how do you stream ethernet quality in a non ethernet (wi fi only) room

A good streamer will bring you great sound .

I would use a wall wart wifi extender plugged in next to your system upstairs. My $150K system works this way. Good streamers make up for network shortcomings. I have tried ether regenerators and different routers and they have had no noticeable differences in sound quality. I know of many $100K systems working this way. I really like Aurender streamers for their great sound quality at every investment level. They are excellent at isolating the system from the network. Although there are many streamer brands available.

There are two approaches to optimizing streaming, one is an inexpensive streamer and do all sorts of things to the incoming internet…special routers, switches, running exotic cables or get a good streamer. The later does not require lots of IT knowledge and is simple. I was in IT for nearly forty years… I am happy to leave that behind. Also, consumer network equipment tends to be incredibly unreliable… so best to avoid putting lots of money into it.

You can use an extender like @ghdprentice does in his system 

your other option is a mesh network like EERO or Google Mesh…there are many. 
You kill few birds with one stone - improve internet speed of your wifi throughout the house and provide a solid high speed network connectivity to your streamer. 
 

If you want to do wifi only, one of the best in this space is the Auralic line of streamers. They cache to memory and sound good when setup as wifi. Assuming there’s enough bandwidth in that room. 
 

There are cheaper options as well…Cambridge audio is one. 

The extender works well because it has better wi-fi than is built into most streamers.  A node router is even better.

cache to memory seems ideal

also, would downloaded tracks on a laptop work well using a hard wire from laptop to dac?

Laptops are usually not the best streamers. Will it work? Yes. But it will not sound as good as a good quality streamer. You can have your downloaded tracks either on an external drive that you can connect to a streamer or on a network storage that your streamer can access. 

If you’re looking at streamers that cache and are willing to use an extender or mesh network, Aurender is a great choice but needs to be hard wired. 

audphile1

Aurender is a great choice but needs to be hard wired.

You can easily use a wi-fi dongle on any Aurender. Less than $10.

@cleeds wifi dongles typically connect to a USB port and require a driver on a device they’re connected to in order to work.

The version of the “wifi dongle” you can connect to Aurender is either the wifi extender or the mesh node/access point. It needs make an Ethernet connection  

If you stream from a laptop, all modern laptops have built in wifi.

audphile1

wifi dongles typically connect to a USB port and require a driver on a device they’re connected to in order to work.

You can easily use a wi-fi dongle on any Aurender, @audphile1.

@cleeds 👍

  I used a TP-Link AV2000. $90 on Amazon and returnable. My streamer has adjustable buffering. Almost anything is an improvement over a laptop. Regards, Mike B. 

@audiocanada 

Most if not all streamers have cache memory. Even my cheap BS Node N130 has like 8gig of cache and I’ve seen 256 gig on other streamers.

Ethernet just moves data and a decent wifi router or mesh system with a reasonable modern streamer can easily do that just as well. Some manufacturers recommend wifi vs ethernet.

itball

Some manufacturers recommend wifi vs ethernet.

Really? Can you give examples?

The head of Auralic suggests that well-implemented wifi can have advantages.

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