Connecting a streamer via an Ethernet cable

What @jss49 said.

Let me also add, by going the ‘wired’ route you also eliminate RFI / EMI interferences which yields to better dynamics, IMO. The only way to know is test it in your environment as the improvements or lack thereof squarely depends on your ears and the audio system.

Buy a long Ethernet cable that can be returned for testing before you go through the trouble of moving things around.

+1 +1 what @jjss49 and @lalitk said.  

My older streamer has a provision with some streaming services where the music can be streamed from a handheld device-controller (iPad, Laptop, iPhone) -OR- another provision for streaming directly from the streamer itself with rj45 network connecter across a hard wired network. If the wireless network has any form of dropping (dropped ip packets), the signal seems more degraded at a lower transfer rate, buffering some, a little less transparent at times. Not all of the time, but some times. When it occurs on wireless, I will restart the app and wireless session, and it goes back to being okay till the next time there is a drop or degradation in signal. However, as soon as I shift to the hard-wired connection, the connection is more stable, rarely any dropped packets, the signal and sound does seem cleaner, deeper sound stage, and more detailed - more consistently. Study how Sonos worked around this some with their wireless devices and protocol, buffering design, etc. Its hard to tell for sure when jumping between tracks with hard-wired. Testing the same track over and over does tend to reveal better consistency of sound with a hard-wire connection. Best I can share, rechecking periodically fwiw.    

lalitk

... by going the ‘wired’ route you also eliminate RFI / EMI interferences ...

What makes you think wired connections are immune to RFI/EMI?

The reason I ask, is that doing so with my situation would require a fair amount of effort.

IIUC, This effort can be drastically reduced with a wifi extender. Cost is $30-60 and plug it in to the AC outlet. Of course make sure it has a Ethernet inlet. most have one. Some 2

“What makes you think wired connections are immune to RFI/EMI?”

@cleeds,

A conductive shield in a Ethernet cable reflects or conduct external interference away without affecting the signals of the internal conductor. Hence the shielded Ethernet cables protects signals from EMI/RFI over the length of the cable run resulting in faster transmission speeds and fewer data errors.

You may also know, fiber-optic cable network is impervious to EMI/ RFI and switch noise but it often requires conversion at some point cause majority of consumer grade streamers / routers do not have fiber optic jacks.