Ok now I am frustrated with streaming


Help me out here please. I was really enjoying getting into streaming. Just purchased a Node 2i 2 weeks ago and have been enjoying it. Testing Tidal and Qobuz, leaning toward Qobuz. I was testing both wifi and ethernet connection. I seemed to pick up some noise and distortion on what I thought was the ethernet so I have been listening on wifi. I really enjoy finding new music on the streaming service. Tonight I was enjoying Sierra Hull because I listen to a lot of Alison Krauss. I was listening to Sierra Hull's new 25 Trips album and got to track 7 Escape and I heard a bunch of static/distortion, almost like a blown tube, except I have solid state equipment. I switched to Tidal to see if it was a problem with the Qobuz stream and same thing. Hooked up my MacBook pro to rule out a problem with the Node 2i, same thing. Now I am listening to Clapton's Unplugged and I hear the same thing. Is it my internet? I have a brand new modem, a Motorola MB7621, and a brand new Asus AC3100 router. I did a speed test and we are getting 237 mbps. My daughter was watching Netflix on a TV upstairs at the time, when she was finished I did a reboot of the cable modem and reboot of the Node 2i and then it was fine after that. I listened for about an hour after that. Is it my internet speed? Do I need to call Comcast/xfinity and up my speed package? Is it something else? Its getting frustrating and its not supposed to be like that, I am at the point where I may just send the Node back on the return policy and stick with CD's. 
128x128jmphotography
There are so many half thoughts and disconnected opinions here as to confuse anyone. A fw comments:
1. if your wifi sounds better than Ethernet, you have a problem2. A high res video stream is 3-10 mbps; streaming FLAC music is ~ 0.7 mbps.  so 230 mbps is crazy overkill.3. But what raet are you getting from the music servers? They are affected by many network issues, principal among them peering (dont ask, its techo-legal)4. first trouble isolate. Does it exist with CD? Phono? Etc.5. If its streaming only, ping TIDAL or ??? and get some data6. opinions and raw "on the tin" numbers w/r/t network performance are so much gibberish. Your internet can be fast, yet a server or intermediate point congested.  if so tho, the situation should vary from good to bad day by day7. No magic box will fix. Either you have a misbehaving component that needs repair, or a system problem that needs troubleshooting.
I have never had overt distortion from a streaming service whether low res or high.
Should you discover that you have inconsistent networking, and if you can set your buggers as large as possible.
Good luck. Be step by step logical.
G


to RVpiano - i play both back to back and on my system vastly prefer streaming to physical CDs - typically from my server but also from Tidal/etc. I rip all my CDs ALAC and play on either Mac with Bitperfect and upsampling, or ROON on  dedicated 4-core ROCK.G
I am running a brand new Asus AC3100 router and it has a few ports
One thing I would do (if you haven't already) is check for firmware updates to your Asus.  New wireless routers are shipped all the time with immature firmware which eventually gets fixed.  New firmware has fixed network latency issues (and more serious issues) in the past.  Whether this fixes your issue or not it's a good idea to check from a security standpoint.
I used to do corporate networks starting 30 years ago and their could be a few things that you should look at:
1) you indicated that xfinity saw some errors. What were they? Could they fix them or did they mask them by upping your speed? Speed isn’t the problem, it’s the quality of your connection.
2) something simple to look at 1st on your side is you could have a bad Ethernet patch cable. We used to certify every cable that we made to ensure it was built right. Invest in a cheap network cable analyzer like the Tripp-lite network cable tester for $40 and check each of your cables. You would be surprised how many cables have issues
2) Router configuration. How many routers are you using? Do you have a bridged network or a mesh network? If you are using a few routers, are they attached by an Ethernet cable or from WiFi? Big difference in performance, you don’t want to use WiFi unless you have to.
3) you want to use a 1G internal network which requires cat5e cables or higher. I use a cat7 audioquest Ethernet cable from my wall socket to my dac, much better termination which equals better sq. 
I have been streaming (to me streaming is accessing music on a disk drive or internet) for over a dozen years without any issues. My music server is a Mac mini running Roon from a different room than my audio equipment. I have been thru many years using pure music/Audirvana  software or a dedicated music server Auralic Aries. Roon replaced all of that.

Network wise, I have a 1G private network and my house is all wired using cat6 cablIng. My internet is a 1G fiber network. My last house I had 1G fiber using cat5e cables without any issues. Even with my home wired in every room going to a 1G switch, I use 3 routers all connected together with cat6 cabling. All 3 routers are setup in a bridged configuration. Any Mac that is attached to any router will see 950Mb upload and download speeds with 3 or 4 ms latency. Tidal MQA is every bit as good and usually much better sound quality than ripped or purchased hires files as well as vinyl.
@ jmphotography

I too have Asus AC3100 (AWESOME router!) and NAD C388 w/BluOS2i MDC module (essentially same as Node 2i) connected by WiFi.

Whatever Ethernet cable (Cat 5e/6/7/8/etc.) proponents say about improved SQ is BS. WiFi with the specific units mentioned above works AWESOME! Notice I said SQ. I’ve never had bad SQ from the WiFi connection. However, I have had music stop playing due to poor WiFi connection - read more about Roaming Block List below.

The bandwidth you mentioned is way more than necessary. We have 100MB service, and simultaneously doing the following without any issues:
  • 2x kids playing Xbox1S’s MMO’s with VOIP service running on top (for headset banter)
  • Streaming Netflix Ultra (4k with HDR and surround) in the HT system on another Xbox1S.
  • Me streaming Amazon UltraHD with BluOS
Another member mentioned adjusting the router to prioritize audio...
Yes, this is possible. Once logged-in to the Asus AC3100, on the left side menu click "Adaptive QoS". There will be 3 tabs in the main screen, "Bandwidth Monitor", "QoS", "Web History" - click "QoS".
Enable QoS = Yes
QoS Type = Adaptive QoS
Bandwidth Setting = Automatic
Select = Media Streaming
Click Apply (router will do its thing, and setting will be in effect)
The above is quick & dirty way to do it. Way more trickery is possible with more advanced setting adjustments.

If you have a marginally weak WiFi signal, music stream may suddenly pause - then spontaneously restart. If you have a fully-weak WiFi signal, music may pause and not come back. Think of this as similar to having a partially or fully damaged Cat cable - results are expected. Notice there is never static or noise... music just stops (same as it would with damaged cable).

My wireless network consists of additional routers. As you may know, AC3100 is MESH-capable. I have the AC3100 as primary, with two Asus AC1900 routers in AiMesh mode to seamlessly (for mobile devices) cover more ground (4,000 sqft house on 1 acre). These routers also allow capability to specify devices stay on a particular router in the mesh network (for devices that aren’t mobile), which can be handy, since mesh will move devices around to load-balance. I have the BluOS2i (NAD MDC module) locked to the closest router (and only router not located in the basement). This feature is called "Roaming Block List" - find it in left-side menu Advanced Settings/Wireless/Roaming Block List.

Hope this helps - Good luck! If you need more help with router settings PM me - happy to help.