Choppy Audio

Can't talk to your radio? This is the place to ask!
m1tzr
Posts: 33
Joined: Mon Oct 05, 2020 4:40 pm

Choppy Audio

Postby m1tzr » Fri Sep 09, 2022 8:15 pm

I have been provided a new router by my ISP as my previous one lost the lan port in a recent storm.

Connected to the 4 gigabit lan ports I have 2 PC's and my Anan 7000 MK2 (Protocol 2)
After running Thetis for around 5 mins the audio gets choppy, I have speakers connected to the back of the Anan so not relying on VAC.
I switched to my old router and the issue goes away.
I tried using a 8 port switch, all OK.
I connected the Anan and 1 pc to the 8 port switch then the this to the router. All OK
I moved the PC connection back to the LAN port on the router, leaving the Anan connected to the 8 port. Audio goes choppy again after 5 mins.

Now I know the easy answer is just use the 8 port switch, but I want to try understand what the ports on the router are doing to cause the choppy audio. If I stop Thetis when it goes choppy and leave it for a few minutes its OK for a brief time. Its as if a buffer is getting full because if I just turn Thetis off and back on without a pause it is choppy straight away.

The router is a FritzBox 7530

Any suggestions on further diagnosing the problem?


Thanks
Paul
w9mdb
Posts: 446
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2017 5:53 pm

Re: Choppy Audio

Postby w9mdb » Fri Sep 09, 2022 8:41 pm

Cheap router in the modem. It depends on two factors. Router throughput and whether or not each port is independent (i.e. where on can route from one port to another).
If all you have plugged in is your computer and the rig then the throughput is the problem.

If you have another device plugged in (like the rest of your house or such) then it could be that all the ports are shared instead of being independent.

You could search the internet for throughput testing on your modem model number.
Mike W9MDB
m1tzr
Posts: 33
Joined: Mon Oct 05, 2020 4:40 pm

Re: Choppy Audio

Postby m1tzr » Sat Sep 10, 2022 7:26 pm

Don't know why but turned the radio on this morning to try do some more test and it has worked faultless all day :lol:

Trouble is I don't think I had done anything different in the router last night before I gave up and went to bed so non the wiser as to what the cause was. Anyway as long as it carries on as it is I am happy.

Paul
User avatar
w-u-2-o
Posts: 5540
Joined: Fri Mar 10, 2017 1:47 pm

Re: Choppy Audio

Postby w-u-2-o » Sat Sep 10, 2022 9:07 pm

If you want to test the router and have two PCs you can dedicate to the task, here are two different tools you can use:

https://software.es.net/iperf/
https://www.tamos.com/products/throughput-test/

In both cases you set up one machine as a server, the other as a client. Then you run the test from the client.

Of most importance is UDP packet performance, both in terms of packets/sec and lost packets. The openHPSDR protocol transfers all data, both IF and audio, between the hardware and the PC using UDP.
m1tzr
Posts: 33
Joined: Mon Oct 05, 2020 4:40 pm

Re: Choppy Audio

Postby m1tzr » Sun Sep 11, 2022 10:29 am

w-u-2-o wrote:If you want to test the router and have two PCs you can dedicate to the task, here are two different tools you can use:

https://software.es.net/iperf/
https://www.tamos.com/products/throughput-test/

In both cases you set up one machine as a server, the other as a client. Then you run the test from the client.

Of most importance is UDP packet performance, both in terms of packets/sec and lost packets. The openHPSDR protocol transfers all data, both IF and audio, between the hardware and the PC using UDP.



Thanks for this, I will try the test and see what numbers I get back. Still working perfect this morning but should it start to play up again I will have some data to compare against.

Return to “Network Connections & Network Hardware”