Designing and configuring Dante® network

Dante® AV-over-IP is based on common IT standards, enabling Dante® to run alongside data traffic on networks comprised of readily available conventional switches and cabling.

For detailed information please refer to the "Dante Information for Network Administrators": "Dante Information for Network Administrators".

Selecting the Network Switch

If you are not using Dante® devices connected in series, you will need a network switch that meets some requirements to create a stable Dante® network.

Below you will find our recommendations for setting up a functioning network with Dante.

Our recommendations:
  • Use non-blocking layer 2 gigabit switches.
  • Use managed (intelligent) switches that support DiffServ (DSCP) Quality of Service (QoS) with strict priority and 4 queues. Quality of Service (QoS) is a technology for prioritizing the transmission of audio data over background data traffic.
  • Check whether all connections can perform gigabit transmissions simultaneously (whether the switch is non-blocking).
  • Determine whether the switching capacity is at least 1 Gbit/s × the number of ports × 2 (for input and output).
  • Make sure that the switch has sufficient packet forwarding functions and features such as VLAN and IGMP snooping.
    • The packet forwarding rate (throughput) is measured in packets per second (pps). A sufficient forwarding rate is 1.4 Mpps per connection (gigabit). This corresponds to a forwarding rate for the entire switch of 1.4 Mpps × the number of ports.
    • VLAN is needed to separate a physical network into logical sub-networks (see Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN 802.1Q).
    • IGMP is an important feature of network multicast and is used to set up and manage memberships of hosts and routing devices in a multicast group.

Configuring Dante® network

Dante® devices use DHCP for addressing when available or will auto-assign an IP address in the 169.254.0.0/16 range on the network.

Dante® devices continue to look for a DHCP server even after auto-assigning an IP address. Most Dante® devices support static IP addressing.

  1. Switch off the WiFi function on the PC via which you are carrying out the Dante® configuration.
  2. Assign the connected LAN as a private network.
  3. Make sure that all Dante® devices, including the PC running Dante Controller, are assigned to the same IP subnet by assigning IP addresses in the same subnet.

Managing Energy Efficiency Ethernet (EEE)

The EEE function reduces the power consumption of devices and is automatically managed by the switches.

This issue can result in poor synchronization performance and occasional audio dropouts.

  1. Disable Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE) or ‘Green Ethernet’ (IEEE 802.3az) on all ports used for Dante® traffic.