout issues frequently with 16bit/44khz files, and much less frequently with higher frequency/sampling rates or even DSD. It was getting to be very annoying. I knew it had nothing to with my SonicTransporter I5, microRendu or Auralic Vega. Reading the below link and several threads on the Roon forum revealed that the WIFI Router/networking can be a real culprit. So I changed my setup to this:


SonicTransporter I5 (Roon) -> TP Link GigaBit switch -> TP Link WIFI Router -> Internet
                                                            |
                                                            |
                                                             ----> microRendu -> Curious USB -> Auralic Vega (Auto Mode)

The result? All dropouts are null and void.

https://kb.roonlabs.com/Troubleshooting_Audio_Dropouts 

Best,
Anand.

[jtwrace]

That doesn't make much sense to me.  Isn't the router just as fast as the switch if the µRendu  was plugged directly into the router? 

[poseidonsvoice]

That doesn't make much sense to me.  Isn't the router just as fast as the switch if the µRendu  was plugged directly into the router?

Theoretically yes. But nothing replaces testing in the field. Apparently some routers do not have this issue and others do. The Roon forum is filled with these admittedly anecdotal reports, and the link above mentions it as a possible bottleneck as well. Hopefully it will be tweaked in the Roon software interface in the future. When I checked my Roon log, it was filled with dropout issues with the previous setup, so my ears weren't lying! My latest log is perfect with the new setup.

As an aside, I tried the Eero and it works well, but my end point for my remote control is incompatible with routers that only have an 802.11ac wireless interface. The TP Link WIFI Router I have has both 802.11ac and 802.11b wireless interfaces, so I can't change it to an Eero.

Best,
Anand.

[jtwrace]

Theoretically yes. But nothing replaces testing in the field. Apparently some routers do not have this issue and others do. The Roon forum is filled with these admittedly anecdotal reports, and the link above mentions it as a possible bottleneck as well. Hopefully it will be tweaked in the Roon software interface in the future. When I checked my Roon log, it was filled with dropout issues with the previous setup, so my ears weren't lying! My latest log is perfect with the new setup.

As an aside, I tried the Eero and it works well, but my end point for my remote control is incompatible with routers that only have an 802.11ac wireless interface. The TP Link WIFI Router I have has both 802.11ac and 802.11b wireless interfaces, so I can't change it to an Eero.

Best,
Anand.

The Eero does all.  https://eero.com/technology   

[poseidonsvoice]

The Eero does all.  https://eero.com/technology   

Okay 

I'll try again!

Thanks for that!

The Eero works great in the rest of the house, so it would be a shame that it works everywhere, except the audio room!

Anand.

[jtwrace]

Okay 

I'll try again!

Thanks for that!

The Eero works great in the rest of the house, so it would be a shame that it works everywhere, except the audio room!

Anand.

There is no reason that it shouldn't or couldn't work.  Having multiple Eero's is ideal.  With the latest update my network is even more stellar then before.  I'm really looking forward to the updated app too. 

[poseidonsvoice]

There is no reason that it shouldn't or couldn't work.  Having multiple Eero's is ideal.  With the latest update my network is even more stellar then before.  I'm really looking forward to the updated app too.

So an update...unfortunately the Eero doesn't work with the Global Cache WF2IR and after discussing it with the Eero support desk it is as I had surmised before. The Eero router will always simultaneously emit 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac both 2.4GHZ and 5 GHZ and so with some devices that only transmit via 802.11b which is 2.4GHZ there is an incompatibility (A head scratcher I know!). With my TP Link WIFI router, I'm able to turn off the 5GHZ (802.11 a/n/ac band), so it only emits the 2.4GHZ (802.11b/g band). You cannot turn on and off the different radios on the Eero unfortunately.

I've sent a request with Global Cache to update their WF2IR to accept the other more modern 802.11 bands like ac and n.

I also updated my Eero and unfortunately the speed remains about the same. My bottleneck is the ISP as they can only provide certain max speeds living in the boonies.

Best,
Anand.

[jtwrace]

So an update...unfortunately the Eero doesn't work with the Global Cache WF2IR and after discussing it with the Eero support desk it is as I had surmised before. The Eero router will always simultaneously emit 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac both 2.4GHZ and 5 GHZ and so with some devices that only transmit via 802.11b which is 2.4GHZ there is an incompatibility (A head scratcher I know!). With my TP Link WIFI router, I'm able to turn off the 5GHZ (802.11 a/n/ac band), so it only emits the 2.4GHZ (802.11b/g band). You cannot turn on and off the different radios on the Eero unfortunately.

I've sent a request with Global Cache to update their WF2IR to accept the other more modern 802.11 bands like ac and n.

I also updated my Eero and unfortunately the speed remains about the same. My bottleneck is the ISP as they can only provide certain max speeds living in the boonies.

Best,
Anand.

That's a very different issue that you mentioned before.  The Eero cleary does do that but this device is somewhat dated it seems.  What you could do is use that router only on the Eero network just for that one device.  That will should work.


Yes, the ISP speed controls your incoming speed.  However, what you're looking for is the internal network speed which is stellar at my place.  All wireless with µRendu plugged into an Eero and plays DSD256 without issue. 

[jtwrace]

I have submitted a feature request to be able to select which network you want.  Feel free to add your request here. 

[enser]

Its probably multicast that is the crux. A simple switch, unmanaged, will handle this type of traffic much better unless you can tune your router's multicast options...

[Tubeburner]

I had the same drops when more than 4 computers were on my network. A simple Asus switch fixed the issue and I have never had another issue. I like the priority port for my audio. I replaced all ethernet cables since my cables were old.

[enser]

Yes, the separate switch segmentation helped tremendously. As of today I've received a pair of ethernet to fiber converters to isolate the audio as much as possible from my LAN even further. I have too, have had intermittent issues with streaming and hopefully this irons out the final ones that an isolated switch couldn't.