Question to all Etherregen users

[pvanosta]

Like many on this forum, I have had all sorts of issues with RAAT (streaming from NUC to the Roon Ready input on my Expert Pro CI 220).
- via Wifi I get drop outs / loss of connection if there is other activity on the wifi network (downloading etc)
- via Ethernet, I get random lost connection without wartning or anything else going on on the LAN. This then requires hard boot (power cord removed) on the DEV, sometimes needing reboot of the NUC that runs Roon ROCK, sometimes I need to switch the DEV to WIFI for a while until that drops again, etc...

I had already tried connecting a 10/100 switch between the Gigabit switch which serves the rest of my home network and the DEV, thereby limiting the signal to ther DEV to regular fast ethernet (since Gigabit ethernet appears to be causing the issues with the DEV's RAAT implementation). That seemed to work for a while but then all the same problems returned.

SO: before I drop 700 or so Euro on an Etherregen, whose ONLY function in my system would be to stabilize the ethernet signal to my Dev 220 pro CI, I have one key question for all Etherregen users here:

Have you had ANY dropouts / loss of connection via ethernet since you put in the Etherregen?
Conversely: have you had total stability since you put in the Etherregen? That is also a valid data point.
Please also confirm whether you stream Roon to the Roon Ready input or something else.
Thanks everyone.

[David A]

I got my EtherREGEN in January so it has now been running for nearly 9 months. In that time I think I have had 3 dropouts from network problems, the last several months ago now. I have had no dropouts from the Roon RAAT bug in Devialet's firmware. The only input I use is the Roon Ready input via an ethernet connection..

I think you need to make a very clear distinction between avoiding the RAAT/ethernet bug and the dropouts that causes and avoiding dropouts for other reasons. In my experience the EtherREGEN has been completely effective in dealing with the RAAT/ethernet FW bug but the EtherREGEN is still a network device and it isn't going to fix any network related problems you have which may also be causing dropouts. Occasional dropouts occur on networks for a variety of reasons and the EtherREGEN won't prevent problems occurring on your network which can cause dropouts. It's a fix for one cause of dropouts with a very specific cause, Devialet's FW bug, but it's not a fix for any and every other possible cause of dropouts on a network.

If you're getting problems with a 10/100 switch, the problem may not be the FW bug because connecting the Devialet to the B-side 100 mbps port of the EtherREGEN does solve that problem and from comments I've seen here, a 100 mbps connection from any switch should solve the problem. Are you sure your connection to the switch is 100 mbps, not 10 mbps which will be too slow for high res files?

[pvanosta]

Thank you for your reply. The switch is indeed 10/100, so all ports should be 100 Mbps.

If it is a Network issue (e.g. an IP address conflict somewhere or sometyhing like that), I will quickly reach the limits of my ability to troubleshoot or fix it.

- Internet enters my house through copper coax from my local cable provider (Ziggo in the Netherlands), giving me 500 Mb down / 50 Mb up
- from the Ziggo modem, a cat6 LAN cable runs to the living room, to the base station of an Amplifi Mesh system.
- from the Amplifi Base, I have a cat6 to a Gigabit switch (16-port). 
- The switch connects to all devices (NUC, NAS, TV, Receiver, media player, ...)
- The GB switch also connects to a 5-port 10/100 switch, which in turn connects to the Devialet

So, without being a networking expert, can see how IP conflicts might arise, sonce none of these switches etc. are managed and DHCP is running everywhere.

However, when I do a network scan, it shows that tha Amplifi Mesh base station manages all IP addresses from the 192.168.183.x subnet.

So I am back to square one as to why my Roon connection to my Devialet via ethernet drops without warning or reason and takes a bunch of randomized steps to get it going again...

[petrik]

I had a similar issue and it was caused by a bug in Devialet FW. I got a beta FW from Devialet where this bug has been fixed.

[pvanosta]

Thanks for the input. Any idea how I might get this beta FW?

[petrik]

Send a message to the Devialet’s support and ask if they could give you a download link to that.

[daniel.avasilichioaei]

In the past, I have done extensive testing for RAAT. From what I saw, the problem exists for both the 1Gbps and the 100Mbps connection. The only difference is that at 100Mbps the effects are less catastrophic and almost imperceptible to the user. This is the area where a 100Mbps switch can intervene (be it Etherregen or any other): how annoying the bug is for the user (but it will not fix the bug).
The only real fix for the RAAT problem can only come from Devialet: either a new firmware, or (the worst case) the need to change the network card used by the Devialet Expert Pro range.

P.S .: My personal choice was not to use RAAT, but Devialet AIR (until Devialet fixes the problem).

[mdconnelly]

Interesting, because when I first heard of the beta software that claims to fix the gigabit bug (months ago now), I did specifically ask Devialet how to get it and was told the beta tester list was closed to new applicants. That made sense. But to hear now that Devialet is providing it just by asking is ... frustrating. Perhaps they are very close to releasing it (being so very optimistic ;-)

[Pim]

Interesting, because when I first heard of the beta software that claims to fix the gigabit bug (months ago now), I did specifically ask Devialet how to get it and was told the beta tester list was closed to new applicants.  That made sense.  But to hear now that Devialet is providing it just by asking is ... frustrating.  Perhaps they are very close to releasing it (being so very optimistic ;-)

Don't worry about being left out. It doesn't work.

[pvanosta]

FWIW: I read a tip on the Roon forum that was so simple, I could not believe I hadn't tried it myself.
I disabled wifi in the Dev config.
No drop outs via ethernet since then. Testing continues