TOPIC:

Hi everyone. Got my SHD today and have already gone through quite a few teething issues. Hotspot never auto setup for me, spotify plugin does not show an icon so I cannot open it (and took forever to install - seemed to hang at 70% for 15 minutes or more). These are all things I can cope with, though not the high level experience I was expecting by any stretch.

The issue I am having now is the following. After setting up wifi and disconnecting my LAN cable the SHD seemed to have wifi connection. I could log on to http://minidsp-shd/browse (I assume this is the volumio interface?) and could connect via spotify connect from my phone and laptop. But then I got the reconnecting wheel showing up, as if the wifi connection had dropped off. I reconnected the LAN cable, checked everything was fine and the wifi seemed to connect again. I took the LAN cable out, moved the SHD to its final position with my other gear and was listening to the radio etc. Then I connected my Rpi4 with moode to see if that would work (and it did, wonderfully) and I noticed that the tab on my browser that was on http://minidsp-shd/browse got the wheel spinning again! I tried to refresh etc and nothing. Wouldn't even load the page. I made sure to cycle through to LAN in the hopes that it would force it to reconnect to the wifi. Nothing. This is atrocious. My Rpi4 that is sitting nearby stays connected 24/7 and never drops off. I assume it has disconnected because I can no longer see the SHD on spotify connect options.

What am I missing here? I am new to this device but it should not drop off like this. It should stay connected to my wifi 24/7 otherwise what is the point. Is there a setting that is causing it to disconnect after a period of time? Is it related to the initial lack of hotspot in my first setup (is the wifi dongle malfunctioning?).

Any ideas would be most appreciated. This seems like a basic functionality issue that needs to be rectified. I was about to pull the pin on a NAS but if the connection is going to be temperamental then there is no point. Moode works much better. Help.

I have this same issue with the SHD at only 20-feet (~6 meters) from the wireless access point. It will connect via wireless for a brief period of time, generally 1-10 minutes, and then loose connection.

The SHD is using the latest firmware (v1.062). The only solution I've managed is to physically connect it to the LAN. WiFi is too unstable to be used based on my experiences.

I think I have a faulty dongle too

I'm using an elderly friends new SHD studio in order to evaluate if it's worth me buying one and so I can help him get set up.
I can't find the SHD using Fing or when looking for networks on my mac. I've also tried restoring the device with no joy.

I hope someone can kindly give us some pointers.

OK seems a few of us are having this issue. I noticed in other threads that people have been having better success using a static IP for the SHD. This is set up in the router. I will explore this tonight (after work) and see if I can get it to work reliably. Interestingly after going to bed last night I woke up this morning to the SHD page once more working again. Obviously this is not a fix. But at least I could ascertain the IP address to fix it as static this evening. Really the wifi needs to be rock solid on this device. My Raspberry Pi is literally next to it and never drops off. Ever. And that cost like $40.

On other notes the SHD does sound excellent when it is connected. If I can get this issue sorted (and maybe actually be able to see the spotify icon on volumio) then I will be much closer to being a happy purchaser.

I've never had an issue with my SHD wifi connection, but I have several wifi extenders through the house plugged in to the cat 6 hard wiring... I suppose your first port of call might be using an app (I use Xirrus Wi-Fi Inspector on Windows) to monitor the signal strength and see if it varies over time (reflections/masking) and whether the dropouts coincide with that fading. Obviously you will have to put the device that is running the app close to the SHD o get an accurate picture.

Yup good idea. Except that the first drop out happened next to the router. I mean less than 3 metres away. So that is unlikely the issue. Also the connection initially remained stable for around an hour. Then randomly dropped off and could not be found anywhere on the network, whilst all other devices remained connected through the house. I am picking that means this is unlikely to be drop off related. But I will definitely explore this option if it continues to disconnect.

The SHD is effectively a headless computer (no display or keyboard etc.). The SHD & wifi dongle create a wifi hotspot which connects direct to your tablet or phone. Your broadband router is not involved in the wifi hotspot. The LAN (ethernet) connection to your broadband router just streams the music to SHD.

