NetworkSetups compared

Direct cable or router? Six setups with diagrams, and which one to choose.

Which setup works best

network cableWi-FiUSBsame computer

A Switch

A small unmanaged switch (5 or 8 ports) connects players, mixer and computer. There is no router, so every device gives itself a 169.254.x.x address. This is how most booths are wired and what Pioneer intends.

• Pro: simple, robust, nothing to configure, no internet needed.
• Con: no Wi-Fi for a tablet; for that plug a Wi-Fi access point or a router into the switch, which turns it into setup B.

B Router with DHCP

A router (any home router, a travel router, or the venue’s show network) hands out addresses. Players, mixer, the computer and the light desk plug in by cable, tablets join its Wi-Fi.

• Pro: everything in one network, tablets possible, addresses are clear (192.168.x.x).
• Pro: the light desk can stay in the same network if its address fits the router’s range.
• Con: too few ports? Add a switch to the router. Do not use the guest Wi-Fi: it isolates devices.

C DJM LINK sockets

Many DJM mixers (for example DJM-900NXS2, DJM-A9, DJM-V10) have several LINK sockets that work like a small switch. If one is free, the computer goes there.

• Pro: no extra device.
• Con: with four players there is often no socket left. Then use a switch.

D Direct cable

One cable from the computer straight to one player. Players cannot be chained, so LJ Link sees only this player. Into a DJM LINK socket instead it is setup C.

Modern laptops have no network socket: a USB-C or USB network adapter works fine. Old cables or adapters without auto MDI-X are rarely a problem today.

E Wi-Fi only

Denon: Prime and SC devices can join a Wi-Fi network like they do for Engine DJ; LJ Link finds them there. A cable is steadier at a show.

Pioneer: CDJs and XDJs need a cable. A computer on the Wi-Fi of a router to which the players are cabled may see them, but packets get lost and positions jump. Not tested and not recommended.

F Two networks

The light desk stays in its own network (MA-Net, Art-Net, sACN), the DJ gear in another. The computer has one network port in each, for example the built-in one and a USB adapter. LJ Link chooses the port for the DJ gear by itself; the tempo goes to the desk through the other one, because the computer knows which network the desk is in.

Complete walk-through: two networks.

Light desk in the same network?