I’ve read with interest the threads on people having reliability issues with their roon setups. It seems to me that a common theme is the Ethernet equipment in use and in particular the advice to often avoid the use use of managed Ethernet switches.
With that in mind wondering if people could list the Ethernet switches that they ARE using as a way of compiling some details of known stable and reliable gea network gear.
This is what I use:
Good build quality, zero problems. Not the cheapest but still pretty reasonable. I’m going to be making some changes to my LAN, so I’ll probably be adding an 8-port version of the same switch in another location.
Always overestimate the number of ports you’ll need.
Desktop - (I have 3)
Rack - (I have 2)
Hi @Aguy
Here’s the ultimate Ethernet Switch.
It’s rebuilt on a D-Link DGS-108.
I have his first version and it’s a great difference between a original, and Paul Pang’s, rebuilt version!
Both in preforming and sound (I know what it’s been discussions here on that Ethernet Cables don’t have any sound, so why would a switch have it!
Try and you will get answer, on both questions)!
Because you get:
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No return & no refund after 1 month.
Refund done after received the item,
Return postage is on buyer side.
So if your not satisfied with it or, it doesn’t give you better preforming and sound! So does you have one month on you to testing and compare it with other switches! And when return it, and it’s only costing you to send it back!
D-Link 8ports 10/100/1000Mbps TCXO Switch.
Modified with TCXO module & audio grade capacitor.
Power require 5V/ 1A min.,
Bundle with 5V/ 1A SMPS AC adapter.
Recommend to use 5V / 1.5A LPSU for the better sound quality.
US$219 including free shipping world wide,
Switch + 60cm Red Lan cable US$319 including Free shipping world wide.
Check out his LPSU and other Ethernet products on. http://ppaproduct.blogspot.se/2015/07/audio-grade-switcher.html
For more information send a email to Paul Pang at.
ppastudio@yahoo.com.tw
Offer 1 year warranty,
Burned by higher supply voltage or disassemble is not include.
Warranty stick broken is no warranty also.
Offer return within 1 month,
No return & no refund after 1 month.
Refund done after received the item,
Return postage is on buyer side.
I would suggest using any switch, even a simple 8 port switch, is better than using an all in one router to handle your network data. A switch essentially maps each and every device on the network and increases efficiency of the network by sending data to each unique device as needed. In comparison a router floods all ports which can clog your network leading to dropouts etc. With a switch handling the network your router can be left to handle the internet connection.
Hope this helps …
I bought switches at a Car Boot Sale from someone upgrading. A couple of quid. They work great. Net gear I think, but just basic is all you need to get up and running. I can’t see how sound quality will improve from the startling quality I have now but I expect that depends on your end points.
My experience. Chris
Only three answers and we have the first audiofoolie product promoted.
Our beloved Roon forum is on a bad way. Please don’t let it become one of those audio forums, which became unreadable for people with common sense or a proper technical education.
The official Roon advice on switches is to stick to simple switches from reputable brands. Do not go crazy complicated managed switches from Cisco – instead, go for the Netgear or TP-Link unmanaged switches. It’ll save you a ton of headaches in the long run.
this is incorrect.
No modern router has anything other than a switch built into it for the LAN ports. The ports built into the router do not act like old style hubs where they flood each port.
In fact, if any switch/router/hub is advertised as supporting 1000mbps, you can bet it’s a proper non-flooding switch, because you can’t really even achieve a full 100mbps on a flooding hub.
Some managed switches have a “port mirroring” option, but even on those you cant reliability get the full speeds of gig-e when that option is on.
The D-Link DGS-108 is my favourite cheap switch: Literally, you can just plug them in and forget they even exist.
This refers to the off-the-shelf version though. Claims of improving an Ethernet switch for the purposes of enhanced audio reproduction are borderline fraudulent.
Thanks everyone. I wasn’t trying to start another audiophile post about this Ethernet switch sounding better than another.
Just after an overview of what switches people are actually using. Sounds like the netgear and TP link unmanaged switches are both popular and trouble free.
I’m basically planning on running my roon setup on its own switch which Is hanging off my main house switch. Reason for that is it should keep all the roon traffic relatively confined within its own switch and hopefully be a bit more immune to network traffic elsewhere in the house ( eg kids watching Netflix)
I have four Linksys SE3008 switches in my network. No problems here.
I have some older D-Link “Green” ethernet switches which generally work fine, with the notable exception of Gigabit to 100MBit UDP handling (I think), which matters when connecting Meridian-Sooloos kit.
Edit: Model is DGS-1008D
I fully understand why managed switches can create a problem if not configured correctly. I also understand why some people require them for non-Roon purposes. Outside of that, any non-managed switch should be fine. I use Roon in two locations, which between them have D-Link, TP-Link, Netgear and Linksys switches, ranging from five to 16 ports and some daisy chained. I have never had a Roon-related probkem attributable to unmanaged switches
I had problems with the managed TP-Link TL-SG108E. No problems at all with either the TP-Link TL-SG1005D or the Netgear GS205 (both unmanaged).
Come on Danny, it doesn’t get any simpler than this 
(iPhone 6 for size comparison)
Sorry, I had one of these little guys at hand and when you mentioned the complicated Cisco switches I just couldn’t resist. 
Edit: Just fair to say these are not the big ones Danny was talking about. This is a little unmanaged “plug & Play” switch. Just using it to pick on Danny a little.
Isn’t that switch managed? It looks like the POE smart switch they have that supports VLANs. The SG200-08P.
VLAN support of switches is exactly what I’m talking about. People try to do stuff with VLANs and shoot themselves in the foot. It’s a common cause of broken home networks. Unsure about the implementation in this switch, but many VLAN implementations freak out when running into multicast traffic and/or fast transmission of ARPs.
If I’m correct about the model, then this switch next to your iPhone is not unmanaged, and definitely not simple.
I use the managed TP-LINK TL-SG105E as a network tap to debug badly behaving partner devices. I’d never use it for real in a home network.
You are absolutely correct. It’s a SG200.
Just searched all the cra… I mean devices I have around from them and I don’t have any 90 or 100 models (unmanaged) to replace the pic with, so I’ll concede defeat 
This one comes by default with a single VLAN and as long as you don’t mess with the config it will pretty much behave as an unmanaged one.
Just as a side note, the switch I have my Roon core and Roon Bridge (Allo USBridge) connected to is one of the big, complex ones from the Cisco enterprise portfolio. Despite having about 30 devices connected to it and several VLANS, it behaves brilliantly with roon, but I do do this for a living. So, in general terms I’d like to echo Danny’s words and the KISS philosophy. Keep it as simple as possible, the less places your system can break, the better. Go with a nice unmanaged switch from any reputable networking vendor and you should be OK. The more variables you put in the mix, the easier it is to break and the harder it is to troubleshoot.
(Nice catch Danny. Damn it! 
)
I’ve had good luck with Netgear’s Ethernet switches & MoCA boxes, but bad luck with things from them that have a lot of (user visible) software: router, streaming media box. Yes, I know there’s software/firmware in the switch… YMMV
There is a recent dropout issue related to Cisco unmanaged switch as well:
