TP-Link fiber optic conversion questions?

Thanks. I’ll try it out.

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Thanks for these links Mike!

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I just got two TP Link MC200CM converters but I’m not sure whether to set them on “auto” or “force”. I feel the product instructions are really vague. I’m getting data to pass through which I tested on a laptop, but Roon won’t recognize my Roon endpoint being fed by the converters.

I’m positive I have attached the cables correctly. I’m going from my router, ethernet to switch, ethernet to MC200CM (auto mode) to fiber patch cable to second MC200CM (force mode), ethernet to roon endpoint.

Which endpoint? I believe the MC200CM only works at gigabit speeds and won’t work at 10/100M speeds. Just double checking.

I got the 100M model because my Pi3 endpoints don’t support gigabit ethernet connections and my microRendu endpoint supports BOTH 100M and 1000M connections.

My endpoint is a DEQX PreMate Plus. This converter (TP Link MC200CM) was recommended by Steve Silberman of Roon Labs (back when he was still at Audioquest) and Michael Lavorgna of Audiostream so I figured it would work well with common high end network connected DACs.

I guess my PS Audio DirectStream isn’t high end then :grin:

Jokes aside, some networked DACs like mine don’t support gigabit connections so won’t support your MC200CM model. It’s got nothing to do with high end or low end.

I can’t see info on the link you provided about the ethernet connections supported but worth checking firstly.

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Come to think of it, maybe I should ask the man himself @steven_silberman for advice on getting these TP Link optical media converters to work. Steve, can you comment on whether to set them to “auto” or “force” and whether I need the 10/100M version or the 1000m version? I purchased the 1000m version.

Does he have your DEQX model? If not, it’s a question for DEQX.

If I had only a microRendu (which supports BOTH 100M AND 1000M) your model would be fine for me.

But since I also have Pi3 endpoints your model won’t work for me, as these don’t support 1000M connections - same as my DirectStream DAC.

The 100M model I linked above is much more compatible with most endpoints, both high and low end :grin:

@Alan_Langford of DEQX, can you speak to whether the DEQX Premate Plus is 1000Mbps compatible? If not, I can easily return my optical media converters to Amazon and get the 10/100M version.

Force.

See this for diagnosis:
https://www.tp-link.com/us/faq-1135.html

Please find out whether your endpoint has 1000Mbps Ethernet port or not. If it’s 100Mbps Ethernet, you need MC100CM instead of MC200CM, or MC110CS as Sean suggested but you’d need to purchase a different kind of fiber.

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If you connect the two MC200CM to each other with fiber, use force.
Note that you need to power cycle the adapters for changes between force and auto.

In the end, I just went ahead and tried all possible combinations of settings since there are only four: Force-Force, Force-Auto, Auto-Force, and Auto-Auto. None of them got to work with my network DAC. I was aware of the need to power cycle, but I never got any specifics. Does that just mean unplug the power adaptor from the media converts for about 10 seconds and power them back on? I did that each time. I’d unplug the power, make the switch the setting, and then plug back in. Was anything else required?

I appreciate everyone’s feedback so far.

You have to set the one marked with bold to force.
“Be sure the opposite end is using the same setting. When using two converters at the same time, the two converters must be set to FORCE mode.” from page 5

However, if the ethernet port on your Roon Endpoint doesn’t support 1GBitE, it will still not work since it is a Gigabit Ethernet Media Converters.

Could someone please explain why - as mentioned several times - you specifically need Gigabit Media converters for a Gigabit-capable endpoints and 100Mbps Media converters for 100Mbps (max) endpoints?

Surely, as with all other ethernet / switches / endpoints, if the ‘source’ is lower-speed than the ‘destination’ then the destination will either realise, or struggle - but if the ‘source’ is higher-speed-capable than the ‘destination’ then it will throttle…?

Just asking for clarification / understanding / curiosity…

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Cause this particular Media Converters are intended for 1000BASE-SX fiber to 1000Base-T copper media or vice versa so it will not do any auto-speed negotiation.

The The MC100CM media converter converts 100BASE-FX fiber to 100Base-TX copper media or vice versa.
One of it’s features is auto-negotiation of 10/100Mbps and Auto MDI/MDIX for TX port

Alan Langford of DEQX confirmed that my DEQX PreMate Plus is 10/100Mbps, not 1000Mbps. So there’s that.

Ya this was discussed in this older thread below which is why this was the first question I asked (i.e. what is your endpoint and it’s ethernet connection speed) - because I ran into the same issue last year and others have too.

I highly recommend the MC110CS. I went a little ‘extra’ and had the switching regulators with low noise linear and some caps replaced.

Thanks @dabassgoesboomboom. I wish i would have seen that thread before. I should have posted there originally. Will do so now…

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I wondered about that too when I first learned about it.

It seems to me this may be a specific design choice by TP-Link, and is not necessarily generally applicable to other brands of FMC, e.g. Trendnet. However, TP-Link seems more popular for the purpose of Ethernet isolation in the computer audio world, and I have Lumin user setups with them so I know they’re proven to work, despite this limitation.

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Hi Brice –

Here’s what I use in my system: https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Fiber-Ethernet-Converter-MCM110SC2/dp/B002Q0WMWQ/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1520307560&sr=8-4&keywords=startech+ethernet+to+fiber-optic

It looks like Sean2016 recommended the same solution.

Steve

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