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Gear / Technical Help => Playback Forum => Topic started by: ts on October 17, 2012, 08:02:01 AM
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I have a Sqeezebox setup that gives me nothing but grief. The router is on a different floor but really can't move it closer. Constantly have a week signal or PC can't find the player. Since my stereo and music PC are in the same room I'm looking for other ways to pipe music from my PC to stereo. I think hardwiring the SB is one way. Or ditch the SB and run optical from PC to stereo. What do you guys think? I like the wireless but it's being a pita. I'm sure there are many devices available to do this but I really wish to focus on making the SB more reliable or going with optical. Stereo and PC are on opposite sides of the room so a hardwire run could end up being around 25 - 30 feet. Thanks.
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I have 2 SB's and one Squeeze Boombox, and I too had these issues. I ended up buying a cheap router that I could install dd-wrt on;
http://www.dd-wrt.com/site/index
I made this new router a repeater, and this solved my wireless problems.
But If you can hook up the SB wired, I would definetly do it that way. It's really the most trouble free way to go.
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I have a Sqeezebox setup that gives me nothing but grief. The router is on a different floor but really can't move it closer. Constantly have a week signal or PC can't find the player. Since my stereo and music PC are in the same room I'm looking for other ways to pipe music from my PC to stereo. I think hardwiring the SB is one way. Or ditch the SB and run optical from PC to stereo. What do you guys think? I like the wireless but it's being a pita. I'm sure there are many devices available to do this but I really wish to focus on making the SB more reliable or going with optical. Stereo and PC are on opposite sides of the room so a hardwire run could end up being around 25 - 30 feet. Thanks.
You might try repositioning the antenna or adding an antenna reflector/booster. The most common antenna designs I've seen are often referred to as "windsurfer" or "rubber duck" antenna boosters. Lots of info if you google "windsurfer wireless antenna" (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&as_q=windsurfer+wireless+antenna&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&lr=&cr=&as_qdr=all&as_sitesearch=&as_occt=&safe=off&as_filetype=&as_rights=not+filtered+by+license) or check DSL Reports for these ducks quack (http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r5605782-These-Ducks-Quack-). The latter also has pics of other designs in unusual orientations such as in basements and boosting the signal vertically.
The antennas are relatively cheap to build. If you have some spare time try one of the designs before buying cables to connect wired.
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If you want to ditch the SB you could always get a USB DAC. PC > USB > DAC > Stereo,
I currently run Server > Squeezebox touch > COAX > DAC (has USB input but I no longer run the server in the same room) > AMP
if your router supports WDS you could get another router and create a wireless backbone. It may prove more stable
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PC can't find the player.
for this you need to set up static IP's for the player and remote. I had issues with player not found until doing this. none since. fwi I am hardwired. tried wireless a while back and would get buffering on 24bit so I went ethernet.
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Sorry can't resist, the song runs through my head every time a thread pops up about the device.
Squeeze Box Lyrics by The Who
Mama's got a squeeze box
She wears on her chest
And when Daddy comes home
He never gets no rest
'Cause she's playing all night
And the music's all right
Mama's got a squeeze box
Daddy never sleeps at night
Well the kids don't eat
And the dog can't sleep
There's no escape from the music
In the whole damn street
'Cause she's playing all night
And the music's all right
Mama's got a squeeze box
Daddy never sleeps at night
She goes in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out
Cause' she's playing all night
And the music's all right
Mama's got a squeeze box
Daddy never sleeps at night
She goes, squeeze me, come on and squeeze me
Come on and tease me like you do
I'm so in love with you
Mama's got a squeeze box
Daddy never sleeps at night
She goes in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out
'Cause she's playing all night
And the music's all right
Mama's got a squeeze box
Daddy never sleeps at night
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PC can't find the player.
for this you need to set up static IP's for the player and remote. I had issues with player not found until doing this. none since.
FWIW, I use DHCP for both my SqueezeBox and BoomBox.
OP -- Is this really a SB issue, or a broader wifi issue? Do you have other devices in the same location with a weak signal?
I understand either way you need a solution. As you and others have already identified, options include:
- Identify the root cause of the weak wifi signal and remedy it. I had wifi issues -- not SB-specific -- until I put DD-WRT on my Linksys router and added a hardwired DD-WRT WAP for the other end of the house. (For some reason, my small 3BR house is toxic to radio waves [wifi, cellular, etc.]; I really shouldn't need the WAP, but for whatever reason, I do. And it's a complete dead-zone for cellular, even though I have 17+ towers nearby.) Colin and Flipp's posts fall into this category.
