iPhone Remote Loses Connection to MacOS Server

Support
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My iPhone (both my new 17 and previous SE) often loses contact with my Roon server. I am running MacOS Big Sur 11.7.10

I tried to follow your instructions:

Can you please navigate to macOS System Settings > Privacy & Security > Local Network , and make sure Roon and Roon Server are allowed.

But it did not take me to any “Local Network” settings.

What are the steps for my OS?

Thank you.

2

Hi @Geoff_Mirelowitz,

You’ll receive more expedited support if you create your own support request where your post will automatically populate with relevant account diagnostics for our team. For brevity, we’ve split your post into a new topic thread.

Big Sur does not have the connectivity restrictions built into later versions of MacOS, so we’ll need a more complete description of the network components involved. Please answer the following at your convenience to equip our team to take effective action:

  1. Can you please share the make/model of router you’re using?

  2. Do you rely on WiFi or ethernet for your internet connection on this Mac? Try an ethernet connection, if you haven’t already.

  3. Are you using any mesh nodes or managed switches? If so, try to enable multicast forwarding in the settings administration page for each managed component.

  4. Please verify that you’re using a single subnet for your Roon devices.

If you need additional context or guidance for these steps, please see our network recommendations here:

We’ll watch for your reply.

Thank you!

3

Thank you Connor. I hope I’ve understood you correctly that in the future I should create a separate support request, but that in this case I can answer your questions here. If that’s wrong, please advise.

Answers to your questions as you numbered them:

  1. It is leased from Xfinity. It has no brand or model name. Below is a screen shot of the only identifying information there is on the device.

2, Mac is connected via ethernet.

  1. No mesh nodes. My switch is a Netgear GS105. It is not a managed switch.

  2. I’m afraid I have absolutely no idea what a “single subnet” is or how to determine if I’m using one.

To be clear I only lose the iPhone connection occasionally. Most of the time it works.

Thanks,
Geoff

Router
Router1920×2560 318 KB

4

Assuming the most common home network configuration, if you can determine what the IP address is of your iPhone and your Mac computer, the first three of the four numbers should match between the two, for example:

192.168.1.73 and 192.168.1.95

Something else to check is to look at your iPhone and Mac’s WiFi configurations and and make sure your Private WiFi address setting is turned to “Off” on both. This setting provides privacy protections primarily for public WiFi networks and is of little use on home networks, and it is rumored to cause issues here and there with Roon.

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Hi @Geoff_Mirelowitz,

Thanks for your response!

Since this is intermittent, it’s possible related to the iPhone’s WiFi Settings.

  1. Open the Settings app, then tap Wi-Fi.
  2. If you aren’t currently connected to the network, tap Edit in the upper-right corner of the screen.
  3. Tap the More Info button next to the network name.
There should be a visible option to switch “Private Network” to “Fixed”. This will prevent iOS from reallocating a new MAC address every time you reconnect to your WiFi.

Here’s an additional guide about how to check into subnets:

Please let us know if this helps.

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Connor thank you. I checked the iPhone setting and it was set at Fixed. I’ll do my best to follow the other suggested steps as soon as I can.

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Hello @Geoff_Mirelowitz ,

Thanks for giving that a try! Please let us know regarding subnet/other aspects when you can. Additionally, you can look into Reserved IP addresses setting in your router configuration, this will ensure devices have the same IP address and may help with connectivity issues.

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Apologies because my literacy level on these issues is so low. The step-by-step instructions for checking the iPhone wifi settings were very helpful. Can you give similar instructions for finding the “Reserved IP addresses” in my router configuration. I don’t know how to see that.

Also instructions for how to

determine what the IP address is of your iPhone and your Mac computer

Thank you!!!

9

Well, from doing a little AI reasearch, it appears that this is an Xfinity XB7-T Gigabit Modem WiFi Router.

I am violating Roon community guidelines here by posting an AI generated response (so @moderators please feel free to delete this post), but this is what Google AI is telling me:

To set up DHCP reservations on your Xfinity XB7, enable Admin Tool access in the Xfinity app, then log into the gateway via http://10.0.0.1 in a browser, navigate to Connected Devices, find the device, and assign a reserved IP address, ensuring the IP is outside the main DHCP range and the device’s MAC address is correctly entered, although some users report issues or need to use the Ignite HomeConnect app or set a static IP on the device itself as a workaround.

Steps to Reserve an IP Address

  1. Enable Admin Tool Access:
  • Open the Xfinity App.
  • Go to the WiFi tab, select View WiFi equipment, then Advanced Settings.
  • Turn ON the toggle for Admin Tool online access and save.
  1. Access the Gateway:
  • Open a web browser and go to http://10.0.0.1 (or http://10.0.0.1/).
  • Log in with your admin credentials (often the same as your WiFi password).
  1. Find Your Device:
  • Navigate to Connected Devices > Devices or look for a section listing current network devices.
  1. Add DHCP Reservation:
  • Find the device you want to reserve an IP for. You’ll need its MAC address (a unique alphanumeric string like 00:1A:2B:3C:4D:5E).
  • Click to add or edit a DHCP reservation (the exact button/link varies).
  • Enter the device’s MAC address and assign a specific IP address (e.g., 192.168.1.100), ensuring it’s within the gateway’s IP range but ideally outside the pool of dynamically assigned IPs.
  1. Save & Reboot:
  • Save the settings and restart the target device (turn it off and on) for the changes to take effect.

Now this is back to non-AI but @Geoff_Mirelowitz please understand that every network connected device you have has something called a MAC address (it has nothing to do with Macintosh computers; it means Media Access Control) that looks like 00:1A:2B:3C:4D:5E. What these instructions are basically having you do is ensure that each device in your network keeps the same IP address every time your network connections are re-established (including, but not limited to, power resets, etc.). This will happen by keeping a map between a specific IP address and specific MAC address in your router. This improves overall network stability for certain things.

1 Like
10

Thanks so much for all of this. I have to apologize. The original problem I raised occurs intermittently and is annoying but not a giant obstacle to using Roon for me. When I control Roon with my laptop, it never happens.

I had hoped the fix with the iPhone would be easy. But while you’ve laid out all those steps for me just as I asked, they will get me in to changing settings that I just don’t understand well enough to try. I’m afraid I’ll end up needing to ask for even more help that gets into more technical detail than I can handle.

So again I apologize and thank you and @Connor for your work to help me. But I think I should close this request and live with the situation as it is.

Sincere thanks again.

1 Like
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I hope the best for you. As a fellow Roon citizen, keep us posted here in the forums if things get worse and we can still try to help you out.

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