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Upgrade router

Frizzy

Frizzy

Liberal anarchist
I’m not very techy so help needed. I gather replacing the stock router supplied by Bt etc is worth while. anyone tried this, can they recommend some options. Mine is ‘now’ tv. Tried wireless but tbh felt it adds more faff, and tried mobile network which was promising but coverage in forest is poor.
I’ve already added a second Cisco switch between the ‘now’ router and Chord EE switch which goes to dac, and there was a definite sweetening of the sound, which seemed easier to enjoy, less digital. I’ve read that adding a second one that converts to optical and then back again before Chord switch further reduces noise, again anyone tried? And or adding separate switch for main network and one for hifi.
Second question, usb jitter busters and the like, any good, if so which and where?. Must admit the plethora of streaming widgets gets overwhelming.
Please keep it as analogue a discussion as possible as I’m easily confused.
Ta friz.
 
An absolute waste of time and money. Spend your time and money on actual tweaks/upgrades (like speakers and speaker positioning and room acoustics) and music.
 
The free routers supplied when you sign up to a broadband supplier are built to a price, the early ones were pretty naff and lacked "horsepower" especially trying to stream higher res tunes/vids, nowadays for most homes routers like the BT Hub are fine.

A more expensive router will have a lot of extra functionaily, might give a slightly faster/more stable connection and is only really for someone who knows what extra tech/features they want/need. If your current Internet connection is stable and close to the speed estimate your ISP gave you, I'd not bother spending money on a new router.

I run an IT company so can try pretty much any network kit I want, personally I've not found changing out/introducing routers/switches/copper cabling/fibre optic transeivers etc. to make an audible difference but I know there are a lot of posts on various forums from folk who have found that such changes make an improvement as usual ymmv. If you like tweaking I'd recommend reading up on EQ/DSP and things like REW+UMIK, MiniDSP, Dirac, Lyngdorf Room Perfect, that stuff does make a significant difference ime.

ATB

Gus
 
Amber Audio said:
The free routers supplied when you sign up to a broadband supplier are built to a price, the early ones were pretty naff and lacked "horsepower" especially trying to stream higher res tunes/vids, nowadays for most homes routers like the BT Hub are fine.

A more expensive router will have a lot of extra functionaily, might give a slightly faster/more stable connection and is only really for someone who knows what extra tech/features they want/need. If your current Internet connection is stable and close to the speed estimate your ISP gave you, I'd not bother spending money on a new router.

I run an IT company so can try pretty much any network kit I want, personally I've not found changing out/introducing routers/switches/copper cabling/fibre optic transeivers etc. to make an audible difference but I know there are a lot of posts on various forums from folk who have found that such changes make an improvement as usual ymmv. If you like tweaking I'd recommend reading up on EQ/DSP and things like REW+UMIK, MiniDSP, Dirac, Lyngdorf Room Perfect, that stuff does make a significant difference ime.

ATB

Gus
Click to expand...

I think this post pretty much wraps it up for those of us that aren’t too convinced by network goodies given a reasonable connection to the internet.
 
I have an unhealthy interest in network stuff, its a hobby. I am pretty much settled for now on Unifi but have rolled my own with untangle and pfsense on various devices from powerful servers in VMs to powerful stand alone PCs to low powered nucs and fanless pcs.

I have had cisco switches. unifi switches, netgear switches. I have had draytek routers, Asus routers and D Link routers.

All are great for learning about networks and stuff, None of them made any difference to sound what so ever. Why would they?

Oh and I have played with various ethernet cables. but not super expensive. No difference. Of course.

FWIW on balance for a router I found Untangle to be by far the best, makes unifi look anaemic.
 
garyi said:
Oh and I have played with various ethernet cables. but not super expensive. No difference. Of course.
Click to expand...
I received an audioquest Cinnamon today from a PFM member which fits this category. Very pretty, beautifully presented and I’m hopeful it makes a difference but aren’t holding my breath. Whatever, I’ll keep my opinion to myself: cable threads are as toxic as brexit.
 
No router will make any difference to sound quality.

In terms of ethernet switching and data throughput, most ISP routers will not perform as well as devices from the likes of Draytek and Asus. A friend of mine recently soak tested the gb ethernet ports on a BT homehub and found they were way slower when all in use than the gb ethernet ports on a Cisco switch and a domestic Asus router.
 
garyi said:
I have an unhealthy interest in network stuff, its a hobby. I am pretty much settled for now on Unifi but have rolled my own with untangle and pfsense on various devices from powerful servers in VMs to powerful stand alone PCs to low powered nucs and fanless pcs.

I have had cisco switches. unifi switches, netgear switches. I have had draytek routers, Asus routers and D Link routers.

