@foggyus91 - thanks for the heads up, foggy : ) - yes, I got wind of the findings in the German forum awhile back and already have a TPLink WR902AC in a drawer awaiting listening/testing. I have an interesting ground cable between my power distributor and grounding router, which I’m currently gauging the effectiveness of, so the TPlink will come next.
Thing is, I was on affordable low power WiFi (sans switch) until fairly recently, and i know how absolutely amazing it can sound. This changed when I decided to give switches a shot, with the very cheapest first. When I found a small but noticeable uptick in realism, I started testing others, to just marginal improvements. Then I decided to draw a fresh fibre optic internet access point close to my system in order to listen to the difference with my server hardwired to the router, and that’s when everything turned upside down - it became worse not better. Not dramatically worse, just not as good. I started researching on possible reasons and realised that there was a ton of EMI/RFI disturbance in the relatively small area I have all my networking equipment in, and that components were possibly not well isolated.
This became another long journey in testing and listening to more, and I discovered the most realism with inclusion of a separate isolating router and a switch to help filter all the interference with the hardwired solution. It has made a substantial difference to sound realism from my original WiFi connection without switch.
I haven’t tried going back for a critical listen to my former setup, but will, shortly, with this apparently very low power/noise router. Our hobby is a truly complicated one of discovery, and sometimes, rediscovery - let’s see how this unfolds. In the meantime, I still feel that if a hardwired setup is what one has or prefers, with networking/server/streamer components located in close proximity, that a truly damped isolating router and switch are not only vital for inclusion, they take the hardwired option to its true potential, and from my experience, beyond what even a well-engineered and implemented WiFi setup can achieve.
In friendship - kevin