Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Streaming WiFi or Cable - User Experience

There is often debate on the merits of wired or wireless signal transmission and, as is often the case, arguments run the gamut. I thought I'd share a validated user experience (mine) that though anecdotal, may be instructive for some (and old hat to others).

I've been running a two-channel digital audio system in my living for six years. I started with Sooloos and switched entirely to Roon late last year. The current setup is as follows:

INTERNET
Comcast Cable >>> Arris SB6190 Modem >>> Linksys MX5 Velop AX WiFi 6 (set as the router) >>> Linksys LGS116P 16 Port Switch (There are two other Linksys MX5s set as nodes, one in my upstairs office, and one in the basement).

LIVING ROOM AUDIO
818v3, DSP7200.2, Roon Nucleus+, Tidal Subscription, UHD722, iTach TCP/IP to Serial (IP2SL-P), Sony Bravia/Android 4K TV, Intel NUC i7 PC/Win10Pro 64 bit, iPad Air2 (3rd gen), QNAP TS-453A (relegated to backup and regular NAS duties), PS Audio Power Plant 10. ALL WIRED with CAT6 to the 16 Port switch (along with other household detritus).

After acquiring the Roon Nuleus+, I've had reliable wireless support for multiple endpoints (up to 8) around the house, on the deck, often concurrently with two people working on PCs, and concurrent movie streaming at the nodes.

BASEMENT AUDIO (and my WiFi revelation)
I've taken delivery of a 218 and an AC12 so that I can take my 1st Gen G92 (just for Trifield), DSP5200s and a DSP3100HC out of mothballs, and have Roon (and everything else internet) in the basement. The Sony 1080P TV was already plugged into the Linksys MX5 Node down there and streamed reliably. I was concerned that I might have to run CAT6 from the living room router to the Basement Node, which would have been a royal pain and a severe bone of contention with HER. The great news is that with my configuration, wireless via Linksys MX5s, the network has proven fast and reliable for several months. The 218 renders Roon without clicks or other digital detritus and is instantly responsive to instructions from various control devices. I tried it in the basement, and in my office upstairs, with an old Grace M901 headphone amp attached to it.

Wireless between endpoints in a multi-room/zone setups has been very iffy in the past. I've tried it with Routers and range extenders with lots of frustration, especially with music zones. I tried the first generation Linksys Velop Mesh, but I think the approach was yet to be "sorted." But WiFi appears to have taken a significant leap with the advent of the latest mesh networks. I'm not advertising Linksys's iteration of Mesh, just pointing out that in my setup, it does what it says on the tin. Each MX5 is a lot more expensive than their first-gen Velop Mesh system, but I weighed that against the cost of opening up the walls, and their price suddenly paled.

Please accept my apologies if this is all old hat and your time wasted.

I have routinely used wifi since I first started with Sooloos back in 2016 and still use it for both Roon and Sooloos. Once I put a simple switch between the wifi adapters used for the streaming and the router itself all has always been fine. I now use a mesh system but the anchor for the mesh (if that is a correct term) still needs to be plugged into the switch and not the router for things to work as they should. I might add that I use two elderly Belkin ethernet to wifi adapters for my two MS200s, both on Roon and on Sooloos, and, to my surprise but pleasure, they work perfectly.

I only use WiFi as the Mac Mini that runs Roon and stores the FLAC files is in my home office on WiFi. One MS200 is hardwired to a switch and the other to an Apple Airport Express.

Always works fine.

Neil

To me cable is god! Always. A little more work at the begining, but no signal interruptions, etc..

I do enjoy a good ethernet cable now and then. Mostly as SpeakerLink cables in fact.

Now wired is king but as you pointed out the new wifi6 gateways are reliable.
I use an Asus ax11000 as the main wifi access point mode with a 2.5gbit wired connection to main router Mikrotik.

First floor is using the Asus ax88 in gateway mode (wired clients but rest of the network via AX WIFI) and connection is a steady 2.5Gbit+ between those Asus AX routers.

It was not always so… firmware have steadily improved!