Cat 5 or Cat 6
Posted by: naimUnT on 16 July 2010
Hi Fellow Naimees,
I own a NaimUniti and enjoy internet radio very much! However, I cannot seem to receive uninterrupted iRadio stations of more than 128 kbps! AVRO Light Classical, for example, streams at 256 kbps but the Uniti will buffer every few seconds. I have checked my router and broadband speed and everything seems fine. When I play AVRO Light Classical via my computer (fed by same router), I have no interruptions whatsoever but my computer audio system is quite modest! At the moment I am wired with Cat 5 (probably 'e' iteration). My question is: would switching to Cat 6 cure my problem or would the higher bandwidth and speed be well within the capabilities of Cat 5? Many thanks in advance!
I own a NaimUniti and enjoy internet radio very much! However, I cannot seem to receive uninterrupted iRadio stations of more than 128 kbps! AVRO Light Classical, for example, streams at 256 kbps but the Uniti will buffer every few seconds. I have checked my router and broadband speed and everything seems fine. When I play AVRO Light Classical via my computer (fed by same router), I have no interruptions whatsoever but my computer audio system is quite modest! At the moment I am wired with Cat 5 (probably 'e' iteration). My question is: would switching to Cat 6 cure my problem or would the higher bandwidth and speed be well within the capabilities of Cat 5? Many thanks in advance!
Posted on: 16 July 2010 by p3esr
Hi naimUnT, is it possible for you to perform ping test from your PC to the broadband router, and also to your NaimUniti? Under healthy network condition, you should be able to get <1ms ping response time. If you're getting inconsistent ping result from the NaimUniti, you might want to replace the cable.
Posted on: 16 July 2010 by rich46
cat 6 high band width and do seem to be a higher quality cable too check ping result
Posted on: 17 July 2010 by Andy S
I run a gigabit network with one connection being 30m long with cat5e. Assuming you can stream audio from a HDD on your network somewhere fine, it's unlikely to be your cable.
Is there anywhere you can specify the buffer size on the Uniti as it doesn't seem to be big enough if it is spending every few seconds buffering?
Is there anywhere you can specify the buffer size on the Uniti as it doesn't seem to be big enough if it is spending every few seconds buffering?
Posted on: 17 July 2010 by garyi
Cat5 will be fine as the uniti is not gigabit anyhow.
I would be looking at things like your download/upload speed. If its crap and anything else is access the web at the same time then you can expect to see a rebuffer. Especially if you have an upload of anykind in process (back up to the cloud, email etc) as this has a habit of hogging bandwidth
I would be looking at things like your download/upload speed. If its crap and anything else is access the web at the same time then you can expect to see a rebuffer. Especially if you have an upload of anykind in process (back up to the cloud, email etc) as this has a habit of hogging bandwidth
Posted on: 17 July 2010 by naimUnT
Hi Guys, Thanks very much for your responses!
p3esr: I like your avatar! Are you a Harbeth fan? Yes, the broadband service provider ran a ping and says it is well within tolerance and should be able to handle Internet radio with no worries! I don't have the technical details though!
rich 46: That is what I was hoping to hear! If the cat 6 can transmit data much faster then I should not have problems with the buffer level!
Andy S: your reply suggests that if cat 5 can run a GB network, then interent radio is child's play! But, apart from volume of data transmission, I seem to be having problems with the speed of its transmission. I am sorry but I don't have any details of what the buffer size on the Uniti is. Hovwever, several other Uniti owners have reported zero problems with streaming the AVRO station, making me believe that the Uniti's buffer should well be capable of handling higher kbps.
p3esr: I like your avatar! Are you a Harbeth fan? Yes, the broadband service provider ran a ping and says it is well within tolerance and should be able to handle Internet radio with no worries! I don't have the technical details though!
rich 46: That is what I was hoping to hear! If the cat 6 can transmit data much faster then I should not have problems with the buffer level!
Andy S: your reply suggests that if cat 5 can run a GB network, then interent radio is child's play! But, apart from volume of data transmission, I seem to be having problems with the speed of its transmission. I am sorry but I don't have any details of what the buffer size on the Uniti is. Hovwever, several other Uniti owners have reported zero problems with streaming the AVRO station, making me believe that the Uniti's buffer should well be capable of handling higher kbps.
Posted on: 17 July 2010 by Andy S
I'd think it's more likely you have a problem with your ISP. Who are you with and what is your internet connection speed? What sort of results do you get if you test with a net speed tester such as http://www.speedtest.net/ ?quote:Originally posted by naimUnT:
Andy S: your reply suggests that if cat 5 can run a GB network, then interent radio is child's play! But, apart from volume of data transmission, I seem to be having problems with the speed of its transmission. I am sorry but I don't have any details of what the buffer size on the Uniti is. Hovwever, several other Uniti owners have reported zero problems with streaming the AVRO station, making me believe that the Uniti's buffer should well be capable of handling higher kbps.
Posted on: 17 July 2010 by p3esr
Hi naimUnT, yes, I'm driving a pair of P3ESR via Nait 5 i. Soon it'll be replaced with a UnitiQute. My broadband at home has a bandwidth of 5Mbps (FTTH), there's almost no lag when I stream YouTube in HD. So I would expect iRadio to work flawlessly too. Possible to perform a ping test to the AVRO station? You might need to do some homework to find out its IP address.
