Please help with setting up a streaming system

Hi krelldreams,

yes that is correct I used a TP-Link AC1900 Wi-Fi extender available on Amazon prime to get up an running before I pull a run of cat8 from my router on the other side of the house. We use cox cable for our internet provider and after downloading the Wi-Fi extender app and going through a couple quick steps and running a 15’ cat8 cable to the Aurender it seemed to work. The Wi-Fi extender is about 40’ from the router and 5’ from the Aurender. Trust me when I say I am very computer illiterate and have put off streaming for the last 5yrs because of this. I plan on pulling a 100’ run of cat8 through the crawl space today which I’m not looking forward to but want to be sure of the most stable signal possible. The Wi-Fi extender is actually working flawlessly at this time but I’m off this weekend and might as well getter dun👍

I, and I assume many others here, would LOVE to hear your impressions of any differences you hear between running direct from your router and using the extender.  This would be MOST VALUABLE information as so few people here have done both.  Thanks in advance!

@soix @justinm : I was going to ask the same thing (about fully hardwired vs using an extender)! Someone mentioned using a “mesh router” which I looked up, but I can’t tell if it will work with my equipment. I can get an extender, no problem, but I’m not sure I’d be able to run a cable all the way from the gateway to the streamer (at least not easily). Right now my streaming equipment consists of a Bluesound node (N130) into a Cambridge DacMagic Plus. My music sources are Spotify and Apple Music Lossless via Bluetooth, and Radio Paradise (which is preloaded onto the Node). Radio Paradise sounds much better to me, but as I’m learning more, I believe that may be due to the fact that the Bluetooth is limiting the quality of the other sources I’m using. I tried Qobuz for the free trial period and didn’t like it (sound quality was just Ok, and the app wasn’t user friendly - to me), so I cancelled. But now I’m thinking it was dumbed down by being transmitted over Bluetooth. I’m planning to give it another try when I get this streaming system sorted out. 

@krelldreams Bluetooth sucks and completely undermined your Qobuz experience.  Just get a decent Wi-Fi extender from TP-Link, etc. and run a short Ethernet or CAT7 cable from it to your streamer, do another Qobuz trial, and you’ll really hear what streaming can do.  

@soix : I believe that! I didn’t realize it was such a big deal until I tried the Radio Paradise. I was like.. what the hell! I’m definitely going to try Qobuz again. I’ll get used to the OS. If the sound quality is good, I’ll make it work. Lol. I’m willing to get a better streamer and DAC, but I want to optimize what I have first. My LPs sound A LOT better, but I want to give streaming a chance, because it really opens up a whole world of music discovery!