AVL Networking Concept

When I (Ryan) was in high school, I took a series of courses from D20 as part of their tech pathway. These courses were all about becoming a Cisco Certified Network Associate. These classes offered basic understanding of how to setup, design, and configure computer networks. Fast forward to post college with a degree in Broadcast Video Production that I never thought I would use, but today basically all our Audio, Video, and Lighting systems use networks and use them in advanced ways.​

When we first connected with Woodmen Valley Chapel (WVC) it was to look at solutions for specialty pan tilt zoom cameras for streaming.  However, in a passing comment the tech staff noted that they had many problems with their Dante audio networking setup, and it wasn’t in a stable configuration. Talking with the staff about the issue, we were able to present a solution we knew would stabilize things for them. This solution was replacing the older network switches with a properly configured set of Netgear series M4250 switches. ​

When it comes to networking today, the simple “dumb” switches, or switches straight out of the box, simply aren’t enough for demanding, time critical, AVL (Audio, Video, Lighting) events and systems. So much data is moving around in these systems that it is absolutely critical to have switches configured correctly for the protocol or service being used. In this case, Dante audio requires large loads of audio specific timing and multicast settings to make sure audio is delivered on time and the clock is never dropped.

For configuration, Network switches are best configured in a star topology. This is so a device on one network switch has a minimum number of “hops” to another switch. Imagine one switch in the middle like a hub with spokes to other switches rather than long links of chain. ​

In the case of WVC, they already had fiber optics running from the main building to several other buildings on their campus and from their main distro room to their booth. We were able to re-use all of their existing fiber runs and, with some careful switch choices, we were able to bring their new network online with only a short afternoon of downtime.​

The new switches allow correct timing, multicast, and unicast configurations as well as a redundant VLAN for audio backup across the campus. We installed the new switches on a Thursday afternoon and didn’t check back in until the following week. The church said that, finally, after years of issues, the Dante network started up on Sunday morning in record time and didn’t have a single error.  ​

Correct configuration with the right gear does a world of good! Perfect functionality is what we love to see!​