A few days ago, I suddenly started seeing “Connection Failure” messages flash up on my remotes, and TIDAL albums would give “slow loading” messages. At first, I thought perhaps my ROCK-based NUC was the culprit (I had transplanted a NUC7i5BNH motherboard into a fanless Akasa case, and it now felt warmer than I thought it should be).
Returning the motherboard to the fan-cooled Intel NUC case turned out to make no difference, so I needed to do further sleuthing.
It turned out to be the TP-link 5 port switch (a TL-SG1005D) to which the NUC was connected. It seems as though it was starting to fail. Other devices connected to it were also experiencing occasional network failures. Removing the switch from the equation meant that Roon was working faultlessly. Putting it back gave me Connection Failures again. I’ve now replaced the switch with a Netgear GS105, and (touch wood), everything seems to be working again…
Danny, (or whomever) What is there in or about a home networking switch or other gear that tends to fail before a commercial model? You can except physical damage.
I ask because I grew up thinking digital devices had very long lives, especially one that stays still and out of harm’s way. Now, the #1 or 2 troubleshooting tip is “replace the equipment/cable”. Is the issue cheap materials, mass production flaws, heat, loose soldering, what? Just curious…
For that matter, present OP excluded, why do people buy managed switches for their home networks? The switches are more than twice as expensive and mostly unneccesary. The users don’t seem to know how to set them up properly and multiple problems result.
I’m not sure there is a difference in quality – both are junk. Large enterprises have a staff to manage this and are constantly replacing gear. Conversely, many home users never replace gear.
Long-term heat exposure would be the largest damaging factor.
Because, to most people, more features equate to better quality product.
This may indeed be why the TPlink was starting to fail. It’s a “desktop” model in a plastic case. I mounted it on the underside of an open shelf, and perhaps this was enough to push it out of its comfort zone.
The Netgear replacement has a metal case, and now it’s sitting on top of the shelf (but placed out of sight behind a RPi touchscreen running Ropieee…).
