Direct Ethernet vs LAN Connection

Steve N4LQ

Anybody tried to measure the difference?

Richard G7EIX

Do mean in speed?  I have tried direct / though a switch / through a hub and also WiFi without any noticeable difference to be honest.    I only TX from my main station, but I do listen all around the house with WiFi on a Surface Pro 2.

The Flex 6500 is now connected to a switch in my office - which is also connected to 2 WiFi AP's (one up and one down) - not suffered any perceivable latency with this config.   My main operating PC is connected to the Switch.

Steve N4LQ

You will never notice the difference unless you are operating CW with zero delay, QSK and on a noisy band. When the key is pressed, the background noise continues for a number of milliseconds and mixes with the sidetone. With a direct connection to another ethernet card in the PC the noise time is shorter and the sidetone sounds much cleaner. You can also hear the noise when using any amount of delay but only upon first closing the key. It is muted until the end of the delay cycle. SSB ops can ignore this entire discussion. It doesn't apply to that mode. Steve N4LQ

Richard G7EIX

In that case I shall pull up a chair and sit in the corner and listen to the conversation. No CW here, so nothing to add.

Jim Bryce W5HFS

I don't understand the question. Ethernet is a LAN protocol, the very protocol that the 6000 series requires to communicate (other than the RF in and out and a few controls and audio). You can't talk with the 6000 series without using a LAN based on Ethernet.

Steve N4LQ

I guess I'm not explaining myself. Let's try again. You take a Flex 6300....Plug a cat5 cable into its jack. Then run it to your router / gateway or switch...whatever.. Now it's on the LAN. Now..... Install another ethernet card in your PC that is setting next to your 6300. Now that PC has 2 ethernet cards. One hooks to the LAN and the other to your 6300. The 6300 is no longer on your home LAN. Yes it may be in its own little network but there is no router now. It is no longer part of a shared network. So here is what I noticed: Quieter QSK. A decrease in band noise that accompanies the leading edge of each CW character or shall I say faster turnaround? Try this..... What you hear out of your speakers must travel through your network. If you eliminate components in the network i.e. router, cable, switches etc etc. then the signal delay is less and it reaches the speaker sooner. Yes it's only a matter of milliseconds but the difference is audible when keying high speed CW or even slow CW. All I can say is ...Try it. According to Windows Task Manager I've taken 4 mbs of data off my home network by segregating the 6300 to a dedicated NIC. Steve N4LQ

Jim Bryce W5HFS

Steve. I see what you're asking now. The issue here is the latency introduced by a hub, switch, or router in a network. I suspect that the less expensive home and small business devices will have a greater latency than those built for larger commercial systems. Your solution has worked for you and may work for others. Those who need a larger network environment would be well advised to check the latency specifications of the devices involved.

Paul Christensen, W9AC

Steve,

Taking your set-up a step further, is it possible to access your 6300 direct from the shack PC -- and also via the LAN from another LAN connected PC? (not at the same time of course).  I guess that would require making the shack PC a gateway device.  

Paul, W9AC