2. digital
  3. 131178-2153

Move router far from hifi components?

I just finished reading Hans Beekhuyzen's Kindle book on file based audio. This is what he said about where your router should go.


"Like cell phones, Wi-Fi uses radio frequencies that might cause interference in your stereo. Try to keep the Wi-Fi access point as far as possible from the hifiequipment and always use well shielded audio, power and network cables on your hifi. If Wi-Fi is your only choice, you’d rather hope you’re in an area that has little Wi-Fi traffic."

i don't think I have heard about this before and was wondering if this really makes a difference. I'm tempted to move my router and modem to another room to test but wanted to poll everyone to see if they have done this.
128x128lxgreen
erik_squires
15,643 posts
 
It's not just the router, but the wall wart too. Those little switching supplies need to be kept far outside your audio chain.

And... it depends. If you search the forums, several cases of severe noise caused by Wi-Fi routers and devices like home security systems. This is usually worse than mere tweaking, but really noticeable noise issues that is beyond the usual voodoo of tweaks and cable lifters.

I try to keep all my audio stuff using hard-wired Ethernet, in part due to Wi Fi congestion. Streaming movies or music can become erratic.

Best,

E
randy-11
1,913 posts
 
distance and balanced cables are your friends
jon2020's avatar
jon2020
982 posts
 
Wifi is not recommended for hifi. Going usb/ethernet avoids these issues.
My router/modem are in another room far away.
But as we all know, usb/ethernet have their own issues.
auxinput
2,920 posts
 
I have never really tested whether or not wireless causes interference or degradation with audio equipment.  However, I will tell you that wireless will definitely reduce your sound quality for streaming (whether it's internet or a local DLNA server).  Even though your wireless router/network can be high speed, it's the latency on the network packets that kills you and causes the streaming software to drop down to lower sample rates, etc.  Hard-wired Ethernet is always going to be superior.
More to discover