Duet Receiver Break Up with 85% signal !

[tonythetiger]

Hi All,
How comes my Duet Receiver breaks up even with signal strength at 80-85% ?
It happens on both my SB3 and Duet Receiver. I've tried changing wifi channels, switching off wifi encryption, moving router, twiddling router aerial, disabling anti-virus etc etc....ie many hours wasted.

What I dont understand is why I'm having these problems now? My old SB3 used to work 100% except when microwave was on - now my new setup barely works.

Seems as though the culprit could be squeezecenter. It seems like if you skip around tracks and albums the software just kind of stops talking, gets the hump and works again either a few seconds later, or maybe never.

I dont see how it could be wireless router as it used to be fine (netgear 834G with latest firmware). I also have latest controller firmware and latest squeezecenter.

The only thing that seems to fix it is running Duet CABLED - but then if I wanted to run 5e all over the house I wouldn't have gone for a Duet would I, and I wouldn't have "upgraded".

Dont particularly want to change router when it's been fine for 2 years, or cable my house. Any ideas?

TIA
TTT

[bpa]

Change orientation of SBR - from horizontal to vertical. The SB3 antenna is more vertical than SBR. However breaksups are more likely due to interference.

[Eric Seaberg]

What file type are you playing? Is your server running wireless as well?

[lanierb]

I would suggest changing wireless channels and/or checking to see if you are getting any interference from neighboring networks (e.g., if you have a laptop try downloading netstumbler and see what it says).

[stubill]

I finally gave up on the wireless altogether and dropped $50 on a couple of Homeplugs - easier than running Cat5 everywhere, and solved all my SBR connectivity problems....

[tonythetiger]

Hi all, thanks for your repies.

My PC is wired to my router.
I'm streaming .WAVs
I have checked with NetStumbler and there is only 1 other network around and it's not on same channel as mine - plus I have already tried 3 or 4 other channels.

Just seems so strange that things were better on SB3. I wonder if the remote is just getting in the way and causing wifi noise??

[pfarrell]

tonythetiger wrote:
> My PC is wired to my router.
> I'm streaming .WAVs

Streaming flac files is four times better. The files are 50% smaller,
and take 50% network traffic, and fit in the buffer better. Flac is
lossless, there is no difference in quality.

The smaller network traffic plus twice as much buffer is a big win. You
really should try it.


--
Pat Farrell
http://www.pfarrell.com/

[Ben Sandee]

On Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 9:13 AM, Pat Farrell <pfarrell (AT) pfarrell (DOT) com> wrote:

> tonythetiger wrote:
> > My PC is wired to my router.
> > I'm streaming .WAVs
>
> Streaming flac files is four times better. The files are 50% smaller,
> and take 50% network traffic, and fit in the buffer better. Flac is
> lossless, there is no difference in quality.
>
> The smaller network traffic plus twice as much buffer is a big win. You
> really should try it.


Agreed. I believe if you go to Settings->Advanced->File Types you can find
the WAV->WAV entry which is probably set for "NATIVE" by default. Change
this to "disabled" and I believe SqueezeCenter will automatically perform
this transcode to FLAC. You will not lose any sound quality but it should
reduce the network and buffer usage dramatically. It's worth a shot
anyway...

Ben

[jeffmeh]

On Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 9:13 AM, Pat Farrell <pfarrell (AT) pfarrell (DOT) com> wrote:

> tonythetiger wrote:
> > My PC is wired to my router.
> > I'm streaming .WAVs
>
> Streaming flac files is four times better. The files are 50% smaller,
> and take 50% network traffic, and fit in the buffer better. Flac is
> lossless, there is no difference in quality.
>
> The smaller network traffic plus twice as much buffer is a big win. You
> really should try it.


Agreed. I believe if you go to Settings->Advanced->File Types you can find
the WAV->WAV entry which is probably set for "NATIVE" by default. Change
this to "disabled" and I believe SqueezeCenter will automatically perform
this transcode to FLAC. You will not lose any sound quality but it should
reduce the network and buffer usage dramatically. It's worth a shot
anyway...

Ben

Note that this will put additional load on the SqueezeCenter machine, because it will be doing the WAV>FLAC encoding. If the server is currently your bottleneck, then this will only make things worse. That being said, these dropouts are usually a function of a wireless networking problem, so it is worth trying.

[SJobson]

Have you checked the TX rate as well as signal strength?

My SB3 started doing this on FLAC files (worked fine on MP3s) with the signal strength between 80-86%. Turned out it was the server's wireless connection to the router which was flaky - the server being a Mac Mini which has always had a weak signal. I ran a 30ft long patch lead through a wall and under a carpet to the router and all's fine again, though since I've had to move the router my signal's down around 75%. No dropouts, ever, any more.