topic Re: How Can I Set the DNS Servers for an EE 4GEE Home Router 3? in Mobile Broadband

How Can I Set the DNS Servers for an EE 4GEE Home Router 3?

PeterKinloch — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 18:57:49 GMT

I'm trying to stream Hi Res music to a Linn music system, but keep getting dropouts caused by buffering. The streaming service provider (Qobuz) and the Linn Helpline tell me I need to change the primary and secondary DNS servers used by my 4GEE Home Broadband router to the Google DNS servers, namely 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4, but I cannot find a way to do this. It just doesn't seem to be covered by the User Manual. Help!

Re: How Can I Set the DNS Servers for an EE 4GEE Home Router 3?

Mustrum — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 20:53:14 GMT

@PeterKinloch it sounds like they are fobbing you off. There should be no need to change from any ISP DNS.

Buffering tends to be more of a problem with insufficient bandwidth.

Have you checked your speeds? How fast and are you/anyone else streaming/downloading anything else whilst you attempt to stream?

Re: How Can I Set the DNS Servers for an EE 4GEE Home Router 3?

PeterKinloch — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 04:30:53 GMT

Hello Mustrum,

Download speed is between 90 and 112 Mbps at quiet times and never drops
below 55 Mbps at the most busy times. Ping latency is 48 -54 ms and upload
speed usually between 12 and 16 Mbps. So it's not a bandwidth issue.

All our devices are connected to a 1Gb LAN, so that eliminates Wi-Fi
problems.

If I stream to my desktop PC there's no problem with dropouts, whatever the
audio resolution. But the desktop PC has a larger buffer than the Linn
music streamer. If I stream direct to the Linn system at 16-Bit, 96KHz it's
okay, with just the very occasional dropout. But the Hi Res Qobuz
subscription allows 24-Bit 192KHz and that won't stream without multiple
dropouts much of the time. I've 'captured' data logs when the Linn has been
struggling and sent them to Linn technical help for analysis. It's Linn who
are telling me the problem is buffering because the stream is coming through
from the router 'in chunks'.

Qobuz recommend a minimum bandwidth of 10 Mbps and, as you can see, we have
many times that. Also, with an Amazon Fire TV HD box, we can stream 4K UHD
video without any dropouts and that apparently requires a minimum bandwidth
of 25 Mbps. Seemingly this is again to do with the size of the buffer in
the Amazon TV device.

Linn technical help say the Linn streamer is more than capable of streaming
at 24-Bit 192 KHz and it does so flawlessly with music of that resolution
stored on a NAS. So the problem is almost certainly the direct stream from
the 4GEE router. Both Linn and Qobuz have suggested I set the DNS primary
and secondary servers to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 and try again. But there
doesn't seem to be a way to do that in the firmware - unless the relevant
settings menu is hidden or accessed by a non-intuitive route that's not
covered in the User Manual.

Thanks,

Peter

Re: How Can I Set the DNS Servers for an EE 4GEE Home Router 3?

COLRE25 — Fri, 11 Aug 2023 19:41:18 GMT

Did you ever get any further with this? I have exactly the same issue with Linn/Qobuz.

Re: How Can I Set the DNS Servers for an EE 4GEE Home Router 3?

PeterKinloch — Sat, 12 Aug 2023 05:32:36 GMT

Hi,

No. I still have the problem. Over the last few weeks I’ve run multiple
ping tests using testing software (not just Speedtest) in an effort to pin
down the issue – but to date without any success. I’ve tried a number of
different routers too, including the Mk1 EE 4GEE router, the Mk2 EE 4GEE
router (that’s the Huawei one) and I’m currently using the EE 4GEE Home
Router 3. I have the same issue no matter which EE branded 4G router is
used – but I’ve stopped short of paying out a further £300+ for something
like a top-end DrayTek LTE router because I suspect the problem probably
lies with the 4G signal itself rather than our hardware. I’ve also tried
having the DSM connected directly to the router by Cat6 cable with nothing
else connected at all. And I’ve tried connecting through three different,
good quality routers with the feed from the EE router fed into the WAN
connection. (That allows the non-EE routers to specify the DNS servers used
to access the internet over-riding the EE routers own DNS settings). The
dropout problem persists.

EE decline to allow end users to edit of the DNS servers in the current
router firmware and have told me that facility was removed on ‘commercial
grounds’. And if you update the firmware on the earlier EE 4GEE routers
you’re likely to find that facility removed. So be careful!

In the meantime there’s another factor that may be contributory. We live in
the Scottish Highlands and when running Speedtests we used to see that our
ISP varied and often included ISPs in Aberdeen, Douglas (Isle of Man),
Newcastle etc. Since this dropout issue has arisen we only ever see ISPs
that are in London when running Speedtests. So we think EE have made
changes in the way the 4G data signal is delivered that could be part of the
problem.

Qobuz say a minimum 10 Mbps is required for Hi-Res streaming. We get better
than 100 Mbps using an external, directional 4G antenna connected to the EE
router, so it’s definitely not a bandwidth issue. We can stream 4K movies
flawlessly (which requires at least 25 Mbps). And we can stream Qobuz
Hi-Res music to a desktop PC using the Qobuz app. Colin (the very helpful
Helpline person at Linn) says that’ll be because the PC has a larger buffer
than the DSM and is able to cope with a disjointed music feed better than
the DSM. But, of course, you don’t get the same audio quality from a PC.

So the conclusion I’ve drawn to date is that EE have downgraded the 4G
signal, or changed it in some way, resulting in the same amount of data
being received but in a more disjointed way than was previously the case.
This isn’t affecting devices like the PC, of a SkyQ digibox, or an Amazon
Fire TV box, but the signal is no longer good enough for streaming Hi-Res
music from Qobuz over a Linn DSM. (Incidentally, there’s nothing wrong with
our DSM, which can stream 192KHz 24-bit music from a NAS flawlessly. The
problem is the incoming internet signal.)

We can stream from Qobuz at 16-bit, 96KHz resolution to the DSM. But we
used to be able to stream 24-bit with no trouble at all. The dropout
problem seemed to arise around the same time we changed to the EE 4GEE Home
Router 3 and it seems that we cannot now go back without retaining the
dropout problem. That’s why I think EE have downgraded the 4G data signal
in some way.

Unfortunately there is no alternative broadband available where we live. No
cable, no fibre, no wireless, no 5G and the fastest we can get over ADSL2 is
0.7 Mbps, which is too slow for streaming anything but low-res radio from
the like of Airable.

So I’m sorry I haven’t been able to provide a solution, yet, but I hope the
foregoing helps you make some progress.

Kind Regards,

Peter

Re: How Can I Set the DNS Servers for an EE 4GEE Home Router 3?

COLRE25 — Sun, 13 Aug 2023 12:10:15 GMT

Hi Peter,

That’s extremely helpful and saves me messing about with new equipment.

I live in rural Northern Ireland and the ADSL Internet speed is as bad as yours (with no sign of Fibre on the horizon), so 4GEE is my only alternative with reasonably good download speeds of around 40Mbps.

My solution to this DNS issue is to drop Qobuz and instead I have signed up with a trial subscription to Tidal. So far it seems to be working quite well through Linn integration streaming at CD quality. Tidal have announced that they will be moving towards Hi Res FLAC through 3rd party software by the end of the year, and if that works with 4G then I will be happy.

Colin