[tholt]

I have a similar network setup for my bedroom rig. I find that using a dedicated 2.4 GHz band set to 20 MHz for the wifi extender gives the best SQ. No other 2.4 GHz clients connected. You can use a tri-band wireless router to do that. I don't have any other 2.4 GHz clients. So I just use a two-band wireless router.
I use 2.1 kg ground boxes with silver 14 AWG wires on the modem, router and extender. Connected to unused USB inputs. It does make a difference- lowers high frequency noise. Using silver DC-cables on the LPS's + upgraded fuses also makes a positive difference. I use HiFi-tuning silver supreme.

Interesting. Unfortunately my ISP forces me to use their own modem/router combo unit, which is dual band. What I currently do is have my wifi extender set to only receive the 5 ghz band from the main router/modem. So in that sense, it's not sharing the 2.4 ghz band that most devices in the house connect to. I have my Innuos Zen hardwired into the wifi extender and have set the extender ethernet ports to 5 ghz, so in essence it's the only device on the 5 ghz band I suppose? My wifi extender broadcasts both 2.4 and 5ghz bands, and there are wifi devices that are on the 2.4 ghz band of the extender. I'm not sure if those wifi devices are polluting the signal or not. I'm not sure how the wifi extender isolates (if at all) wired connections vs wireless connections.

 

[greenblured]

Interesting. Unfortunately my ISP forces me to use their own modem/router combo unit, which is dual band. What I currently do is have my wifi extender set to only receive the 5 ghz band from the main router/modem. So in that sense, it's not sharing the 2.4 ghz band that most devices in the house connect to. I have my Innuos Zen hardwired into the wifi extender and have set the extender ethernet ports to 5 ghz, so in essence it's the only device on the 5 ghz band I suppose? My wifi extender broadcasts both 2.4 and 5ghz bands, and there are wifi devices that are on the 2.4 ghz band of the extender. I'm not sure if those wifi devices are polluting the signal or not. I'm not sure how the wifi extender isolates (if at all) wired connections vs wireless connections.

I am using an Asus wireless router (RT-AX86U) set up in mediabridge mode as an extender. In this mode the Asus will only receive signals, not broadcast. I tested using the 5 GHz band exclusivly for the the AX86U and all the rest of the wireless clients on the 2.4 GHz band. The SQ was clearly inferior.
IMO not being able to use a main dedicated wireless router in your network setup will harm SQ. Try connecting your extender to a mobile wifi hotspot. Does the SQ improve?
And if possible you can try turning off the broadcast in your extenders settings.

 

[Mr Brett]

I am using an Asus wireless router (RT-AX86U) set up in mediabridge mode as an extender. In this mode the Asus will only receive signals, not broadcast. I tested using the 5 GHz band exclusivly for the the AX86U and all the rest of the wireless clients on the 2.4 GHz band. The SQ was clearly inferior.
IMO not being able to use a main dedicated wireless router in your network setup will harm SQ. Try connecting your extender to a mobile wifi hotspot. Does the SQ improve?
And if possible you can try turning off the broadcast in your extenders settings.

I recently bought an Asus RT-AX86U Pro, which replaced the router supplied by my ISP.
Then a wifi extender for my system.
If I configured the RT-AX86U as an extender, improved SQ?

 

[tholt]

I am using an Asus wireless router (RT-AX86U) set up in mediabridge mode as an extender. In this mode the Asus will only receive signals, not broadcast. I tested using the 5 GHz band exclusivly for the the AX86U and all the rest of the wireless clients on the 2.4 GHz band. The SQ was clearly inferior.
IMO not being able to use a main dedicated wireless router in your network setup will harm SQ. Try connecting your extender to a mobile wifi hotspot. Does the SQ improve?
And if possible you can try turning off the broadcast in your extenders settings.

Just so I understand, you're saying that 5 ghz sounds worse than 2.4 ghz from your extender? Are you connecting your extender to the 2.4 ghz band of your main router? And you have no other 2.4 ghz devices connecting to the main router?

I can choose to connect my extender using either 2.4 or 5 ghz from the main router. I can choose 2.4 ghz, but there are other 2.4 ghz devices in the house that will also connect to the main router on this band. I assumed less traffic is better, and no other devices use 5 ghz except my wifi extender and by extension, my audio system.

Unfortunately it doesn't seem like I can turn off broadcasting on my wifi extender, which makes sense as that's its purpose. Since you're using a router as an extender evidently that's an option.

 

[greenblured]

I recently bought an Asus RT-AX86U Pro, which replaced the router supplied by my ISP.
Then a wifi extender for my system.
If I configured the RT-AX86U as an extender, improved SQ?

Just so I understand, you're saying that 5 ghz sounds worse than 2.4 ghz from your extender? Are you connecting your extender to the 2.4 ghz band of your main router? And you have no other 2.4 ghz devices connecting to the main router?