Posted on: 17 July 2010 by naimUnT
Andy S: Thanks for the speedtest link. The test could only be half completed, with a "Download error test" message to abruptly end the test session. But I managed to read the speed at 43 ms. I am also beginning to suspect it is my ISP that is the culprit. I am with SingTel, Singapore's largest telco.
p3esr: Glad to meet a Harbeth owner! I am driving SHL5 but have the P3ESR on order, with expected delivery in October. Now in a quandary whether to sell my SHL5 and go for the P3ESR. My broadband speed is 10 Mbps. Congrats on the UQ purchase! I was hoping to get one for the office or bedroom. Would be interested in whether you will be able to receive AVRO with your ISP.
p3esr: Glad to meet a Harbeth owner! I am driving SHL5 but have the P3ESR on order, with expected delivery in October. Now in a quandary whether to sell my SHL5 and go for the P3ESR. My broadband speed is 10 Mbps. Congrats on the UQ purchase! I was hoping to get one for the office or bedroom. Would be interested in whether you will be able to receive AVRO with your ISP.
Posted on: 17 July 2010 by Andy S
That doesn't bode well. Perhaps your ISP is throttling the ports used for internet radio services and the Uniti is just a bit too sensitive to bandwidth throttling. What happens in out of peak service times? Sometimes ISPs can throttle connections during peak load times.quote:Originally posted by naimUnT:
Andy S: Thanks for the speedtest link. The test could only be half completed, with a "Download error test" message to abruptly end the test session.
I'm 99.9% convinced the problem is outside of your house. Not sure what you can do about it though....
Posted on: 17 July 2010 by p3esr
quote:p3esr: Glad to meet a Harbeth owner! I am driving SHL5 but have the P3ESR on order, with expected delivery in October. Now in a quandary whether to sell my SHL5 and go for the P3ESR. My broadband speed is 10 Mbps. Congrats on the UQ purchase! I was hoping to get one for the office or bedroom. Would be interested in whether you will be able to receive AVRO with your ISP.
naimUnT: Great to hear that you have ordered the P3ESR. I think it's best if you keep your SHL5, and get yourself another UnitiQute (I'm not too sure whether Absolute Sound has the stock for it, but I've seen them advertising on the What Hi-Fi ASEAN edition) to drive the P3ESR. 43ms doesn't sound bad at all, though I consistently get around 15ms, but that also depends on the server you've chosen to test with. As mentioned by Andy S, it could be SingTel has imposed some QoS (Quality of Service) to perform policing on iRadio. Perhaps you might want to give SingTel a call and I'm sure they will be able to assist you. The next best thing you can do is to try to locate your NaimUniti next to the broadband router and connect it with another piece of Cat6 UTP. Also do try out the wireless.
Posted on: 17 July 2010 by garyi
No way will an ISP block internet radio, and if they are ditch them immediatly.
You have one of two issues. Your phone line is knackered.
2 There is a network issue with your house. Diagnosing this can be difficult.
To start with. Unplug all phones int he house just have the router connected to the phoneline, on the master socket.
Check a speed test. If it bails again then change the router and try again. If it bails again then its your phone line. Phone up BT and go through the hilarious help centre until such time as they increase gain or send someone out.
There are lots of sites on line that will tell you how much speed youc an expect to get in your area. Also check inside the outer settings for up time and sync issues.
In essence I am willing to bet router or phone line. not ISP or UNITI.
You have one of two issues. Your phone line is knackered.
2 There is a network issue with your house. Diagnosing this can be difficult.
To start with. Unplug all phones int he house just have the router connected to the phoneline, on the master socket.
Check a speed test. If it bails again then change the router and try again. If it bails again then its your phone line. Phone up BT and go through the hilarious help centre until such time as they increase gain or send someone out.
There are lots of sites on line that will tell you how much speed youc an expect to get in your area. Also check inside the outer settings for up time and sync issues.
In essence I am willing to bet router or phone line. not ISP or UNITI.
Posted on: 17 July 2010 by rich46
..quote:Originally posted by garyi:
No way will an ISP block internet radio, and if they are ditch them immediatly.
You have one of two issues. Your phone line is knackered.
2 There is a network issue with your house. Diagnosing this can be difficult.
To start with. Unplug all phones int he house just have the router connected to the phoneline, on the master socket.
Check a speed test. If it bails again then change the router and try again. If it bails again then its your phone line. Phone up BT and go through the hilarious help centre until such time as they increase gain or send someone out.
There are lots of sites on line that will tell you how much speed youc an expect to get in your area. Also check inside the outer settings for up time and sync issues.
In essence I am willing to bet router or phone line. not ISP or UNITI.
i hade problems with the bt stardard router they give out, the curve one. fitted netgear no probs
Posted on: 17 July 2010 by Dungassin
quote:hade problems with the bt stardard router they give out, the curve one. fitted netgear no probs
I've got 2 BT wireless broadband routers. The HomeHub EA11, which they first gave me, and a newer one which they sent me without asking for it (supposed to have longer range). Never taken it out of the box!