- Hardwire the SB to the network. Before I fixed my wifi issues, this was my plan, as I already have other cable runs between floors, and adding the CAT5 wouldn't be difficult. If this is easy for you to do, and you're not particularly geek-inclined to address the weak wifi, it's probably your best bet.
- Skip the SB and run optical / coax from PC to stereo. If you don't mind using your PC to manage your playback, this is a fine solution. Covered by OP and kindms posts.
I think it really comes down to personal preference and what you want to do & how you like to manage your music playback. All these options will work. Personally, I like not having my stereo and source PC in the same room. As a result, they're too far apart to bother hardwiring. And I don't want to use a PC or laptop to control my playback. So for me, I really wanted to find a way to keep the SB in play. So I fixed my wifi issues, with hardwired CAT5 as an alternative option. And now that I have an Android mobile, I really like having SB/BB control via my Android mobile instead of the SB/BB remote.
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when I had mine in DHCP I had problems. sometimes it would be fine for months at a time but it kept happening. sometimes very frequently. it happened using DHCP reservation and with regular DHCP. once I changed them to IP's outside the DHCP range it's run without issues for over a year. ymmv.
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And now that I have an Android mobile, I really like having SB/BB control via my Android mobile instead of the SB/BB remote.
this! I rarely if ever use the fancy sb remote anymore.
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Squeezebox discontinued? Can anyone confirm this?
http://forums.logitech.com/t5/Share-Your-Thoughts/Squeezebox-Discontinued-Shoddy-Customer-Care-Hapless-Marketing/td-p/893622
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It sure looks like the SB brand has gone away. The equivalent of the Squeezebox radio is being sold as the UE Smart Radio. Squeezebox server has been replaced with a stripped down and incompatible version. The new UE Smart Radio also includes a rechargeable battery which used to be a $50 option with the Squeezebox Radio. My guess is there will be some good deals available on the Squeezebox radio until their stock is gone.
FWIW, I picked a Grace Digital Audio player on clearance recently and what a disappointment that turned out to be. It really made me appreciate the Squeezebox Radio all the more.
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Squeezebox discontinued? Can anyone confirm this?
http://forums.logitech.com/t5/Share-Your-Thoughts/Squeezebox-Discontinued-Shoddy-Customer-Care-Hapless-Marketing/td-p/893622
We should have expected this when Logitech bought them out...
Terry
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Seems to be working fine on ethernet. However the more I play with it I think it was the virus software blocking the connection. :P The true test will be completely shutting it down and restarting to see if the PC will find the player on restart. Thanks to everyone for the comments and suggestions. If I still have trouble the next move will be optical to stereo.
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did you try setting a static IP? as I said from experience I had lots of issues with "player not found" and static IP fixed it.
here is a thread about it I started on their forums
http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?89578-duet-getting-quot-lost-quot-on-network-(no-player-recognized)&highlight=gordonlw
My router address is 192.168.1.1
So I give the duet receiver an address (within the duet receiver menu) of:
192.168.1.25
(the last .xx is just something above 1 and below 100)
Subnet is 255.255.255.0
DNS is 192.168.1.1
DNS2 (if needed) 192.168.1.1
in SB, if it wants 3 digits for "1" enter "001"
you need to reset both the Receiver and Controller to factory defaults to go from a DHCP to a static IP configuration, because the Controller "forwards" its configuration to the Receiver it configures.
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Squeezebox discontinued? Can anyone confirm this?
http://forums.logitech.com/t5/Share-Your-Thoughts/Squeezebox-Discontinued-Shoddy-Customer-Care-Hapless-Marketing/td-p/893622
We should have expected this when Logitech bought them out...
Terry
Odd thing as I recently got an update to the iOS software
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I use Logitech Media Server with my PC and Blackberry Playbook. Playbook uses Music2Touch & Squeeze2PB apps. Wifi > router and Hdmi > AV Receiver > TV. Flawless. No need for Logitech Squeezebox.
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I would go optical
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No optical on the Playbook. The Hdmi does both audio and video, so I get the Playbook's screen mirrored on the TV. A gigantic Squeezebox if you will.