Using the Wing internal Dante card with the 3 Network Config modes, Switched, Redundant and Separated.

Everything to do with the Dante Audio Networking aspect of the digital eco-system
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GaryH
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Joined: Wed Apr 14, 2021 8:19 pm

Using the Wing internal Dante card with the 3 Network Config modes, Switched, Redundant and Separated.

Post by GaryH »

This all started from a discussion on another forum where a user was saying the Redundant mode would not work with an internal card. Also saying if you needed a redundant network the only option was the Wing-Dante external card. I thought this had been fixed along the way and thus investigated. I don't use a redundant network so I was unfamiliar with much of the process. In testing that I also discovered the Separated option which I previously had not been aware of. As a result I thought I would share what I found..

The following definitions are not mine. I believe them to be accurate so I will use them here. They are slightly revised to apply to the Wing mixer.

Switched: Both wing control ports are connected, like one large network. Either port can be used for Dante audio or can be connected to a remote network. The Wing control ports, for the lack of a better description, 'auto’ sense which port is used for which purpose. Either one can be used for Dante AOIP or for a remote connection like Copilot or Mixing Staion.

Redundant: Two separate and independent networks but carry the identical info. The Primary port is connected via one switch. The Secondary port is connected to a completely different switch and network. You do NOT want to run the primary and secondary cables into the same switch when using redundant mode. Looking from the rear of the mixer-the left Wing control port is always Primary, the right port is Secondary. This confirmed via Dante Controller.

Separated: One port is for Dante audio ONLY and the other port is control data ONLY. The ports become fixed. In my tests (again looking from the rear of the Wing) the right port carried Dante audio, and the left port carried data. This is just opposite of how Redundant mode behaved for me. This may be because I was originally using the secondary port for my Dante system when using the default Switched mode and it just carried over to Separated mode port that way. Or it may be by design, either way it did behave like that for me.

*The Wing Dante expansion card does NOT have an option for “Separated" mode BTW. Only using an internal Dante card with the proper internal firmware file flashed to it will have the Separated network config option.

Using Separated mode:

With DHCP used on both the Wing mixer and an iPad, I had full Dante audio control on my pc (Dante Controller and DVS) and was also able to connect to a generic wireless router from the data port, I used Mixing Station with an iPad running ios 15.2. I am unsure if swapping the ports side to side makes any difference. I’m going with this particular L/R port setup since it worked in my particular scenario. It may well be that it will work either way. The port may sense the connection type being used. The outcome will still be same however, in Separated mode one port is audio ONLY and one port is data ONLY.

Using "Redundant" mode:

I was able to determine which control port is which definitively while testing this mode. I know this because if they were incorrectly attached in Redundant mode (I did), Dante Controller will throw off an error. The only remedy for which is to put the cables in the correct ports! This explained clearly via Dante Controller error messages. So the Primary port IS the one on the left and closest to the plug if looking from the back of the Wing. The Secondary port IS on the one on the right.

EDITS 010422 I forgot to test the remote network options for redundant mode. This is important because both the control ports on the wing are used for the redundant switches so there is no specific remote port left to connect by. What I found was in this mode you CAN connect a remote program like Mixing Station but it is done via the Primary switch hard wired connection to the PC. Same PC (assume Mac also) that has DC and DVS installed. I was not able to do that at all (yet) using the secondary switch. This could be easily related to IP as the Secondary switch has specific IP ranges Dante uses and the Primary ip is not the same. Perhaps static ip's might work there. I also could not connect by using a wireless router attached to either the Primary or Secondary switch. I am not convinced it's impossible...but it may be...it may also be I just don't know how yet :-) OR it's the router I used. I will update this if I get new results!

The overall good news here is that all 3 modes work perfectly with an internal Dante card installed. If you have need of a redundant Dante network yet still need or just want the SD recorder you are in luck!
Last edited by GaryH on Tue Jan 04, 2022 12:34 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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pmaillot
Posts: 624
Joined: Wed Apr 14, 2021 1:32 pm

Re: Using the Wing internal Dante card with the 3 Network Config modes, Switched, Redundant and Separated.

Post by pmaillot »

That's cool. Great testing/explanation Gary, Thx a lot!
-Patrick

PS: I'm running essentially Switched mode, works just fine for me in my simplistic environment.
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