In my experience, Roon server does not work well when connected wirelessly, regardless of how fast your wireless network is or how good your signal strength is. This is a bit frustrating as I’m sure you’re able to watch HD video streams with no problem using the same network etc…
Be careful about recommending power line adapters, Uwe, unless you can recommend a proven working model!
There have been quite some support threads about dysfunctional setups, where power line adapters have turned out to be the culprit.
Yeah, life could be so easy!
Feel with you, since I went through that myself, but can’t really blame Roon, since it’s explicitly mentioned in the best practices… see here and scroll down to where it says No matter what your network setup is like, there are important factors to keep in mind to ensure you are getting the best out of your Roon experience:
Your Roon Core should always have a wired connection
I am reading this lengthy thread, which seems to be addressing the same issue, albeit with the original KEF LS50 speakers, not the LS50 II.
One thing that jumps out at me from my first perusal is the suggestion to attached the computer holding the core to either the wifi router or the speakers, via ethernet. I could do this - I think I can connect to the router very easily, but not sure how to connect to the speakers (the master speaker?).
I am 70 yrs. old and waaaayyyyy less technical than the people who are active on this board, so I’m struggling a bit! Thank you.
I sold my Ls50 W some time ago and bought a version II set. One of the reasons to do so were the ongoing connection issues. The version II works flawless and is a major upgrade. I would recommend: do the same because Roon isn’t very help-full with this particular connection issue.
I have the KEF50 II - this is “v. II” of these speakers. Trying to diagnose where my problem is coming from - the router? the Macbook Air computer? something else?
I just need a diagnostic protocol to try to zero in on the problem
If you are able to directly connect your MacBook Air to your router that should help quite a bit. That would be my first diagnostic protocol, take out one chunk at a time.
And, as a sanity check, is your wireless router close to your speakers? Almost all solid objects attenuate wireless range and throughput too. Best scenario would be same room. Ensure your router is up off the flow and not in a cupboard or blocked by brick walls etc… This can be hard to do depending on your house layout and entry point of your internet service in relation to your speaker location.
While wireless (wifi) is great for many things its in not a full duplex transmission and all wifi devices are sharing / competing for that slice of time on the network - Wired is like an expressway - wifi is like a one way bridge with a town at either end.
In simple terms - the issue is while your core is getting music from the internet or even another source on the network at home it can’t be sending data to the endpoint and for that matter its also competing with other devices trying to use the wifi network like your phones and tablets and other PC/Mac in the house. While connecting the core to the router via LAN cable will help if there are many other transmissions competing for wifi you will still probably experience some interruptions.
Add to this inherent issues with other interference in the wifi infrastructure from other wifi networks and radio devices like BlueTooth and microwaves etc wifi is the last option you want to be using for music with timing critical clocking information in the data transmission.
Thank you WizardofOz - I am aware of all/most of this.
However, some of these issues are not particularly relevant to me. I live with just my wife, so I’m aware of what other demands are being placed on wifi in our house. We do stream TV via Verizon fios (Netflix … etc.) without any trouble. I can’t correlate other wifi usage with my problem.
What’s odd (from my admittedly unsophisticated perspective) is how intermittent this problem is. Sometimes I can sit in my living room and use Zoon on my wireless speakers with zero problems. Other times, it is so erratic I can’t use them at all. I can’t correlate this with anything - time of day, other household usage … nothing.
I’ve been procrastinating on upgrading my router for years. My philosophy is, “why do today what you can put off until tomorrow?” But, eventually tomorrow does arrive. Do you think using a more powerful router might help resolve this problem? I’ve also played round with wifi extenders a bit. Might that help?
No telling what the interruptions might be from, but a new more powerful WiFi maybe won’t hurt but might make your neighbors have more issues
My WiFi picks up signatures from many AP around my estate…including drive by car camera and whatnot…I have 5 AP’s covering my house mainly due to building construction and still get the odd issue. All mine at lan connected no mesh.
I ended up upgrading my router (Verizon FIOS router), and it has much better range - no more drops, and Macbook Air seems to be fine for the core. I’m totally stable and happy with Roon now.
