Network Surge protector on streamer

[intothedragon]

How can I improve the sound quality of my Streamer using a Network Surge protector before the ethernet cable?

 

[Beershaun]

Why do you need a network surge protector? There is no impact to sound quality when making changes in the TCP/IP connection. It either works or doesn't work. TCP/IP data transfer is packet loss resilient so there is no data lost in network transmissions between two points.

Is there a particular problem you are trying to solve?

 

[intothedragon]

Why do you need a network surge protector? There is no impact to sound quality when making changes in the TCP/IP connection. It either works or doesn't work. TCP/IP data transfer is packet loss resilient so there is no data lost in network transmissions between two points.

Is there a particular problem you are trying to solve?

Yes, I'm getting electrical static from the ethernet cable connected to my Node2i streamer. Every time I turn on any lights or the motor of the fridge turn on the Node2i makes a click and cuts the sound. I already did an investigation in all the outlets from Router, Modems, I tried changing the poles on the power supplies and nothing solves the problem. I was wondering if a Network surge protector would finally solve my problem. I'm considering this one Delock Network Surge Protector 6 kV RJ45. Also, I just read a review from a German technician suggesting this same for sound improvements. you can read here, Article, it's in German but you can easily translate it on Chrome.

 

[Beershaun]

Could the problem be the node2i? Have you tried using WiFi to confirm it's the network cable connection?

 

[intothedragon]

Yes, no problems over Wifi

 

[abdo123]

a very easy way to solve the issue is by changing the Ethernet connection from copper to optical.

No connected circuit means things won't leak in and out in a ground loop.

https://www.fs.com/c/media-converters-extenders-1037

however, i would wait for other members to chime in on whether this solution will solve your problem in particular.

 

[nerdstrike]

Every time I turn on any lights or the motor of the fridge turn on the Node2i makes a click and cuts the sound.

Cheapest link in the chain is the ethernet cable itself (improper crimping?), followed by the network switch you are plugging into. Does your Node2i have a real earth pin on the plug, or is it double-insulated?

Is the click the kind you get when the amp turns on/off such as a relay, or is it sent to the speakers?

 

[somebodyelse]

No connected circuit means things won't leak in and out in a ground loop.

The ethernet standard requires isolation, so network cables shouldn't contribute to ground loops. You can often see the isolation transformers looking like a blocky IC close to the network connector, but if board space is an issue they may be built into the connector as they are on the Raspberry Pi. Those connectors are often referred to as magjacks.

Switching the lights or fridge motor really shouldn't cause any problems unless there's a fault. Whether that's something like a failed snubber on the fridge causing excessive transients, or something on the networking side, is another matter.

 

[intothedragon]

a very easy way to solve the issue is by changing the Ethernet connection from copper to optical.

No connected circuit means things won't leak in and out in a ground loop.

https://www.fs.com/c/media-converters-extenders-1037

however, i would wait for other members to chime in on whether this solution will solve your problem in particular.

Thank you, I’ll dig into that since I’m not familiarized with. But what I can first think is I would need two of these media converters as IN/OUT optical to ethernet??

 

[intothedragon]

Cheapest link in the chain is the ethernet cable itself (improper crimping?), followed by the network switch you are plugging into. Does your Node2i have a real earth pin on the plug, or is it double-insulated?

Is the click the kind you get when the amp turns on/off such as a relay, or is it sent to the speakers?

The Node2i plug is the double insulated one

what I just realized about my ethernet cables is all of them are CAT7 FTP shielded ones with metal terminations. Maybe if I change them to CAT6 UTP would solve the issue?

 

[intothedragon]

The ethernet standard requires isolation, so network cables shouldn't contribute to ground loops. You can often see the isolation transformers looking like a blocky IC close to the network connector, but if board space is an issue they may be built into the connector as they are on the Raspberry Pi. Those connectors are often referred to as magjacks.

Switching the lights or fridge motor really shouldn't cause any problems unless there's a fault. Whether that's something like a failed snubber on the fridge causing excessive transients, or something on the networking side, is another matter.

is there any test I can carry on the network side to evaluate the possible issues?

 

[Mnyb]

Yes try with UTP instead of shielded cables . In a home environment shielded CAT cables can create more problems than they solve and are rarely necessary

 

[somebodyelse]

is there any test I can carry on the network side to evaluate the possible issues?

Unless you know a networking professional with access to specialist test gear, probably not. Someone here may know some tricks to test things with basic test gear you might have, but I don't. You're probably limited to swapping things like the network cable and the hub/switch/router to see if the problem goes away. The Node 2i and/or your router/hub/switch probably count errors on the ethernet interface, but may or may not provide you with a way to see this, and it only really shows that there's something wrong, not what the cause is. I hadn't considered you might be using FTP not UTP - that could actually cause a problem as Mnyb says.

 

[intothedragon]

Unless you know a networking professional with access to specialist test gear, probably not. Someone here may know some tricks to test things with basic test gear you might have, but I don't. You're probably limited to swapping things like the network cable and the hub/switch/router to see if the problem goes away. The Node 2i and/or your router/hub/switch probably count errors on the ethernet interface, but may or may not provide you with a way to see this, and it only really shows that there's something wrong, not what the cause is. I hadn't considered you might be using FTP not UTP - that could actually cause a problem as Mnyb says.

thank you. Do you think changing all my FTP cables to UTP would make any good to the system as a whole?

I live in a rental and the previous tenant made a mess on the technical room. He had some kind of home alarm and he made a lot of mods on the jumpers and run more power cables. I'm trying to use only neat sources. But I have a doubt about the main internet connection from the ISP coaxial cable to my home. it's plugged into one of those 4way amplifiers that may be the source of the problem.

 

[Mnyb]

You probably don’t need to swap all cables if indeed they are the problem.

Begin with the one feeding the Node2i or if you have switch sitting in your hifi system the one feeding this switch.

If there is a groundloop somewhere it can broken up by removing the screened cable in a strategic place

 

[intothedragon]

You probably don’t need to swap all cables if indeed they are the problem.

Begin with the one feeding the Node2i or if you have switch sitting in your hifi system the one feeding this switch.

If there is a groundloop somewhere it can broken up by removing the screened cable in a strategic place

yes I just did that, plugging a UTP into the streamer but the other cable that is a long one 10m connected on the modem is FTP so it didn't make any difference. The click is still here.

 

[Mnyb]

Maybe its not the network at all just unplug the cable and try again ? do you need to play music or can you make it "click" anyway ?

 

[Jinjuku]

The Node2i will stream from local storage. I would run a UTP Cat5e cable from the node directly to a laptop/desktop and bypass everything in between. Try that and report back. If it still has the glitch I would say the Node2i is suspect / defective in some way.

 

[Beershaun]

Yes, no problems over Wifi

Do you get the performance you need via WiFi? If so then it may just be easier, cheaper, and faster to use wifi.

 

[intothedragon]

Do you get the performance you need via WiFi? If so then it may just be easier, cheaper, and faster to use wifi.

you don't tell me. I've been struggling these past days trying to solve this issue with the Digital coax but yes indeed I can easily solve using wifi or even the optical output on the Node2i but according to the Audiophile experts, that I'm not, they say the Ethernet connexion on the Node2i load the highest quality MQA and RiHes and also with the Coax you can get 192kbps what the optical and RCA won't reach. That's why I'm breaking my head here and other forums. But yes it's indeed a pain in the *ss