In my house, the wifi router is 25 feet away from my components. I plan running cat8 underneath the base board as hiding cable above or below room, side walls, exterior cable are not options. Picked a relatively cheap cable to try out first.
Is it possible to decrease potential electrical noise introduced by the AT&T wifi router with a better router next in the chain? If so, any recommendations? Also, has anyone had success/noticed a discernible difference in SQ by introducing something such as a LAN isolator right before the streaming source? Any constructive feedback or request for additional applicable situational information is welcome. Thanks.
That is correct. And the Nucleus can stay in a totally different room in the house. No need to keep it in the music or media room.
And you can place the EtherRegen right next to your Roon endpoint, that allows for a very short good quality copper Ethernet cable from EtherRegen B port to your Roon endpoint. The Ethernet cable upstream from router to EtherRegen can be long and consumer grade, not a problem whatsoever.
There are people who use fiber with EtherRegen. But that requires an FMC, or a switch with fiber ports. To my ears (I did try with an opticalModule) that’s totally unnecessary, EtherRegen is pretty good isolating your equipment on its own.
@thyname - Wow. So, with my Nucleus, all I have to do feed Ethernet from router > Nucleus. Feed Ethernet from router to side A of EtherRegen > I can choose to do straight Ethernet or run fiber to Side B > and plug Ethernet into Roon endpoint?
Well, EtherRegen can be fed with fiber upstream. If you go fiber route, although not necessary. You can feed EtherRegen with copper Ethernet, the cleaning, isolation, reclocking, happens inside the unit, as long as you cross the moat, A to B. It allows for using a very long cable upstream from the main switch/ router, then if you are willing, you can try a nicer short copper Ethernet cable downstream, from EtherRegen to your streamer
@thyname1 - Thanks for reminding me of the EtherRegen. I looked at this prior to even understanding fiber conversion. At that point, it overwhelmed me, so I continued on. Definitely very interested in these. I'll probable start off with the cheap fiber switches and compare vs straight ethernet. Hopefully the switches give me a cheap high for a while. When I start suffering audiophile withdrawal, the EtherRegen sounds like the next best step...and cheaper than small green's similar solutions.
It depends on how much you can afford (or willing) to spend. If spending $600+ does not outrage you, then introducing an EtherRegen in your chain may make sense
@sbank - Funny enough, I've watched a bunch of Small Green's videos over the past few days. I'll probably just go with his switches, but it looks like they're made for double fiber wire only and I'm still not able to find much information on what the difference is between double/single wire and the language used to distinguish between double and single wire connections devices.
@ggecas2. Small Green Computer has a few youtube videos ~2min each that demonstrate setup of much of what's discussed above. Although some of the branded items vary, I think he's using a TP-Link and the SFP connectors etc. are all very similar. Might be a help...Cheers, Spencer
@mitch2 & @ozzy - From what I gather looking into this, some of these Ethernet to fiber converters come with the SFP transceivers built in and some only contain the slots to plug in add-on transceivers. One thing I don’t seem to understand is the language used to decipher which transceivers/converters are meant for single fiber wire and which are meant for double fiber wire. It doesn’t seem like there’s definitive language that alllows me to search for all hardware for double vs single wire. I’d prefer to use single fiber as certain parts of space between baseboard to carpet are extremely tight. Also, worried about damaging the fiber while tucking in these tight spaces. Any thoughts and suggestions? Thanks guys
Hi ozzy, I am curious because I did not understand your post - what is the purpose of the transceiver? I use a short Ethernet cable from my router into a TP Link converter, then 15M of fiber into a second TP Link converter that is positioned near my audio equipment, and then a short Ethernet cable from the converter to my server, but no transceivers so I am curious what they do.
@ggecas2 - I believe that is a switch-mode power supply (SMPS) not a linear power supply (LPS) but it is the same as comes with the small ifi gear so it is probably a higher quality lower noise supply than the SMPS that comes in the box with the TP Link converters. I use one of those ifi supplies to power the converter near my router and I use an extra HD PLEX LPS I had on hand to power the converter at the other end of the run which is near my audio gear.
@ozzy - there may be some confusion since the SFP convertors are made by TP Link and from your posts it sounds as if your router is also a TP Link brand. If you substitute the word "router" that would clear it up. Also, as I might have said previously, buyers need to make sure whether they are going to use SC or LC fiber cables and then order the correct converters to match.
I use TP Link lan to fiber optic converters works flawlessly, and is a massive improvement over running LAN cable. Less interference. The initial cost may be a bit more expensive but it is totally worth.
One thing you can do with the switch’s and the lan converters is to change to standard Power Supply by does IFI power supply.
Hi @mitch2 & @ozzy - Excuse the remedial question to confirm. So Ethernet to TP Link Converter > Fiber > TP Link Converter > smallest run of Ethernet into streamer is what your suggesting? These examples will do?
Versions of this discussion can be found on this forum and the recommendations are all over the place so you may want to do a search. Like @ozzy, my longest run (15M) from my router is fiber using TP Link converters and short runs of CAT 8 at the ends. I will add that you should take a look at the LC vs. SC versions of fiber cable and connectors since the LC is quite a bit smaller and just as good for what you are doing, if the size of the cable/connectors matters to you. Also, the dual connectors come apart if you need to route them through small holes. However, the converter jacks must match the cable you use. Last thing, there are more than a few here who believe Ethernet cable is a better option and others who don’t think it matters.
I did put an EMO Systems EN70HD inline just before my Auralic Aries G1. I had not experienced any noise before inserting it, and I did not experience any noise afterwards. I kept it inline for it surge protection -- I consider it cheap insurance. It may well make a difference if your Ethernet runs close to power lines or other nose sources.
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