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Router for Audio Streaming

I have been streaming Pandora, Spotify and Qobuz through a wifi network streamer from a Netgear AC1750 R6400v2 router with no sound quality complaints.

Recently a router firmware update failed (a known issue with these) and as a result it is no longer accessible for administration.  It still seems to perform ok and accepts new devices however the network settings are "frozen" and I am unable to view device IP addresses or traffic, neither via desktop browser nor via the Nighthawk app.

I will try a factory reset but have read that quite often this does not work in these situations, so I started investigating getting a new router to be able to pull the trigger quickly if needed.

I heard/read that routers can make a difference in sound quality, beyond just being able to keep up with streaming with no buffering.  I'm wondering what router experience and recommendations folks have here for reliable audio streaming with superior sound quality at a reasonable price.

Thanks!

yoramguy1
yoramguy1 OP
69 posts
 

Thank you, @kota1 and @lollipopguild !  All good inputs!

yage
401 posts
 

There are several methods to monitor the performance of your network interfaces for bit errors.

 

On Windows, you can use the built-in Performance Monitor tool and add a counter for receive errors related to your network interface. Make sure to uncheck the processor utilization counter so it doesn't overlay the counter you added.

 

On Linux and macOS systems, you can type 'netstat -s' at a command prompt. On Linux, the line I look for is 'bad segments received' in the TCP section. On macOS, the relevant line is '... discarded for bad checksum'. (Note you will need to be root in order to view non-zero TCP stats on a Mac.) You can also use the 'ifconfig' command to see if there were any Ethernet receive errors (RX errors) as well.

 

Identifying bit errors by ear isn't all that tricky - if you hear ticks / pops / bursts of static, or have dropouts then the digital data is getting corrupted. You can find an example here - What does a bad USB (or other digital audio) cable sound like?

yage
401 posts
 

Also wanted to add that high levels of jitter (or low clock accuracy) in the network router / switch will manifest as bit errors, so looking at receive errors / bad segments should cover that aspect as well.

soix
9,793 posts
 

What’s the rest of your gear?

yoramguy1 OP
69 posts
 

Thank you, @yage !  I ran the 'netstat -s' command and I see a bunch of lines in the TCP section but no '... discarded for bad checksum'.  What segment of time does this command cover?

For whatever it's worth, in the UTP section I get:

    396308 datagrams received
        0 with incomplete header
        0 with bad data length field
        0 with bad checksum
        1 with no checksum
        330384 checksummed in software
            246184 datagrams (53642392 bytes) over IPv4
            84200 datagrams (18592713 bytes) over IPv6
        351 dropped due to no socket
        80576 broadcast/multicast datagrams undelivered
        0 time multicast source filter matched
        36642 dropped due to full socket buffers
        0 not for hashed pcb
        278739 delivered
    130000 datagrams output
        138955 checksummed in software
            107355 datagrams (38385652 bytes) over IPv4
            31600 datagrams (6833860 bytes) over IPv6

Have no clue what all this means....

Cheers!

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