@lanx0003 Thanks for yout post. It was very helpful in bringing me up to date on the latest in sub $1000 streamers. Since the Zen Streamer sounds so good, it probably is a good idea to spend more. I’m considering also a used opticalrendu.
To bring all up to date, the cable tech visited today. He found no hardware issues. He suggested the drop offs may come from the Zen Stream switching wifi off and on causing hicups in the router. I did note that turning wifi off through the settings of the zen and saving it didn’t always hold.