10-Jan-2018, 05:09
(10-Jan-2018, 02:27)meeotch Wrote: My home network is dual band 5GHz & 2.4GHz. I can see in Spark when the Phantoms are connected via a 5GHz connection, and you're right - 5Ghz works better. In fact, when they drop back to 2.4GHz, as they sometimes do, they're basically unlistenable due to dropouts.
I think you may have misread my original assertion, though... if I'm reading those Devialet pages correctly: The Dialog's networks (5 / 2.4GHz) are used for all communication Dialog->Phantoms. Any "external" network is solely for downloading updates, communication Dialog->Spark, and streaming music to the Dialog. That is, when there's a Dialog involved, and no wired connection to the speakers, all communication to the speakers goes over the Dialog's dedicated network - the speakers are not connected to any other wifi network.
My audio is all going direct via optical cable, no wireless streaming, and I don't use Spark for anything except resetting the system (which happens far too often for my taste). So if my theory is correct, I should be able to shut down my home wireless network completely, and the system will still work. I'll try that when I get home.
But if there's a way of forcing the Phantoms to use a non-Dialog ("external") wifi network for communication, and still play in stereo, I'd love to know what it is. I'm convinced that the audio dropouts are due to the poor quality of the communication going over the Dialog's dedicated network. But I don't think there's a way of bypassing the Dialog network in a stereo config.
Maybe it‘s off topic for your question. How do you exclude that the Phantoms and Dialog do not communicate through their internal PLC? As PLC is Devialet’s preferred path of communication between the Phantoms and Dialog your problem could be triggered by the Phantoms or Dialog trying to use tht PLC path for communication.
Another source of problem could be that close neighborhood uses wifi and therefore might disturbed the timing delicate Devialet wifi network. Maybe it is helpful when you observe which Channels the Devialet wifi uses and if it stably stays on the 5GHz network.
In general I agree with your understanding about how Devialet and Phantoms communicate. It is a pity that Dialog’s optical input has some glitches (some noise and from time to time cracks or tiny dropouts (<100ms). The path would be shorter optical Dialog => Phantoms rather than optical Phantom => Dialog=> Phantoms.
