UQ2 wi-fi signal quality/strength

Posted by: sjbabbey on 25 March 2014

My main streaming system is wired but I have a UQ2 installed in my bedroom for headphone listening. I've fitted a high gain wireless antenna but the UQ2 still won't play 24/192 files without the buffer running down and dropping audio. 24/96 and CD quality files play wirelessly without a problem. Checking the factory settings/system status shows that the (wi-fi?) quality and strength varying anywhere between 55-100 (Quality) and 15-35 (Strength). I have a BT HH3 router and only use the UQ2 and an ipad wirelessly.

Does anyone know how the quality/strength figures correlate to the nominal network speed (54Mbs?) and whether the UQ2's network adaptor is limited to 802.11 b/g/n ?

Posted on: 25 March 2014 by alan33

I don't know what the quality / strength parameters mean, although I expect the 100 strength relates (as a percentage) to the signal level (in dB) and it may be that the quality is related to both signal and noise levels. I have seen the quality number fluctuate in the 30 to 50 range, although signal has always sat at 100.

The Qute2 manual says wireless N (whereas it was G for the original Qute, which is what I have).

Note that your (older) B/G/N router may not maintain good throughput if both G and N devices are connected... A long shot but something I fear may be happening at my place...

Regards, alan

Posted on: 25 March 2014 by Bart

Originally Posted by sjbabbey:

Does anyone know how the quality/strength figures correlate to the nominal network speed (54Mbs?)

They don't -- you can have a full-strength wireless b signal, and a full strength wireless n signal, and vastly different throughputs. Nor is there a linear relation between signal strength and speed on a given network.

Posted on: 25 March 2014 by sjbabbey

Thanks for the replies.

I've changed the channel on my router and the Quality seems to be good at 100 but the signal strength remains in the low to mid 30's. The UQ2's webpage reports the signal strength as "poor" where before it was "marginal" so I guess that it is the signal strength that is at the root of my problem.

Posted on: 25 March 2014 by sjbabbey

Hi Bart,

Looking at my router's webpage, the Qute has a connection speed of 65Mbps which would seem to be more than sufficient for 24/192kHz playback (9,216 kbs) so it must be down to the poor signal strength.

Posted on: 25 March 2014 by Pev

It might be worth trying a wireless range extender. It's a kind of wall wart which just plugs into a mains socket and boosts the wifi signal in that room. I use one to enable me to surf with my laptop outside the back door and it also works for boosting network speed to the guest bedroom. Only costs around £30 and very easy to set up - worth a try.

Posted on: 25 March 2014 by sjbabbey

Hi Pev,

Thanks for the suggestion.

Just moved the UQ2 downstairs to the hall within about 10 feet of the HH3. I'm getting a signal strength of 63 which the device webpage reports as "good" and the router webpage indicates a connection speed of 72Mbs but still the buffer drains and drops 192Khz files.

My understanding is that a range extender will only extend the same signal strength so it looks like I'd have to use powerlines or accept the limitation on HiRes files as 96KHz which is not the end of the world.

Thanks to all.