ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
Hello Beoworlders!
Sorry for a long post, but I have been doing some troubleshooting :)
Wireless Devices:- the "new" iPad (have had it for a while with no problems with PlayMaker).- 2x iPhone 5 (got them a couple of days ago on Friday)- Mac Mini (AirPlay from iTunes has been working perfectly)- AppleTV (Airplay working perfectly)- PlayMaker (AirPlay has been working perfectly)- BeoPlay A8 (AirPlay working perfectly)
Problem:
My Playmaker that has been functioning perfectly with a good wireless signal without any dropouts -- until iOS6 came out. After that it's been Dropouts Galore!
Here's the development, after upgrading to iOS6 (on the "old" new iPad and getting the new iPhones running iOS6):
1) The B&O Setup application still says the signal strength is "excellent" in my PlayMaker setup, but I initially started to experience frequent dropouts every 15 - 20 minutes on all my iDevices.
When a dropout happens, the Playmaker disappears from the available AirPlay devices for about 5-10 minutes, after which I can use it again. Alternatively, after a dropout, if I turn Playmaker off and on, it appears again to the devices list.
First I thought this had something to do with the new iPhone 5 -- perhaps a hardware issue. But I have two of them, and they both drop out. Also, my iPad, which has so far worked perfectly with Playmaker, is now dropping out as well. This started to happen after upgrading to iOS6, which seems to be the only common denominator to my devices (old and new).
BUT:
2) Yet my BeoPlay A8, which only has a "good" signal level, and is in another room, does not dropout at all. It continues to work just as well as always before. If the source for the problem is iOS6, why does it not happen with A8?
3) I did a reset on the PlayMaker, which helped a little, and also updated the settings on my Airport. The dropouts got a little less frequent, every 30 - 60 minutes.
4) Next I turned off the Airport on my Mac Mini (I also have an Ethernet connection to it), and it helped even more, so now I get a dropout only every couple of hours or so.
Summary: doing resets and eliminating some WiFi devices has helped, but not corrected the dropout problems, which were non-existent before iOS6 (and iPhone 5).
What to do?
Maybe I should upgrade to Airport Extreme, although the signal quality on the PlayMaker is and was "excellent" even when the dropouts were frequent. Something disrupts the signal. So I wonder if upgrading to Airport Extreme will make any difference. Too bad I do not have any iOS5 devices anymore, I could use them to determine or rule out if the culprit is iOS6 and the way it does wireless with PlayMaker.
The question is, is iOS6 to blame, or is the new iPhone 5 hogging / disrupting the WiFi signal so that the PlayMaker suffers from it? Or could it be that all these Apple devices that are now communicating more heavily together over iCloud is the problem? The iCould integration means a lot of sporadical WiFi traffic between the devices, maybe taking a toll from the PlayMaker.
Anyone else have similar experiences?
KMA
B&O product history since 1991: Ridiculously long to list in a signature.
Our setup which used the PM for a week was:
- a dual band Time Capsule as the central router and connected to cable network and backing up the MB, the Air, and the MacMini every hour
- windows PC running iTunes connected via a LAN cable to the TC and being used for most of the music playing
- Playmaker separated from the Playmaker by a lathe & plaster wall
- iPad 1 = iOS5
- 4S = iOS5
- 3GS = iOS6 ... had an occasional 2 to 5 second glitch - and certainly not at the level you described
- IPod touch somewhere in the mix - I have no idea what its level is
- windows PC running Wifi
- 3 MacBooks: 1 MB, 1MB Pro, 1 Air (often dropping in and our of the network as people come and go)
- 2 ATVs - both at the latest level of ATV software
- 1 MacMini
- an Android phone that uses the network
- Beocom 6000
- a quiescent Beolink Wireless 1 network of 3 stations
- two or three neighbours whose wifis compete for space in the air
So pretty crowded environment, always busy (with TC backups running, people coming and going, browsing happening almost constantly between 2 to 4 people, mail updates happening frequently, and so on)
The only thing that caused Playmaker dropouts was the microwave . . . . . and then only if it was on for over a minute
So only one iOS6 device, which may substantiate your case ....... but I think the PM held up very well
BeoNut since '75
Hello,
I encountered just the same problem on my BeoLi12, wbut without upgrading my iDevices to iOS6, during the last months. I used a network monitoring tool and discovered that in the period of a drop out BeoLit12 was available on the network, via web browser tha setup dialog on BeoLit12 was fully working. BUT the management services for discovering BeoLit12 by the BeoSetup app wasn't running AND the bonjour services didn't respond.
After some period self monitoring mechanisms on BeoLit12 restart those services, as I suppose. So everything is working again. You can manually restart the services by pressing the network button. So in my opinion it's a software problem on the Airplay-Devices. Probably as iOS6 has a new implemented network coommunication it causes more problems than before. Also reducing the network traffic my help reducing the problems.
hfat
hfat: I used a network monitoring tool and discovered that in the period of a drop out BeoLit12 was available on the network, via web browser tha setup dialog on BeoLit12 was fully working. BUT the management services for discovering BeoLit12 by the BeoSetup app wasn't running AND the bonjour services didn't respond.
can you point us at the tool you used ?
(sorry if I have asked you this before)
Thanks elephant and hfat,
Elephant: you surely live amidst a lot of bits in the air :D
What you wrote is a good indicator that Time Capsule, which has similar powerful WiFi as the Airport Extreme, could surely handle my setup with ease, so I am considering the upgrade -- even though I did find a solution to get rid of the dropouts.
