Question

So I tried out the Deco 5s mesh system thinking it would cure my Amazon music everywhere group issue with it simply refusing to play more than a few songs before saying ‘ I’m having trouble playing the music ‘ then stop working. The mesh didn’t fix it. Running out of ideas now as to what could be causing this and now thinking it might have something to do with ST echo speaks somehow. Likely not but does anyone else running ST have any issues at all with playing music everywhere through their echo system. Songs play ok when playing music through any individual echo so the connection isn’t the issue, just trying to play everywhere. I have like 6 echos through the house. Thanks.  

Answer 1

Have you turned off both wifi bands in the router?  

Comments

@plasmagel if the mesh did not improve matters it is likely to be either your router or your broadband line speed. What is your ISP delivering? (Wired test to your router) Most ISP supplied routers lack resources for multiple devices and throughput so consider an upgrade. Expect to pay £100+

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@plasmagel if the connection speed is good enough, then probably it is either the router restricting throughput, or the WiFi has insufficient bandwidth. My hunch is still the latter, despite the mesh experiment not working for you. Do you have Sky Q installed with mini Players? Is the router or any Echo in the group close to a source of interference, such as a TV, satellite box, video sender, microwave oven, other wireless hubs, etc.?  

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@plasmagel if the microwave oven is not cooking it should not be affecting your WiFi.  

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When you had the mesh installed where did you position the nodes relative to the main node plugged into your router and your various Echo speakers?  

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That might have been the problem with your mesh system not working. At least one node needs to be placed in range of the main node and all other nodes in range of any node and the Echo speakers. That usually means around the mid-way point between them, not next to the Echo speakers. After all if the Echo is already in a poor signal area, then a node right next to it will also have a poor signal from the main node.  

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@plasmagel have you done a WiFi site survey to see what other networks may be present?  

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Since there are untold millions of Echo speakers in daily use playing in multiroom groups without issues, I do rather doubt it is an inherent Amazon problem. Especially when you consider that when multiple speakers are playing your WIFI network has to share its bandwidth with all of them, and the router is processing more information than when a single speaker is playing. You could try an experiment; move all of your Echo speakers to be close to your router. If they then all play in a group OK it is a WiFi issue. If they have the same playback problems then it is more likely to be the router. BTW I assume that you are using all of your speaker on the same Amazon account but what Amazon Music plan are you subscribed to?  

Answer 2

Yeah, make sure you are running a single band WiFi and they are all connected to the same ssid. That was my problem before. If your router allows, setup a separate ssid for them, they don't play nice with mesh/dual band. I have 13 setup with no problems.  

Comments

@plasmagel Double check they are all in the same network, sometimes the default to other saved networks.  

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Make sure they are all on the newest firmware. If I have any issues, I unplug them all one by one.  

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The WiFi band that your Echo speakers connect to, shouldn't matter. I have all of my speakers working in multiroom groups despite some being on 5GHz while others 2. 4GHz. I use the same SSID & Key for both bands to allow my Netgear Nighthawk router's Band Steering function to work. However if running many speakers, it would probably be better to use 5GHz if practical, since its faster connection speeds offer more bandwidth to be shared among them all.  

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@plasmagel unquestionably! The free ISP supplied routers are never the best.