Core 1.7 build 667 on NAS synology 418 play
iOS, Windows 10 and OSX controllers
Network Details (Including networking gear model/manufacturer and if on WiFi/Ethernet)
Tp-link deco M5 mesh network. 1 main router with 1 wireless hub extention
Tp-link SG108E smart managed switch (flow and snooping enabled)
All players and NAS have priority activated for bandwidth
Audio Devices (Specify what device you’re using and its connection type - USB/HDMI/etc.)
Endpoints all Bluesound:
Node2 wired
Powernode2 wired
Pulse Flex 2i on WiFi in Deco M5 hub
Description Of Issue
Hi!
Using my Node and Powernode works perfectly all the time. No issues at all. Love it. The Flex Pulse 2i though has regular dropouts with the notification that the track is not loading fast enough, the Roon controller then starts quickly skipping tracks. This will stop as soon as I press pause.
As the other endpoints work fine, in think it has to do with the WiFi connection. The strange thing (to me) is that the Bluesound app, that uses the exact same library files, does not have this issue. Does that mean that transferring files using Roon takes more bandwidth? And more importantly, how do Infix this?
Otherwise the WiFi connection works fine. I can work, have zoom meetings and listen to music all day long, except using Roon.
Biggest issue with WiFi is contention, if you have anyone else like kids streaming on iPads etc this will/can cause problems.
WiFi is half duplex and on most access points more than two devices cannot tx/rx at the same time. The AP shares the connection across devices so you get to download a little bit and then it is the next devices turn and so on till it gets back to your device again.
Hey Chris, thanks for explaining. I did not know that. I do have a wife working at home as well. However though, it does not yet explain why the network can’t seem to handle Roon streams but has no issues with Bluesound streams. Does Roon add data to the audiostream?
That I don’t know, it may be that the Bluesound has a better or larger buffer so it is able to keep playing until it gets round to it’s next turn whereas Roon runs out quicker.
Roon has a great interface and features but I don’t like the networking aspect of it and it does seem to be less forgiving or flakey on radio streams as well (for me)
If your core is on the NAS is that connected via ethernet or WiFi?
Is that a TP-Link feature as lot of these optimisation features on routers etc can cause more problems than they prevent.
Bluesound and other such apps send the stream in the native format probably compressed and let the endpoint do the unpacking, decompressing and possibly upsampling.
In roon that is all done in the server and the uncompressed and perhaps massively upsampled stream is sent in full PCM.
So the difference between the methods in bandwidth can be significant, especially if multiple disperate streams are going on.
Hello @Jkav, looks like you got some suggestions here already. Please let me know if turning off the bandwidth setting helps! I’d also recommend bypassing the managed switch to see if this helps.
I did, unfortunately disabling the priority bandwidth for devices did not help. However, I did move the player to the other side of my desk so it would move into direct line of sight with the wifi hub (through a doorway). This seems to help weirdly enough. Some times the easiest solutions are the ones most effective Let’s see for how long this will help.
Let’s see for how long this will help.