My Mini’s are connected as they play music, etc. However they frequently lose Right stereo channel for 1-2 minutes, Stop playing entirely for a few minutes, etc. They show as not responding sometimes but not always. Occurs with Apple Music and when using home library iTunes server. All recommended steps already attempted. V16.4.1 seems slightly better then 16.4.0 and 16.3.X but issues still remain.
HomePod mini
Hi jareinertson,
Thank you for participating in the Apple Support Communities. We understand your HomePod mini's will lose connection intermittently. This article has some steps that may help: If HomePod or HomePod mini isn't responding - Apple Support.
" Check for alerts in the Home app
If HomePod or HomePod mini can't connect to your home Wi-Fi network, can't access your Apple ID, or has another issue, you'll see an alert with details about the issue in the Home app. To see more information about the alert, open the Home app, then tap or click HomePod.
Check your Wi-Fi connection
HomePod and HomePod mini automatically connect to the same Wi-Fi network as your iPhone or iPad. To check your Wi-Fi signal strength:
and scroll down to Wi-Fi Network. The Wi-Fi signal strength indicator 
appears next to your network name.
, your Wi-Fi signal strength is weak. Try moving your HomePod speaker closer to your router and remove potential sources of wireless interference.If the signal strength indicator shows an exclamation point 
, learn what to do.
Learn what to do if Siri on your HomePod says it can't connect to the internet
HomePod and HomePod mini support captive portal Wi-Fi networks that require additional sign-in steps, for example, those provided by hotels or dorms. Use your iPhone or iPad to connect to the network, then follow the onscreen instructions for setup.
The Wi-Fi signal strength indicator isn't supported on HomePod speakers connected to networks that block peer-to-peer traffic, like some captive networks.
Restart HomePod or HomePod mini
and scroll down.If you don't see an option to restart your HomePod, unplug it from power, then plug it back in and try again.
If HomePod still doesn't respond, reset it.
If HomePod or HomePod mini still isn't responding
If you still have issues using HomePod, contact Apple Support."
Well sad to say but initial impressions are fading and problems remain. After upgrades I generally like to perform power resets on the WiFi router and all devices using the network. After this was performed, it took Siti about 15 minutes before Siri stopped reporting she could not connect to the Internet. And Home app has the same incorrect Mini status as shown in the photo. In this example, the volume controls works, Pause and Play work, and the music shown is correct and playing yer Home app indicates "Not Playing". This issue was occurring before 16.5 and continues to occur after 16.5. Music app works fine. I had to power reset my iphone to get the Home app to show correct Mini status.
Disappointing.
This is definitely a problem with the latest update because my HomePod Mini has the same issue and every few minutes it loses the connection, then I get a notification that the home hub is not responding. Please don’t try to tell me to reset the HomePod or the WiFi router, or to contact support because I did that (except contacting support) and none of those helped.
Please forward this issue to the responsible team so they can take a look into that and hopefully fix the problem in a next update becuase it’s frustrating not being able to control the home devices when you are away from home.
Apple’s help is really no help. Their text book responses offer no real results. Reboot, Wi-Fi connections blah blah blah. Should not need to have a super computer connected to make these things work. Come on Apple. Take some ownership and get this fixed.
Hi Jeff, while I appreciate the reply, it is of no value... I am well aware of the standard template of recommendations. As I stated... all steps recommended by Apple have been tried multiple times. I just wanted to vent a bit and share the fact that it has been a disappointing experience with the Homepod Mini's. I thought based on my Apple music experience with my iphone and a bluetooth speaker from Bose that the Mini's would be a positive one... sadly that has not been the case. Hopefully some update in the future will make the issues go away, but until then I will explore other options and services.
jareinertson wrote:
No, Private WiFi Addressing is not enabled.
Further discussions indicate that turning off the Private Wi-Fi Address feature on your iOS & iPadOS devices by itself isn't enough to disable the buggy feature on HomePod minis that have already been configured.
The HomePod mini(s) must be hard-reset and reconfigured with an iPhone that has the Private WiFi Address feature turned OFF. This way, when your home network info is transferred to the HomePod during setup, the HomePods won't believe they should generate a new WiFi address with every reboot.
Apple doesn't recommend this step because they haven't acknowledged the "Private Wi-Fi Address HomePod mini bug" (as far as I know). I've heard (but haven't confirmed) that this problem doesn't affect original HomePods. Don't know about the newer '2nd gen' HomePod. Hopefully they've addressed the bug in 16.5.
'Thanks for the through reply. Homepod 16.5 has been installed and so far so good. Response seems to be improved in first day of operation. I appreciate the expanded info on Private Address issue. I will monitor operation for a week or so then try a hard reset to see if it has any effect. My Mini's might have been installed with the Private Address enabled although I turned this feature off a few months ago. Thanks.
Is your iPhone and/or iPad using the (default=on) Private Wi-Fi Address feature on your home network?
HomePod Mini KEEP DISCONNECTING!!!!! - Apple Community
Thanks Chip, your reply hits the point exactly.
No, Private WiFi Addressing is not enabled.
... and today 16.5.0 arrives! Hopefully improvements will be included!
Positive thinking!
Today 16.5.0 arrives!
Today 16.5.0 arrives!
First, install the latest 16.5 update on all devices to see if this improves things.
Already done! So far it has been a good day and it appears... that Mini's are more responsive in the Home and Music apps. Less delay in command response and status updates.
HomePod Mini 16.4.1 issues
