The EtherREGEN thread for various network, cable, power experiences and experiments

[Meridimac]

Season's Greetings!  I expect ER in January to replace a Cisco 2960 in my main setup. My question is about the best way to serve a second, remote system connected by in-wall Cat5e (which can travel through a gigabit Catalyst switch, or not) to a ground-shunted Netgear GS-108 located 125 feet away.

 

Summary of Qobuz/Tidal/Roon current streaming situation:

 

Fiber internet provider (Zhone modem) serves Ubiquiti EdgeRouter X SFP (router) wired Cat6 to Intel 7i7BNH NUC running ROCK plus SFP optical fiber to Cisco Catalyst 2960 switch connected by Shunyata Venom ethernet cable to ALLO DigiOne Signature transport which outputs S/PDIF via Blue Jeans cable and SpeakerLink to Meridian DSP5200SE active speakers.

 

Along with other source electronics, ER will be plugged into a Shunyata power strip with Defender AC filter and Alpha NR 20A mains cable on a dedicated circuit. Roon core NUC and a Meridian 218 endpoint will be on A side (with SFP optical) while ALLO endpoint is on B.

 

Questions: Include ethernet to remote system on A side, or run from router? Pass through Cisco gigabit switch or use couplers direct to Netgear? Re-purpose 10/100 Cisco 2960 for remote (also ALLO) endpoint after Netgear, which serves TV, Apple TV, DirecTV?

 

TIA for any suggestions.

 

[Meridimac]

2 hours ago, JohnSwenson said:

You want to keep the ER near the ALLO without any boxes in between. I would probably run the existing optical connection from the Ubiquity router to the optical SFP on the ER. This sounds like it is just swapping the 10/100 2960 for the ER, correct? Is the router near the ER? Is the 125ft cable near the ER?

 

If the router, ER and 125ft cable all near each other it seems you have several ways to hook this up:

 

1) ER optical from router, 125 cable from router, gigbit 2960 or Netgear at other end

2) gigabit 2960 from router, 125ft cable from gig 2960, Netgear or 10/100 2960 at other end

3) gigabit 2960 from router, 125ft cable AND optical to ER from gig 2960, Netgear or 10/100 2960 at other end

4) 10/100 2960 from router, ER from 10/100 2960 optical,  125ft cable from router, gig 2960 on other end.

 

The 10/100 2960 has one gig port and the rest 10/100 so whether you can use it at the end of the 125ft cable depends on if the TV etc can run at 100 or if the NEED gigbit.

 

Several people have stated that the ER driven by a 2960 sounds better than the ER directly into a router. The SFP port on the 10/100 2960 IS gigabit, so it can talk to the SFP on the ER.

 

I'm getting a feeling that #4 probably gives you the best over all optimization.

 

John S.

 

 

Hi John. Thanks for the quick reply.

 

The ER will be close to the Ubiquity router which has one SFP optical for connection to the ER optical. So, yes, I will just swap your switch to replace my existing Cisco model WS-C2960-8TC-L. Because it has 10/100 out, it can't then replace the remote gigabit Netgear serving the AV pieces 125 feet away, but could sit between the Netgear and distant Roon endpoint if you think there would be a benefit. Every item mentioned can connect to ER or the router.

 

The other Cisco switch Catalyst WS-C2960G-24TC-L serves everything in the house from the router EXCEPT the main audio system which is isolated by the optical connection. This gigabit switch can be bypassed, using couplers, should I want to have the remote audio system directly connected to the A side like I plan for the Roon core NUC and a Meridian 218 endpoint (which is waiting for that company to finally, someday update the firmware).

 

Do I bypass the Cisco that feeds all kinds of other stuff to keep everything audio on the ER?

 

BTW, in theory, I could also bypass the Netgear from ER side A using an optical converter directly to the SFP cage in the potentially remote 10/100 Cisco because I bundled fiber in with cat5e everywhere when I built the house, but have never pulled it out from behind the wall plates or spliced it.

 

 

[Meridimac]

Here is one more data-point-in-time of first impressions as I burn in a few cables while waiting for January ER delivery:

 

Cable Matters Cat8 1 meter from Cisco 2960 into Allo DigiOne Signature feeding Meridian active SE speakers has dynamics, definition, deep soundstage and satisfying bottom end -but can be a little sharp at times as described by BCRich earlier in this thread.

 

My usual cable in the same spot, Shunyata Venom, is not quite as lively as the CM but consistently listenable.

 

A 7-foot Tera Grand Cat7 premium (not flat) is less defined, much more forward and lacks bass in comparison.

 

A 3-foot "solid copper" CertiCable New Technology Cat8 is also somewhat forward, but pleasantly so, with a wide soundstage and slightly brittle top end at this point.

 

I will report again on these four once they have many more hours and ER replaces my Cisco Catalyst.

[Meridimac]

On 1/5/2020 at 8:17 AM, Meridimac said:

Here is one more data-point-in-time of first impressions as I burn in a few cables while waiting for January ER delivery:

 

Cable Matters Cat8 1 meter from Cisco 2960 into Allo DigiOne Signature feeding Meridian active SE speakers has dynamics, definition, deep soundstage and satisfying bottom end -but can be a little sharp at times as described by BCRich earlier in this thread.

 

My usual cable in the same spot, Shunyata Venom, is not quite as lively as the CM but consistently listenable.

 

A 7-foot Tera Grand Cat7 premium (not flat) is less defined, much more forward and lacks bass in comparison.

 

A 3-foot "solid copper" CertiCable New Technology Cat8 is also somewhat forward, but pleasantly so, with a wide soundstage and slightly brittle top end at this point.

 

I will report again on these four once they have many more hours and ER replaces my Cisco Catalyst.

Here's the update 7 weeks later: My thought to use the Cisco elsewhere has been discarded. After much burn-in I prefer this path: Ubiquiti router fiber to Cisco, CM Cat8 to ER, Shunyata Venom to Allo transport, Blue Jeans S/PDIF to Meridian