Ehernet Patch Leads

Just to apologise i have started a new topic and i have since found a older one on same subject...My only saving grace is since the last post the cat6a 10 gigabit cable is widely avaiable..
need a slap mine i spelt ethernet wrong

I should imagine the main concern of anyone in the distributed audio section is to have a decent router and or switch in place.

In general people tend to think of computing equipment as cheapest is best. Consequently they get home with their 5 grand HDX hook it up to a POS free home hub from BT and wonder why everything is not perfect.

I am going to stick my neck out in terms of a percentage but if you have just put down 2k on a uniti then I think you need to put down another 10% on a decent router and neatly done wiring.

How about 500 quid for that Denon ethernet cable?

Garyi Can you explain why the BT hub I use degrades the sound to my HDX? I think that is what you are saying?

That is not what I am saying.

If you are one of the lucky few that has got the god awful BT homehub to work consistently and correctly, then all rocks to you.

For everyone else scratching their heads as to why the HDX keeps dropping out, having audio blips or not picking up NASes, there is your problem.

The clue is in the name 'network player'

Shit network = shit experience. 3 feet of Cat5e mean sod all if the router is not doing its job. 

Honestly so many people in general conversation about their bloody internet connections, family etc, they all have them BT home hubs. And every one of them thinks its perfectly reasonable to reboot them every week, or except that their wireless printer 'sometimes does not work'

But anyway as you were. If you got one to work welldone.

+1
i totaly agree with garyi.i was using a router supplied by my cable company and i had all sorts of troble with dropouts and slow network.spent about £140 on a router and never looked back.regards scott

Although I have to be a little more restrained than the other replies on here so far I can only agree with what has been said so far - the "freebie" routers that are given away by ISPs generally cause lots of odd problems and certainly in the Custom Install market where the installer will be the first person to receive a call if things aren't working right and the customer won't put up with "just reboot your router and it'll be fine" it is very much the norm to replace the ISP supplied units with something more solid.

The Draytek Vigor series are well respected and for myself I won't have anything on my own network at home that isn't at least NetGear "ProSafe" series...

Phil

Understood Garyi Good job mine worked from day 1 because my IT skills are sub zero! Thanks for explaining

Hi Simon, in my experience any sonic upgrade associated with Ethernet patch leads have been based around removing or reducing common mode RFI that carries along thevtwisted copper pairs. To be honest I have not totally been successful here, and for critical listening to LP or CD I unplug my Ethernet to my renderer in my system. In network terms  for audio fibre leads would be ideal, but seem not to be prevalent in consumer equipment and mainly only in industrial kit.

But then again perhaps I am overly fussy.

Simon

My TimeCapsule has been absolutely rock solid with no re-boot needed in living memory. I even fired up an old Airport Express to use as a print server the other day and it was recognised and connected instantly, even though they heven't been on the same network in two years.

Upgrading the router makes good sense to me. How can we know which are the good routers? Is price the best guide? If Naim are recommending NAS, how abour routers?

Most anything from Draytek. I have the vigor 2800vn and its never let me down.

Cannot recommend anything else I have not used them.

I'm not sure this is all the info you need. It is the swtich part of the router that is key, not the router itself. Cat5e cable is rated at both 100Mbit and 1Gbit. Cat6 is 1Gbit and above. There is quite a big difference between 100Mbit and 1Gbit. Both Cat5e and Cat6 use 4 pairs of twisted pair inside a shield, but 100Mbit only uses 2 of the 4 pairs. So the most significant thing you can do is run a switch that is 1Gbit rated. Most home routers are typically 100Mbit. So, go buy a good Gigabit switch and make sure you run both source Nas and target client (Uniti) into that. Cat6 tends to be expensive compared to Cat5e because it calls for the physical separation of the 4 pairs inside the cable, and as such has all kinds of radius issues when running it correctly. But key point is that if you have lots of stuff moving around your network, including HiDef audio data, then 1Gbit, often using Cat5e will be more than fine.

I would agree with that. I also have a gigabit switch in the loft.

That being said source first and all that, the router will be dishing the IPs etc and the better ones are, well, better.

Afternoon gents,

Excellent posts. My ol trusty router (Linksys WAG54GS) has seen better days and like me rather long in the tooth!

Of all the wireless routers, can you point me in the direction of a modern day "Goodun"!!

In readiness of NDX...of cource when it's ready to make an appearence!

I told you already!