DLink DIR-655 and Roku SoundBridge M2000 – Making it work

[Anonymous]

I have found a number of threads around outlining the trials and tribulations of using the otherwise wonderful D-Link DIR-655 (Xtreme N Gigabit Router) wirelessly with the Roku SoundBridge, in my case an M2000.

Connecting
Here’s what I have discovered about connectivity:

You must shift the router down to 802.11b/g mixed mode in order for the SoundBridge to work at all . It seems that some people have had success with the router in 802.11b/g/n mixed mode but only with (older) firmware version 1.03. Some of us newer DIR-655 owners can’t downgrade that far because of a newer hardware revision (A3) that prohibits it. Does anyone have any newer information with respect to getting the SoundBridge to play in 802.11b/g/n mode?

References:
http://www.rokulabs.com/support_sb_ts_uwf.php
http://forums.rokulabs.com/viewtopic.php?t=14849

“No music libraries found” error
In 802.11b/g mode, I can use my M2000 for a while, but then after a few hours or so, any connection to my music server will immediately break, the music will stop, and I will be returned to the server selection screen with “No music libraries found” and “Play Internet Radio” as my only choices.

Restarting the SoundBridge is the only way I can see my music server again. This works, but it’s a bummer had you been in the middle of listening to The Wall or Ghosts I-IV.

Some point to lousy Multicast implementations in the router. I’m not sure if this is true, and the “Enable Multicast Streams” checkbox on the router doesn’t seem to fix the periodic loss of connectivity.

References:
http://forums.fireflymediaserver.org/viewtopic.php?p=18863

So… Given that wireless connectivity is a wash when using the DIR-655 with the Roku SoundBridge, does anyone think that getting a wireless bridge and plugging the Roku into it via Ethernet would solve the problem? Or, has anyone else done any experimentation that’s solved any of the problems listed above?

Thanks everyone!

[stretch]

I don’t have a WiFi N device yet but from what I’ve read over at http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/ most WiFi N devices take a severe performance hit when you connect a WiFi g/b device.
This alone would have me leaning to a WiFi bridge for the SB rather than running in mixed mode.

Also, remember that the M2000 only supports WEP encryption. I’ve read that anything other than WPA2 can further degrade performance on most WiFi n routers.

[Anonymous]

As a further note for all you troubleshooters – I’m using no encryption, only MAC filtering.

[Anonymous]

So… I’ve since purchased an 802.11g wireless Ethernet bridge (just a WRT54G running Tomato) and have connected the SoundBridge to it. Now I can operate the DIR-655 in 802.11n mode and everything connects together fine.

In either configuration though (with the new bridge, or with the DIR-655 in b/g mode) I’m experiencing a new problem. My networked music server will work flawlessly for a few hours and then suddenly will not be visible from the SoundBridge anymore. I have a feeling that this might have something to do with the way that UPnP devices announce themselves on the network so that they can be found by other devices. Is it possible that the DIR-655 might be resetting this information periodically, and the music server neglects to republish it?

This did not happen with my old WRT54GP2, though that router had its own suite of issues.

Setup:
DIR-655 => Ethernet => QNAP TS-209
DIR-655 => 802.11g Wireless => Wireless Ethernet Bridge (WRT54G w/ Tomato) => SoundBridge

[Anonymous]

I’m having some issues too. I was having the same “No Libraries Found” issue. I switched from a Linksys WRT150N router to a D-Link DIR-655 yesterday. With the Linksys, everything worked great. However, with the D-Link, my Firefly server no longer shows up on the network. It shows up fine in iTunes, but not on my SoundBridge. I do see the MythTV server and my Iomega StorCenter server, neither of which have any media files loaded. However, I was only really able to see them solidly after disabling WISH on the D-Link router. Just trial and error right now.

[Anonymous]

Scratch that thought. Rebooted the SoundBridge and have no libraries again.

I’m scratching my head here because my SoundBridge connects to the network fine. I can play any internet radio station my heart desires. I just can’t get any of my music servers to show. I’m convinced it’s the router, but don’t know what settings I need to change to get it working again.

[Anonymous]

I’m convinced it’s the router as well. I can go for some period of time before my music server disappears from the SoundBridge. In my case though, a restart of the M2000 always causes the music server to show up again.

[Anonymous]

I got the Firefly to show up, but only with the wired connection. I’m still stumped. I may just have to wire it in.

[Julius]

I too am having connection problems with the D-Link 655 router and Firefly. If I enable ‘media sharing’ in Windows Media Player 11 it works fine, but I’d rather use Firefly, as I did with my old Netgear router without any problems.

But using the D-Link 655, the SoundBridge cannot see Firefly. As others have found, I can connect without problems to internet radio.

In contradiction to steveluscher, I can connect fine in 802.11b/g/n mode, and I have the newest (1.11) firmware.

[Anonymous]

I also had no luck with firmware v1.11 and my Soundbridge Radios. I tried all sorts of settings but kept getting the no libraries found message. Internet Radio works just fine.

I downloaded fw 1.03 (from Dlink’s UK site – it’s not available in each region) and can now access Firefly on my ReadyNAS NV+. Time for an email to Dlink support.

[Author]

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