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iMac iTunes to EA-3 logic


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So the C4 guys, dealer and the Utah or wherever support is, are convinced my Sharebridge issues are the WIFI.

But if I go onto my iMac, turn off wifi, start iTunes and connect to an Airplay target it still exhibits the same delays in response. You can click on Play and it starts in about 5-10 seconds. Pause and it stops in about 5-10 seconds. Press play again and it starts in 10 seconds to 2 minutes. Consistently. So the EA-3 is wired to the router, as well as the iMac. So iMac > Cat6 > Router > Cat6 > EA-3 > analog out > C4 amp > speakers. I don't see how WIFI affects this.

I think the EA-3 is screwed up. He's doing a factory reset right now. 

Or Apple has changed something in Airplay and not told anyone yet. Airplay out of an iPhone to any other target (AppleTV, Airport Express, Denon AVR) is all flawless and responsive.

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Share bridge is not flawless anywhere. It's the problem. Airplay to an AppleTV, airport express, denon receiver is all flawless.

No, no delay configured. When you hit play, the stream starts and is reflected on the cover art and progress, but no audio for 5 seconds to 2 minutes. Now they think the factory reset on the Luxul network (required after they had us update the firmware) might be the use. So off to configure the router, switch, controller and waps. Created a ton of work when I'm betting it is an issue with the EA-3 itself. 

I can call up the control 4 app on the iPad, select Patio and just watch the app. Then with my phone, I'll start Apple Music, and select Patio as the share bridge/airplay target. The iPad, within a 3 or 4 seconds, updates to the cover art and song being played and shows that it is playing on the patio. But nothing out of the speakers for 5 seconds (if lucky) but usually 30 seconds to 2 minutes. 

Also annoying is that if you pause the track, the share bridge connection is lost in about 4 seconds. So you can't resume without reconnected, and possibly waiting up to 2 minutes for the sound to start.

If you add rooms, this works fine. The audio is in sync. You just might not get any sound until the song is about over. 

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12 minutes ago, Elvis said:

they think the factory reset on the Luxul network (required after they had us update the firmware) might be the use. So off to configure the router, switch, controller and waps

Oh whats this I hear?  The network? :)  hopefully this will fix the delay considering all the hoops you're jumping through.  But we've all been told a million times in this forum how important it is for the network to be configured properly right at the start.  i'm sure you're working with a good dealer that knows about kb 643

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@Elvis... I know you're just trying to fix Shairbridge but if you're looking for something easier for playing music in your household then consider an Amazon Echo dot.  I can tell you like apple products, but ever since Amazon echo stepped on the scene it's made listening music in MY own personal household so much easier for my wife and my 3 year old.  Since you're going to have a C4 matrix anyways then you can take advantage of the audio sensing feature to turn on a room when the echo dot is playing music.  I have them in various rooms.  All their audio outputs are wired to the matrix.  What ever room I'm in, all I have to do is ask "alexa" to play a genre and it will play in the room I'm in (has to be programmed).  Or I can even narrow it down to a specific artist, album, or song.  All this with an amazon prime or music unlimited subscription.  Spotify, pandora, iheart radio, tunein, and even xm radio works with it too. I know it's an analogue stream to C4 so I can't program any specific music to play with scene programming.  It's faster and easier to ask music to play regardless of where my mobile phone or tablet is.  I also programmed the room to turn off after no audio is sensed after a few minutes.  An "alexa stop" voice command always has to follow in case you're changing to a different audio stream or manually turning the room off.  The room could turn on at any moment because the music will still be playing on the echo device.  This is an easy hands free solution.  I've never had any issues with delays or music cutting out.  I know there's a lot of others in this forum that are switching to amazon prime because of the echo dots and C4 integration.

Plus, you'll be able to voice control your house with @chopedogg88 amazon echo driver.  Not sure if you've tried that yet.

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With Shairbridge performance it's all about the "network". And I mean all network components. You will want a decent (non-ISP router), ideally a bridged ISP modem, WiFi access point(s), decent switches and a proper design. None of this has to be super expensive or overly (Luxul -)) complicated. It just has to be done right.

