HomePod 2 Connectivity Issues

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Level 1

6 points

HomePod 2 Connectivity Issues

Hello Apple Community!

New HomePod 2 owner here, about ready to pull my hair out with these things. To paint the picture a bit, I have recently decided to go all in on creating a HomePod ecosystem. I have a city apartment thats about 1000 square feet, with a set of HomePods 2’s used as a stereo pair, and 2 HomePod mini’s, one in my kitchen, and another in my bedroom.

The problem is I feel like I am constantly troubleshooting them. Sometimes my stereo pair drops one speaker, sometimes I try to play music on all rooms but one (or more) speakers seem to have connection issues, sometimes volume control stops working, etc. Overall there seems to be a constant stream of general connectivity issues among my ecosystem. Everything runs through an AppleTV 4k with eARC enabled to an LG C2 TV that also has a PS5 and Nintendo Switch connected to it. When they all work, they work great! But the connection between everything seems very brittle and one wrong request can break everything. I also use an iPhone 13 and iPad Pro to control my HomeKit.

Now a little about my network… I am on Xfinity with lightning speeds. Generally speaking, I have no issues with speed or Wi-Fi connection issues (typically getting over 1000mbps). I am using their Gateway XB8 as my modem and router, with access to 3 bands (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz). I have turned off the 2.4 and 6 GHz bands because my theory was that my devices were getting confused which bands they were on. Because my ability to edit the configuration on Xfinity devices is limited, I am considering puting the XB8 in bridge mode and getting a Netgear Orbi to function as my router so I can get full access to the controls of my network.

TLDR, Long story short, this whole journey seems absolutely insane to be able to get a properly functioning HomeKit to work without issue. Am I missing something? Is there a setting or configuration I could be using to have a functioning smart home? Or am I just trapped in a black hole of a technology that hasn’t been fine tuned enough to actually work? Would love thoughts and suggestions from the community!

HomePod (2nd generation)

Posted on Mar 29, 2023 01:50 PM

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Answer 1

chip279

Level 1

18 points

Mar 29, 2023 10:47 PM in response to bspace

I hear your frustration. Have had exactly the same issues and more. Stereo pair and multi room seem to be an issue. If I play all HomePods as single non stereo pairs it really increases the success rate but defeats the purpose. Have had 4 routers (Netgear Orbi, Linksys, Eeros, Xfinity ) in the apartment (700 sq ft) over the course of the past 2 months and they all react the same way. Have Xfinity’s top tier service and sped and still makes no difference. Odd part is that everything Elise in the apartment works flawlessly The HomePods seem to be very reliable for a couple of days and then Siri seems to go to her dark place and the problems start. All kinds of issues. Lights are on but no music, there’s a problem with Apple Music, says she’s gonna play and nothing happens, the list goes on and on. Huge disappointment.

Have contacted Apple on many occasions and they sound interested in fixing the problem but 9 times out of 10 the ticket goes dark with their engineers and you never hear back from them. I assume that they really don’t know what the problem is either. It’s beyond frustrating.

I run no betas and am always current of versions and even with 16.4 they still are unstable. It’s not rocket science these days and you shouldn’t have to be a network engineer to get them to work or do workarounds.

Have never been more frustrated with a product that this in the 30+ years I’ve worked in technology

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Answer 2

bspace Author

Level 1

6 points

Mar 30, 2023 12:52 AM in response to chip279

I copied this post in to Reddit and got a lot of responses saying it seems to be an Xfinity issue. The hardware they supply has limitations that wont adequately support AirPlay. I just ordered a Netgear Orbi system to use as a proper router network and will update here with my results. Fingers crossed it solves my problems.

What I find most surprising is that its really difficult to find information that warns people that you need to build a network infrastructure that supports a smart home. I work in tech, and probably know more than the average consumer, but the headaches I have gone through to make this work seem out of character for Apple products to be successful.

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Answer 3

bspace Author

Level 1

6 points

Apr 2, 2023 09:38 PM in response to bspace

**UPDATE: Putting the XB8 in bridge mode and using the Orbi as my router solved the issue. It’s been 48 hours and everything works like a dream now.

Hoping this thread will be a helpful warning to folks out there considering stereo HomePods, or a bigger smart ecosystem, that you NEED network infrastructure in place to support it. Xfinity gear won’t cut it, save yourself the headaches and include routers as part of your setup.**

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HomePod 2 Connectivity Issues

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