Network Planning

What it's for — Putting CDJs, a pixel Art-Net router, a grandMA3 computer, a Resolume computer and the machine running CueSync on one switch, and knowing whether it will work before the doors open. Everything on this page is about addresses, because that is where a rig that is "plugged in and green" most often goes dark.

The one rule

A switch joins cables. It does not join networks. Two devices on one switch talk to each other only when their addresses start the same way, for example both 192.168.1.x with the mask 255.255.255.0, or both 169.254.x.x. That shared part is the network (or subnet).

CueSync is the one machine that talks to everything, so this computer needs an address in the network of every device it talks to. The other devices do not need to be changed for CueSync's sake.

The five-second check. Write down the address and mask of the CueSync computer, a player, the pixel router, the grandMA3 computer and the Resolume computer. For each device, ask: does this computer have an address that starts the same way? If every answer is yes, one switch is all you need and you can stop reading.

What each device needs

Three ways to wire it

1. One flat network (the most robust). Give every device an address in one network, with DHCP reservations or fixed addresses. It needs the other devices' addresses to change, which is the one thing this page assumes you would rather not do.

2. One switch, extra addresses on this computer's adapter. Nothing else changes. Give the CueSync computer's adapter one extra address for each network on the cable. Windows: the adapter's IPv4 properties → Advanced → IP addresses → Add (the adapter needs a fixed address of its own for this, not DHCP). macOS: sudo ifconfig <adapter> alias <address> <mask> (temporary: it does not survive a restart). Do this before the show: when an adapter's addresses change, CueSync notices and re-dials the network outputs that depend on it.

3. Two adapters on this computer (best for a busy wall). One adapter and cable go to a DJ Link switch with the players. The other goes to a lighting switch with the pixel router, the grandMA3 computer and the Resolume computer. Nothing is re-addressed, and the wall's traffic never reaches the players. The two adapters must not have addresses in the same network.

Keep the pixel wall off the players' cable

A basic unmanaged switch (one without IGMP snooping) hands every broadcast and multicast frame to every port. A pixel wall sent to a broadcast address (ending .255) or over sACN multicast is therefore delivered to every player on the switch.

At the wall's default 40 frames a second, one universe is at most about 0.19 Mbit/s on the wire, Ethernet framing included. A 20-universe wall is about 3.8 Mbit/s, and a 134-universe rig about 25.6 Mbit/s. Send the wall to the node's own address (unicast; for sACN, type a host in Unicast to) and an unmanaged switch delivers it to that one port only. If you must share a cable, use option 3.

What CueSync tells you

• A host on a network this computer is not on. The output editor shows This computer is not on that network under the host field, and Pixel settings show an equivalent warning for the wall. It is advice, never a block: a router between the two networks is a valid rig.
• The advisory follows your adapters. While the editor is open it re-reads them: add the missing address and the advisory clears within a few seconds, with no need to close the dialog.
• Placeholders and multicast stay quiet. The advisory does not appear on a new output that still has its placeholder address, nor for sACN in multicast mode, where the address is not used.
• On a routed rig, hide it. Choose It is routed, hide this until CueSync restarts under the advisory. That hides it for that address in every editor until the next launch.
• A failed Test Connection. When the address is on a network this computer is not on, the first suggestion under the failure says so, ahead of the device's own advice. The Venue Setup wizard's test shows the same line, and a failed row in Flight Check or in the Diagnostics self-test ends with it.
• Players heard, but not joinable. If CueSync hears PRO DJ LINK players and the first of them is in a network no adapter on this computer is in, a card stays on screen naming the players and the networks this computer is on. CueSync then watches, joins by itself as soon as an adapter has an address in the players' network, and the card clears. If instead you only see No Pioneer DJ devices found, no player announcement has reached this computer: check the cable, that the players are powered and linked, and the five-second check above.
• A pinned address this computer no longer has. An sACN wall or output sent straight to a node and pinned to a network address binds exactly that address. When this computer no longer has it (a renumbered USB adapter, an address you removed), the output fails to connect and says why, instead of sending from whichever adapter the system picks. Pick an adapter that exists, or Auto.
• Scan Network sweeps every network this computer is on. On a link-local cable (no DHCP) the sweep is skipped, and CDJs and Art-Net nodes still announce themselves.
• Two adapters seeing the players. CueSync raises an alert, because every beat would arrive twice. Turn one adapter off (usually Wi-Fi) and reconnect.

Common tasks

1. Check a wall's route before soundcheck. Pixel settings → enter the node address → read the warning line under it. No warning means an adapter is on the node's network.
2. Put an Art-Net router on 2.x beside a 192.168.1.x console network. Add a 2.x.x.x address to this computer's adapter (option 2), or put the router on its own adapter (option 3), then enter the node's address.
3. Pin which adapter PRO DJ LINK should use. Settings → DJ Hardware → Network Interface. This is a check, not a lock: CueSync alerts you if the players were joined over a different adapter, so keep only one adapter in the players' network.

Tips & gotchas

• Only one DHCP server on a cable. Two (a router and a console computer, say) hand out clashing addresses. Players and this computer take whichever answers first.
• Green does not mean delivered. OSC and Art-Net are fire-and-forget; a cue to an address on the wrong network still reports success. Verify at the device.
• Pinning an adapter chooses the source address, not the road out. When two adapters share a network, the operating system picks the road. Keep them in different networks.
• A VPN is a network too. A VPN adapter can sit in a range that overlaps the show's; switch it off for the show.
• Every address is a choice. The Bind Interface menus list each address of an adapter separately, so with extra addresses on one adapter (option 2) you can pin the one you want. Auto is still right unless a node filters by source address: the operating system picks the matching source address for each destination. sACN multicast is pinned by adapter, so it lists each adapter once.
• Pixel settings count extra addresses too. The warning under the node address considers every address on every adapter, and it re-reads them while the page is open, so adding the missing address clears it within a few seconds.

Related

• Network Outputs — Add outputs, scan, and run connection tests
• Devices — PRO DJ LINK players and output health at a glance
• Art-Net and sACN — Bind interface, universes and unicast
• Pixel Wall — Node address, routing and the identify tool