I find using a USB hub extension to connect the wifi adapter to SHD Studio gives me a more reliable connection with better range to my Tablet. Similar to this one:-
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HIGH-SPEED-4-PORT-USB...b:g:fOUAAOSwDQdeWOGb

I need to have wifi adapter connected before turning SHD ON.

With the USB Hub extension I can connect a memory stick with music at same time WiFi dongle is connected.

Hope this helps
Colin

I had this issue to a lesser extent when using WiFi, and ultimately I've ended up drilling a hole through a wall to be able me to use a LAN connection instead.

It's possibly worth mentioning that when first released the SHD was sold as only being able to stream via a LAN connection, with the inclusion of the WiFi dongle being a later addition. Threads like this may partly explain the initial situation.

So far it has stayed connected all evening without dropping out (at least that I know of). I still haven't tried the static IP address but will do if it starts dropping out again. Cross fingers it is ok now.

mikeburnsnz wrote:

So far it has stayed connected all evening without dropping out (at least that I know of). I still haven't tried the static IP address but will do if it starts dropping out again. Cross fingers it is ok now.

For me it was mostly OK but would occasionally do the spinning trying to connect thing. It would always reconnect eventually but it could obviously be annoying. I used it like this for about 9 months before recently switching to the LAN connection. Fingers crossed you never have an issue again but I'm afraid I wouldn't be at all surprised if you did.

Yeah thats what I assume is going to happen, occasional disconnects for no apparent reason. Unfortunately I am not able to drill through the walls at this stage but when I eventually move house I am going to think carefully about LAN cables throughout the house. One question, did you ever try to use a static IP for the SHD?

Well I spoke to soon. It has dropped off again. Aargh. I think I am going to send a ticket for support. It really is not good enough.

mikeburnsnz wrote:

One question, did you ever try to use a static IP for the SHD?

I didn't. As it was on continuously I'm pretty sure it always had the same IP address but if forcing this helps that would be good.

Its worth noting that Wifi isn't magic and if you're using 2.4GHz still it may be very congested. I don't tend to use Wifi much because my devices can see more than 30 access points including modern cars and busses passing by as well as the usual adjacent houses. 2.4GHz also doesn't have many channels so collisions are to be expected. If I use 5GHz I only see a couple of access points and there are huge number of channels compared to 2.4Ghz so collisions are currently rare.

I have an old house which 2.4GHz Wifi doesn't pass through very well anyway, let alone 5GHz, I so I try to use hardwired connections for as much as possible, including my SHDs. It's actually the little ARM board in the right rear corner of the SHD that LAN or Wifi plugs into. I assume that board runs Linux and allegedly SSH access is possible if you beg for credentials so it may be possible to do some diagnostics I suppose. I fear however that this is just the nature of congested 2.4GHz Wifi.

Another point is that access point radiation patterns are rarely spherical so distance to access point doesn't tell you much. If you are in a null 10cm away you may suffer isues whereas something much further away in a main lobe may be fine. I actually use the null on my Ubiquiti access point to reduce EMI to audio equipment right above it. It is also positioned so that its signal doesn't need to pass through solid walls, just wooden floors and ceilings.

I've also use Wifi analysers on my phone to ensure I'm on the best 2.4GHz channels but even with all that effort it can still sometimes cause streaming glitches. If all you've done is plonk your access point down in a bad position and not chosen the best 2.4Ghz channel you may be expected to have more frequent problems.

If you possibly can, use LAN cables, even those flat one you can hide under carpets. If you must use Wifi try to figure out the best channels to use, try rotating the access point to vary the radiation pattern, try different Wifi dongles etc. Ultimately though, Wifi is a shared resource and you may not get enough of a share for your use case at all times.

Based on my testing, zero improvement in wireless behavior/stability by changing to a static IP.

(20 feet from access point. No network congestion. Wireless is on it's own channel; no competition/interference from any surrounding networks or other devices.)