I have had some issues with my Atom HE dropping the connection with the app. My non-audio but computer guy son in law suggests it is my WiFi. And he is skeptical of internal antenna.
So is there a way to bypass the internal antenna on the Atom and hook up an external antenna to improve my connectivity? It does not appear to have a “jack” on the rear to do so…… or can the “network” jack be used?
I’d suggest that the solution is improving your wifi or running an ethernet cable.
You would have to rip the Atom apart to bypass the WiFi antenna, which would be a rather extreme move, and discussing it here would breach forum rules. A rather extreme solution to an undiagnosed problem.
What you could do is put a wireless range extender near the Atom, and connect that to its Ethernet port if you are unable to run a cable all the way to your router.
Well that’s not going to happen. I cannot easily run an ethernet cable, so it sounds like an extender is the way to go. Do you have any experience or recommendations on brands or specs? My Wi-Fi experience ends at plug and play.
If you do go for an extender, don’t forget to use the same SSID for the network you wish to extend. Some extenders crest a new SSID with something like _EXT added to the original, seems to cause some degree of chaos in some network environments, - dunno why. Perhaps @Simon-in-Suffolk can clarify?
ATB, J
There’s no way to connect an external antenna to the Atom as there’s no connection for one. Even if you could there’s no guarantee it would be an improvement. Unless you have problems with your WiFi using other devices, or your Atom is a long way from your router, I wouldn’t immedately jump to the conclusion that this is what’s causing the issue. It may be, but it could have some other cause. Might be worth trying re downloading the app and rebooting everything including the router.
How is the signal strength of your current WiFi setup? You can install an app on your phone to check signal strength, before adding an extender/repeater. These extenders/repeaters may sound like a good idea, but my experience is that it is not really an improvement (download speed was much lower in my case).
A long time ago, I removed all additional access point, repeaters, only using the modem/access point of my provider. And I decided to use separate SSID’s for 2.4 and the 5ghz. I had some connectivity issues with a Bluesound streamer at the time (before I bought a ND5XS2). sing separate SSID’s solved the problem. Sometimes my Android tablet and streamer would use different bands (one on 2.4ghz and one on 5ghz) causing issues.
That could be something to try to make sure the streamer and the controlling phone or tablet use the same WiFi band. Just an idea…You can also look at WiFi mesh i.s.o. an extender/repeater.
You can also access the diagnostic page by typing the web address of the unit into your web browser and this will show signal strength and channel.
Extenders are best avoided unless you are really stuck. A wifi product that supports mesh setups is far better for this if you need a wireless extension.
The extender simply terminates a wifi connection and then sets up a brand new one on a separate segment. This is why a new SSID is typically required - otherwise they will clash and cause problems or the setup to fail… but is also inefficient as it produces overheads for two completely different radio networks within your radio spectrum or channel space.
A mesh setup uses the same SSID network for the mesh connection between access points as well to hosts or end points… and can be efficient as well as load balance across different access points in some environments, although ethernet connected link to multiple access points provides the best performance, but not always possible - perhaps for lower capacity remote access points like in the garden etc,
As I said in the other thread, before spending any money, unplug the Atom from its speakers, move it next to the router and turn it on. Try WiFi first, and if your tablet/phone detect it quickly and more reliably than before, then there’s a good chance WiFi strength is an issue. If it’s still flakey, as it’s next to the router, connect it via an ethernet cable and try again. It’ll help narrow down what issue you have before going off and spending on something you may not need… 
@eleanor who works at Naim may be interested as you have connection issues.
remember that in the latest wifi protocols all three wifi bands are used interchangeably.
Wifi 5 only works on 5Ghz, wifi 4 only works on 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz, and wifi 6E runs 2.4,5 and 6 GHz so limiting bands can cause complications and performance issues unless you know exactly what you are doing. but if you have old Wifi controller with limited capability - then manually shutting down bands might be all you can do - though if the case I would be looking for a modern wifi solution. Wifi 7 is now as optimum if not more so than many standard home ethernet setups. Wifi technology has accelerated its performance significantly over the last 5 to 8 years… the latest wifi standards also cause notably less noise power than twisted pair ethernet = for those interested in digital noise etc.
It’s usually more important to have a WLAN set up for greater interoperability/compatibility - and perhaps use this as a general SSID supporting wifi 4,5 and 6E. Then also have a high capacity SSID with say just wifi 6E or 7 in optimised mode on it for optimum performance for devices that support it.. this way you are not unnecessarily compromising your main WLAN.
It may be your Naim equipment if using wifi directly needs to use the compatibility SSID.
Wifi 6 introduced WPA3 authentication to replace the less secure WPA2 on wifi 5 and earlier. This will cause issues if you dont ensure the authentication is set to ‘Transition Mode’ to allow equipment made before 2018-2020 to use your wifi 6 or higher network. Again you could split into different SSIDs depending on the capability of your wifi product.
