This has been asked I think but search is not coming up with the clear answer. I currently have netgear switch close to the router with 5m Ethernet cables to uniti nova and innuos zen. All Cable’s are qed Ethernet graphite.
So am I best to have the switch close to the streamer with some better cables to streamer etc or one better cable to switch near the router. Can’t afford to buy two long better cables…
If memory serves me right then have a long cable from your Nova to the switch and a shorter one from switch to router. 
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Cheers matey
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It doesn’t make much difference, if your switch has the ability to optimise its power/voltage against a cable length, the shortest setting is around less than most lengths on a domestic network.
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Indeed, ideally use a much longer run between switch and streamer, and ideally use thinner gauge cable such as Cat5e.(coiled spool of >10m I found sounded good on my NDX, I never tried 100m but that might have sounded better yet…) The impact is minimal, but you are slightly reducing the serial switching voltage received by your host/streamer. If your host is susceptible to Ethernet noise, then this will be a good thing.
Using a switch that supports EEE helps as well, and will allow you to use shorter cables to good effect by reducing the serial switching voltages for shorter length cables.
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In addition to the above, keeping the switch, and it’s power supply, a good distance away from the streamer may be beneficial. The Netgear switch I had was quite electrically noisy.
thanks all. Chris that’s kinda why i put it where it is as its on a filtered mains block with all the remaining switch mode psu’s that power the tv etc. so the consensus is leave it as it is and enjoy the music!
I guess if something is electrically noisy, it may not automatically mean that the noise finds its way into your system and makes it sound different, but one can always try to maintain good housekeeping in this respect. Easy enough to swap things around just to see if there’s any difference. Or you could jump on the Cisco Catalyst bandwagon, as amongst other potential benefits, they certainly have electrically quiet power supplies.
Have you tried a cisco 2960 ethernet switch? This will probably be far cheaper than an expensive cable, and in my case made a very significant improvement.
Simon, is the cisco 2960g eee compatible?
I believe it’s only the final X and XR series of 2960 that have EEE.
The end of sale for these devices was announced yesterday.
The 2960 will soon become history.
These devices have been replaced by the Catalyst 9000 series devices. Quite different internally. I have no idea what they ‘sound’ like yet.
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Thanks for clarifying that Simon. Im very happy with the 2960g anyway, it gave a substantial lift to the sound in my system which surprised me. I also use audioquest vodka ethernet leads which improved things even further.
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