Ever since I started using Roon over 6 years ago playback stutters, sometimes a little sometimes a lot and I receive the usual error messages like “Loading slowly, networking problems check connectivity” and “Waiting for your Roon server”.
I rewired my apartment for ethernet which I use for the Roon core.
in 2019 I bought a Nucleus+ with a 4TB SSD and upgraded the ram to 32GB. I recently gave up and sold the Nucleus and transferred my Roon core to my Mac Mini , 2018, i7, 32GB, with my library on a 14TB Novus external drive, this runs Roon better than the Nucleus, but songs still cut out. Less issues during the week and worse on weekends and evenings.
The problem is my large library, as I’ve always been a huge music collector, originally records, then CDs and now a digital library of over 60,000 albums plus about 8,000 Tidal favourites.
I’m wondering if much of the problem is my router Netgear Nighthawk AX12 AX6000 that I bought 5 years ago. Would upgrading to a high quality router such as a TP-Link Archer BE800 BE 19000 or ASUS ROG GT-AXE 16000 kill my Roon networking problems, would a faster mac help, or is it just my large library that Roon can’t really handle? I’d appreciate a definitive answer to this issue. Thanks.
PS, I never have networking issues playing my local library and Tidal through Plex on the Mac Mini.
What is your Internet speed? The Nighthawk is not bad and should do the job quite ably.
A routers job is pretty simple in reality, I get by using my ISP supplied modem/ router with no issues and I have 135k track library myself.
My guess would be the 80,000 Tidal favourites . BTW I always thought there was a 10,000 limit of favourites including Artists , Albums , any entity.
If you calculate the bps data rate it’s trivial even at 192/24 , nothing like video for example. I use the “Provider Router” with no issues . Roon’s lack of buffering is a culprit too . Your hardware is way over spec for your library.
As a test disconnect Tidal and play for a few days just local . that may indicate the issue.
Sorry I meant over 60,000 albums in my digital library and 8000 Tidal favourites.
If everything were wired (instead of WiFi), then a change of router is not likely to help.
That helps , they shouldn’t cause that much of an issue. 60k albums is “big” compared with some but with the 32 gb RAM should be doable, 600k tracks approx.
Both allow for large buffers that evens out supply blips , Roon does not , the design of RAAT was aimed at low buffers for zone sync.
I assume the basics ,
Core/Sever Ethernet to Router NOT WiFi
Cold Restart (weekly ?) . Turn everything off , start in order waiting until each component has started. (Our weather condition make me do this daily to avoid lightening strikes).
How are you end points connected , Ethernet or WiFi, this has sounds f WiFi interference
~$200 for a new router is hardly a huge expense in the big scheme of things, why not try it? If it doesn’t make my difference, return it (factory defaulted) and look elsewhere for a solution.
I think we’re talking about about $1000 here in Australia for the models I mentioned, but perhaps there’s a cheaper solution for something newer.
Maybe try connecting an end point on ethernet and see what happens ??
My Naim Atom is next to the router and computer with ethernet connected.
My other end point is a Bluesound power node, which was using wifi, I’ve just plugged into ethernet to see if it makes a difference.
I use a Naim Atom HE on ethernet via a long cable and a switch and never get dropouts. The WiFi on the Naim is also excellent , onc while decorating I had to use WiFi , never a blip !
If this for local music files as well or does it happen only on internet streaming content?
If your using wireless and live in an apartment complex your likely getting a lot of interference from neighbours WiFi which will cause your own to drop in performance. A change of router isn’t going to fix this really. A change of how you run it might. You need to optimise it for your environment .You first could check what channels for WiFi have less interference on them and change the router over to use those don’t use automatic. You can use an app for this. Check if your devices are connecting over 2.4ghz WiFi or 5ghz if the router has a prefer 5ghz try that. Also if you have a large space one WiFi node might not be enough to cover the whole space with all the neighbours interfering.
If you can wire your likely better and if it’s still and issue with all your zones wired then work back from their. Don’t throw money at it until to you have ruled everything else out.
Both my endpoints and my Mac mini with my core are wired. I disconnected my library and have been just playing tidal through Roon which improved things somewhat. Today I reconnected my library and disconnected tidal and I’m testing that and experiencing less dropouts so far.i’m only using wifi to control Roon with my phone, MacBook and phone.
Have you checked out your cables using speedtest on the Mac mini? I discovered I had one cable in the chain that was defective and not giving full throughput. Also what is your Internet speed and OS version on the Mac mini?
Not a networking issue most likely. It’s Roon + Large Libraries. Similar # of albums actually in my Roon instance, I get the “waiting for your roon server” intermittently. I don’t get song cut outs frequently (Roon only feeds HQPlayer so that might be why) but the Roon desktop application I’m using to access the server will get these spinning loaders for 1-2 seconds. This will happen whether or not you’re actually doing anything in the application (so it’s not just on navigation or whatever).
Server is running a Threadripper (1st gen, it does need a replacement), 128GB of ram (roon given 24), dedicated nvme for roons DB / cache, Roon in a docker. It’s probably not hardware related. Ultimately, I believe the issue is Roon. Tried with a cut down, ~1k release library, happens way less bordering on not at all.
I had the Nighthawk and experienced similar issues. I now have the EERO wifi-6 mesh with 1 satellite. Much better results. If you order it from Amazon you’ll have 30 days to try it out, if your results are no better you can return it.
You’ve got network issues. Get a networking guy to come in and look at your set up or do some reading and try the basics first yourself. Things like IP conflicts poor physical connections, and a dozen other things can be introducing problems.
Depending on how savvy you are a network sniffer may be able to give you a LOT of information if your overlay the logs to the points in time when you have the Roon dropouts.
Hi,
It’s 50/20, I’m using Ethernet for my core and 2 endpoints plus wifi as controllers on my ipad and phone.
I had similar problems. After weeks of checking for faults I decided to go nuclear and factory reset EVERYTHING- including my ISP connection.
Reinstalled roon and problem solved with the added benefit of faster internet speeds.
Hope this helps
I had the same problem. The problem has disappeared when the Roon Nucleus One was connected to the network via wired network (CAT6E) cable. I put the Roon and a Cambridge CXN (as well as a notebook) on a dedicated line back to the Verizon Modem/Router. It had a couple of extra RJ45 jacks for the local LAN. It is SWEET now.