Precisely!
Some audiophiles imagine they know better than the professionals who do this for a living, and there are plenty of people just waiting to profit off of that ignorance 
If somone doesn’t trust his home LAN, is good to ask a professional installer to test it with good cable tester like fluke https://www.flukenetworks.com/edocs/datasheet-dsx-8000-cableanalyzer
You will know if it is complient with eia/tia network standards, having NEXT ( near end crosstalk) and other parameters ok. If it is ok, the rest is done in network active equipment like switches, receivers etc. LAN is Data transmission…so different to spdif. I can hear spdif copper cables BTW. I didn’t want to write it here, but i worked for mod-tap/molex structured cabling system /molex premise networks/ dept as an engineer and wrote the installers guide, so not sure you can trust me here. I understand the mechanism of spending 50k usd for audio devices and connecting it with 5usd cable. It simply doesn’t look good, but this is a beauty of ethernet standard. Just have it tested and it works 100%
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I bought a BJC cable and some Supra Cables to test out and an EtherREGEN with an LPSU. Loose change compared to the cost of a dCS product.
Maybe the switch is unnecessary, still ‘switching’ back and forth and testing things out this week.
Yes I agree that science needs to catch up so that empirical testing improves and that scientific explanations are available; I was saying that this process seems to still be ongoing. The companies taking advantage of the confusion in certain areas are not all helping to clarify things, its not in some of their interests.
I still have a $20 Netgear switch and the wall wart it came with. Might put it back in the chain to experiment at the weekend. At least I am willing to try again. Maybe i can sell some stuff or send it back; wouldnt be the first time 
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This is a good suggestion. I will need to do some research and find out if there is a local company who can come and test my network and see if it needs any changes.
That Fluke tester is £7.5k… Ouch
According to some around here, the price of a good interconnect 
. O.K. maybe a pair.
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Data connections either work, or they don’t. It is a binary outcome, nothing grey. Factors such as network traffic, flood packets, and loose jacks determine the reliability of the connection, but there is nothing more beyond same that could impart anything resembling coloration onto the audio. All is packet-driven; data either is received and passes checksums, or isn’t, in which case audio simply drops off.
The only investment worth making is having proper and solid Ethernet terminations into a good network topology. Additionally, having a managed network (such as UniFi or Meraki) will offer actionable insights into items such as lag, runaway crosstalk, and others.
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Following up on my own post, for the sake of clarity, let me summarize as follows:
If you are able to play audio every time, with no dropouts ever, you’re good. No further action is needed wrt your network.
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Well I took out my EtherRegen and went back to my Netgear $20 switch and then back again.
The EtherRegen is staying in…
I would be highly suspicious of any device in the Ethernet chain that lays claim to improvements in audio quality. The very nature of IP transport makes it impervious to matters such as clocking, signal alteration, etc. The packets either make it from point A to point B (sometimes across the world), or they don’t. If a packet gets lost in between the many hops, it will be resent (if using TCP) until its receipt is being acknowledged by the recipient (yes, it really is like registered mail), in our case the network interface inside the dCS. All that happens in between is immaterial and irrelevant.
For any respectable audio publication to state that they noticed increased detail using this device is flat out ignorance, or worse, disingenuous.
To provide context for my statements, I have been in the networking business for 25+ years, think data centers, and in actual media streaming for over 15 years. I’ve designed systems that deliver audio to well over 50 million monthly listeners and our company provides network transport for some of the biggest streamers. This is my home turf 
The Ether Regen will yield 0% difference, 100% of the time. I am not saying your Netgear is perfect, and you may well have a defective unit, a faulty port inside the unit, or a cabling issue. But as long as you hear audio, you’re good.
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Well something has changed and it’s staying in. I don’t know why and explaining why it can’t be true according to the science and engineering does not change what I can hear.
I have another Netgear switch so can swap that one in and see if it was a problem with the first one.
Both these switches are pretty cheap. Model numbers are:
GS105E
GS108E
Watch out for the IGMP Snooping configuration on them, I believe it’s Enabled by default, which will trip up Mosaic consistenly finding your dCS unit. Disabling that configuration should resolve the issue. 
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Just to be clear, I agree with you on the network point. However, there are reasons why Jon’s system and experience could be different as between the ER and the Netgear. First, everyone’s system is different, and you have no way of knowing (without a full map) whether Jon has his system set up in a noisy closet, next to the microwave, is using a mix of shielded and unshielded cable, etc. I know you’re an expert, but any of those circumstances could inject noise in one form or another into his system. Given the ER’s isolation capabilities, it is possible it improves this situation, even though both switches are otherwise transmitting bit perfect data. Anup also points out how the Netgear equipment could impair the experience of using the system. It’s also possible that the Netgear equipment he owns is itself noisy, or the wall warts are problematic. Etc., etc., etc. Granted, I think these are corner cases, but they’re not impossible.
