Nucleus in company network

Hi,

I want to use nucleus in my company network, where I only have ethernet port to connect to the internet. I don’t have co-axial output in my office so I can not set up a modem/router combo directly. I still want to use my phone or laptop to control the nucleus in this case, is it possible? How can I do it? Thanks.

best,

Yuheng

Firstly, will you be asking your company network admin if this is ok?
Assuming it is ok with them they might be able to share the network design with you.
Roon server needs to be on the same subnet as any clients. You might simply be able to plug in the Nucleus to a spare network port at your desk or the one next to you and it will all work fine.
If the network is more controlled and stops Roon’s broadcasts then your other option would be to buy a small switch (4 or 5 port, unmanaged, cheap) and plug your work pc and the Nucleus into the client ports on the switch and then the switch uplink port into your desk network port.
If I was the network admin I would’t be too keen on that though.

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Your phone laptop would need to be on the same subnet as the wired network. In most business, those networks are split, on purpose. I just load Roon on my laptop and when at work, run it/control it from there.

You should really inquire with your IT dept.

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Enterprise networks can be set-up in all kinds of different ways that would cause Roon to not work properly. This would require you ask your network admin / team to make changes. In this case, I would not invest in something like Nucleus, install it, find it doesn’t work, and then ask for permission. You may find yourself owning a Nucleus that they kindly ask you take home.

The basic concept and requirements still hold true even on an “enterprise network”. The basic requirement is your Nucleus, endpoint, and remote all need to be on the same ethernet lan segment (broadcast domain).

Some of the common things used in enterprise networks that would cause things not to work are 802.1x authentication (wired and / or wireless), wifi endpoint isolation, proxy servers, mac layer filtering, device management (network can block access for non-managed devices), and the list goes on and on. Depending on the size of your organization or how “aggressive” your network team is they may be using all or none of these things. The fact that you’re asking leads me to believe you’re not sure so it would be good to have a discussion with them before spending the money.

Also be aware that Nucleus is chatty. Chatty network devices can set-off all kinds of security alerts because it doesn’t look like “enterprise traffic”. That’s yet another reason why I’m have a conversation before plugging anything in. In the US… most larger corporations have made this kind of unauthorized network access a fireable offense. This isn’t really something you want to try and plead ignorance to after the fact.

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