How do I switch from Wi-Fi to Ethernet cables?


My Bluesound Node currently receives Wi-Fi, but I'd like to switch to a direct link. I assume that would be with an ethernet cable from the modem to the Bluesound - with possibly a better switch between the two.

The problem is that my modem is in the basement and the Bluesound is on a different floor. There is not a clear path for running cable. 

Is there a piece of equipment or technology that I could help in this situation?

128x128imaninatural

Showing 2 responses by panzrwagn

Repeaters halve your available bandwidth by their very nature. Don't do it. Wifi6 supports multiple simultaneous streams and is a very good idea - but all your equipment has to support it. Mesh routers help even out coverage and the best ones support a dedicated backhaul to the master. They can work wonders if you have coverage problems. Contrary to the nay-sayers, wiring up your system will not get you better zeroes and ones. That's simply not how Ethernet works. After you recable with Cat 6 wire, rather than use patch cables of the same Belden wire, they would have you believe that $100 or $200 or more for a 10 ft patch cables will somehow sound better. But none of them can come up with a shred of a theory or facts or data to support their claims. Like Bill Maher says, "I can't prove it, but I know it's true...[insert punchline]". My two cents, as someone who has worked with Ethernet for almost 40 years, put in a good WiFi 6 mesh router setup, put a good network analyzer on your phone and learn how to assign WiFi to unused channels that give you good signal strength. That is the state of the art.

@cleeds Yes, the streaming protocol has a name - it's called TCP/IP and it ensures 100% packet delivery in order thanks to the use of caches, buffers, CRC error detection and retransmission. If your streaming efforts aren't time-sensitive, TCP can be advantageous for enabling the full bandwidth of a network and ensuring enhanced reliability. Amazon Prime, Qobuz, and Netflix use TCP as the transport layer protocol. YouTube on the other hand use both UDP and TCP protocols.

TIDAL uses TCP/IP to send encapsulated PCM data (as FLAC) from it's servers on the Internet to your PC/Mac. There is no concept of "jitter" while audio data is in this domain - the packets are received and reliably assembled into a PCM stream, buffered by your PC, and then sent to your DAC via the OS-specific audio layers (e.g. Core Audio for a Mac). While packets are sequenced, TCP/IP does NOT contain any temporal information, in that the packets are not associated with a time of arrival and associated re-transmit - it's completely asynchronous.

Until it's being sent to the DAC, timing simply does not  matter. And, since just about all DACs receive PCM data via an asynchronous USB input, timing from the PC does not come into play either (i.e. there is no "jitter" here, either).

If you're live streaming - a Zoom call - UDP is considered the preferred protocol. UDP does not guarantee packet he other protocol used for streaming is delivery, but offers slightly greater throughput. User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is specifically chosen for time-sensitive applications like gaming, playing videos, or Domain Name System (DNS) lookups. It is not used for streaming music.