About 3 years ago I began to implement a new all digital hi-fi based on local and remote streaming. With 3 branches of major electronics retailers in my vicinity I was able to try a variety of different set-ups to get a data stream from my incoming cable modem to my system, which is on a different floor and across a hallway and staircase. I tried several different strategies including:
Direct ethernet cable using consumer grade Cat5 cable
Synergistic Research Cat6 active ethernet cable
Internet over power lines (temporarily installed by the ISP)
Mesh networking (Netgear Orbi, Google mesh)
Wi-fi network extenders
Wi-fi - Ethernet bridge
2.4GHz vs. 5GHz wi-fi bands
ISP Modem/router vs dedicated router
In a non-etherwired house, the first thing i realised was that the audio wi-fi solution has to co-exist alongside regular wi-fi requirements, which divide into 4 areas:
Audio streaming
Video streaming
Fixed installation wi-fi devices
Mobile wi-fi devices
Considerations:
Some wi-fi clients only support the 2.4GHz band
Some devices are located behind walls which effectively attenuate 5GHz signal
Mobile devices need a stable connection
Audio and Video need high data speeds to avoid interruptions
It is important that hi-fi devices see as little internet traffic as possible
I required stable connections for all devices, no buffering interrupts on audio or video, no interrupts when moving mobile devices, best sound quality
Security is critical
Reliability is critical ….no drop-outs, ISP support remains viable
Minimal latency and high data rates so user interfaces are almost as fast as local GUIs
Feedback:
Of all the different connection strategies I evaluated, the best sound quality I could achieve was by using a Wi-fi to ethernet bridge, with an ethernet cable from the bridge to a switch and from switch to server.
Having established that this link provided best SQ I set about further refining the link. I found that the whole data stream was affected by:
Vibration isolation
Quality of ethernet cable
Ethernet cable screening
Power supply quality
DC cable quality and screening
Network traffic volume
EMI/RFI
My ISP (Virgin) insist that the connection to their network is done using their Superhub 3, but with a PUMA 6 chipset, this is anything but state of the art, so I switched the unit to Modem mode and added a separate router. Again given the above requirements, I found that the best results were achieved with a Broadcom based TPLink Archer AC5400 Tri-band router, which allowed me to dedicate a 5GHz band exclusively to Audio. Using a TPLink RE650 at the receiving end I was able to switch off the 2.4GHz band completely as well as set up the link with audio as the only client, with polling switched off. All network devices are fed by fully optimized Linear Power Supplies and both network modules and power supplies are placed on anti-vibration platforms or racks. The standard RE650 has a its own built-in SMPS and integrated wall plug, both of which were removed and replaced by an anti-vibration wall mounting (to maintain ideal antennae orientation) and an optimized LPS with screened DC cable.
All DC cables use JSSG360 screening and all network cable screens are star earthed to a low impedance ground. There is no continuity between screens and components to exclude a pathway for radiated interference to reach components and their signal grounds.
My server SW (InnuOS 2.5) operates on a ’push’ basis, so with the server as the only client, the Hi-fi only sees music related traffic and with a transmission speed of >500Mbps network activity is fleeting and for the vast majority of the time the hi-fi network is quiescent and all user interface activity executes with no noticeable delays.
Now that everything is completely run in I’m delighted with the SQ. I’ll probably try optical once FTTP is available