Level II Improving your Network for Streaming

This tip is not mine, but from a customer. I assume you have already read my first post entitled "Simple, Inexpensive & Effective Ways To Improve Your Streaming Experience"

If you haven't, you should.

Tip#1

Not everyone will be able to do this, but for those of you who's internet provider has supplied you with a Modem AND a wireless router, this tip will help to offload noise and traffic from your audio equipment's network connection.

It's fairly simple. Instead of connecting your ISP's modem directly to their (or your) wireless router, you are going to purchase an ethernet (not wireless) router and connect the modem to that.

In the diagram below, the modem is receiving the connection from the internet, the output is connected to an Ethernet router.

From here, connect your NAS and Streamers via hard wired Ethernet connections, and also connect your wireless router. The wireless router will give connectivity to all of your other household devices as well as connect your controllers to your streamers.  This does two things:

1. It offloads hard wired network processing of your streaming devices and NAS to the Ethernet router. 

2. it creates more separation of the wireless components from the Ethernet connected devices. Meaning less noise.

Try it!

Tip #2

Before you rush out to buy that Ethernet router, make sure you get one that has at least one optical Ethernet port (SFP). That may come in handy in the very near future. :)

Ethernet Router with a single Optical Ethernet port (port is on the far left)