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[boburtz]

I've got some Sennheiser W300 series wireless mics with network control via Sennheiser WSM. I'm wondering if there is any reason NOT to put a wifi router in the rack to control the wireless mics via WiFi. Will the WiFi interfere with the wireless transmission/reception of the mics? Works in the shop just fine, I just don't want to get out on the gig and have some unforeseen issue.
Thanks in advance.

[Jason Glass]

I've got some Sennheiser W300 series wireless mics with network control via Sennheiser WSM. I'm wondering if there is any reason NOT to put a wifi router in the rack to control the wireless mics via WiFi. Will the WiFi interfere with the wireless transmission/reception of the mics? Works in the shop just fine, I just don't want to get out on the gig and have some unforeseen issue.
Thanks in advance.

Hi Bob,

No problem at all.  I do it often.  You just want to be sure that the network addresses of all the gear and the controlling computer are in the same IP range.  You'll probably also want to make sure you use WPA2 encryption and a strong password for security.

Edit:  I forgot to mention that I use an external antenna for the WiFi and mount it as far away from my receiver antennas as I can.  This is insurance against the possibility that the WiFi might generate spurs in the UHF band.

[Jens Palm Bacher]

I've got some Sennheiser W300 series wireless mics with network control via Sennheiser WSM. I'm wondering if there is any reason NOT to put a wifi router in the rack to control the wireless mics via WiFi. Will the WiFi interfere with the wireless transmission/reception of the mics? Works in the shop just fine, I just don't want to get out on the gig and have some unforeseen issue.
Thanks in advance.

Should not be a problem. If you want to be absolutely secure, get a router with an external antenna and put in a highpass filter like http://217.34.103.131/pdfs/VHF-1910.pdf

[Mark McFarlane]

I've got some Sennheiser W300 series wireless mics with network control via Sennheiser WSM. I'm wondering if there is any reason NOT to put a wifi router in the rack to control the wireless mics via WiFi. Will the WiFi interfere with the wireless transmission/reception of the mics? Works in the shop just fine, I just don't want to get out on the gig and have some unforeseen issue.
Thanks in advance.

With my ew300 G3 I can see a lot of noise from a nearby Belkin N600 router. 

To see the impact of the router in your receivers RF band, place the router next to the receivers, run a frequency scan and save the trace.  Turn off the router and run another frequency scan.  You'll see exactly what RF noise the router is introducing.  I ended up putting the receiver 6' away from the router to get the noise down to a level I was comfortable with.  The amount of noise you see will likely be dependent on the router, so your YMMV. 

The test I propose is very simple and will only take 10 minutes.  I'd appreciate if you share what you find and note the make of your router. Mine might be noisier than others.

[boburtz]

With my ew300 G3 I can see a lot of noise from a nearby Belkin N600 router. 

To see the impact of the router in your receivers RF band, place the router next to the receivers, run a frequency scan and save the trace.  Turn off the router and run another frequency scan.  You'll see exactly what RF noise the router is introducing.  I ended up putting the receiver 6' away from the router to get the noise down to a level I was comfortable with.  The amount of noise you see will likely be dependent on the router, so your YMMV. 

The test I propose is very simple and will only take 10 minutes.  I'd appreciate if you share what you find and note the make of your router. Mine might be noisier than others.

I ran the scan with the wifi on and off, and saved the traces, the router has no effect on the frequency trace. The mics are in the "A" (~500MHz) band, so pretty far away from the wifi bandwidth of 2.4 GHz. I moved the router around and even set it directly on top of the scanning receiver. It does not show up on the scan at all. It's just a cheap D-Link DI-524. It's earned a permanent place in the rack. It'll mostly just be used for setup, not for monitoring, so as long as it's reliable enough during that period, it'll be just fine. If I'm in a wifi congested environment I can easily hard wire...
I will say that these RF units are a real step up from the G2's I was running (and will keep around for those low budget dry rentals).

[Mark McFarlane]

I ran the scan with the wifi on and off, and saved the traces, the router has no effect on the frequency trace. The mics are in the "A" (~500MHz) band, so pretty far away from the wifi bandwidth of 2.4 GHz. I moved the router around and even set it directly on top of the scanning receiver. It does not show up on the scan at all. It's just a cheap D-Link DI-524. It's earned a permanent place in the rack. It'll mostly just be used for setup, not for monitoring, so as long as it's reliable enough during that period, it'll be just fine. If I'm in a wifi congested environment I can easily hard wire...
I will say that these RF units are a real step up from the G2's I was running (and will keep around for those low budget dry rentals).

Thanks for doing the test,.  I'm going to have to retest my Belkin router. I understand that the transmission bands are totally different, I just chalked up all the noise I saw to RF leakage from other components in the router.

[boburtz]

Thanks for doing the test,.  I'm going to have to retest my Belkin router. I understand that the transmission bands are totally different, I just chalked up all the noise I saw to RF leakage from other components in the router.

What you're seeing is probably just the general radio frequency noise floor. It's the very reason receivers need a squelch feature. There is always noise. I live in an urban/suburban area and I have to set the squelch at about 10 to get above that floor. Obviously higher in more congested areas. I really like the way you can see that floor on the graphic and just drag your squelch threshold above it. No more guessing. Very cool.

[ProSoundWeb Community]