Make sure your Airport Express is set to DHCP and NAT

[Jamington2004]

I bought an Airport to try and fix issues with cut outs and crashed and optical conflicts and all sorts 

It seemed better once I did ROUTER > Ethernet to Airport > Ethernet to Dialogue > Wifi to Phantoms.....but still had issues, and recently they got worse with cut outs and crashes every time I switched optical source

I was pulling my hair out and finally gave in and bought 2 runs of Ethernet cable to hard wire the phantoms.....

Then I noticed my airport router settings were BRIDGED MODE ...... When the Devialet reccomended setting is DHCP and NAT in order to create a true separate network

Hey presto everything seems perfect once again!!!!

I am over the moon and so pleased I don't have to go down the route of hardwiring.....which just didn't make sense with a great wifi network in a small room 

Hope this helps someone else who has been having regular cut outs and crashes

All is forgiven Phantoms....best friends again 

Breathtaking clarity and attack! Love it

[angenet]

Hi Jamington


I have got a solid network at home made of 3 WIFI access point...(Cisco WAP121-E-K9-G5) But my fourth phantom located in the bedroom is struggling to sustain a stable connection...

So I'm considering the purchase of an airport express... just a quick question really.. is it worth spending for another network device ?

would that truly make the difference?


Thx in advance


Cheers


Angenet

[MountainGuy]

Reading the Apple paper, I think they say for one data source, the more wifei units to extend coverage (i.e. Bridge mode), the lower the bandwidth.

[Jean-Marie]

Reading the Apple paper, I think they say for one data source, the more wifei units to extend coverage (i.e. Bridge mode), the lower the bandwidth.

In fact this is a bit more complex than that. 

Bridge mode will not lower bandwidth unless you configure all the wifi points on the same channel and that they are close enough to create interferences between each other. However bridge mode will not extend the network magically. You will need to connect the airport back to the router using either Ethernet or PLC. 

There is an other mode: WDS. In that mode the airport acts as a repeater. This is the mode where the bandwidth is basically devided by two because it has to rebroadcast on the same channel every frame it is receiving. 

If you can avoid WDS, I would recommend avoiding it because that's not the best nor the most common use of wifi. 

Jean-Marie

[MountainGuy]

Jean-Marie,

I see that I am not sufficiently informed. Appreciate your expertise.

Question: Is it possible to have Airport Extreme & Airport Express connected but in this way:

1. Airport Extreme via Ethernet to the modem. Extreme is serving the whole home's wifi needs with multiple users.
2. In another room, wirelessly connect the Airport Express wireless to the Airport Extreme.
3. Only one computer will be connected to the Express to get online to the internet, AND stream audio via the optical output of the Express.
4. The optical will then be connected to the either the Dialog or the Phantom.

Anyway to do this?

Thanks!

[Jean-Marie]

Jean-Marie,

I see that I am not sufficiently informed.  Appreciate your expertise.

Question: Is it possible to have Airport Extreme & Airport Express connected but in this way:

1. Airport Extreme via Ethernet to the modem.  Extreme is serving the whole home's wifi needs with multiple users.  
2. In another room, wirelessly connect the Airport Express wireless to the Airport Extreme.
3. Only one computer will be connected to the Express to get online to the internet, AND stream audio via the optical output of the Express.  
4. The optical will then be connected to the either the Dialog or the Phantom.

Anyway to do this?

Thanks!

Yes it is possible.

In this case, the express needs to be configured in WDS mode, extending your network wirelessly. 

This will divide the bandwidth of your network by about half. 

Wouldn't you have the possibility to use PLC instead?

Jean-Marie

[Jamington2004]

Hi Jamington


I have got a solid network at home made of 3 WIFI access point...(Cisco WAP121-E-K9-G5) But  my fourth phantom located in the bedroom is struggling to sustain a stable connection...

So I'm considering the purchase of an airport express... just a quick question really.. is it worth spending for another network device ?

would that truly make the difference?


Thx in advance


Cheers


Angenet

Hi I couldn't say for your set up with wifi extenders and different rooms in the mix

For me though - mine were cutting out and crashing daily, multiple times 

Now they don't - I had to do one reset because streaming Amazon prime via ipad into optical switch and into dialogue was cutting out.

Other than its been almost perfect

Still wholly unacceptable for £3.5k of speaker to completely crash and burn if the wifi network isnt to its  liking. I could understand interference, intermittent breaks in sound - but I would expect it to pass. For Spark app to freeze and all sources to become I un-useable, and needing to do a 10 minute full reset including main router is crazy. (We are talking 150mbps wifi and top notch router and dialogue all within a few feet of the speakers in the same room) 

But for now it works with the Airport added, and the speakers are incredible so all is forgiven

[angenet]

Hi I couldn't say for your set up with wifi extenders and different rooms in the mix

For me though - mine were cutting out and crashing daily, multiple times 

Now they don't - I had to do one reset because streaming Amazon prime via ipad into optical switch and into dialogue was cutting out.

Other than its been almost perfect

Still wholly unacceptable for £3.5k of speaker to completely crash and burn if the wifi network isnt to its  liking. I could understand interference, intermittent breaks in sound - but I would expect it to pass. For Spark app to freeze and all sources to become I un-useable, and needing to do a 10 minute full reset including main router is crazy. (We are talking 150mbps wifi and top notch router and dialogue all within a few feet of the speakers in the same room) 

But for now it works with the Airport added, and the speakers are incredible so all is forgiven

Hi,

My problem is  solved...

I noticed that my Access points were only operating on 2.4 Ghz which is really crowded around here...

I have used the spare router (Draytek Vigor 2830VN) to create a dedicated Wifi signal operating only on 5Ghz (by disabling the 2.4ghz signal).

In the vigor, DHCP is disabled and it act only as a Switch... Now the Dialog is now connected to the Vigor 2830 and is picking the signal only from the 5Ghz network and everything is perfect...

All my  phantoms are working perfectly and group playing is excellent...

The lesson here is that nobody needs to spend more on a Airport extreme to get this working..

IF a wifi router with simultaneous dual band is available... the system will work fine as dialog will tend to connect to the less crowded frequency (usually the 5Ghz)... and everything will work just fine.

Hope the above make sense

Thx