Hi
I use a QB (1st gen) as a bedside radio and alarm and the continuous drop outs are driving me nuts.
My home network is stable, 300M speed. Have no issues watching streamed TV or streamed Tidal.
I radio though is rubbish and as this is my alarm as well, it regularly just wakes up to silence. After fiddling with the app I get connected and that may last for a few minutes to 30 minutes, then silence and eventually the app says reconnect. This sometimes restarts the feed but often still silence.
This happens with any station from BBC radio 3 and 4 to European chill stations.
Anyone else have this issue! Itās basically unusable at the moment (certainly unreliable). The Qb itself is fine and its power cycled every day. Firmware is up to date
Cheers
Hi Paul
Not yet, that had occurred to me as a next step. My wireless signals are strong, I have a mesh system and use the iPad right next to it, but itās worth a try to diagnose. Bit awkward to set up but Iāll try that next
Remember that you have a long run of Ethernet cable.
My advice would be to put a powered switch in the bedroom and then run an Ethernet cable to that from the router. You can also have additional switches in between, if necessary.
Then connect your QB to that, which will also give you extra Ethernet connections in the bedroom for additional equipment, for example, the TV.
I think initially it will need to be via a power line type Ethernet connection. Otherwise Iāll have to drill holes through the bedroom walls for cables, other half wonāt appreciate that.
Iām currently testing with my normal Wi-Fi link from my Melco uPNP and itās streaming fine. Problem is, so is iRadio at the moment!
Where is your nearest Mesh router in relation to the bedroom.
You can do a hardwire test by leaving the cable free and going through open doorways for now to see if all works OK.
Another consideration is with hardwiring, get the cable without plugs on. If you have to go through a wall, the hole will be quite small and you have a number of options;
Cable clip to the skirting board
Put it in some micro trunking above the skirting board
Run in between the carpet and skirting board, often, there us enough space to push some cable in
Once done, just simply terminate the ends and the cable will always be at the correct length, without having excess cable to hide and be tidy.
Still holesš
My closest mesh pod is only about 4m away. The problem with leaving a trailing cable is that the issue seems to be early morning, it was stable this afternoon. Unfortunately thatās when it acts as an alarm, so itās not to safe to leave a trailing cable for us to trip over when we get up in the dark to make the tea (Iām in England so tea is essential with the online newspaper).
I know my Ethernet powerlines are good so Iāll try that way first.
I also know my internet signal itself is good at that time as Iām using my iPad constantly for the online news.
Iāll see how it is tomorrow morning. I suspected the internet radio server but if no one else has these regular drop outs maybe itās somewhere else.
Good idea. Iāve got the power line in now so Iāll try a few days with that and see if it becomes more stable.
Iāll report back in a few days time!
I wouldnāt. Most stations are remarkable stable. The issue is likely a combination of poor wi-fi on early gen devices and the Naim app which loses its room connection (which is why a wired connection seeks to remove the first issue from the equation).
You also might simulate the QB switch-off and alarm switch on during your tests. Are you losing the room (i.e. the equipment) or the radio station?
You mentioned during the problem āeventually the app says reconnectā - is that reconnect the room?
There is also the alarm process - Is this process controlled by the QB (once set) or triggered by the App?
Hi Paul, thanks for the comments.
When I get the drop outs the reconnect is connect to the stream, not the room. The app still shows the Qb and I can navigate it fine, just no radio streams running. The station is shown but buffer 0 and no data displayed.
The alarm function is the Qb itself. It wakes from standby, puts the light on and starts the selected stream (well sometimes not).
Iām connected Ethernet via mains Powerline for test and this morning all was stable. Just one morning though, need several more to be sure.
Prefer not to use the Powerline long term in case the mains noise gets into the rest of my Naim equipment.
I have read that the 1st gen Wi-Fi performance has issues
I have had a Powerline on my main system for five years because of the location of my āmusic roomā without noise issues (despite the naysayers) so if it beneficial to your problem I would not assume a downside but check it out.
You might check if your ISP router is re-booting periodically by checking the uptime. Virgin do it at night from time to time. This could upset the connections/associations which do not then reconnect properly.
Perhaps Naim support can help with any alarm related issues/advice @Will may help.
Hmm, iradio just dropped out even connected by Ethernet over Powerline. This time I checked and the Room had been lost. Reselected Qb via existing devices and iRadio reappeared.
Any suggestions?
Actually happened twice this morning over about an hour.
Iām using an iPad latest IOS
If your internet connection was at fault you would almost certainly be having problems with Tidal as well, as it will use at least as much bandwidth as iRadio, and usually more if itās a lossless subscription.
Powerline adapters are rarely a solution to anything. When Naim support are helping people diagnose connectivity problems, āare you using any sort of powerline adapter?ā is high on their list of questions. Itās not that they donāt often work, but they donāt conform to the Ethernet standard, and they turn your entire mains electrical system, and probably your neighbours too, into a giant RFI emitting antenna. Personally I avoid them like the plague, especially now that Mesh wireless networks are widely available and generally very robust.
Hi Chris
I already have a mesh network and the Qb was on that and it was dropping out regularly (Tidal doesnāt). I only used the Powerline as an alternative Ethernet to see if the Wi-Fi was the issue. The Powerline has never given me any issues as a network feed on any other item in the past.
It seems clear to me now that the issue is the Qb dropping out or at least losing its connection in some way.
Itās not new, been doing it for ages, just really annoying me now and so unreliable I canāt use the alarm function.
Mine has seemed worse recently, whether thatās any sort of update or something to do with iradio feed I donāt know. I donāt really notice the same issue with other sources.
I may try Naim support but Iām not too hopeful as I have the impression that Qb gen 1 rather dropped off their radar once gen2 came out. Just my impression
These issues are frustrating when they are hard to diagnose. The 1st gen Musos have notoriously poor WiFi performance, but itās hard to see how this issue is in any way network related given that Tidal works for you, unless perhaps there is some weird firewall setting that blocks iRadio.
If your network connection times out periodically I wonder if you have a DHCP issue that is causing problems, this is quite common with Mesh networks where they are connected to an ISP supplied router which possibly needs a DHCP setting altered. Without knowing for sure what the issue is, I admit this is just a guess, but maybe something to investigate. Failing that, Naim support may be able to help.
Hi Chris, I donāt think itās a time out issue. Sometimes there are no drop outs, other times they can be every 5 minutes. Mostly it restarts the stream by itself, but may be silent for 5 minutes or more, others I have to either reconnect or deselect the room.
It is frustrating as iradio is the feature I use most on the Qb