Data over LAN was working beautifully, now it's not

Hi all

Two computers, main is W11, second is W7. Both are plugged in to a Lynksis router.

Running music sw: Cubase and VEPRo. This combo allows me to load and host music sample libraries on the W7 slave, and have the audio travel over the LAN to the W11 comp, without the need for additional audio and MIDI interfaces. This sw is somewhat specialized, so I am not seeking anyone to give me advice there.

Until now, the audio has been flowing smoothly from W7 > W11. Literally, for years. I started having issues about 2 days ago, in the form of stuttering and dropouts. Literally nothing has changed on either computer, no updates, no app installs, nothing. It's not the sw that's at fault here, nor the drives, which are all SSDs. It's the audio moving over the LAN, but why? I am wondering if anyone has any idea as to what I can look at, to see if there is some bottleneck somewhere.

Thanks in advance.

Try Googling. Search for "audio transfer using VEPRo software fails".

"Literally nothing has changed"
You can't possibly know that with Windows 11 or your two audio apps.

Thx - will try that search term.

You can't possibly know that with Windows 11 - what makes you say that; I have updates turned off.

or your two audio apps. - absolutely I can.

Cheers.

What makes me say that:
If you were so knowledgeable to turn off every possible avenue of Win11 updates and changes you wouldn't be asking this question in this forum.
With your very specialized software, you would just go and diagnose the problem and fix it (with help from Google).
Are automatic updates for these apps turned on?
What other audio-related or network-related applications do you have that have automatic updates turned on?
Any changes to the router? Did you reboot the router?
Have you rebooted both your computers?
Is Windows 11 "driver update" feature enabled?
Have you opened Task Manager and observed changes in CPU, network and memory (RAM) usage when this problem occurs?
What other applications are running in the background (on both machines)?
Are you playing an internet game at the same time you're doing the audio transfer?
Do you have enough spare disk storage (on hard drive or SSD)?
What has changed in the audio data you're transferring? Is the audio from a file or streaming?
OK, you get the picture. Don't assume anything. Something changed.

If you were so knowledgeable to turn off every possible avenue of Win11 updates and changes you wouldn't be asking this question in this forum.

Ok, that's really not necessary.

Are automatic updates for these apps turned on?

VEPro - turned off. Cubase - doesn't have this option. Kontakt - doesn't have this option.

What other audio-related or network-related applications do you have that have automatic updates turned on?

None.

Any changes to the router? Did you reboot the router? Have you rebooted both your computers? Is Windows 11 "driver update" feature enabled?

No, yes, yes, no.

Have you opened Task Manager and observed changes in CPU, network and memory (RAM) usage when this problem occurs?

Yes - no changes.

What other applications are running in the background (on both machines)?

None.

Are you playing an internet game at the same time you're doing the audio transfer?

Well, of course not.

Do you have enough spare disk storage (on hard drive or SSD)?

25% is unused.

What has changed in the audio data you're transferring?

Nothing.

Is the audio from a file or streaming?

Files on the SSD - same ones as always.

Nothing has changed.

I'm sorry for the dig. I don't know your particular audio software, so I can't say anything more specific.
When a network transfer "stutters" there is a bandwidth degradation or overload.
I would not discount all of the above suggestions for looking for clues. Sometimes it's a timing issue and you have to be persistent and keep looking, particulary monitoring CPU, RAM and network in Task Manager.
Are you doing this over WiFi or all wired Ethernet network. If you're using WiFi, I'd focus on that.
For diagnosis, replace WiFi with Ethernet and see if the problem persists.
Try using different audio files (simpler ones).
Try experimenting with your software buffer sizes and latency settings. Try lower audio quality settings.
When you change settings in the apps do one change at a time so you can see the effect.
Set your Windows Power options to use High Performance and not to put the network to sleep.
Good luck.

SumpterX said:

Are you doing this over WiFi or all wired Ethernet network. If you're using WiFi, I'd focus on that.
For diagnosis, replace WiFi with Ethernet and see if the problem persists.

Click to expand...

riffwraith said:

Both are plugged in to a Lynksis router.

Click to expand...

You could test bandwidth between the two computers, to see if it is what it should be, based on the capabilities of the two computers and the switch in between.

I cannot speak for the Windows 7 side as I have not even seen 7 in at least a decade, but on the Windows 11 side, I have fixed weird network behavior several times by simply using the network reset option is settings. That resets all adapters to default settings. As I noted, there have been several times where everything I tried failed to resolve some weird networking issue, but what finally resolved those issues for me was the network reset.

please try setting both computers connected to the router with static addressing.

within the router find each system and reserve that address for that system
then on each computer set that IP address as a static address along with
gateway address
subnet mask
IP address (as same as the reserved address within the router)

a restart of each system maybe required
then check the network connection with the music/data you are transmitting

best of luck Steve ..

Are you sure Windows Update didn't touch your audio or LAN drivers on either Windows 11 or 7? OK, Windows 7 always ask the user before updating drivers, but you never know. Windows 11 even when set not to update drivers, it might still do so. I don't trust Windows Update. The best option is to make sure you already have installed the latest official audio and LAN drivers from manufacturer so Windows Update won't find anything new and leave them alone. Even if there is a newer driver available in Windows Update, not necessarily better, you can hide it (block it) so it doesn't install with Microsoft Windows Update Show/Hide Tool or Windows Automatic Updates Manager (WAU Manager), both available at Major Geeks:


Just use one of them to search for available updates and present you a list. Check the box for those that you want to hide (block) and apply changes. Of course the update must not have been already installed or it won't be on the list to hide (block).

Also see this thread in case you have to apply the commands suggested so Windows 7 PC can communicate without issues with Windows 11 PC:

Every time Microsoft removes a "legacy feature" to modernize Windows 11 they break compatibility. Thankfully there are guys that have found a workaround and help us restore the damage.