Router/Mesh Network Recommendation

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

  1. crazychile

    crazychile Eastern Iowa's Spiciest Pepper

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    Thanks for the info guys. I think I might mess with the channels and settings on my existing gear before I do a real upgrade. maybe that will hold me over until a real upgrade path becomes more obvious.
     
  2. Syzygy

    Syzygy Friend

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    Late to this party, but part of my consideration with most recent upgrade is ensuring that my wife can operate the equipment, and that it's powerful enough. We have Hardiplank (cement) siding and an aluminum heat barrier on our roof, and sit at the bottom of a hill. So we don't get cellular signals in the house for shit. So wifi calling is a must for us.

    I'm super happy that I went with an AmpliFi by Ubiquiti. I can put a separate mesh antenna at the far end of the house if I need to boost the signal (currently unneeded), it's simple to configure and use with a phone app, and the company actually does software updates so it stays secure and doesn't become obsolete (although it won't do Wifi6…that'd require new hardware…but they have one available).

    I can remote into the network from anywhere in the world if I need to, and change settings from my phone, even when away. It supports simultaneous 5G & 2.4G networks, a secondary network (I use for all the IoT devices so they can't spy our computer traffic), and a guest network (you can set max # of users, how long to keep it turned on, as well as password-protect if you want).

    We've set up schedules in it for groups of the kids' devices, so their Wifi goes away at bedtime and isn't available until morning. You can control device access individually (good for us, we have a hi-functioning autistic teenage boy that likes to seek out inappropriate things).

    And my wife can operate all of it if something happens to me.
     
  3. bixby

    bixby Friend

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    One last basic, but location, location, location. The higher and most centered in the house the better for uniform coverage, assuming you can move the wifi router.
     
  4. SineDave

    SineDave Friend

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    Ubiquiti (UBNT) has finally managed to get their shit together with the management tools in the last couple of releases and Amplifi is the first product they've released that works well for the home environment like you described. I'm still not a fan of the way they run their controller software for enterprise gear, but AmpliFi is solid stuff for most users.

    The only caveat I'd mention here is that if you're in a poor wifi environment (apartment/condo), enterprise gear has specific hardware to help deal with interference that products like the AmpliFi can't include. Despite having rock solid wireless at home, I still hardwire any workstation where I do critical work.
     
  5. Syzygy

    Syzygy Friend

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    Previously I used a UniFi access point, and it's management software is fine; but then again I've been doing computer-y stuff since the early 80's. I would never have described it as consumer-friendly but it wasn't made for that.

    But yeah the AmpliFi stuff is on another league.

    I still use Ubiquiti ERx boxes for wires…cheap, fast, easy (via web UI), software upgrades, etc.
     
  6. supertransformingdhruv

    supertransformingdhruv Almost "Made"

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    +1 on Ubiquiti.

    Treated myself to an AmpliFi Alien as a christmas present and it's been great-- more fun than I thought a router would be. I'm not using any of the mesh features (apartment isn't large enough to need it), but Wifi 6 speeds are real and AmpliFi gives a pleasant software experience.
     
  7. shredical

    shredical Friend

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  8. Syzygy

    Syzygy Friend

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    I dunno what you're doing, but at our house we don't do anything at all that would need 10G speeds. We stream 2-3 shows, play online games, watch youtube, stream music (locally and from the internet), read email, etc., all at the same time and barely use the throughput that 1G provides.

    10G is for data centers that really have that need, and everything is more expensive for it, including just ethernet cable certified for those speeds.
     
  9. shredical

    shredical Friend

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    you can easily saturate a 10G ethernet link when using a NAS in ZFS RAIDZ configuration.
     
  10. dasman66

    dasman66 Self proclaimed lazy ass - friend

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    I think the key here is home use. Can I saturate my 1G when the NAS in my house back's up to the remote NAS in the workshop? Sure, but that's why I have my backups scheduled to run at 2am.

    Even 3-4 people streaming 4k from the server at the same time would only be 15-20MB/s.

    Of course, now that we have WFH, I guess the equation may change for some extreme cases...
     