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24 minutes ago, AK1 said:

With Shairbridge performance it's all about the "network". And I mean all network components. You will want a decent (non-ISP router), ideally a bridged ISP modem, WiFi access point(s), decent switches and a proper design. None of this has to be super expensive or overly (Luxul -)) complicated. It just has to be done right.

Summed up perfectly. 

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Read my original post. No WIFI involved. 

If Control4 is that network "sensitive" that's a Control4 problem. AirPlay to the Denon over wifi is flawless. Spotify connect to any Echo or Dot is rock solid. Same to the Denon. Imagine if Alexa said, "Oh, sorry. You have not spent enough on your home network. Call me back when you've spent more."

if a $50 hockey puck can responsively stream audio, a professionally installed EA-3 on a professionally installed network should. 

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Shairbridge still requires the network gear to be fine tuned described in the KB details, regardless if you're using wifi. These are the same settings recommended for a C4 system to work well.  Streaming audio from an echo dot is probably less network hungry because its most likely a lower stream quality and there's some form of buffering being applied.  Shairbridge is like a local connection and requires a good path from a to b. It  still matters what network equipment you use but what matters more is the config.  I looked up info on shairbridge issues and they all point to the network.   Certain features have to be disabled or enabled in the router/switch/wap's.

 

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14 hours ago, Elvis said:

Now they think the factory reset on the Luxul network (required after they had us update the firmware) might be the use. So off to configure the router, switch, controller and waps.

Unfortunately, there's your problem.  Luxul is a turd and they prey on less knowledgeable people, including dealers.

I mean, really, who names a new router product EPIC! Garbage.

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3 minutes ago, dcovach said:

You could always fertilize the fields of ebay with this stuff. Many a vulture and crow swarm for dung like this.

I plan on listing it next week. My Apple AirPort Extreme provides better coverage than the two Luxul waps. Going back to that and unmanaged prosafe switch temporarily. Ubiquity eventually. 

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I plan on listing it next week. My Apple AirPort Extreme provides better coverage than the two Luxul waps. Going back to that and unmanaged prosafe switch temporarily. Ubiquity eventually. 
I'm a fan of unmanaged switches, asus routers (rt-ac56u with wifi off) and ubiquity waps. Its a simple setup and works well. Maybe someone could revive an old thread or start a new one with current proven network gear (other than pakedge) for the end user. At the same time, end users should not be choosing or modifying their setup if they're not going to accept the consequences.

Sent from my C6906 using Tapatalk

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1 hour ago, Elvis said:

I plan on listing it next week. My Apple AirPort Extreme provides better coverage than the two Luxul waps. Going back to that and unmanaged prosafe switch temporarily. Ubiquity eventually. 

Nooooooooo!!!!!!

Don't do it.  There is a reason why Apple is out of the networking game, they suck, plain and simple.  Sure, small system with not a lot of devices in a small home, it could possibly be fine.

You have an automation system that solely relies on networking plus anything else in your system that relies on Internet connectivity.

For the price you probably paid for those Suxul waps, you could have gone to the most reliable wifi on the market, Ruckus.  Then you would have had seamless roaming throughout your home/property.

If you'd like, I could drop ship you a network pre-configured.  It would literally be plug and play.  However, if you like to tinker, then I'd read up on Mikrotik because that's who we exclusively use for routers and sometimes waps.  Mikrotik isn't for the masses and has a slightly steep learning curve.  If you are proficient with CLI, then you'd fit right in.

What does your dealer provide???

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Jack, honestly this is not a complicated issue. Assuming you have ruled out the EA-3 (swap in a second EA-3 to confirm), then the answer is without doubt network, dealer or  some combination of the two.

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4 hours ago, AK1 said:

Jack, honestly this is not a complicated issue. Assuming you have ruled out the EA-3 (swap in a second EA-3 to confirm), then the answer is without doubt network, dealer or  some combination of the two.

Wish we'd tried this before resetting the network. That's the next step for sure. 

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