Total Newbie - Apologies in Advance

[simoncn]

(14-04-2014 18:34)gnomus Wrote:  Simon

Thanks again for your time with all of this. I apologize for being a bit on the slow side as regards this networking business.

My music system is some way from my router and NAS. I reckon I would need an ethernet cable some 80-100 feet in length to get from one to the other.

The Sonos system came with a Sonos Bridge, which seemed to work OK. I run a digital out of the Sonos so that I can use the DAC in my Arcam AV8. However, I find the system a bit too bright for my taste. That is why I am looking at the Linn options. I am told however that the Linn requires an ethernet connection. Hence my attempt to get everything working with homeplugs.

I want to achieve the best sound that I can get out of my system. I am not too interested in a multi-room setup.

In your "renderer---bridge 1..." example, the bridge device needs to be physically connected to the renderer, and thus in the same room. For a Linn system to work does not the NAS have to be physically connected to bridge 1 too, and therefore, also in the same room?

Also, I don't really know what I can use as bridge 1. I was convinced I had a second BT modem, but I went looking for it today and I think I may have thrown it out. Can you recommend me a "bridge 1" device, so that I can at least get some idea what I should be looking for.

Sorry to keep bombarding you with questions...

The first step is to diagnose the cause of the current problem. Before you consider purchasing a wireless bridge, it would be a good idea to try a temporary Ethernet cable. A 30m cable should be long enough, and these are available for about £4 from Amazon.

I am using a NETGEAR WNHDE111 wireless bridge (see this page) to connect my Linn DS to my switch. This product consists of two units (bridge 1 and bridge 2). One of these units is in the same room as my Linn DS, and the other is in the same room as my switch. This model is no longer available, but I presume you could find something else that is similar. For this approach to work, you need a relatively clear path (one or at most two intervening walls) between the bridge 1 and bridge 2 devices. This setup isn't recommended by Linn, but I need to use it because my house doesn't allow the possibility of running an Ethernet cable.

After doing the test with a 30m Ethernet cable, you might find that you still have the dropout problem., If so, the solution would be to buy a switch instead of buying a wireless bridge.