Hey @swhittaker2008,
It is excellent that the hardwired connection resolved the immediate visibility issues. While Roon is designed to work over a network, the Roon Server (your MacBook Pro) acts as the “brain” and traffic controller for your entire audio system, making its connection stability critical.
Do you need to connect via hardwire every time?
Technically, no, you do not have to be hardwired, but Roon Labs strongly recommends it.
Roon Server handles the heavy lifting: indexing your library, managing signal processing (DSP), and streaming high-bandwidth audio data to multiple endpoints simultaneously. Because Wi-Fi is “half-duplex” (it can’t send and receive data at the exact same moment) and prone to interference, using it for the server can lead to:
- Endpoints disappearing from the "Audio" menu.
- Audio dropouts or "stuttering," especially with high-resolution files.
- Slow interface performance when browsing your library.
If you prefer to go wireless, you need to ensure your network settings allow Roon’s discovery protocols to pass through freely. A few things to consider around this:
- If IGMP Snooping is enabled, try disabling it (or vice-versa), as some routers handle multicast traffic poorly, effectively "hiding" the endpoints from the Server.
- Check and disable "Airtime Fairness" in your router’s wireless settings.
- If your router uses the same name (SSID) for both 2.4GHz and 5GHz (often called "Smart Connect" or "Band Steering"), the MacBook might jump between them. This momentary handoff can cause Roon to lose its connection to the endpoints.
- The Fix: If possible, connect the MacBook specifically to the 5GHz band for higher bandwidth and less interference.
- Since the Server is on your Mac, the macOS firewall might be blocking the discovery pings when you switch from Ethernet to Wi-Fi.
- Go to System Settings > Network > Firewall.
- Ensure Roon and RAATServer are set to "Allow incoming connections."