  11. drgumbybrain

    drgumbybrain Science Nut

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    Hello friends. Nice thread! I don't want to go off topic, but my cousin was here last week and suggested that I should use only Cat6 between DAC and Roon endpoint, computer - router, Nas- router. He told be that CAT 7 or 8 have metallic plugs for grounding and in audio this could be a problem injecting noise from one gear to another. hey, I'm a complete dumb noob in electronics, and he has a lot of Experience ... but before starting this "nervosa", I thought... maybe you guys know something about this. I could not find nothing directed to this subject in the search engine. Hope you are all vaccinated and good! cheers ( oh I have 6-7 cat8 cables between those gears)
     
  12. bixby

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    I think cat 8 is shield grounded, I do not think cat 7 is or not all variants of cat 7. I use cat 6 for all my connections and it is fine, no known noise. I do have a friend who is a tweakaholic and he thinks I am nuts for not buying cat 8 for the short connections to and from router, he thinks it sounds MUCH better. As for noise, not sure that cat 8 is the devil.

    In my experience, router power supply noise is a bigger audible issue than cat 5 to cat 6 for example. And like most HF noise that is out of the audible spectrum, you really do not know it was there until it is gone.

    Noise from the router in many cases is easily mitigated with a "good" switch and a simple ferrite on the wall wart power wire (multiple turns). In my tests adding a second switch on the target end of an ethernet run did not bring any benefits.
     
  13. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    Is your cousin a network engineer? If not, ignore him.

    The real reason for using CAT6 is that it is all you will ever need.

    Disclosure: I'm not a network engineer. But I was an IT systems manager when all this audiophool network stuff started going around and I quickly recognised it for the bollocks that it is.
     
  14. Kernel Kurtz

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    I'm retired from doing networks for a living, but I'll chime in out of curiosity. Cat 6A is rated for 10Gb/s of throughput at 100m. You will probably never come close to this in home use, especially not for audio. From that perspective there is no need for anything else.

    Looking at the specs for Cat 7 and up, however, the grounded shielding may indeed become a thing worth investigation in audio usage. The TIA specs for grounding in this use case is to reduce errors on the digital side, but works in much the same way as the grounded shield on balanced cabling reduces EMI induced analog noise.

    That all said, people have been using Cat5 and 6 for digital audio over IP for a long time now with great results. Using Cat8 cables on older equipment that is not wired for that common ground probably does not matter. My offhand reaction would be to say use Cat7+ if your vendor recommends it but otherwise don't worry about it, use what you got.
     
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  15. HenryBosley

    HenryBosley New

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    How about NetGear, D-Link, Marcus. I have already used all of them. Not bad at all.
     
  16. archerious

    archerious New

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    I use Meraki, it's not cheap but the MR33 Dual band 802.11ac AP is usually around $130 on Amazon.

    Meraki has expensive license costs though, unless you flash OpenWRT or something similar on it.

    I've found Meraki's MR36 to be worth the cost since I work from home. Gives me a reliable connection, but Ubiquiti APs are nice. MikroTik is another option if you're tech savvy, I have one of their outdoor APs, was like $70 and has stellar performance.
     
  17. bixby

    bixby Friend

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    Question? Do newer routers use something other than SMBv1 to share an ext USB drive to a Win 10 PC? Read that Samba is further along now but not sure if that means anything, other than the security thing with v1.

    My Asus RT-N56U uses it and it is a pain when systems are reconfigured. Got to remember to re-enable this as a Win feature. While the router is fine for sharing music and so cheap ($20 - NAS makes no sense), Wondering how easy other brands (newer models of course) might be in setting up with Windows 10.
     
  18. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    I've never actually done this,and nor do I have any version of Windows in the house, but thought it worth mentioning that your router is almost certainly a Linux computer, and Samba is simply the Linux service that looks like a Windows server to Windows machines. I've been using it for a long time, both at home and at work, to share data rather than music. Oh, wait... in this context, music is data :)
     
  19. Taverius

    Taverius Smells like sausages

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    Modern Samba won't even support v1 without running through hoops because everybody and their mom, and Microsoft, have deprecated v1.

    My NAS will yell at you constantly if you try to set up v1 SMB.

    Wether your lazy commercial router maker of choice changed anything is another matter, as later versions require more ui and they'd have to actually pay someone to do work.
     
  20. bixby

    bixby Friend

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    Seems like I am fine right where I am. Yes, I did read some vendors were having problems with later vers of Samba working correctly and also the size it takes in memory.

    I just have to remember what hidden settings to adjust whenever re-configuring or when WinUpdate decides to randomly make changes to things that were working properly.

    @Taverius - Curious, what model is your NAS?
     

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