Servers: Are we there yet?

For many years I'm using Itunes on MacMini (that I use anyway) to play music over WiFi (5GHz) using Airport Express and DAC.  It is simple and I never had any problems.  Sure if router fails music stops, but the same can happen when CDP fails (it happened to me), when preamp fails, when amp fails etc.  Routers are cheap these days and you have to replace them anyway to get access to internet.

FWIW, my preference with respect to wireless routers is to not use one. Instead I prefer to utilize a wireless access point that is separate from the router, and connects to the router via an ethernet cable. In my case that facilitates being able to locate each device in the location I prefer for each, and I suspect in many cases is likely to make it possible to select a more powerful and better performing access point than the ones that tend to be built into routers.

In my case, for the last several years I’ve been using an EnGenius EAP350 802.11n access point (it predates the latest 802.11ac standard), with the router function being performed by a SonicWall TZ205 hardware firewall that I have protecting my entire LAN from outside intrusion. (The hardware firewall in turn connects to the cable modem supplied by my ISP).  While at this point I don’t utilize a music server, or stream music from a computer, for the past couple of years I have been wirelessly streaming Internet radio to a Squeezebox which connects into my audio system. Although the Squeezebox is located on a different floor than the wireless access point, and there are several walls in between, I have never had a single glitch, drop-out, or other performance anomaly of any kind or duration during all that time.

I also make a point, btw, of operating the WiFi network on a channel that is as far as possible from the channels I’ve determined (via software) that are used by my neighbors.

The bottom line: I see no reason that WiFi can’t be utilized in a reliable manner for audio.

Regards,
-- Al

"Yes. It's like if your CD player broke, your entire CD collection is rendered useless."

Not quite. If your CD player breaks, you can use another one. Or you can use your laptop, if it has a CD drive. On the other hand, if your wireless network is out of action, it doesn't matter how many backup servers you have- none of them will work.

I think servers should function regardless of the availability of Wifi. As it now stands, I don't consider it an unqualified advance over a good CD player.

Yes, but I wasn't referring to streaming. I'm talking about the music that is now stored on the server's hard drive. It cannot be accessed without a working Ipad and a wireless network. If my wifi is down, the server is as dead as a doornail.

Yeah, I see what you're talking about now.  The Ipad is just a fancy remote but, in your case, the remote is necessary and wifi is the only way it works.  Interesting thought about the ability to use Bluetooth for this same capability.  it wouldn't surprise me if someone built that in eventually.

Something else I never thought of that occurred to me while reading through this thread.  The general assumption is that you need an internet connection to use wifi but that's really not true.  If all you needed to do was stream music from your computer, internet is not necessary - all you need is the wireless router.

Exactly; you need a functioning router so the wireless controller(e.g. ipad, android tablet or phone) using the control software can access the server.

Psag, to play music stored on a local drive connected physically to a one box renderer or stored a NAS(e.g. Synology, Qnap, WD MyCloud, etc.) connected by ethernet or wifi to the router you don't need your Internet Service Provider's system to be running. That only matters when you want to listen to Tidal, Qobuz etc. 
Wifi Routers are pretty reliable and inexpensive vs. other gear in this equation. Cheers,
Spencer