All are great for learning about networks and stuff, None of them made any difference to sound what so ever. Why would they?

Oh and I have played with various ethernet cables. but not super expensive. No difference. Of course.

FWIW on balance for a router I found Untangle to be by far the best, makes unifi look anaemic.
Click to expand...

I work in the field and am about to get BT 900 FTTP at home. Waiting to see what I get from BT, but am considering a Cisco GB switch with Cisco Poe waps and some new cat 6a cabling, simple but rock solid.
 
What speeds you looking at? I am waiting patiently for virgin to say 1gig both ways is available but nothing yet. I would pay 70 a month for that.
 
Darren said:
That's a real shame because as long as we allow objectivist bullies to dominate cable threads they will remain 'toxic'. Its important to remember that they are a vociferous and rude minority who certainly don't speak for us all or, in fact, for Tony L who has no time for absolutism in audio.
If you rate the cable - do please let us know.
Click to expand...

Amen to that.

Frizzy said:
I’m not very techy so help needed. I gather replacing the stock router supplied by Bt etc is worth while. anyone tried this, can they recommend some options. Mine is ‘now’ tv. Tried wireless but tbh felt it adds more faff, and tried mobile network which was promising but coverage in forest is poor.
I’ve already added a second Cisco switch between the ‘now’ router and Chord EE switch which goes to dac, and there was a definite sweetening of the sound, which seemed easier to enjoy, less digital. I’ve read that adding a second one that converts to optical and then back again before Chord switch further reduces noise, again anyone tried? And or adding separate switch for main network and one for hifi.
Second question, usb jitter busters and the like, any good, if so which and where?. Must admit the plethora of streaming widgets gets overwhelming.
Please keep it as analogue a discussion as possible as I’m easily confused.
Ta friz.
Click to expand...

Change the power supply on your router to something like an IFI Quiet Power PSU, or better still a LPS Linear Power Supply. You will hear a distinct upgrade in SQ, as you will if you change the power supply on the Chord EE switch. I use one of the EE switches which was a great upgrade, and adding the IFI Quiet PSU definitely added something extra at little cost.

A good ethernet cable would also add more, look out for a Shunyata Venom, excellent cable, impossible not to notice the difference.
 
garyi said:
What speeds you looking at? I am waiting patiently for virgin to say 1gig both ways is available but nothing yet. I would pay 70 a month for that.
Click to expand...
900 advertised, 450 up and 200 down promised. £55 pcm. I currently pay more than that for 2x 3 Mbit/s adsl 2+ circuits and landlines.
 
flutteringwow said:
Amen to that.



Change the power supply on your router to something like an IFI Quiet Power PSU, or better still a LPS Linear Power Supply. You will hear a distinct upgrade in SQ, as you will if you change the power supply on the Chord EE switch. I use one of the EE switches which was a great upgrade, and adding the IFI Quiet PSU definitely added something extra at little cost.

A good ethernet cable would also add more, look out for a Shunyata Venom, excellent cable, impossible not to notice the difference.
Click to expand...

it’s funny how we can differ here, I read this post as akin to saying if I wear a red hat I hear a distinct upgrade in SQ and a yellow ribbon on the red hat added something extra at little cost whilst a feather in the hat, particularly a Shunyata feather, made it impossible not to notice a difference.

.sjb
 
Frizzy said:
I’m not very techy so help needed. I gather replacing the stock router supplied by Bt etc is worth while. anyone tried this, can they recommend some options. Mine is ‘now’ tv. Tried wireless but tbh felt it adds more faff, and tried mobile network which was promising but coverage in forest is poor.
I’ve already added a second Cisco switch between the ‘now’ router and Chord EE switch which goes to dac, and there was a definite sweetening of the sound, which seemed easier to enjoy, less digital. I’ve read that adding a second one that converts to optical and then back again before Chord switch further reduces noise, again anyone tried? And or adding separate switch for main network and one for hifi.
Second question, usb jitter busters and the like, any good, if so which and where?. Must admit the plethora of streaming widgets gets overwhelming.
Please keep it as analogue a discussion as possible as I’m easily confused.
Ta friz.
Click to expand...

Auralic give some advice on getting a good router here:

https://us.auralic.com/pages/before-you-buy

I personally have an Asus RT-AC86U which works brilliantly. Note that mine is a Router only - not a DSL modem - which means you keep the ISP DSL/Router in place and just "add" the Asus to one of the Ethernet ports from the rear of the ISP router. This can sometimes be better for support where the ISP likes you to leave their router in place - I simply disable the Wi-Fi in the ISP router and thus use the Wi-Fi from the far better Asus.
 
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