Which router to use? Very unstable internet connection...

21 replies

Thanks for the advice. My B&O dealer recommended to get additional Apple Airport Express devices, so that's what I did. Installation was very easy, and I basically got rid of the WLAN function of the Fritzbox. The Fritzbox is still connected to the Internet, though, and I am using an Apple Time Capsule, connected to the Fritzbox, for WLAN. The Airport Express devices are connected to the Time Capsule to extend the wireless range. 

The WLAN connections seem to be a little bit more reliable now, it is easier to find the various B&O devices in the network. However, the connection is still far away from stable. Several times I have dropouts, sometimes they last for longer that 10 minutes...at that point, I have to restart my primary streaming device, which is the Moment.

Interestingly, I never experienced any dropouts with Sonos, which uses the same WLAN and consists of 7(!) different devices. But since I want to get rid of Sonos, I'm somewhat clueless what to change in my current setup.

My current setup consists of:

1 Beosound Moment connected to a Beosystem 4 with two Beolab 20 speakers
1 Beovision 11
1 Beosound 1
1 Beosound Essence connected wirelessly to a Beo v1 

My dealer gave me the advice, to disable the 5ghz function on the Apple Airports, maybe that will improve the connection.

 

 

One more thing: it seems like the music does not play synchronized. I believe the Beosound 1 is slightly ahead of the other devices. Is there a good and simple way to check that? What could be the reason that it's not synchronized and how can I fix it? All my devices are connected to an Airport Express, the Beosound has a wireless connection to the Apple Time Capsule (main WLAN).

Personally I use a Apple Timecapsule as my main router/access point. It only has to cover about one level of 100m2 so one device is more than enough. Prior I had an all commercial Cisco set up (ASA5505 & 2602I) but realised it is hard to beat Apple simplicity. Sort of like B&O😕

From your description it seems if you're experiencing dropouts as other have suggested work on connecting that. Are both your wireless devices broadcasting the same SSID (network name)? Are your trouble clients typically working on 2.4ghz? On 2.4 are both APs operating on the same channel? Try disabling 2.4 to force 5.0 and / or the inverse as a test.

Also Airplay does have a delay due to the buffering it does. ALAC or lossless having almost a full second of buffer (delay). In my set up I Airplay to an AppleTV which works flawlessly even hours on end.

** Disclaimer, I work as a profession in networking for a multinational.

davidr wrote:

Personally I use a Apple Timecapsule as my main router/access point. It only has to cover about one level of 100m2 so one device is more than enough

The reason I went for two TCs was so I could automatically flip-flop the time machine backups of our 3 going on 4 or 5 Macs.

I did have an early generation single TC - but it's hard drive failed and although Apple replaced it that was not the point !

If I had had a double whammy (TC fault AND a Nac failure) I would have been screwed.

My connection is still very unstable.

What I did so far:

I installed two Airport Express to extend the coverage of my Apple Time Capsule. I disabled the Wlan function of the Fritzbox.

The Fritzbox shows a strong internet connection (100mbit download, 50mbit upload). The Airport App shows strong internet connections. The Beosetup App shows a green light with regards to the internet connection.

The Beomusic app however shows no internet connection. Still, there are a few devices that play music, which is interrrupted every other second. Some of the devices dont show up in the Beomusic app.

Is there a possibility, that too many B&O devices maybe interfere with each other? I also noticed, that the music playback sometimes stops for a few seconds, when I add another device to the playback. 

Am I the only one here with more than one multiroom device, where a simple multiroom function has a 50% chance of working when used?

dasun wrote:

Am I the only one here with more than one multiroom device, where a simple multiroom function has a 50% chance of working when used?

I have only one multi-room device (Essence) and a converter to a BV and a BS.

However I have many Apple devices (a 3 party household of iPhones/iPads/ATVs, Macs, and Windows devices).

So I have some of, and some different issues from, you; but none as a 50/50 chance of things working.

I feel for you [:\'(]
It's not that there are too many.

Just sounds like a wifi issue.

I've got about 12 products connected. No problems.

Apparently you seem to habe a masterlink connection, I am talking about netlink devices (a6, essence, beosound 1 etc).

The more I think about it, the more it seems to NOT be a wifi issue. Today, for example, the A6 did not want to connect to the internet and Beomusic displayed 'no internet connection'. After I unplugged the A6, so it could restart, it was connected to the internet and I could use it without any problems for music playback.

It is however, a very frustrating experience. I did have to restart my Essence already four times this week. More than often it takes about 3-5 minutes after starting the Beomusic app and selecting a playlist on deezer until it is possible to listen to music. For me, this is totally unacceptable.

I've paid over 30k€ for B&O equipment, and there is only a 50/50 chance, whether I will be able to simply play music on one device. My prior Sonos speakers, which used the same wifi network, always played music right away, without any dropouts.

So, at his point it is either bad software or cheap hardware. 

dasun wrote:
The Airport Express devices are connected to the Time Capsule to extend the wireless range. 

As an installer, I'm not keen on this approach. WiFi is half-duplex, meaning that only one device can ever be transmitting at one point in time, assuming your airport express boxes are connected wirelessly to the time capsule, they will be repeating every transmission, so the first one will effectively halve your maximum WiFi throughput, and the second one will halve it again.

The moment is definitely most stable when the soundheart is connected to a wired network, although the jukebox will still require WiFi access in order to communicate with the soundheart. It's obviously not always practicable to run a new network cable within an existing dwelling, so I'll often make use of a set of powerline adapters when installing a moment, or when troubleshooting one that is not performing reliably on WiFi. I tend to use the Devolo 1200+ ac WiFi models which are not the cheapest, but do seem to perform very well.

Also, if you keep your existing setup, try to ensure all the B&O devices connect to the same WiFi band, either 2.4GHz or 5GHz (which in this case will mean 2.4GHz as the moment does not support 5GHz WiFi). - also make sure that whatever device you are running the beomusic app on is also connected to this band.

Also, look out for other devices that might be disrupting you WiFi signal - heavily populated urban areas are often pretty congested - particularly on 2.4GHz, and devices such as microwave ovens, PIR motions sensors for intruder alarms. Wireless baby monitors, and a number of other non WiFi devices that happen to share the same frequency can play havoc.

Martin.

Location: Exeter, UK

dasun wrote:
what routers do you use for your wireless B&O equipment, especially the Moment, Beosystem 1/2, Beovision etc.?

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