Why do my wireless boxes lose the router?

[Ashmore]

Thank you, I follow the logic. I know that the SBs all go out at the same time but I don't know if it also affects the notebook. I shall experiement (could take a day or two).

Assuming that it is wifi congestion (which I suspect it will be), I guess I have some options - firstly to avoid wifi at all if I can - homeplugs, ethernet for the SB in the router room.

But I don't know if there's anything I can do to address the wifi issue itself.

[Themis]

Assuming it is a wifi issue, it could be a hardware router problem. Perhaps you should experiment with another router (if you can find a replacement router...).

[dave2010]

The Atoms aren't the most powerful processors, but I've also used them even running Win XP as a Squeezebox server. You are using what should be faster/better software, so it's hard to see what's going on. Have you tried checking all the running tasks, to see if there's anything getting in there and causing a problem?

Could there be a problem with the disc storage? Is it part of the computer, or is it on a network or an external USB drive? As I said, if the system is only running the audio related software it's hard to see what could be going on, but if there was something else running I might suspect an interaction with the discs. Some virtual memory systems can bring a computer system pretty much to its virtual knees if they have a problem, or are not configured properly. Also some systems do disc caching, which can also give problems.

Could you run off USB memory sticks to see if that reduces/avoids the problem?

I could perhaps write a program which might give similar symptoms to yours, but such a program should not be running.

You seem to be in "tried all the obvious things, now having to try more esoteric explanations" territory.

[Canetoad]

Thank you, I follow the logic. I know that the SBs all go out at the same time but I don't know if it also affects the notebook. I shall experiement (could take a day or two).

Assuming that it is wifi congestion (which I suspect it will be), I guess I have some options - firstly to avoid wifi at all if I can - homeplugs, ethernet for the SB in the router room.

But I don't know if there's anything I can do to address the wifi issue itself.

Can anybody tell me if using Homeplugs to connect Squeezeboxes using ethernet cables affects the quality of the sound?

[WAD62]

Thank you all for your responses so far.

Futrher clarifications:
Signal strength ranges from 95% from the nearby unit to 45% for the one furthest away.
The server is an Atom N270 @ 1.60GHz - running with 2gig of RAM. The OS is vortexbox, a dedicated squeezebox distro of a Fedora release (Laughlin). It serves no other need and often happily serves radio to one device and FLAC to another. It is really stable and simply doesn't fail.
It is connected to the router via an ethernet cable.
No green stuff
There are cordless phones, and I live in a resdiential are where there are plenty of other wireless enabled homes.

I have always assumed that it was about network congestion - you know someting interferring with the signal causing it to lose it's way, but of course this is just an assumption on my part.

Simon

I'd say that 45% is pushing it a bit, I have an SB3 in the bedroom and occasionally it plays up, but it's at about 60% (my others are at 80ish%). And if you synchronise your players you'll get the 'weakest link in the chain' effect.

I'm running 2 SB receivers along with an SB3 quite happily with a 1.2ghz QNAP, so I doubt server performance is an issue, although if I don't recycle for a week or so things can slow down. Check the server utilisation if you can.

I've had wi-fi problems from cordless phones, so that's worth checking.

Or as Dimitri rightly points out it could point to your router.

As for Homeplugs, I'd suggest that as long as you're using FLAC then the transport mechanism is irrelevant, as it's an asynchronous FTP to the player...as to whether being connected to the homeplug adversely effects the player's performance I don't know...some might suggest that it's better than using wi-fi

[dave2010]

Can anybody tell me if using Homeplugs to connect Squeezeboxes using ethernet cables affects the quality of the sound?

Shouldn't do, as if the HomePlugs are working OK they should have more than enough capacity - even the 85 Mbps versions. However, the ones I have (Zyxel) sometimes run amok, and have to be reset, so obviously they can effectively silence the audio until the network is reset.

For HD video I'd recommend newer, higher data rate models, 200 Mbps and up. House wiring also has an impact, though for similar distances it may not be anything like as bad as the wireless drop-off. Sometimes different parts of a house may not talk to each other. I've never succeeded in getting HomePlugs to work from downstairs to upstairs. OK, they may be separate circuits, but they're on the same consumer unit. This should work, but hasn't so far.

There could be problems if other things are going on in your LAN at the same time, such as someone trying to stream HD video while you are listening to music. That could also affect a wireless system, of course.

If you really want to know I could test this, but not for a while.

[dave2010]

No green stuff

Simon

???

What am I missing? (don't all reply at once!)

[Themis]

Can anybody tell me if using Homeplugs to connect Squeezeboxes using ethernet cables affects the quality of the sound?

Normally homeplugs inject HF into AC. Also normally, any well made PSU should filter them.

[Canetoad]

I have a set of 200 Mbps plugs I bought for something else (Bluray connection to internet) and never connected them up because I heard they added noise to the mains and didn't want it affecting the hifi, which is in the same room. I'll be using them to connect the Touch(downstairs) to the router (upstairs) so I'll see how it goes. I need to order a couple of Cat5 cables to set it all up.

[Ashmore]

Thanks for the further pointers.

I have a 'backup' copy of slimserver (or whatever it's called today ) on my main PC that I can switch to to seek to eliminate any suggestion of Atom server inadequacy.

WAD - I take your point about weak links in chains, but I don't tend to synch the players.

The 'no green stuff' note related to a question about whether I was running any power saving process.

Lastly, the HDD is in the Vortexbox.

I will step out for a few days now to do some of the testing that some of your have prompted and report back.

Thanks again

Simon