REVIEW: The best yet most affordable network switch (TPLink WR902AC)

[NaimYourTubes]

Following up from my earlier post above. I was listening to the system, and over the course of a couple of hours, I felt that the sound was deteriorating. I initially put it down to the newness of the USB power cable needing bedding in (which I’m sure it needs), so I turned the system off. (It’s 9pm here in Aus).

I said I’ll charge the first power bank (as it had reached 40% by now) and just place the fully charged 2nd unit on the rack for tomorrow’s listening. Obviously, the scenario must have been mulled at the back of my mind without me realizing, and after 15 minutes, I had a light bulb moment. I said, "I wonder if it’s the power bank."

So back on went the system, and I played a very nicely recorded duet track with the 1st power bank (40% charge left), then a quick swap to the 2nd power bank (100% charge left). From my finding I can say that based on an Anker (20,000 mAh), the fully charged unit produced a far richer, natural, and very engaging sound. The 40% charged unit was getting slightly difficult to listen to, and I was not getting the same musical satisfaction.

So, my feeling is based on a “finger in the air” finding: either recharge the power bank once it has reached 50% (based on a 20,000 mAh unit) or swap for a fully charged second unit.

Now there are higher-capacity power bank models available; if someone has got one, kindly report back on your finding.

This confirms what @keithc mentioned about the higher capacity model giving better sound, based on my limited testing.

I would need the exact battery cell data and to understand their regulation circuit to know with certainty, but it wouldn't shock me if the bank has a simpler boost/buck regulation circuit, where when it moves into the boost phase you're trading current to maintain voltage. I suspect the bank may be entering the boost phase of the discharge curve at the ~40% mark. Wild guess though. Pure conjecture.

I found a very low ripple UGREEN 300w USC-C power supply with a 3-prong cord (UGreen Nexode 300w GAN 5 port desktop charger) that sounds radically better than the supplied power supply right out of the box. I have subsequently used some 75 Mixture Fair-Rite ferrties on both the AC input and the shielded solid core DC/USB-C charging cable. Two turns on the AC side and 4 or 5 turns on the USB-C cable. Each bringing increases in lushness, depth, clarity, space, tonal density, and focus.

Lastly, I used a 250VA Topaz Ultra Isolator (.0005pf) iso transformer to power the UGreen, resulting in more of the same improvements seen above (and so it doesn't pollute my balanced power feeding the rest of my system).

Even in ECO mode, the TP Link TL-WR3602BE runs warm. So some additional feet to elevate and control vibration have improved that situation markedly.

 

[audiobomber]

I meant to mention that I set up the WR902 using the stock power supply, but for the kitchen audio system I am powering it from the USB outlet of a Topping P50 LPS, which also powers the iFi DAC.

With both USB outlets working, power output drops from 1A to 0.8A. So to confirm what others have said, you don't need the 2A provided by the stock SMPS in Client Mode. I don't intend to hassle with a battery supply in this system, which is just for background listening, but I do hear improved clarity from the WR902 versus the RE200.

 

[Iamrael]

I finally got around to testing how streaming 4k Dolby Atmos/Vision via Fandango into my Nvidia Shield Pro would fare with the new setup.
I was almost certain things would not work as usual, but….
Y’all should be happy to know so far no issues with buffering, dropouts, or any negative impact.

 

[cat6man]

I finally got around to testing how streaming 4k Dolby Atmos/Vision via Fandango into my Nvidia Shield Pro would fare with the new setup.
I was almost certain things would not work as usual, but….
Y’all should be happy to know so far no issues with buffering, dropouts, or any negative impact.

Any improvements noted with shield pro?

 

[cat6man]

Yes, the TL-WR3602BE

TL-WR1502X also (and cheaper wifi6 vs. wifi7)

 

[kennyb123]

I finally got around to testing how streaming 4k Dolby Atmos/Vision via Fandango into my Nvidia Shield Pro would fare with the new setup.
I was almost certain things would not work as usual, but….
Y’all should be happy to know so far no issues with buffering, dropouts, or any negative impact.

The Shield Pro has onboard WiFi so I would think that would provide an “air gap”. Of course things are rarely that straightforward. Are you seeing and hearing an improvement when video streaming through the TP Link travel router?

 

[Devg]

just a note on folks saying that the Tplink is not accessible via tplinkwifi.net when in client mode. You can't access it in client mode. In client mode it gets it's own IP address from the wifi host. So if your network is say 10.0.1.x/24 (which I have), then the tplink would get an ip from that network in client mode. The url tplinkwifi.net is hardcoded to 192.168.0.1 which can only be accessible in router mode. To get to Tplink in client mode, look at the IP address assigned by your wifi host/router and then directly access it from the browser using the same IP address.

 

[Iamrael]

I have a projector/screen in my sound room and haven’t had the opportunity to switch into ”HT mode” yet (turn off lighting, aspect ratio on screen, move a few room acoustic treatments, etc,) to evaluate any possible improvements.
I selected a movie in my Vudu library and hit play. No delays and no buffering for half hour.
I have never engaged WiFi on the Shield (never entered password) so there is no way that any internal WiFi is engaged to contribute to this success.