I agree with you about the transmission of bit perfect data. It’s why I have used Ethernet for so long. People who tell me they have better bass or more detail or more whatever by changing Ethernet cables or switches make me laugh. But when they tell me they seem to have less noise, or blacker background, or more air, well those might be explicable by reduced noise. And so I say, “ask why.” If you’re hearing something different, consistently and/or blindly, ask why. There is probably an explanation. It could be confirmation bias, or it could be a very real, physical thing.
Simply hearing the music play without dropouts does not perforce mean one has the best sound that can be obtained, even over a network.
I never said that device has no potential benefits over Jon’s Netgear switch. It could provide for a more reliable connection, but that’s about it. It conceptually cannot have any effect on the sound quality.
I hear what you say about noise, and noise happens all the time in any transmission line. His (and our) setup is at the end of sometimes well over 10 other intermediate hops between the streaming server and the dCS. Network transport is designed to handle it quite well, by wrapping the content in several layers removed from the physical layer, where noise actually happens. Think double, triple boxing items for shipping. Sure, the outside box may have smudges, but the contents are all the same deep inside. If you order a book, it either gets to you, or it doesn’t. The packaging may be tarnished but the book has the same content. If the package is so damaged that the book itself is being affected, then you’d return it and expect a new one. Same in IP; if a packet is received but doesn’t pass integrity checksum, it is discarded and the sender will fire off a new one. Your book, if duly received, cannot contain more detail than the author put in it, no matter how “upgraded” the mail truck that brought it to your doorstep is.
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Right now both switches work, but I can’t get into either of their admin pages to check on anup’s advice.
I used the Netgear app to detect the switches but it won’t even get me to the login page. Tried the factory reset as well.
My cables are a mix of unshielded and shielded. I am going to get a full set of BJC cables to replace the 3-4 shield ones I have. I only have the one BJC at the moment.
For short runs you don’t need shielded cables. Just keep it simple. In fact, shielded cables should be avoided unless the situation calls for use of such.
Edit: also no need to get Cat 6 and higher. Or plenum, or partitioned cable, for that matter. A good Cat 5 is all that you need, with good terminations. For my home use, I make my own cables with whatever surplus cable I find at our data center.
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mwilson, thank you for adding your expert voice to this discussion. It is appreciated.
One quick question - I don’t quite understand why shielded cables should be avoided for short runs. If, as you have so clearly and articulately stated and summarized in your responses, it’s all about the data checksum and acceptance or rejection at the receipt checkpoint, why should shielding or the lack thereof matter at all?
And finally, what are the advantages of shielded cables for longer distances, which btw begin at what distance?
Please note that I am NOT trying to be persnickety or playing “gotcha”, I am only trying to understand.
Thanks in advance.
Generally speaking, the physical architecture of an Ethernet cable is quite adept at not absorbing RF interference, as long as it follows specifications and uses two twisted pairs to carry the signal. The twisting of the wires in each pair will cancel out most interference.
Shielding comes into play when running Ethernet cables together, and in parallel, with unconduited power cables over significant distances. Think raceways. But this shouldn’t be done anyway given that it’s poor practice and also likely against building codes in many jurisdictions. If this is the case, shielding should be employed, but also carefully inspected, so as the ground to be bonded on both ends of the run. You’ll know a proper shielded cable by the metal RJ-45 connector. A shielded cable that’s bonded only on one end is a recipe for RF disaster, as the shield is effectively acting as an antenna.
The good news is that none of this will affect the audio quality beyond experiencing buffering and/or plain dropouts.
Additionally, today’s network interfaces have significantly evolved and are really good at dealing with noise and interference. Shielding was more of an issue back in the days of 10 MBs networking, and when hubs were used instead of switches.
I hope this helps.
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Hari may also like to read this FAQ from dCS which refers in part to the advisability of using unshielded ethernet cables. There is also lots of discussion about this in various threads on this forum and the search facility may prove worthwhile investigating.
This may be of interest
Good article, covering both sides of the argument.
A similar argument can be made about homeopathy; proponents swear by it, whereas science says it’s just water. I’m no physician so I’m steering clear of this one, but in the case of audio I think I’ve explained in a few posts why any audiophile switch cannot possibly enhance the sound. The only enhancement is in the pockets of the manufacturer.
If even dcs personnel say to not bother spending on such stuff, and they themselves are using basic networking components, I believe it speaks for itself.
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