Router/Mesh Network Recommendation

Discussion in 'Computer Audiophile: Software, Configs, Tools' started by Colgin, Jun 13, 2020.

  1. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    OK. I'm not recommending it :)

    Anyway, the fidget thing made of linked thin-ethernet T pieces and terminators that used to be in my desk draw disappeared some time back.
     
  2. fastfwd

    fastfwd Friend

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    I see that the Task Manager graph says that. But why? 88200 * 24 * 2 = only 4.2 megabits. If that really requires 19.3 Mbps in your system, you're sending 4 bits of overhead for every bit of data.
     
  3. Metro

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  4. atomicbob

    atomicbob dScope Yoda

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    Don't forget packet headers, crc, etc. Also there are several things occurring on my setup: 24 bits are being padded to 32 bits by the player application. There are three physical destination devices representing 3 Dante flows. So it would be better to say my system with one physical device destination uses approximately 6.4 Mbit/s. So I guess if one had a dedicated AOIP ethernet line with no other ethernet traffic, 44KHz, 16bit, would work on 10Mbit/s ethernet. I still wouldn't recommend it. When more than 50% bandwidth is in use trouble begins with AOIP, at least in my experiences.
     
  5. fastfwd

    fastfwd Friend

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    Ah. Thanks, that makes much more sense.

    88200 * 32 * 2 = 5.6 Mbit, so 6.4 Mbit/s is around 1/7 of a bit of overhead for every bit of data.
     
  6. atomicbob

    atomicbob dScope Yoda

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    There appears to be more overhead for the first Dante flow.
    20200721 Dante 88K 24b 2ch network load 0-3 flows annotated.png
    Load per flow:
    0.00% - 0 flow
    0.93% - 1 flow
    1.43% - 2 flows
    1.93% - 3 flows

    It appears subsequent flows add 0.5% network utilization on a 1 Gbps network. I don't know why there is an extra 0.43% overhead associated with establishing flows on the network. Maybe a Dante network superuser could enlighten.
     
  7. Colgin

    Colgin Friend

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    Does anyone think I would need greater speed than 200 mbps that I am getting in my current tier from my ISP. $20 more per month would get me speeds up to 400 mbps and full gigabit speed gets expensive. 200 seems OK to me since I am generally not downloading large files. I can imagine faster speeds being helpful for PS4 game downloads and updates but frankly I am not doing that too often.
     
  8. kee7a

    kee7a New

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    In my opinion, faster speeds probably wouldn't make a big difference (if any at all). If all of your devices are over wifi then in my experience speeds cap out at around 300-400 mbps and that's under pretty good conditions. I've never messed with mesh devices, but I have found that wireless extenders cap out at around 50-100 mbps. I have symmetric gig and the only thing that takes advantage of it are my servers. Everything else goes over wifi and this feels fast enough for me at least (even through a wireless extender). Downloads may be a bit faster, but you also start running into the problem of your internet pipe being faster than whatever server you are downloading from. Also its worth noting that I don't really do much with tv and 4k content so you may see some benefits around speeds of that if you do that and things are slow now.

    TLDR: It's probably not worth it, especially if you use wifi and things are running fine right now. But hey if you can try it and go back later, why not try it?
     
  9. techboy

    techboy New

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    1300 sq ft isn’t big. Even if it is a concrete house, in your case a single powerful router will deliver better/more consistent speeds. Get a Netgear R7800S. You should get 200-500 Mbps everywhere in your house if you have a fast enough connection.
     
  10. Ice-man

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    Looks like the OP has found something that works but I'll throw in a recommendation for another data point. I do computer repair door to door. Since the pandemic started I've installed 3-5 mesh networks each week (I was doing these installs pre-pandemic but not as frequently).

    I've used just about all the big brands and some smaller manufacturers as well. The one model that I now use for every install and gets my Editor's Choice award for price/performance is TP Link Deco m4. There are a few things that make these standout over the rest...

    1. Excellent radio/ant performance. TP Link is basically a network only company. Meaning all of their tech and R&D is in network equipment. Using five pods, I was able to successfully create a reliable wi-fi network in a 9500 square foot house!

    2. Price. The Deco m4 3 pack can often be had for $150 on sale at Office Depot and runs about $160 or so on Amazon.

    3. Simple app based setup. It doesn't get much easier than this. For power users, there will be advanced settings that the tp-link app does not offer.

