Same basic problem, after a few days of OK connection, my SB3 started to drop out, frequent reconnects, black screen etc. Power cycling the cable gateway would solve the problem for a brief time, then more lost connections. The network test would show 90-100% connection, even at the highest throughput, at the tip top it might drop to 85% or so. The buffer settings were all maxed out, netstumbler showed nobody on my channel nearby (isolated house). In theory, all should have been copacetic, so maybe it was the IP or an intermittent squeezenetwork problems? I put softsqueeze on my office PC, a different IP running from a university mainframe with bandwidth to spare. The connection was rock solid, only stuttering or dropping the signal once or twice when the mainframe was having a bad hair day. To make matters worse, I couldn't stream flacs at all on my SB3 at home. My first flac files buffered for a half a minute, then stuttered horribly until I put them out of their misery. But the same files played OK in a flac player on the PC.
My home network linksys WCG200 and Linksys range extender were just not up to the challenge, even with dual high gain antennas on the gateway. Sending the signal to the front of my very long house turned out to be a perilous journey. Every time the heat or AC kicked in, or the microwave started up, or the cat farted, the signal would vanish. SB3 refused to rebuffer half the time. I've seen the same symptoms described in a dozen different threads. It got so bad I could not even listen to a single song on the radio without the agony of rebuffering. What to do? After much research, I decided to give the homeplug option a try, and picked up a Netgear XE104 base unit for the router, and an XE103 for the SB3. Don't buy the older versions that only do 10-14 mbs on a good day. The pricier 85 mbs models are the way to go, though 85 mbs is science fiction - but I'm getting 50-60 mbs over about 100 foot distance, which is more than adequate. Anything to do with networking is generally as bad a setup/install experience as you are likely to have. But these little adapters were literally plug and play, and how often have you had that experience with a PC product? I didn't have to install interface software (though it later proved useful to monitor the signal). Just stuck them in the wall, popped in the ethernet patch cords, reset the SB3 from wireless to wired, and that was that. Over the past week I have had only two blackouts, both due to the wireless connection from slimserver on my PC to my now hybrid wireless/homeplug LAN. No more dropouts, no more endless rebuffering. Just an uninterrupted flow of beautiful music. And my flac files load almost instantly and stream flawlessly (and sound FANTASTIC). There are some problems with homeplug technology. Old or bad wiring could limit your success. My home is newly wired, with a single breaker panel, so not an issue for me. The biggest drawback is losing my protection from power surges. Homeplug adapters have to be plugged directly into the wall, power strips with surge protection just won't work. My speed went from 65 to 10 MBS when plugged it into a top end Monster Cable strip, and SB3 could no longer find the server. Almost every surge protector on the market now includes line filtering, which is great for quiet stereo listening or high end LCD TV's, but it treats the homeplug signal as noise and trashes it. Belkin makes a power strip with one plug designed for homeplug equipment, but that seems to be it for the market, and I really don't want to shell out major bucks for a 9 outlet strip with only one homeplug compatible outlet. The cheapest strips have no filtering, but are nearly useless in terms of surge protection capacity. If anyone knows of a surge protector (for a standard plug or for just ethernet cable) that is homeplug compatible please let me know. Meanwhile, I can let the music play all day, just in time for Mardi Gras. Laissez les bons temps roulez! -- Fleury ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fleury's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=9783 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=32529 _______________________________________________ discuss mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
