ASUS router and HomePod mini

[Wolfen]

Hope this is the right section for this. Here is my set up. I have an ASUS rog gt- ax11000 with a rt ax55 set up in mesh. i am also using smart connect with the same sSid for both bands. My problem is if my HomePod is connected to the main router everything works fine. If it moves to the mesh router( rt ax55) it cannot control any accessories like switches lights anything. If I restart things and it connects back to the main router everything works again as it should. With a mesh system shouldn’t it work no matter what it is connected too? Are there some settings I need to change? Any help would be appreciated. Firmware version is 45934 for the ASUS and all apple products are on the latest 15.1.

 

[L&LD]

First, try to bind the HomePod to the main router via the GUI in the AiMesh settings page.

Second, disable smart connect. Connect the HomePod to the 2.5GHz network (only).

You may need to do both, to get a stable network.

 

[Wolfen]

Thanks I will give that a try. 1 thingi forgot to mention is I did have my phone and HomePod bound to the main router through the app but we lost power and when it restarted they switched to the mesh node. I don’t know how that was allowed to happen.

 

[L&LD]

You may need to use a static/reserved address for those devices first. And make sure to not allow them to use 'phantom' MAC addresses.

 

[Wolfen]

Ok thank you

 

[AllanO]

Having problems with HomePod Mini dropping wifi connection with ASUS AiMesh? My experience:

When I had my 7 HomePod minis running on my AiMesh setup in my home, I was very frustrated with an AirPlay connection dropping hourly, or one side of a pair of minis dropping very frequently. I had two ASUS AC86Us and one AC68U as a router and two nodes, with Ethernet back hauling fron the two nodes.. My house isn’t that big, but it is old, a 3 story built in 1928, with lath and plaster walls and other barriers.

All we wanted was to reliably AirPlay music from our iPhones or iPads as my wife and I moved from room to room. We don’t use Siri at all for HomePod functions (another story).

As a last resort before giving up on HomePods, I purchased a pair of ASUS ZenWiFi AX routers, advertised to support 5000+ square feet of space, to see if that made a difference. If not, I was going to return them. The two AX are in an ASUS Router and Node AiMesh configuration with an Ethernet backhaul connection from the node.

Result: all HomePod mini connection problems disappeared! Wow! The two ZenWiFi units flood the house, better than the three older units. There is no problem with the mesh configuration: a combination of increased wifi signal strength, but also installing the very latest ASUS AX router Firmware version: 3.0.0.4.386.45934 (Nov-Dec, 2021). That version supports a second guest wifi network, in addition to existing 5ghz and 2.4ghz bands for 2.4ghz IOT devices if you need them. My Nest Protect smoke alarms would not connect if 2.4ghz and 5ghz shared the same SSID (smart connect mode).

My hypothesis is that Apple HomePod minis are extremely sensitive or unforgiving of any Wi-Fi problems due to their design or lack of effective Wi-Fi error recovery, so AirPlay just quits.

Your environment and experience may differ.

 

[PAPPL]

Locking the HomePods to 2.4Ghz Wifi Bands solved a lot of problems in my home, HomePods far away would not respond when switching from 2.4Ghz to weaker 5Ghz band:

Wireless - Wireless MAC Filter 5Ghz -> Reject -> HomePods Mac Adresses

Adding more ZenWifi units is the better and more expensive solution to avoid weak signals.


Another setting from hell is "Airtime Fairness" in Wireless Professional settings for both bands. Leave it disabled, it destroys all kind of streaming.

 

[livefeed]

Locking the HomePods to 2.4Ghz Wifi Bands solved a lot of problems in my home, HomePods far away would not respond when switching from 2.4Ghz to weaker 5Ghz band:

Wireless - Wireless MAC Filter 5Ghz -> Reject -> HomePods Mac Adresses

Adding more ZenWifi units is the better and more expensive solution to avoid weak signals.


Another setting from hell is "Airtime Fairness" in Wireless Professional settings for both bands. Leave it disabled, it destroys all kind of streaming.

Going to give this a try, I have an iPad that jumps around like crazy and half the time I switch off Wi-Fi and use cellular. Like now - this is with Wi-Fi on!