Clicks, pops & losing my living room in iTunes

[calpernica]

Hi,

 

I have setup the following system:

 

iMac running Leopard, iTunes 7 & IOSPIRIT Remote Buddy

Airport Express (N version) connected to:

M-AUDIO CO2 - Coaxial/Optical Bi-Directional Converter in-turn connected to:

Meridian DSP5000 Series 1 (18-bit) speakers

iPod Touch remote connecting to Remote Buddy via Wi-Fi

 

I have two problems that I would greatly appreciate help with:

 

1. Interference from electric blinds (clicks & pops as they come down) - changing the wireless channel used does not affect this

 

2. iTunes error - effectively I seem to randomly lose connection between iTunes & the Airport Express. A restart of iTunes seems to resolve this but it is happening too regularly to be something I can live with

 

Has anyone experienced & resolved either or both of these problems, or does anyone have any troubleshooting ideas.

 

Thanks in advance,

Jason

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hi Jason - Welcome to Computer Audiophile. I haven't experienced this problem but I may be able to offer some suggestions. Since I am not sure what level of technical knowledge you have I'll just list some rather simple things to try.

 

Is your network using 802.11n on 2.4gHz or 5.0gHz? I highly recommend 5 gHz. I actually setup a second wireless router for my devices that don't support the 802.11n draft. If any device is doesn't support n on an n router then the whole router sinks to the lowest common denominator.

 

Another very possibly thing could be power related. Your electric blinds are interfering with the Express possibly because the Express is directly connected to the same power wire inside the wall. The power supply on the Express is pretty weak since it is totally inside the little enclosure.

 

Maybe you've already tried these things. let me know and we'll come up with plan B.

 

[glt]

Used to experience loss of connection between iTunes (PC) and old version of AE but that was only after several longish pauses in iTunes. I fixed that problem by hardwiring the AE to the router. I already had the PC hardwired to the router. Now in connects to the AE instantly. (This sort of tells me the problem may be related to the router)

 

[calpernica]

Hi Chris,

 

My iMac is connected to the router via a 85Mbps Homeplug. The Airport Express (802.11n model) is connected directly via an ethernet cable to the router - a 802.11g model. The iPod Touch is connecting back to the iMac to access the Remote Buddy software - this signal must go via the router & as such may be the weak point.

 

Would I get an improvement in wireless performance by moving to a 802.11n router in this setup?

 

The error reported by iTunes causing the music to stop (resolves after a reboot) is:

An error occurred while connecting to the remote speaker "Living Room" An unknown error occurred (-15000)

 

Your point about power interference is an interesting one, I guess, especially given that the ethernet signal is going over the power circuit too.

 

Best wishes,

Jason

 

[calpernica]

Hi glt,

 

As per my reply to Chris, I am using Homeplugs to connect my computer to the router. I don't know how close to the effect of hard-wiring this gets me in real terms.

 

Best wishes,

Jason

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

"Would I get an improvement in wireless performance by moving to a 802.11n router in this setup?"

 

There are no guarantees, but using 802.11n on the 5 gHz spectrum might separate your iTunes traffic from other sources of interference that run on the 2.4 gHz spectrum.