That could be an issue too, makes sense if Tidal is working good as a stand-alone.
Ok guys, looks like a WiFi issue. I did as you said and ran Ethernet cable to streamer (wasn’t easy with cable lengths) and so far 4 albums, zero issues. I just wish I would have been aware of this before I signed up. I guess I’ll have to see if I can change my cable routing but it won’t be easy. Then I’ll have to tackle the upstairs streamer, even tougher. Thanks for the help guys. I told my family it worked and they were like so why do you not look happy? I said because now I have to figure out all the cables. Oh well, it’s always something when you’re an audiophile.
You don’t necessarily need to run cables. A lot of people run mesh wireless networks that work fine.
Such as
- Google Nest Wifi
- Google Wifi
- Netgear Orbi
- Netgear Orbi WiFi 6
- Netgear Orbi AC1200
- TP-Link Deco M5
- Ubiquiti Amplifi HD
- Linksys Velop
Right. I was just going to mention Eero, flawless for me.
I pretty ignorant here. So are these different than a typical router? I have a router and 2 extenders in the house. Where I was experiencing the issues in my family room the streamer was 20 feet from the router.
All routers are certainly not created equal. Some of those already mentioned will be a big step up from what you have. I recommend Synology personally - better than the Asus and Netgear routers we have had previously.
When you get a router from your internet provider they aren’t going to give you anything cutting edge or expensive. Also, to keep their support costs low it’s normally locked down so you can’t configure too many things. For some people that works fine including with Roon.
However, if it doesn’t then the best bet is to either.
- Keep the kit your provider gave you but switch off its wireless capabilities and add a mesh network
- The better option replace the supplied kit with a new router and mesh.
One of the reasons Sonos was so successful in multi room is that it has its own mesh network built into the devices.
Hope that helps.
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One very cheap option, put a Wifi extender close to the node, then try wifi again
Failing that run a short ethernet cable from the extender to the node
Not ideal but gets around running cables ?
Are you using Wifi extenders, i.e. connected by an ethernet cable, or wifi-repeaters (connected to your router using Wifi?
For the exact difference you can read this article (or google a little further)
https://www.actiontec.com/wifihelp/wifibooster/wifi-extenders-beat-wifi-repeaters-every-time/
If you are using a wifi-repeater, you extend connectivity, but your are cutting your available bandwidth in half. Something Roon does not really like.
So either go with the new mesh wireless networks as proposed above, connecing the first appliance by ethernet to your existing router.
Or put your wifi-extender as close as you can to your Roon server, but still connected by ethernet cable, Maybe you can avoid the last 10 difficult meters to install cable that way.
Dirk
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If that was to me , I did use a repeater and cable before got a full time Ethernet cable , it worked
My house has solid walls and ceilings, pretty good at absorbing wi fi, also makes running cables a nightmare …
I also tried an Asus Media Bridge (model number escapes me) which failed regularly
All in all can’t beat a wire
When I first found and wrote about Eero, I said networking is the worst of computing, wifi is the worst of networking, and extenders are of the devil.
Eero and similar modern products form a mesh: you get several devices, wire on of them inte the router so you have internet access, and sprinkle the rest of them around the house, and they connect to each other and manages themselves, automatically. Computers and tablets and everything else connects to the nearest mesh point and switch as I walk around. Automatic means there is nothing to configure, in fact there is no configuration user interface.
Not inexpensive, but compared to the boxes of old routers and extenders and stuff that have failed me over the decades, the Eero is a bargain.
Yep. I’m sat in the garden 60 feet and a couple of walls away from my internet router but the mesh points are letting me annoy people on the internet whilst sitting in the sunshine.
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I’m a new Roon user and last month I installed Roon running in a NUC wired to my network streaming via a Google WiFi mesh network to an RPi4 running Ropieee endpoint. The Ropieee was only about one meter from one of the mesh router points.
I was experiencing exactly the problems that you described. Two days ago I ran an Ethernet cable directly from the main router to the Rpie4 and now have had zero problems! (As one test, I streamed a combination of my local library, Tidal, and Qobuz for 18 hrs with no hiccups). As an aside, I tried a powerline Ethernet adapter first, and had drop outs.
So, in my experience, streaming via WiFi (even with a mesh router) caused all kinds of flakiness that seems to have completely cleared up with the wired setup from the router to the endpoint.
I guess I have repeaters if I read the article correctly. One going to basement (irrelevant in this case) and one at the top of the stairs. As far as my Node I’m dealing with now it’s in the same room as my router and my core is connected to router by Ethernet cable. What confuses me a bit is that I have several WiFi devices in the house including all my tv’s, computers, tablets, etc. Roon seems to be the only issue except for Xbox issues occasionally. Does Roon use that much bandwidth that there aren’t any other issues except for this?
I don’t mind at all doing the mesh network if that will give me better WiFi throughout the house but I don’t want to do it for no good reason.
And BTW, I put everything back today where it was originally (Node connected to WiFi instead of wired) and issues are back so it’s definitely the issue.
I’ve been pretty lucky with equipment over the years but it’s probably time for an upgrade. One thing not mentioned is the use of a modem, is that a thing anymore or are modems and routers combined now? I have an Ethernet cable connecting modem to router.
It depends. I currently have a modem with an integrated router for wired networking, and its connected to the mesh WiFi router. For a while, I had fiber internet so I didn’t need a modem at all.
My modem/router also contains a WiFi router but I don’t use it, I agree that those are generally mediocre.
In summary, i have had problems when using Bad WiFi ™ but Roon works great over Good WiFi ™.
My experience is the Google mesh router has given me a much more solid WiFi signal around a big old house with plaster and lath walls, but it still wasn’t enough to allow Roon to work solidly streaming to the my endpoint described earlier. Even a powerline Ethernet connection experienced dropouts. Only going to a wired Ethernet seems to have made it really solid.
In short, yes. And it’s using it in all kinds of ways a simple HDTV stream doesn’t. If your network has certain ‘issues’, Roon won’t be happy.
Fair enough. I think I’ll try a mesh network and see how that does.
Google Nest WiFi all set up, so far so good. 
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