Re: Re: Logitechs Squeezebox Duet to Crash the Sonos Party?

["Jon Wilkins" <jonpdwilkins@xxxxxxxxx>]

IMHO wifi "dropouts" in people own homes is likely to
reflect the low
price point consumer equipment is made down* to - in terms of the
chipsets, firmware and 'antennas' (if you can those little twigs
that).  I worked with this stuff for many years (since the original
pre-802.11 equipment and before the term "wifi" was used) and
fitting
it to industrial environments we'd expect better performance than
often people seem to be experiencing nowadays in their homes.  Okay,
so that was shops & warehouses but often harsh environments for rf
(very solid walls, liquid etc,).  I dream to be able to afford a home
& grounds large enough to really warrant more than 1 AP.

I'm sure some people *do* have very very solid walls but most of the
time it to either be the quality of the kit (APs and mobile devices)
or
the other explaination would be general congestion of the band - with
only 3 non-overlapping channels, most APs only capable of pumping out
their maximum allowed signal and houses not far apart there *will* be
overlap.  DECT phones, wireless video senders, bluetooth phones (low
power and interoperate but there's so many of these... 4 in our little
house alone) etc,....

The Sonos kit is a premium product, not like most electronics which is
a race to the cheapest price.  Also if they are meshed then it wont
have been "off the shelf".  Both factors which suggest the
wireless
implementation is likely to be of a higher quality than a cheap device
with Wifi tacked on.

* - particularly so when "wifi versions" of things like DSL
routers
etc are sold for only a few quid more than without.

That's me done... off to get a drink to finish calming down...

On Jan 7, 2008 6:58 PM, Gary Tall <gtcs@xxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
> I've never had a wireless drop out in three years that I've used wifi.
>  Considering for most of that time its been setup in a cold and drafty
>  barn jumping 40metres to a caravan I've been very impressed. Single
WAP
>  and one extender now covers approximately 3000 square feet. I have
>  mounted the wap very high though which I've found improves the range
>  remarkably.
>
>  G.
>
>
>  -----Original Message-----
>  From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx] On Behalf
>  Of mwgardner2000
>  Sent: 06 January 2008 23:12
>  To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
>  Subject: [ukha_d] Re: Logitechs Squeezebox Duet to Crash the Sonos
>  Party?
>
>
>  Hmmm - sounds like you don't Sonos Richard!
>
>  I have to speak up in its defence, and take the the opposite
>  corner :-)
>
>  > and since it uses proper wifi not some proprietary hack-job mesh
>
>  In my experience the Sonosnet mesh wireless network is far far more
>  stable and reliable than any wi-fi solution I have ever used (home,
>  office, commercial). Maybe thats because I have 5 ZPs around the
>  house, albeit in 3 locations. I have never had a Sonosnet failure. I
>  have WiFi drop outs at home at least daily - I've tried everything to
>  reduce them!
>
>  > could use the remote house wide without buying overpriced
>  accesspoints
>
>  Expensive - yes. But IMHO a realistic price (especially if you, err,
>  buy them in the US) for a product that 'just works'. Not exactly
>  something that can be said about Squeezeboxes (unless they have come
>  a very long way since the Logitech takeover...)
>
>  > that only serve one purpose like with sonos.
>
>  Not true - each ZP has a built in ethernet switch into which any
>  ethernet device can be plugged. This allows reliable extension of a
>  wired ethernet without the wires.... You could even plug in a 802.11
>  AP... (Yes, I know there are speed issues....)
>
>  > Bit light on info tho. The big shortcoming with squeezebox has
>  always being
>  > its dependence on a single machine running its server software,
so
>  playing
>  > off a NAS was a no-no.
>
>  How about the synchonisation? Sonos sync is rock solid. Squeeze sync
>  starts off ok....
>
>  > Also nothing about a track limit or codec support - those are 2
>  things that
>  > sonos is weak on again, so if this does flac and the newer
wma's,
>  and
>
>  Sonos does flac. It doesn't do lossless WMA, which is often (for some
>  reason!) requested.
>
>  > doesn't freak out at over 50000 tracks it also could be a
winner.
>  >
>
>  Hmmm - 50k... yes thats a challenge, but I have approx 90k tracks ALL
>  available to my Sonos. Where theres a will theres a way ;-) The
>  thought of scrolling through a two or line Squeezebox display with
>  more than 50k tracks blows my mind!
>
>  Back on topic though the new Logitech Squeezebox remote looks nice -
>  Sonos are already aware of this as it has been discussed on the Sonos
>  forum for months. And yes, there are Sonos users, including me, that
>  would like to see some development in the controller...
>
>  Disclaimer - no connections; just a very happy Sonos owner....
>
>  --- In ukha_d@yahoogroups. <mailto:ukha_d%40yahoogroups.com>
com,
>
>  "Richard" <rich_lists@...> wrote:
>  >
>  > Looks like the wheel is better placed so it can be used one
handed
>  then a
>  > certain popular mp3 player. Looks to be a winner if the UI is
>  snappy fast
>  > and since it uses proper wifi not some proprietary hack-job mesh
>  then I
>  > could use the remote house wide without buying overpriced
>  accesspoints that
>  > only serve one purpose like with sonos.
>  >
>  >
>  >
>  > Bit light on info tho. The big shortcoming with squeezebox has
>  always being
>  > its dependence on a single machine running its server software,
so
>  playing
>  > off a NAS was a no-no. The article says that it lets you do it
when
>  your
>  > computer is off, so who knows, have they abandoned that flawed
>  model of
>  > operation?
>  >
>  >
>  > Also nothing about a track limit or codec support - those are 2
>  things that
>  > sonos is weak on again, so if this does flac and the newer
wma's,
>  and
>  > doesn't freak out at over 50000 tracks it also could be a
winner.
>  >
>  >
>  >
>  >
>  >
>  > From: ukha_d@yahoogroups. <mailto:ukha_d%40yahoogroups.com>
com
>  [mailto:ukha_d@yahoogroups. <mailto:ukha_d%40yahoogroups.com>
com] On
>
>  Behalf Of
>  > Mark McCall
>  > Sent: Monday, January 07, 2008 3:44 AM
>  > To: ukha_d@yahoogroups. <mailto:ukha_d%40yahoogroups.com>
com
>
>  > Subject: [ukha_d] Logitechs Squeezebox Duet to Crash the Sonos
>  Party?
>  >
>  >
>  >
>  > The second release from Logitech today, and one that may not
having
>  Sonos
>  > celebrating. The Logitech Squeezebox Duet provides a colour
wireless
>  > controller witha 2.4-inch full-color LCD screen and a scroll
wheel.
>  The
>  > wireless receiver uses 802.11g and multiple receivers round the
>  house can
>  > be controlled by one Controller...
>  >
>  > http://tinyurl.
<http://tinyurl.com/3xraed>
com/3xraed
>
>  >
>  > M.
>  >
>  >
>  >
>  >
>  >
>  > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>  >
>
>
>  [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>



--
www.jpdw.org / Information : The currency of the Future