Big issue with my fiber optics internet for Qobuz streaming


 

I just switched from cable to fiber optics for internet. Both download and upload speeds have been upgraded to over 600 Mbps, so speed should not be an issue at all. It came with a modem (AT&T BGW320 model), which handles the fiber-to-Ethernet conversion and also serves as a router.

For TV, video streaming, and cell phone access, the experience has been great—better than ever. However, when I stream Qobuz hi-res music, particularly 24/192, it continuously pauses, drops out, and/or skips tracks from time to time. Sometimes even lower-resolution music has similar issues.

I called AT&T support, and the technician performed a detailed diagnosis and reset from his end but found nothing he could address or offer to resolve the issue. He suggested raising the issue with Qobuz.

What could be the reason? Have you encountered such an issue? How did you resolve it?

lanx0003

OP seems to have fixed this, but let me say, this community may know audio but networking seems like there's a huge knowledge gap and some of you should not be chiming in when you aren't experts.  Those saying "it's at&t" are clueless.  If the OPs other streams that require WAY more bandwidth, it's not the ISP.  This seems like a pretty easy conclusion but you guys are all bashing the ISP bc you don't understand networking.  I am not defending At&t.  Just saying, don't chime in on stuff you have zero clue about.  Rant over.

No one here mentioned port settings?  Very possible the other router had certain ports blocked which would make it so traffic from Qobuz could be blocked. 

Hope you didn't have to buy a new router.  Ridiculous some of the responses here come on people 

Well done on getting the problem sorted @lanx0003! As a personal rule, I do not let any external entity administer or have access to my wifi network. I even own the cable modem.

To further improve your performance, if possible you might consider running a cable from your router to your streamer thus getting another possible source of noise out of your signal path. I used Cat8 for the 25' run for mine and I found an audible difference with my setup.

Happy listening.

 

@musicfan2349 

Thank you. With all the support I received from several individuals and AI, I am glad to have that issue ironed out in a relatively short time.

Your security precautions are well taken. Since the ISP modem is in bridge mode with Wi-Fi disabled, I have my own router handling firewall, NAT, and DHCP functions, which provides basic protection. Beyond that, with AI’s assistance, I will perform several straightforward steps to strengthen security further, including changing the router’s admin username and password, disabling WPS, disabling remote management and WAN administration, and using encrypted DNS.

You also raised an interesting topic regarding sound quality between wired and Wi-Fi connections. I previously used a 6-ft wired connection with Cat-8 cable and believe that a short, shielded ethernet cable should not act as an antenna that couples noise. Nevertheless, after resolving the Wi-Fi issues, I now feel that more stable Wi-Fi produces slightly better sound quality (or prevents degradation, I should say) — with a more open and richer sound in a nontrivial way. I was concerned about being subjective or imaginative, so I asked my better half to listen as well, and she felt the same.

With the wired connection, I made sure Wi-Fi was turned off to ensure a fair comparison. This finding remains somewhat of a mystery and counterintuitive, but it might be related to my Cat-8 cable not being truly high-end, the LAN port quality, or the need for a higher-quality network switch.

For now, with the issues resolved and the better sound quality ever I have experienced so far, I am going to relax and enjoy my streaming.

@erik_squires 

Thank You! for speeding up my fiber network. I used your suggestion, asked grok how to do it and now my whole home wifii network is faster. I already had google home and nest. Grok even hooked me up to cloud fare IPv6. Don’t yet know how my EVO will react yet but I imagine it will love the faster loading speed too.

Thanks. 

 

I agree with the poster that people don’t know networking. MTU default is 1500 and should be left alone. I used to set jumbo frames on our enterprise network which is setting MTU to 9000, and this can improve performance.

Use AT&T’s modem then buy your own mesh network from there. My house uses 4 routers so I can get 900Mb from all 5ghz devices anywhere in the house. Plus, if you get mesh routers, always get the wifi 6e or newer routers because of their dedicated backhaul used to talk between each router if they are not wired. Then from each router, I use either the ports on the routers or hook up a 5 or 8 port switch so I can hook up each device by Ethernet, I never use wifi unless if I can’t go wired.

1 more tip, I use a commercial switch in my audio room and it improved the sound quality because this switch  doesn’t use a wall wart, and instead of going out of the router to the streamer, I go thru this switch and it improved the sq.

Only use wifi if you can’t use a wired connection.