However its worth remembering to keep SSIDs to a minimum. 4 SSIDs on an AP is generally considered the maximum before performance is notably impacted.
In my case, I am restricted to the modem/router/access point provided by my internet provider. I am not sure exactly what standards it supports. I found a page that mentions 802.11ac Wave 2.
I separated the SSID’s when I had problems with my Bluesound streamer. I haven’t tried reverting it when I bought my ND5XS2, because I had no WiFi issues with it whatsoever. I thought: If it ain’t broke, don’t fit it 
Yes should be fine for compatibility. If you are so inclined you can disable your ISP wifi and add a more capable one if needed. It’s what I do. However if you are only a casual wifi user it’s probably fine.
For me control over access and PoE meant I needed an alternative and I used Ubiquiti which has worked well, other than once I had to back out a firmware update, but a long time ago now.
I actually used a separate WiFi access point for a while, but decided to remove all access equipment and go for the simplest solution. In the end, that resulted in the most reliable solution in my house. But I did that several years ago and the WiFi access point was not of very high quality. Maybe I should try with a really capable access point. On the other hand, I have no issues with WiFi in my apartment, so maybe better to leave it
Well if it’s all working well for you, then leave it alone. If you are suffering from disconnections then yes it needs looking at…
I suspect it’s less about quality and more about support for later standards. As I say this area has massively improved over recent years.
If you have a range of old and new devices on your WLAN and you want the best performance from the later devices it can be worth creating a legacy and current SSIDs on your WLAN… I would have thought most equipment allows you to do that.
Actually it signal quality that is more the determiner rather than strength alone. Clearly very low strength both ways will lead to low signal quality, but you can have reasonable both way signal strength and very low quality from metal reflections and interference. Most WiFi products will report also on quality, or may refer to it as performance rating or similar.
Wifi radio power levels are much lower than mobile phone/device power levels so wifi is dealing with very low levels anyway and so is more susceptible to interference, especially if you have poor RFI hygiene, even though WiFi will try and optimise itself around noise issues.
The other thing that a few forget, is that WiFi is obviously two way… so both directions need to be of sufficient quality and supporting strength. Having a single ‘high power’ access point isn’t really going to help here. Sure it may be more easily seen but may result in poor or unreliable two way connections because effective radiated power of the host or connected device might be relatively quite a bit lower. Hence why it is usually preferable to have multiple interconnected access points of modest power rather than a single high power one if you want reliable and performant WiFi.
You and I know that, but I was trying to keep it simple as the OP has admitted it’s not his field.
If moving the Atom next to the router makes the issue disappear, then at least we know it’s not a configuration problem. Ideally at this point a WiFi scanner app would be the best investment, however if there’s no access to a laptop, and the OP only has an iPhone and iPad, then that’s tricky. His computer son in law may be able to help here. So at that point you might consider changing channels if possible to see if the issue is interference. If the OP has no close neighbours, interference is less likely etc.
Personally I feel that staged approach is better just to rule stuff out for minimal outlay before rushing out and buying a load of WiFi equipment without understanding what issue you’re trying to fix. It’s frustrating to go buy stuff and end up with the same issue. YMMV.
Another alternative here, if older devices are causing issues is to look for WiFi routers/AP’s that support MU-MIMO which uses multiple paths to allow talking to multiple devices at a time instead of sharing time between all devices. The latter (older) approach is what causes older devices to start slowing WiFi down as they take longer to do anything so ‘hog’ air time. Some routers had airtime fairness options, but I don’t think they worked that well personally, and the newer MU-MIMO solutions are a better option. WiFi 7 takes this further, but unless you have WiFi 7 devices it doesn’t matter as much IMO.
yeah - but its worth reminding people, even in a professional world that it’s a two way thing with connection ‘quality’ rather than just signal strength. I agree on simplifying - but it’s important to simplify down on the right parameter rather than the wrong one - or it can get very confusing.
Focus on connection quality rather than signal strength alone - and you are half way there..
MIMO has been around a long time - and gets refined and indeed with wifi 7 its improved further with different streams for different devices - but as you say both ends need to support wifi7 for that … however the biggest drains on performance in my opinion are
and yes regarding ‘fairness’ in my opinion the only reliable way to prioritise different data, is the same as for ethernet on a fixed LAN, use packet/frame differentiated service markings, and with wifi that is 802.11e aka WMM. Certain quality access pointers will map between DSCP on ethernet with WMM on wifi.
However.. many/most consumer end devices dont support WMM - so it can only benefit one way… which probably for home audio is not so bad.
Simon- I have another data point that suggests it is not the WiFi. I included the info in my original post
naim-app-has-trouble-connecting-with-uniti-atom-he-or-keeps-dropping-out/45258/15
(sorry for the multiple threads - I probably should have done a better thought out approach rather than a shotgun).