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I upgraded from 100 Mbps to 1 Gig and I can't hear a difference!

Gang,   

As I prepare for my new gig and for the new year I’ve been fixing things up around the house.  One thing in particular was that yours truly really flubbed some wiring in the data closet.  My home office and entertainment center (at least) had swapped wire pairs and as a result my router was only connecting at 100 Mbps.    

Today was the day I finally fixed this all up. Using an inexpensive Ethernet wiring tester I headed into my patch panel with a punch down tool, headband flashlight and reflective vest.  The vest wasn’t needed but I like feeling like I am doing real work when I’m in there.  Couple of hours later including breaks for lunch, etc. I was done.  My Asus router and the switch at my entertainment center confirmed my improvements, showing all ports were now connecting at 1 GigE and my speed tests were fabulous.   I had 1 GigE from router to streamer and about 600 Mbps from the street. 

I sat down to listen to my Roon based audio and, it sounded exactly the same.  

What did I do wrong?? 

OK, just kidding. 192k samples x 24 bits x 2 channels is about 10 Mbps.  I already had 10x more bandwidth than I needed.  I have been running with ’degraded’ Ethernet for at least a year without knowing it or feeling it.   It’s fine to get the latest and greatest network technology, wiring and speeds but be aware that we are already blessed with a lot more bandwidth than most of us ever use. 

erik_squires
erik_squires OP
17,539 posts
 

It may help others to know that I have about 40 internet connected devices.  About 15 Kasa smart switches, Roon, a TV, a couple of streamers and various smart thermostats and Alexa devices, plus 4 computers. 

With all of that I barely use my Internet bandwidth except transferring large data files for work or downloading games or new OS images. 

The place where you have to be careful is having too many Wifi attached devices, and that's where mesh routers and devices like Asus' AiMesh can really help.  The access points can offload the Wifi overhead, but I doubt you'd feel this below 40 devices. 

riie
241 posts
 

Why would you hear a difference?

audioman58's avatar
audioman58
4,608 posts
 

Actually 100 megs is better ,lower noise y brother has a innuos and they said 1000% 

100 megs is what is used far less noise ,and if built to a high standard many other factors all try ,my friend  is a digital software engineer agreed.

laps
101 posts
 

Increasing download speed will make no difference in sound quality.

stillbuyingtoys
26 posts
 

I agree with @lordmelton that swapping your switch with one that takes a SFP will yield the results that you are looking to achieve. 

I added a cheap Trendnet 1 gig, basic fiber optical cable, and Trendnet 1.25g 1310km 10km lc module.  This combo was an instant sound improvement in transparency.  I then upgraded the ethernet and USB cable which was another two steps forward.

It's not speed but isolation that will give you that blacker backgrounds for sonic improvements.  Just my $.02 that works in my system and to my ears.

 

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