Which company manufactures this Ethernet switch for the other?

ghdprentice

The better the streamer the less the network matters. Put all you can into the streamer unless you like playing with your network for fun.

I couldn't disagree more - spending a few bucks to set up a solid network is one of the best things I've done for my system. That included paying an electrician to snake an ethernet line direct from my computer room to my system rack which is on another floor of the house. That lets me keep the potentially noisy cable modem, router, and network switching well away from the audio gear. It is amazing how an experienced electrician (or first rate cable or alarm installer) can fish wire through walls and I think it's worth every penny. Plus it yields a neat 'n' tidy installation.

@cleeds - Most here seem to believe in having a "solid network". In my case, that was achieved by isolating my server in a separate room with my network gear, powering all of it from LPSs through a dedicated 20A line, and using fiber optical cable from the server to my streamer. While I believe all of that stuff may help with noise reduction, to the point made by @ghdprentice , improving my streamer was the one thing I can point to that made a noticeable improvement in the sound of my digital front end (before the DAC). None of the many other costly add-ons I have tried have made a reliably noticeable improvement.

IME it doesn’t take much to improve network but the results are very rewarding. 
Keep mesh nodes, extenders, routers away from the system components and cables and have these noise generators plugged into a completely different circuit from your audio. I don’t even think switching to LPS with these units is necessary if you have them powered off another line. They poop into something that doesn’t matter. Also, FMC and switches made my system sound worse and I tried even once recently. Not needed at all. Creates clutter too. 
 

To @ghdprentice point…yes better streamer isolates the network better. In case of Aurender the data is processed and cached onto SSD before it is sent to DAC. Which diminishes the effect of network tweaks even further. However, I will admit that I can still hear better sound with my Purist Audio CAT7 Ethernet cable than if I use LinkUp (great cable from Amazon by the way). Sound is just more detailed, resolving and more coherent with the Purist. And Purist Ethernet is not expensive at all! Point is…at least from my experience, isolation by proximity and isolation by electrical circuit is the most effective network tweak. After that a good Ethernet cable is all you need. This is within reason but if we’re talking extreme then you can try Telegartner Optical Isolator. But let’s be real - most of us can upgrade DAC or streamer and get better ROI. To each his own…

@audphile1 

All devices which are fed Ethernet must process the data packets and cache them into a buffer before reconstructing the data stream. The buffer acts like a solid state disk without the added complexity of file systems and disk blocks!

You mention using a completely different power circuit. For most dwellings, ’completely different’ circuits are joined together at the main distribution board which is often just a few feet closer to the power station grid. They are not really separate at all. My house is fed three phases, but all the single-phase circuits are joined to the same phase.

Strictly, wireless networks are not Ethernet at all. They obviously are more susceptible to interference from the plethora of other wireless transmissions and RFI.

Hardwired Ethernet is less susceptible but not immune. The topography particularly when crossing mains is important. Ethernet can be made 100% reliable by detecting and retransmitting faulty or lost packets, but this is not what streaming does!

Your Purist Audio Cat7 cable is built as shielded twisted pairs and many other cables are unshielded twisted pairs. The effect might be fewer corrupted packets but why this might translate into ’smooth and clean, just as the artist intended" is beyond me!

Not sure what this has to do with Ethernet switches, either ...

richardbrand

Ethernet can be made 100% reliable by detecting and retransmitting faulty or lost packets, but this is not what streaming does!

Any of the quality-oriented audio streaming services (Qobuz, Tidal) use TCP/IP. If you’re running ethernet from your router to your streamer, you’re getting a bit perfect signal straight from the server farm to you, @richardbrand.