We are often asked which switches work best with Axia IP-Audio Networks. The answer is “that depends”—primarily on the size of the system you're planning.
If you want to build a conventional Ethernet network for your Axia studios, we recommend Cisco and Huawei switches to suit the needs of different-sized installations. Why? Axia introduced Broadcasting to Audio over IP in 2003. We have thousands of installations and have tested a number of Ethernet switches since our original development work on Livewire began. Our experience with Cisco has been very good. We have recently certified a few versions of Huawei switches and believe that they will be a good alternative for customers who do not have access to Cisco. After all, this is your program audio we’re talking about, the Ethernet switch is central to the proper functionality of your AoIP network. Uptime in this critical application is vital.
With the plethora of network adapters available, there are far too many for us to test them all. For reliable operation we recommend picking network cards that are supported by your PC vendor; have specific drivers for the operating system you’re running; support 1GB connections; and if possible do not use “shared” resources with video or other PC subsystems. We find that “add-in” network cards provide the best opportunity for successful operation, but in many cases the “built-in” variety work just fine. We find this especially true in server-based hardware.