Bluesound wireless seems to be the problem

Audio Gear Talk BluOS: NAD & Bluesound
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Right, so I’ve tried a workaround and I’ve come to the conclusion that Bluesound either doesn’t know or doesn’t care about WiFi execution.

I have a pair of Flex 2i which kept dropping from Roon within a track or two. Basically unlistenable and which Bluesound showed zero interest in helping, in spite of one of them having an actual manufacturing fault initially (luckily the retailer was more understanding).

Anyway, after months of intermittently trying to get things working and hoping each firmware update might solve things but to no avail. This forum is littered with similar issues.

Being curious (and wondering if Bluesound themselves might be at least partly right) I bought a cheap wireless extender to improve the signal. Now I had great signal (original signal was already -58dBm so shouldn’t have been a problem) but still had issues. However the booster was now close enough to one of the speakers to attach a network cable. I connected it and, miraculously, that speaker was solid as a rock, while the other speaker continued to drop from Roon (but not from the network).

Another cheap wireless extender later, connected via ethernet to the second speaker, and voila - the two speakers have been operating with Roon in a stereo pair for an hour without a single hiccup.

Now this is working for me, but it’s cost me another £60 ON TOP of what is an already very expensive set of speakers (when compared to Sonos etc). In theory, I was prepared to pay more than Sonos for the extra functionality of the Bluesound. In practice, I own an inferior product with an untidy workaround and another two devices now drawing power in my home. Great.

After all this hassle, I am somewhat relieved to actually have things working. But ultimately, this is not acceptable.

I would strongly urge anyone considering a Bluesound product to look elsewhere. You have a strong likelihood of receiving a defective product and you will be blamed for it yourself. Seriously - just buy something else.

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I might modify your statement to say if you want to use a bluesound 2i with wifi, go elsewhere.

I’ve got a pulse mini 2i. I bought specifically to be able to move it around. While I’m adept at wiring, that just goes against the purpose of my owning such a device.

There seems to be no shortage of people having these issues and it’s not like they’re hard to reproduce. I understand that products aren’t always perfect, but I just don’t get how there doesn’t seem to be an acknowledgement by either company that there’s a problem.

I certainly won’t be buying any more bluesound products until this is resolved, and I definitely would have.

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I considered that, Ken, but I feel that their neglect of their customers doesn’t deserve the caveat. Soon enough their wired networking could have a problem and you’re stuck with a speaker that only works with a direct audio line in. So while I agree that right now a wired Bluesound device works, I’m not sure they’ve earned any caveats. My experience means I wouldn’t recommend one. Period.

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Fair enough Jay, I understand where you’re coming from. I won’t be rushing out to buy one even if the issue is addressed.

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All my Bluesound zones work great, most are wired, I have a pulse flex moveable feast on wireless. Any issues are down to my poor Wi Fi

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That’s fine Chris, but demonstrably untrue in my situation, and there’s a good reason many people on these boards are also having trouble, most of whom are being ignored or blamed by Bluesound.
My issue isn’t that all of their products don’t work, it’s that if yours doesn’t, you’re on your own with their attitude to customer service.

If it works, great. But you’re better of going with another company in my opinion, because there seems to be a high enough chance that it won’t work.

As I’ve stated, mine now works but only because I have found a way around their poor WiFi implementation. It seems to be more the 2nd gen products (2i) that suffer. But again, why should we keep having to caveat this stuff? They’re not a budget brand, but they have budget aftercare.

I’m glad yours works. I still think they’re too much of a risk for people to use in a Roon setup.

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Has anyone tried using a separate ssid for 5ghz and 2ghz to see if that’s better. I wonder if they have issues deciding which band to connect to. I have had issues with devices when had a one ssid for both as soon as made separate ssid for 2ghz and 5 GHz network they worked flawlessly.

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Is it a 2i?

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Nope, just a flex

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IIRC this was mentioned as an issue at one point on the BS forums…not sure if it’s still relevant or, indeed, if my memory is wrong. There’s definitely some inconsistency between products too…my old Node 2 never worked with WiFi (long since sold) whereas my Flex (not i) works fine on the same WiFi.