I found a recommendation of a Mac App called "WiFi Explorer" on the Apple Discussion forums, and invested the huge sum of 1,49 euros to get the software. The App is very handy in troubleshooting a wireless network! It has a really nice graphical interface, showing all wireless routers and modems it can pick up. It revealed that my Airport was operating on a channel that had a lot of traffic on or around it from devices in neighbouring apartments.
So I manually changed the Airport's 2,4GHz WiFi channel to "3", which had least wireless traffic from any surrounding sources. The signal quality and SNR got twice as good as they were before!
And so far, problem solved! No drop outs during the entire evening, with all my wireless clients back on.
KMA:I found a recommendation of a Mac App called "WiFi Explorer" on the Apple Discussion forums, and invested the huge sum of 1,49 euros to get the software. The App is very handy in troubleshooting a wireless network! It has a really nice graphical interface, showing all wireless routers and modems it can pick up. It revealed that my Airport was operating on a channel that had a lot of traffic on or around it from devices in neighbouring apartments.
Thank you for that - it was inexpensive - and a nice confirmation of our environment - I would still love to find a utility that drew the logical network of nodes in our house and which nodes were the data hogs - please let me know if you know of one
Sounds like you have the problem under control. WIFI explorer is a great app especially at that price. Thanks for the recommendation.
I had a similar problem with Beolit 12. My whole wireless network is set to 5 GHz and is on channel 157. However where I live, there are about 12 wireless network but are all 2.4 GHz. The Beolit 12 can only connect to a 2.4 GHz network. I had to setup a special network for but it is still marginal. I will probably do a wired ethernet connection. Unfortunately there goes the portability.
I didn't exactly have an answer for your question, but I learned from it. Thanks
My Playmaker has been working perfectly for about 4+ hours without any dropouts today unlike I mentioned in my previous post on this subject. I upgraded all my iThings phones and pads to iOS6 when it was released.
Today there has not been one dropout. Weird
I hope it stays this way
elephant:can you point us at the tool you used ?
Actually I use two tools:
inSSIDer for monitorint the signal strength (it's free) an
an iOS app iNet Network Scanner from BananaGlue (the free version doesn't discover the bonjour services)
KMA and Yendys,
In my previous response to a different thread to KMA I had the same problem of dropouts which was very frequent subsequently my dealer suggested changing channels to my BT Hub which seems OK until yesterday when I started experiencing dropouts again. In the previous response all iOS devices are iOS5 whereas we had iOS6 all until 2 weeks ago.
I find this very confusing as I thought I had this issue ironed out. Does anybody have any ideas? Could the fact that the PM does not support wireless N be a contributing factor? This is very frustrating as I never had a single issue with Sonos-ever.
Grateful for some more insights
Regards
Vince
vlohjr1: KMA and Yendys, In my previous response to a different thread to KMA I had the same problem of dropouts which was very frequent subsequently my dealer suggested changing channels to my BT Hub which seems OK until yesterday when I started experiencing dropouts again. In the previous response all iOS devices are iOS5 whereas we had iOS6 all until 2 weeks ago. I find this very confusing as I thought I had this issue ironed out. Does anybody have any ideas? Could the fact that the PM does not support wireless N be a contributing factor? This is very frustrating as I never had a single issue with Sonos-ever. Grateful for some more insights Regards Vince
This was my experience.
I had major connectivity issues with my first playmaker, I swapped it out for a different device around the time I received iPhone 5 and subsequently upgraded all of the other iThings to iOS6. And playmaker kept dropping out, I was going to email the dealer send it back and get an airport express but didn't get around to it prior to going away on holidays.
I returned last weekend thought I'd try playmaker and since then it has performed without issues or any dropouts using airplay. I have not changed anything. I just don't understand why it is now behaving its self but I've stopped thinking about it and just enjoying the fact it is now working as it should.
I did use inSSIDer and changed to a completely free SSID when I had the issues with the first playmaker
So use inSSIDer or similar App to verify you have a clean WiFi network and give it a bit a time after the iSO upgrade. It's weird but it worked for me
Let us know how it goes
Yendys: vlohjr1: KMA and Yendys, In my previous response to a different thread to KMA I had the same problem of dropouts which was very frequent subsequently my dealer suggested changing channels to my BT Hub which seems OK until yesterday when I started experiencing dropouts again. In the previous response all iOS devices are iOS5 whereas we had iOS6 all until 2 weeks ago. I find this very confusing as I thought I had this issue ironed out. Does anybody have any ideas? Could the fact that the PM does not support wireless N be a contributing factor? This is very frustrating as I never had a single issue with Sonos-ever. Grateful for some more insights Regards Vince This was my experience. I had major connectivity issues with my first playmaker, I swapped it out for a different device around the time I received iPhone 5 and subsequently upgraded all of the other iThings to iOS6. And playmaker kept dropping out, I was going to email the dealer send it back and get an airport express but didn't get around to it prior to going away on holidays. I returned last weekend thought I'd try playmaker and since then it has performed without issues or any dropouts using airplay. I have not changed anything. I just don't understand why it is now behaving its self but I've stopped thinking about it and just enjoying the fact it is now working as it should. I did use inSSIDer and changed to a completely free SSID when I had the issues with the first playmaker So use inSSIDer or similar App to verify you have a clean WiFi network and give it a bit a time after the iSO upgrade. It's weird but it worked for me Let us know how it goes
Hi Yendys,
just an update
even worse, flashing orange suddenly for four days therefore dropout. I did a reboot again after 5 minutes of connection seeing dropout on all iOS devices and even iTunes (running on laptop ethernet over mains) doesn't recognise it despite white signal. Was initally thinking of getting airport extreme for better wifi coverage but realised that PM does not support 5GHz.
Looks like major fault with this. Have asked dealer to refer to head office support in the UK.
Very frustrating. Will keep you posted.
KR