IFi Zen Stream connection problem — hardwired from Wi-Fi extender

There are free wifi analyzers for all phones and laptops. Use it to make sure your mesh channel is strong AND not congested with neighboring signals.

Also, if you notice this starts after some time using, try a fan on the devices.  Sometimes the issue is overheating.  It sucks but all these devices are built rather cheaply and high power, high speeds + encryption all create heat and if the device isn't ventilated or have appropriate heat sinks they can still overheat.  Things have gotten a little better but I had so many brands do this in the early days of Wifi that I always consider this a possibility.

I owned a Zen Stream for a second system.  Mine was hardwired to a mesh without dropouts but it had random hiccups and it was a pain to set up.  Everytime I used it I had to reconnect the Dac and reset the hardwire connection to get regular volume. If it didn’t sound so good I would have dumped it sooner.  Such a tease.  Replaced it and the Dac for a Gustard R26 and it is sooo much better functionally and SQ. Just turn it on and its connected with no hiccups or dropouts. Yes Ifi help is absolutely horrible.  It’s basically an email phone tree that eventually only  provides generic unresolved answers from their FAQ.  I wouldn’t use a sledghammer that’s too humane.  I was thinking hockey puck and torture it slowly as it did me🤣

I've found that my WIFI extender tends to lose connection with my router. I eventually took it offline. Some devices are super sensitive to fluctuations in network speed. Even a brief slowdown can kill the connection. 

My old WiFi extender, which only works with 4G, has been behaving well. It provides a reliable connection for my laptop in the bedroom. A few months back, I connected the iFi ZS to it to reduce Qobuz dropouts. While it helped with the dropouts, Mconnect started not responding. This issue didn't occur when connecting directly to the router, so I removed the iFi ZS and now only use it for my laptop.

Yeah, I’ve been reading some not great feedback on mconnect and am very open to trying something else. I’ll look into the ones mentioned, but I recently saw JPlay works with Qobuz and iOS devices (that I need) and may sound better than mconnect as well, and it’s not very expensive and has a free trial so I may just give that a shot. Nowhere to go but up from here. Man I really hate dealing with this network connection crap!

Mconnect is not the greatest at what it does, from what I read .

The Zen has NAA as client and if it is the same system built into the Neo stream, then that's a very reliable connection.

NAA works only with HQPLAYER , that software also supports QOBUZ. 

Not cheap, but I know it works. You can also use Audirvana Studio, also a reliable connection. Both offer excellent SQ to boot.

Wifi analyzer

I've found that my WIFI extender tends to lose connection with my router. I eventually took it offline. Some devices are super sensitive to fluctuations in network speed. Even a brief slowdown can kill the connection. So your complex WiFi routing may just be too inconsistent with speed or connectivity. Can you connect directly with your router to test? 

Also having the multiple EXT addresses may be an issue if it expects to see the router and device on the same network. 

Just some thoughts to consider.