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Router for Audio Streaming

485 views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  Oggy Shopov 
#1 ·
I have an extensive MP3 music library, and currently stream form my PC to a Squeezebox on my HiFi, and use BubbleUPNP to stream to my android TV box and my android alarm clock.

I am in the market for a new router, probably a low-end AC router at around the $100 price point. I was looking into these routers, and saw that most of them have built in DLNA servers.

I was thinking tha If I could connect a Hard drive to the router then long term I could add a UPNP renderer (Chromecast Audio??) to my HiFi, get rid of the Squeezebox (which is now not supported), and stream music directly from the router. Then I would not need to have my PC on every time I want to listen to some music.

Does anyone have any experience with these DLNA servers built into a router? Do they work well? Are they underpowered?

Which router has the best DLNA server?

Note that I just need music streaming, I have other solutions for movies.
 
#2 ·
I have a Netgear router (can't remember the model off the top of my head) that I use with my Denon 4311ci receiver. It works, but the DLNA server seems buggy. The most frequent problem I have is that I'll go to play a track and my receiver will immediately spit back "lost connection". I can browse my library, but anything I try to play will result in this error until I reboot the router. This happens more often than I'd like. I wish there was at least just a way to reboot the DLNA server so I don't have to disrupt all the internet traffic in my house just to get the DLNA server working properly again.

I've had some other issues, too. I have the USB drive connected to the router as you want, and set up an SMB share on the router to place content on the drive. Sometimes, the data I copy to it gets lost. When that happens, I "safely remove" the drive through the router's web interface, disconnect it, and connect it directly to my PC and scan the disc. I find there are file system errors that need to be fixed and sometimes it can restore the data, but most times it is gone for good. The frequency of this problem has lessened in newer firmware updates, but sometimes it still happens. It may be poor NTFS support...don't know.

So...yeah, I'm not sure I could recommend it. Maybe newer Netgear routers are better, mine is a few years old.
 
#6 ·
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