Could Wireless Be Better or Worse Than Wired Ethernet?

[lmitche]

My listening room is on the floor above the networking gear room with no clean way to run cable between the floors. Therefore I am stuck with a wireless connection to my music server.  Here are a few things I have learned:

 

• 2.4ghz radios are noisier then 5ghz radios. I now only use 5ghz gear that allows disablement of any 2.4 ghz radios.
• Distance and isolation between the DAC and radio gear matters. My 5ghz USB wifi adapter is 15 feet from my DAC at the long end of a fiber run.
• Qobuz/Roon runs fine on a 867mbps connection. I can't hear a difference from local files.
• Much consumer network gear, not all, is shipped with stock 12 volt SMPSs, but will run fine and sound better at 5 volts.

Important - Stay away from any gear that includes embedded wifi unless the radios can be powered down.

[lmitche]

The Linksys RE9000 works well, at 5 volts, as a wifi network extender. I get 1300mbps  up and down. It has two 5ghz radios low, band and high band. I use the high band radio in the room.

[lmitche]

On 2/12/2021 at 2:19 PM, audiobomber said:

Thanks. I'm actually using the TP-Link RE580D, which has the advantage of a separate power supply. I already had this device for extending my network upstairs, replaced it with an RE450 for upstairs wi-fi and moved the 580D to my audio system, set it for no broadcast, powered with a Zero-Zone 12V LPS. 

Thanks the reference to the TP-Link RE580D. This looks very much like the Linksys RE9000 in use here.  Both seem to have 3 independent radios. Can the 2.4ghz bands be disabled or suppressed?