I have a ND5 XS2 streamer and have used Wi-Fi to connnect the router. I now want to try an Ethernet cable.
What do I need to do?
Do I need to remove the Wifi antennas or can they stay in place?
Do I need to power down the streamer in order for the unit to recognize the New Ethernet connection?
You can leave the wi-fi antennas in place. Personally, I would power down before connecting the ethernet cable and reboot the router as well and only turn the ND5 back on once the router is up and running again.
Thanks!
Be aware unlike Wi-Fi which either works or it doesn’t, Ethernet can be setup in a very wide range of ways, some simple and cost effective, others that can cost you more than your ND5 XS2.
There’s no absolute and finite end point here and it’s often subjective, some liking specific cables and network equipment whilst others disliking the same thing entirely!
Experiment within your financial means and needs ultimately, a well setup Wi-Fi network will perform well and your ND5 XS2 sound and perform as designed to optimally.
Thank you for your input!
Plug Ethernet cable into the rear of player and then the other end into your router. The Ethernet connection will override the WiFi. You may have to restart the App. That’s it, no more complicated than that.
tbh I dispute that… wifi can be very hit-and-miss with variable speeds and variable connectivity. When it works, great, BUT there’s lot’s of iffy levels between works and doesn’t work 
Now my findings with a lan cable are it either works or it doesn’t
Yeah I hear what you say, I guess I should have worded it differently, When it’s set up correctly, it works, also creating a good Wi-Fi network does require investing in better equipment so arguably it is a similar process to making changes and comparisons with Ethernet Cables and Switches as may do.
You can still get a dodgy Ethernet cable of course!
Having, more often than I care to admit, wasted hours with networks to only discover it’s a simple patch lan cable fault, investing in a cheap lan tester (which you can use for patch leads and infrastructure cabling) is a well worth while investment. It’s particularly important, where you’ve done the termination to test infrastructure cabling. A decade or so ago lan testers were up to a hundred quid (in fact we made our first one 'cause they were so expensive to buy), now they’re a tenner!
Great Stephen, Thanks!
So, in theory, would a well set-up Ethernet loom including various switches etc always outperform a well set-up wireless connection?
Might be worth searching through the multitude of older threads on this topic, it’s been debated to death over the years. Mostly boils down to how much time and money you have to throw at it. Theres no reason Wi-Fi can’t perform equally to a wired connection.
I hope not because I can’t possibly have an ethernet connection here. I have invested in mesh wifi which has good signal strength and seems to work well and sound good.
Yep!
Before you launch into anything complicated or costly:
Get a decent Ethernet cable (double digit price range), plug it into both sides (no power down needed, it’s designed to be plug and play), and give it a try. (Power cycle might help, if connection does not work just so, after restarting he app.)
Finding a good way to route he cable in an unobtrusive way without damaging it may be the biggest challenge, I you keep, it simple.
Anything beyond that is extra and subject to opinions.
I agree, wifi is ok if you are in the countryside in a house in the middle of nowhere. If I look on my WiFi list there are six wifi bases listed, that have nothing to do we me. They all share the same data streams and channels, that is why there is password protection so you cannot see what is happening. The channels can just busy, and data can not be transferred as quickly as it needs to.
We’re not talking about Gb/s of traffic here though are we. Your Naim ND is barely breaking a sweat and neither is the Access Point it’s connected to in order to be able to play even the very highest of high resolution audio (24/192 FLAC = 9216 Kb/s or less than 10 Mb/s on a link that can handle 100’s if not 1000’s of Mb/s of data concurrently without any data loss). The substantial buffer in the NP800 subsystem also handles enough playback overhead to handle all but the very poorest Wi-Fi links. By the time the DAC has data to process any issues in the transport are mitigated.
Yes, the network connection (wifi or Ethernet) gets established on power up / boot. Just plugging in the cable will not automatically switch from wireless to wired for Naim devices (as it might for other stuff). Power cycling your ND5 XS2 is a must here.
Edit: This is incorrect! @marcusman is correct, and it automatically switches when wire is inserted or removed. Apologies, I had tried this previously and did not did it worked this way… but it sure does now!
Actually it does. If you insert an Ethernet cable into the ND5XS2 it will recognize it and wifi will be disabled. If the ethernet cable is unplugged then it’ll try to use wifi.
As @Mr.M says, eirther method can sound a bit better. I don’t know, maybe the type of router makes a difference, or which provider you use.
I would listen intently to both and use the one you think sounds better. BJC cables, cat6a I think I have, are excellent and inexpensive. I get them from Amazon now, and a pre-owned Cisco 2960 ethernet switch is also cheap, so pricey equipment isn’t neccessary.
Best of luck with whatever you end hp with.
