Internet provider routers

Audio Gear Talk
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Roon Core Machine

Roon Core on Mac Studio M2 Max with 32gb memory Sonoma 14.1.1 Vodafone 4EA224 THG3000 router all wired ethernet connections. Not normally using VPN

Connected Audio Devices

Have KEF LS50 II speakers and a parallel system with Eversolo DMP-A6 streamer outputting via coax to Meridian 568 and DSP-5000 speakers.

Number of Tracks in Library

Still inputting my library about 500 albums so far

Description of Issue

New user to Roon. Everything seems to be working well but I am thinking of purchasing a higher quality Asus router but not sure which model would be best. Reading your advice you say that the IP provider's supplied router should be put into bridge mode. However my Vodafone router THG3000 cannot be put into bridge mode it would seem. I was thinking of moving to SKY, however their router also cannot be put into bridge mode. So which IP provider should I move to whose router can be put into bridge mode? And which current ASUS router would be best? As I understand it (though as a pensioner I am finding the tech challenging) it needs to have port forwarding.
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In this situation, set up the Sky router with DMZ on one port only, which must be used to connect to the new router, disable Wi-Fi, and only permit connections to the new router. This works well for me, but you need to understand that any device connected to the router is unprotected (with security hand-off to the new router.)

I can’t comment on an ASUS router since I use a TP-Link ER605 with separate EAP225 access points. However, this guide may be helpful.

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What’s wrong with your current ISP and their provided router? Does your Roon ARC work as it’s supposed to? I have ATT and use their router with no issues.

Don’t try to solve a problem you don’t have.

EDIT: I mentioned ATT as an example that ISP provided routers can work very well.

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The sound drops out from time to time. I am assuming a better quality router will fix that. We don’t have AT&T in the UK

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Thanks Martin. I haven’t moved to SKY yet. What is DMZ? Is it easy to set up?

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Local files or internet streaming?

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internet streaming

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And with local files it’s OK, if you have any?

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If your Roon setup is wired from router to Roon Server to all endpoints, and unless your router is faulty, I highly doubt replacing the router will fix dropout.

I cannot state which is the best, but I can only tell you I use Asus AX86.

In Asus settings → LAN → IPTV, enable Multicast Routing.

If you cannot get the ISP router to run in bridge mode, you can set the Asus to run in WiFi Access Point mode so that you are not doing Double NAT (which is bad).

If the ISP router and the Asus are not far from each other, disable the ISP router WiFi.

If you occasionally need to use VPN, AX86 with the latest firmware supports WireGuard VPN tunnel, and can set individual devices to have VPN or not.

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I would be very surprised if the router was the cause of the dropouts.

As for “bridge mode” on your IP’s router, I’ve only ever needed to do that if I’m using my own home wifi hardware as well as the IP’s router (which I’ve done for many years now, as the IP’s router is fine as a router but not great for wifi).

With your Mac wired to the IP’s router, you would not want to use “bridge mode” I would think!

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Since you haven’t moved to Sky, and your issue may be unrelated to your current ISP modem, I would advise against setting up a DMZ. Unless you know what you are doing, a DMZ on your ISP modem to emulate bridge mode, carries significant security risk if configured incorrectly.

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You must consider an ASUS router compatible with Roon; seek an ISP supporting bridge mode for setup.

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