    4. Rock solid reliability. Considering all the different brands that I've used for installations, tp-link is "by far" the most reliable and the one that I almost never get calls from customers about.

    There are certainly other good brand and models out there, but this is what has worked in the field for me.
     
    Last edited: Jul 27, 2020
  11. dasman66

    dasman66 Self proclaimed lazy ass - friend

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    I use a Netgear Orbi mesh in my old 1800's house (thick plaster/lath walls) and I considered it a revelation a couple years ago when I first picked it up. Now, I'm finding that it is becoming increasingly unreliable with unexplained drop-outs where it just disappears for 30 sec or so. When it's up, it's fast... everywhere in the house. But its ever so annoying when it just disappears every hour or so...

    I'm constantly looking for firmware updates, but it's not getting better... if anything, it just gets worse. Thinking I need to bite the bullet and get something else.

    The Ruckus looks promising, but I admit that the lack of consumer level support scares me (not that Netgear support has been helpful)... maybe I should do a thunderdome between it and the tp-link
     
  12. SineDave

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    The ruckus stuff is enterprise grade, so it just works - and never stops working, so it's worth the up front pain. You can follow a video like this and be off and running in under a half hour. Just be sure you buy the unleashed version of the APs like this.

     
  13. JustAnotherRando

    JustAnotherRando My other bike is a Ferrari

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    Do you know if the Ruckus wifi stuff is region locked?

    Ubiquiti is region locked (I have read that the Google mesh product is too), which is something I discovered when bringing a Unifi WAP back from the US. I suspect this might be a common thing with products marketed for enterprise use.

    I'm running Ubiquiti at home, (two WAPs, an 8 port PoE switch), generally not a fan of it. I've had to replace both WAPs over the course of 4 years, and I find the management interface to be unnecessarily cumbersome. Prior to this, I have never had to replace home Wifi gear due to failure, I have only replaced gear for upgrades.

    On the upside, Unifi WAPs blend nicely into the ceiling.

    A friend ran a Ubiquiti Amplifi at home for less than a year, which proved sufficiently unstable that he replaced it with a cheap TP Link or Netgear.
     
  14. SineDave

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    IIRC, you can configure regional radio settings in the ruckus controller very easily, making them usable in any geographic region. In past lives I have deployed them in EMEA as well as North America on the enterprise side
     
  15. Metro

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    I should look into a router with stronger signal. I have a tiny house (only 900 sq ft) in San Francisco, built in 1906 (after the earthquake) with plaster/lath wall construction. In my living room where the router is, I can get 600Mbps but in one of the bedrooms just 20 feet away, the signal has to go through no less than 5 plaster/lath walls and the connection can drop to less than 20 Mbps.

    Admittedly I've only tried entry level routers (I've had Amplifi HD and Nest WiFi). With only 900 sq ft I didn't think I needed more but I guess I do.
     
  16. JustAnotherRando

    JustAnotherRando My other bike is a Ferrari

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    I did a quick Google, looks like there could be a degree of region locking:

    ZoneFlex APs
    ZoneFlex APs are shipped in two formats depending on the country being shipped to:



      • With a fixed US country code setting to the US (fixed country code cannot be change by customers – even through factory default)
      • With country code that is selectable to the country outside of the US
    https://support.ruckuswireless.com/articles/000001214

    I have no idea what Zoneflex applies to, but it looks like anyone outside the US might want to source locally (typically a fair bit more expensive).

    Thanks for the Ruckus suggestion, I'll add them to my shortlist for next time I redo my home network. I hadn't realised there is a controllerless version, which sounds attractive. I won't be using Ubiquiti again.
     
  17. SineDave

    SineDave Friend

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    Good catch. This can be worked around by firmware flashing the AP, but that requires a bit more technical skillset.
     
  18. Metro

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    Is the Unleashed app primarily for convenience and friendly interface, but everything is still available through the web interface? It looks like their WiFi 6 products don't support Unleashed yet (coming soon). Not that I need WiFi 6, but might be good for future proofing.
     
  19. JustAnotherRando

    JustAnotherRando My other bike is a Ferrari

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    In that case, it's better than Ubiquiti, where the user is just SoL :/
     
  20. SineDave

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    Yes, the web interface is fully functional. The first AP you set up will become the master, and hosts the web interface with all the options. Any subordinate hardwired or mesh APs will be controlled by the primary. Here's a screenshot of the web interface on my setup:

    upload_2020-7-29_9-14-33.png
     

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