Cisco 2940 switch set up - help needed

[CN211276]

I've been a/b listening with the switch in and out of my network over the weekend and the past couple of evenings.

I prefer the sound with the switch in place, but with a couple of provisos. At first I found the sound with the switch in to be more open but a bit harsh. I managed to improve this by doing a couple of things, partly by accident. I initially had my streamer, my NAS, and the link to the router in 3 adjoining ports. I then moved the link to the router to the last port (maximum distance from the streamer and NAS plugs) out of some sort of OCD inspired brainstorm . This seemed to help with the harshness. A bigger win came when I replaced the old shielded cables I'd been using with some unshielded ones (UTP?). This gave a noticeable difference in ease and reduction of glare.

The cables cost me £1.82 each plus p&p: https://www.lindy.co.uk/cables-adapters ... grey-p9438

Maybe it's common knowledge to use unshielded cables, but I was blissfully unaware of it. Anyway, they worked for me. I tried the cables without the switch and they gave a small improvement using 'only' the router, compared to the old cables. Maybe my old cables were just a bit naff?

[CN211276]

Maybe my old cables were just a bit naff?

What were the old cables?

[CN211276]

Maybe my old cables were just a bit naff?

What were the old cables?

Cat 5e stp.

No particular make.

[Fretless]

Cat 5e stp.

No particular make.

Try a generic CAT8, Savvy. They work really well for me - the AQ Cinnamon (CAT7) is just a teeny bit smoother.

[savvypaul]

Cat 5e stp.

No particular make.

Try a generic CAT8, Savvy. They work really well for me - the AQ Cinnamon (CAT7) is just a teeny bit smoother.

The cable to the streamer has to cross the room and around a door opening, so it's quite long. Hence, my budget is definitely not AQ, lol.

[savvypaul]

PS. I've now ordered a second Cisco switch to sit just in front of my streamer.

[CN211276]

I also have a long length of ethernet cable between my switch and the Eno which connects with the streamer. It is Farnells Cat 8 which is low cost. The short length of cable included with the Eno connecting to the streamer is a lot more costly and better specifiedm Cat 8. Have doubts about a second switch and short length of audiophile ethernet cable connecting it to the Eno bringing about a significant improvement. I think shielding is important in my set up because of the close proximity of the ethernet cable to the speaker cable.

Following Savvy's post I had a look at the connections to my switch. The streamer and NAS ones were not adjacent to the router one, but could have been further apart. I rearranged them so the router connection is at one end with five vacant ports before the NAS and streamer connections. There seems to be a subtle improvement in SQ, but I am not in the best position to judge at the moment with my head still a bit muzzy after the Covid jab.

[CN211276]

I also have a long length of ethernet cable between my switch and the Eno which connects with the streamer. It is Farnells Cat 8 which is low cost. The short length of cable included with the Eno connecting to the streamer is a lot more costly and better specifiedm Cat 8. Have doubts about a second switch and short length of audiophile ethernet cable connecting it to the Eno bringing about a significant improvement. I think shielding is important in my set up because of the close proximity of the ethernet cable to the speaker cable.

Following Savvy's post I had a look at the connections to my switch. The streamer and NAS ones were not adjacent to the router one, but could have been further apart. I rearranged them so the router connection is at one end with five vacant ports before the NAS and streamer connections. There seems to be a subtle improvement in SQ, but I am not in the best position to judge at the moment with my head still a bit muzzy after the Covid jab.

I bought the second switch on the advice of Rich at Network Acoustics - the guy who makes your ENO filter.

He said to me "the more switches the better" as long as their power supply is decent. He reckons the built-in supplies in the Ciscos are 'very decent'.

[Bencat57]

I have added a second switch for downstairs for connection for a LG 4K TV , Onkyo AV Receiver , Amazon Cube , Plusnet TV box and a Raspberry Pi with Digihat player. I was just making things a little more neat with a single Powerline connected to the switch then the other items to the switch outputs.

I had not expected to find any improvement but was quite surprised that the 4K picture and the 1080 Picture has improved and sharpened and also playing music on my Pi player has improved . Not sure why but in my advice to others I did say use the port 8 for input than connect at the other end no real idea just always think it is best to keep input and output as far away as possible .

I am lucky in that the cables from the router to the switch upstairs and one from the powerline to one downstairs are short so 1 mtr is enough all my ethernet cables are now cheap Cat 8 .

[slinger]

As always, I'd recommend you take a look at Blue Jeans Cables. The build quality is outstanding, and each cable is tested after it's built, and the test results included with the cable. Belden manufactures "special patch-cord-optimized Cat 6 and Cat 6a" cable stocks for Blue Jeans which BJ then terminate and sell under their own name.

Apart from anything else, with Chinese cables, you "pays your money and you takes your chances". At least with Blue Jeans, you're getting consistency, and a known quality in Belden cable (and decent Sentinel brand RJ-45 plugs.) That's why I paid a premium rather than buying cheap Chinese cables.

As an example, a 10m run of Cat6a is priced at £46.50 (before delivery etc.) and you get to choose from 9 different colours of sheathing.
Joking aside, I like the colour coding because I can look at the switch and instantly know what's going where.

I know that there's probably going to be a barrage of "Chinese is just as good," and "But they don't do Cat8" but from my research, they're much better quality than the cheapo Chinese alternatives I used to use, they're consistently good, and you don't actually need a standard bandwidth of 2000MHz and a data transfer rate of 25Gbps / 40Gbps for transferring music data, in fact, Cat5e would probably be more than enough to provide the necessary.

Obviously, I'm ex-IT staff, with a background in telecoms, and not Networking, so my recommendations can only be taken at face value, and from me having purchased what I'm recommending.

Lindsay will now tell you that fibre is better anyway. And, it most probably is.