I can choose to connect my extender using either 2.4 or 5 ghz from the main router. I can choose 2.4 ghz, but there are other 2.4 ghz devices in the house that will also connect to the main router on this band. I assumed less traffic is better, and no other devices use 5 ghz except my wifi extender and by extension, my audio system.

Unfortunately it doesn't seem like I can turn off broadcasting on my wifi extender, which makes sense as that's its purpose. Since you're using a router as an extender evidently that's an option.

The extender is connected to my main wireless router via the 2.4 GHz band broadcasted from my main wireless router (Asus GT-AX6000). No other 2.4 GHz devices connected. And yes, 5 GHz sounds worse than 2.4 GHz.
You will have to experiment with the bands to find out what config. sounds the best.
The channel width will also make a difference. I found using 20 MHz bandwidt sounds better than using 40 MHz. Lower bandwidt will pick up less interference from neighboring wifi networks.

 

[greenblured]

I recently bought an Asus RT-AX86U Pro, which replaced the router supplied by my ISP.
Then a wifi extender for my system.
If I configured the RT-AX86U as an extender, improved SQ?

It will if you use it with an LPS.

 

[Mr Brett]

It will if you use it with an LPS.

I have a Plixir Elite LPS I can use with it.

 

[greenblured]

I have a Plixir Elite LPS I can use with it.

Don't forget LPS on main router and modem.

 

[Mr Brett]

I have a Plixir Elite LPS I can use with it.

Thinking perhaps I keep my RT-AX86U Pro as my main router, and buy a RT-AX86U to set up in mediabridge mode as an extender.
Not much more expensive than my existing extender, a TP-Link RE650

 

[Mr Brett]

Don't forget LPS on main router and modem.

Have another Plixir Elite, and FiiO PL50 that end.

 

[Mr Brett]

Have another Plixir Elite, and FiiO PL50 that end.

The Plixir have SR Orange fuses, while the FiiO has a HiFi Tuning Supreme.
And Mad Scientist power cables.

 

[tholt]

The extender is connected to my main wireless router via the 2.4 GHz band broadcasted from my main wireless router (Asus GT-AX6000). No other 2.4 GHz devices connected. And yes, 5 GHz sounds worse than 2.4 GHz.
You will have to experiment with the bands to find out what config. sounds the best.
The channel width will also make a difference. I found using 20 MHz bandwidt sounds better than using 40 MHz. Lower bandwidt will pick up less interference from neighboring wifi networks.

Appreciate your tips. So I reconfigured my wifi extender to accept only the 2.4 ghz band from my main router. There is nothing I can do about other wireless devices using the 2.4 ghz band from the main router as they're in the house and need wifi. However, I'm hoping the wifi extender has some sort of noise filtration etc built in. After some digging in the settings I also found I could disable wifi broadcasting on the extender, so I did that. Now the extender is getting it's signal from the main router on the 2.4 ghz band and solely outputting a wired signal to my Innuos server/streamer. I double checked the 2.4 ghz band on the main router and it's 20mHz. Sonically things seem a bit smoother, which is surprising. Nothing night/day but a tad less harsh for lack of a better way to describe things.

 

[Mr Brett]

MartinT posted this the other day as well

https://theaudiostandard.net/thread/7403/quality-service-streaming

 

[OCC7N]

Wifi is the worst performance and ARP madness.

Split your segments into routers if you got more devices on the 2.4G. They will kill/interference.

Wifi has never been hifi. Do not get fixated about noise and using real ethernet wires.

Wifi was good when only few had it. Now these wavelengths is everywhere and they demand attention(address resolution) constantly!

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WiFi is the easy mainstream workaround

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Before even starting on all sorts of weak/tweaks.

Have you ever listened to what a drive sounds like? - NVME/SSD/HHD

Do that and go further.

———-
The bufferbloat phenomenon was described as early as 1985.[1] It gained more widespread attention starting in 2009.
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Shaking my head….if you guys really think this is a problem=2024

 

[audiobomber]

Basic question here. I'm looking to improve, if possible, my network setup. I have a router/modem unit that I'm stuck with as it's the only one the ISP uses. And the way my house is situated, the router/modem is in the furthest room possible away from my audio setup. So I'm using a wifi extender to get the signal, then hardwiring from the extender into my Innuos streamer/server unit which supplies my music (mostly Tidal, some local files).

Main router/modem → [wifi] → Wifi extender → [ethernet cable + SOtM iso-CAT 6 isolater] → Innuos Zen streamer/server

Are you absolutely certain your service provider will not allow you to use your own router? That would be very unusual, you should check again. I know you must use their modem, but you should be able to configure the modem/router so it acts strictly as a modem. If the device they supplied cannot be reconfigured, they may be able exchange it for a pure modem. That's where most audiophiles recommend to start.

ISP modem/routers have limited coverage. If you get a powerful enough router, you may be able to turn off the wi-fi broadcast on your extender. That will provide further improvement.

The next thing I would do is to move the SOtM isolator between the modem and router, and add a network switch between the extender and streamer. My choice would be an EtherRegen, but even a basic switch with upgraded PSU will make a difference.