A well-configured Wi-Fi router is essential to getting the most from your Audiofusion system. Here are a few suggestions for boosting your Wi-Fi performance.
- Disable Wi-Fi on your computer running SoundCaster, and connect your Mac to the Wi-Fi router with an Ethernet cable.
- It is critical to ensure that your router is running on a clean 5GHz channel with no interference from other Wi-Fi routers in the area. By default, the routers we recommend do a great job of finding an open channel. You may want to use a Wi-Fi scanner tool to see and evaluate the Wi-Fi traffic in your area. Become familiar with the easy-to-use app your router manufacturer offers to configure the settings manually. See Other Hints, Tips, and Tricks for more information about finding unused Wi-Fi channels.
- Configure the Wi-Fi channel for “ac only”, if available. This prevents older devices from trying to connect and being disruptive.
- Make sure the bandwidth of the 5GHz band is set to 40MHz or 80MHz. 20MHz is too narrow and will always produce sound quality issues. 80MHz is ideal but can be difficult to find a clear channel that wide. It would be better to run 40MHz wide on a clean channel than running 80MHz overlapping another router.
- Consider turning off the 2.4GHz band entirely if you’re not using it to control the mixer. At the very least make sure it has its own SSID and that the devices running Performer do not know the password for the 2.4GHz band. You don’t want any of your devices accidentally switching over in the middle of your set.
- By default, Tri-Band routers will balance the device load between the two 5GHz bands. Most of the time this will be fine but sometimes can lead to devices switching back and forth between the two channels which can be noisy. You might consider giving each of your 5GHz bands their own SSID and balancing the device load yourself if you have a particularly harsh Wi-Fi environment.
- Don’t connect ANY devices to the Audiofusion Wi-Fi channel that aren’t being used, including SoundCaster. Use scanning software to verify which channels are unused.
- Don’t leave a Performer or Director device on the network settings screen, where Wi-Fi access points are detected and displayed.
If you’re having trouble getting started, check out our Audiofusion basics or read our best practices for more information.
