Unitilite network issues

This really seems like a network issue and not a Unitilite issue.  That's a seat-of-the-pants assessment!

Are you using it wired or wireless? I tried my SuperUniti wireless on iRadio and it kept disconnecting, but now it's wired it is really reliable and sounds great.

if its a network issue then its somehow managed to only manifest itself on the unitilite, and bearing in mind it did it on bith of the units ive had it seems a little more than that. my Mac, xbox, ps3, ipad etc never have any issues as the router sits within 4 meters of them. (before anyone says it there are never any more than 3-4 devices on the home network connected at the same time.)

Unfortunately I can only get it wireless :-(

Have you had a look at your wireless network with a tool such as inSSIDer ?

I'm sticking with "it's your network," as it happened with both Unitilites (compounded by the fact that you're using wireless, which would never be guaranteed to work for streaming). 

Which router are you using? 

I do not think it is a wireless issue. unitilite is connected to the network for sure according to the OP, but the issue is why it keeps constantly asking for password?

I would buy a cat6 lead of the required length and see if it them works. My SuperUniti is only 4m from my Draytek router, and I had problems with getting consistent iRadio, as well as needing to re-enter the network key. With a wired connection, everything just works. As the Lite and the Super are very similar, it is most likely to be the network.

Hmm, it does sound LAN/wifi related. Beg borrow or steal an Apple AirportExpress and set it up in bridge mode with its own wireless network (SSID). Plug this into your router switch port and connect the Naim wirelessly to the airport express... Now does all work reliably especially with disconnects and reentering  security keys?if not I suggest strongly it's your Naim at fault. 

If all is ok but your Unitlite keeps dropping the NAS, try a seperate switch that connect to your router, NAS and wireless Airport Express.. That should definitely work.

(some domestic Internet routers with switch ports and wifi don't handle parts of the upnp protocol correctly - specifically multicast packets - and this can stop things working, and make devices disappear. As muticast will start to be used more and more for true IPTV and IPRadio it's best to find this out sooner rather later)

Simon

I absolutely agree with Simon that if you must use wifi, try Apple hardware just as he said.  I've found it to be very stable at home and to give far better performance than the wifi built into the router my ISP provides.  You do not even need the very latest version that was released last week -- the prior model would do just fine (should be able to buy it refurbished or used if you desire).

thanks for replies all, will see what i can sort.

kind regards

I am a new owner of a UnitiLite (about three weeks), and I have to say I am experiencing the exact same issues as the OP. In all other regards, I am very pleased with my purchase, but the WiFi implementation just seems flakey.

My UnitiLite is situated about 15ft from my WiFi router, separated by one stud partition. Measured with inSSIDer at the point of the Uniti's antenna, the WiFI signal strength varies between -48 and -50 dBm, with a margin of around 20 dBm above the nearest other co-channel network, and no overlapping networks. From the research I have done, this seems to be a perfectly respectable WiFi signal. Via it's web interface, the Uniti reports the WiFi connection to be "Marginal", on what appears to be a scale of "Poor/Marginal/Good"..

Apart from the Uniti, all of the other WiFi connected devices in my apartment have absolutely no problem maintaining a rock-solid connection to the network, however the Uniti struggles with intermittent disconnects during playback, and inevitably whenever I first try to stream some music, the Uniti has lost the connection since the last use and requires me to press buttons in order to re-enable it. Usually, this amounts to pressing the List button in order to restart the network connection, but on occasions the Uniti seems to get very confused and I've had to completely reboot the unit in some cases multiple times.

Given the fact that I only experience these problems with the Uniti, it seems clear to me that this is a Uniti issue, and not a network issue. What I don't know is whether it is specific to my box, or a more general design/engineering issue. However the similar experience of others on thus forum would suggest the latter. Given Naim's obvious close attention to engineering detail in all other aspects of the Uniti's design, it seems strange to me that the WiFI implementation is so flakey, but perhaps there are design compromises which had to be made in the WiFi implementation in order not to impact sound quality.

What is particularly annoying, for a device that is intended to be left powered up at all times, is the requirement for me to manually intervene via the front panel or remote in order to reconnect after a network disconnection. If the Uniti were able to silently reconnect, at least for example when the connection drops overnight when I am not using the unit, I would be much less concerned about the issue.

And before anyone tells me to hard wire a connection or use a WiFi bridge - yes, I know those are options that likely would solve my problem, but a hard cable connection requires drilling holes in walls which I am disinclined to do, and a bridge is an extra device that will consume power and clutter up my listening room. It seems to me that if Naim are selling products that claim to support WiFi, then they should at least do this to the same level of performance as other much cheaper consumer items and should not require me to employ other devices to order to use their product.

I am hoping that this is a software issue that can be fixed with future firmware releases, as it is the one disappointment I am experiencing with my first Naim purchase

Appreciate others' thoughts...

Just a thought... But this used to be a popular exam question associated with wifi network engineering (might still be?)...  Where is your access point? Is it's antenna clear of mains wiring and any  nest of Ethernet leads? Is it clear from metal filing cabinets etc... try and ensure your access point is 5 to 6 foot in the air and in the clear.

What you might be seeing is a the receive signal strength at your Naim is fine, but the quality of your Naim signal back at the access point could be poor due to radio interference (EMI/RFI) near to the access point. SMPS and poor or bundled Ethernet leads can create quite a lot of local electrical noise. Nearby metal surfaces can cause bad multipath distortion and reflection issues Remember wifi is two way and each path will have different characteristics due to the immediate environment..

The other consifderation is to determine what else is on your wireless LAN. Only one device can use the SSID at a time, and they have to contest to use.. A bit like early hubbed or ring Ethernet. Therefore if devices are using the wireless LAN the Unitilite is going to have to wait.. And possibly wait and wait... You might notice this with stuttering audio. The solution I use is to set up a seperate SSID just for audio. I keep all other web, printer, NAS, family LAN, office LAN traffic well away on a seperate SSID.

Simon

Interesting argument but not entirely true! A router can serve multiple devices simultaneously, it has enough bandwidth, especially for music streams.

I bought a UnitiLite about a week ago and have had the same problems ... it was connecting ok over both WiFi and through a mains/network connection but would hang about once an hour and my iPad would also keep disconnecting.  The solution I've used is to run a mains/network connection to the Uniti and then connect up a switch. Then connect the NAS drive and Uniti into the switch so that there is  a direct wired connection between the NAS and Uniti.

The second issue was that the NAS I was using goes into hibernate if left standing for over an hour and in this case n-Stream won't see the NAS drive (although the Uniti can).  The solution to this is to bookmark the NAS in the ipad browser.  Connecting via the browser wakes up the NAS and you can then connect to it from n-Stream.

Hope this is of some help.