Home network router question

Any thoughts? Please remember when replying that I am an analogue guy trying to navigate the digital world with as little pain as possible.

There is no such thing called "digital".

Toslink is essentially a signal that pertains to modulations in light intensity --> It is ANALOG

Ethernet, I2S, etc are signals composed of voltage modulations ---> It is ANALOG

They are just as ANALOG as your turntable which spun around and gave you lowfi/midfi sound....What you are referring to as "digital" is just a lot more hifi ANALOG than your lowfi/midfi analog turntable. It requires some careful execution and it isn’t exactly plug n play.

Hope that helps.

A lot of wrong info here. You don’t need the modem to be out in the open, the function of the modem is to connect it to a router and that router needs to be in the open for better WiFi distribution. The best setup is to have the modem and the router separate. 
I setup corporate networks in the 90’s and people make things so complicated. You have many options on routers, buy your own or get a supplied one from your isp. The master router (could be your only router) will hook up to the modem and this router will need to be setup with your WiFi ssid, passwords, and any tweaking of channels, port forwarding, etc..

‘This is where it can get more complicated. Most homes today (except for studio apartments) you will need more than 1 router to get better coverage. Mesh is the best way to do this but only if you use the current 6e/7 standard mesh routers. This allows you to use the backhaul with a private channel that is very fast and only used between the routers. Also, the best setup is to wire all the routers using cat 6 or above cables, only use the backhaul if you can’t wire them together.

I use 4 mesh routers in my house and each router provides an Ethernet connection thru a switch to my roon endpoint. 
‘Always use wired connections, never use wap’s, Ethernet over power lines, even WiFi to an audio device, use a wired connection.

@deep_333 No, they are not. This just shows you know little about even the modulation. Which is not voltage at all, btw. People moved on from AM days. TOSLINK is a laughable comparison to Ethernet. Which is completely different and does not lose any bits. And no, there is no jitter there either.

@rbstehno - Wired is certainly better, but sometimes it is not achievable. I think if their WiFi can handle, say, Netflix to the point, it will be fine with audio.

I think your concerns on configuration really won’t impact the performance of your streamer.  A good general rule to follow is to hardwire your devices wherever possible. Even streaming high res audio, you’re not using enough bandwidth to stress anything.  As far as concerns with interference goes, it’s also a moot point. It will never be high enough to be detectable by your hearing.  The entire process involves moving packets of data from a source to your device. Be it wired, wireless, power lines….it doesn’t matter.  It’s all read requests followed by a data stream. A file is broken down into chunks (packets) sent over what ever, then reassembled by the client.