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I have a node 2 not 2i its wires but when I have used WiFi it was fine. The old models only use 2ghz band though , 5 GHz was only introduced on the i series so wondering if this could perhaps be a part of the issue.

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This was the thread I was thinking of: Bluesound can’t handle mesh points? . Haven’t looked through it all recently though.

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I’m with you on this, Jay.

I have a Node 2i purchased with the intent of using it wirelessly. As it’s advertised as being a wireless device I expect it to work. To require that someone (the buyer) must accept that they must use it in a wired configuration for reliable use is unacceptable.

For context I have an ATV4K and PS4 located in the same cabinet that work without issue - all devices have line of sight to an AC router about 4 metres away. The AT4K can stream high bitrate 4K content from Plex without issue, yet the Node 2i cant handle a single redbook CD audio stream without tripping over. I’ve tried both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz wireless modes.

EDIT: Interestingly my issue only occurs with Roon. Streaming local content using BlueOS works fine. As does Spotify. So maybe it isn’t a WiFi issue but a Roon implementation issue.

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Given the comments above and my own experience I’m wondering if the problem is with newer devices - ones with an ‘i’ suffix? I use Node 2, 2 x Flex and Pulse Mini. All are fine with Roon on Wifi. The Pulse Mini used to drop out occasionally but that was a WiFi issue - upgraded the router 2 years ago and it’s been fine since. I find that, if WiFi signal shows 2 dots or more on iPad the Bluesound connection is 100% reliable.

I remember seeing something - think it was on Bluesound forum - some time ago saying that Roon used more wifi bandwidth when playing than BlueOS app. If that is true then it might explain why problems are with Roon if wifi connection is marginal.

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Well, my Node 2i is about 7 feet from my router. The signal strength is nearly perfect for an 802.11ac device. At the start of even 96/24 tracks from Roon, I get a brief stutter. If I simply connect the Node 2i’s ethernet port to an Apple Airport Express (10/100 connection) - no stuttering, with any files, even if I skip around a lot with 192/24 tracks.

The problem is Bluesound’s Wi-Fi implementation.

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I am using Bluesound on NAD M10. Works flawlessly. I am beyond dismayed by these blanket condemnations of products, software and, especially, ROON. If the fault has any merit, there would likely be wide-scale fixes instead of issues unique to you.

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I have a Bluesound Vault 2i and 2 Sonos speakers grouped using Airplay and up until recently, I have had no issues and have had for the most part seamless playback. Suddenly, I am getting consistent half-second dropouts when playing music from my Roon setup. It does not happen when playing directly via the Vault or directly from the NUC via my SSD and Mojo DAC. Everything is connected via ethernet so wireless should not be the issue. This only happens when using an Airplay group so I suspect that is the issue. I am hoping it is a Roon issue, however, as like many of the folks here I have had little to no success getting support from Bluesound.

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FWIW, I have a powernode 2i wirelessly connected to a Ubiquiti Amplifi HD mesh network, streaming from Roon core running on a 2010 Mac mini (which is hardwired) and I’ve had no problems with streaming. The powernode connects to the base station on the 5 ghz band, not one of the mesh points. Base station is in a closet about about 20-30 feet away through a few walls from the powernode. Sorry to hear that others are having such problems.

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I have 4 Bluesound Pulse 2i’s and I get dropped signals constantly. When I call Bluesound they check the diagnostics and it shows that my WiFi signal strength is excellent, -37 db. Bluesound then blames Roon for the dropouts. I am not technically aware to know what the problem is. The Pulse 2i’s have excellent sound quality but I hate the dropped signals. What can I do?

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Do you have a range extender or an old WiFi router that can act as a bridge? See if putting one of them next to the device and then hooking it up via ethernet cable works. I’m now a week into using my two Flex 2is in this fashion without a single dropout, having never made it further than 3 songs prior to this.

Not that we should have to do this, but I’d like to see if the method works for anyone else out if curiosity