Play all issue with 16.x

[Brent_B]

Hi BoseMaster,

I’m very sorry to hear that you’re having this issue. Let’s try some troubleshooting to see if we can get this resolved. Curiously, what is the make and model of the router you are using? Are the systems connected to the 2.4 or 5 GHz band? Can you check to make sure the network name for the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands are unique? If you put one system on 2.4 and one on 5 GHz, does the issue clear up? Can you check the signal strength going to the speakers? Here is how to do so:

In the SoundTouch app, choose the menu icon in the upper left

Choose "Settings" -> About"

Select the desired system to view that system's information. Signal strength is listed as "RSSI Signal Strength"

Please let us know.

Kind Regards

Brent - Bose Support

[ebgracie77@gmail.com]

Hi,

I just bought 5 used soundtouches. Three 10s, one 20, and one portable. As soon as I added in the 3rd one, I had trouble with the play all feature. I'll be listening to several speakers for a while and then all of the sudden one or more speakers will drop out. 

I'm willing to buy a new modem/router but I don't know what to buy if I do. If that's the fix, do you guys have some guidelines on what I need to look for in a router so I don't have this problem?

Thanks!

Elizabeth

[MikeDVI]

Same here BoseMaster, after working fine for months now I often only get the master, other speakers show up like they are on but remain dark. I am only now lurking around the board realizing this is not just me. Also, I am on ver 17 now so hopefully not too far off topic.

Anyway, I did note one oddity:

When a controller (iPhone, hardwired desktop, or laptop on WIFI) does NOT connect up with play all, my speakers seem to show up in some random order that changes every time I start the system. They are showing connected, volume sliders work, but the actual speaker itself is dark (dark as in standby). Now, if I can get another controller to connect them all up, the first controller re-arranges itself and everything is OK, until the next time I want to fire up my system then I start the above process all over again, just testing to see which device will link them up. Most of the time the phone is the reliable one but that changes as well.

Very odd.

Mike

[John 246]

I have noticed two app updates over the last two weeks with the latest  17.170.83 being updated today.  My system has been very stable since the last update that was released about December 19.  I am hoping Bose has finally recognized this has been a serious glich in their app and is aggressively taking steps to resolve it.

I would like to see Bose communicate on this community the steps they are taking on their side to resolve the issues. The response from Bose in this community has consistently been to get people to troubleshoot their modems and systems without any recognition to the fact the app update has created the problems many of us have experienced. 

Keep it up Bose, it looks like, at least for my system, you are finally addressing the problems with the app update 16.0 released late in the summer of 2017. 

[MikeDVI]

Yep, same here John 246. I updated the phone app yesterday and have had pretty consistent and positive results since. Hoping the PC app update is soon out!!

As a side note, with all the Bose bashing on the forum here if you jump over to the Sonos forum you see the same stuff happening; connectivity issues, drop outs, posters threatening to put everything out to the curb etc. I think IMHO this whole WIFI sound technology is just getting going in reality, and Bose is certainly one of the newer players so I suppose customers like us have to exercise the utmost patience. Not easy sometimes for sure, but man when this contraption is working right it is hard to argue with the sound.

I'm in for the long haul, even if I have to beat this system into working properly with a baseball bat LOL

Mike

[Quoi]

Dear Mike,

I bought the system some years ago. We are not having a problem with a new feature but with a key selling point of the system. It is very disturbing to see failure after failure on what should be a basic feature to operate.

I hope you didn't buy a car that randomly crashes or stops working after you refuel for the long haul either.

I also don't care if Sonos is better or worse, the product I paid for with a purpose should simply deliver the promise..

[mochasolutions]

I still cannot get my Soundbar 300 and Sound Touch to play together as a group. When I first got them, I was able to set them up no problem. If software update messed this up, please provide fix ASAP. We have all paid a lot of money and could have easily saved by going with SONOS. But wanting quality, we went with BOSE, so we expect quality software as well.

---

@Brent_B wrote:

Engineering continues to actively investigate the root cause of the Play All/Group Speakers issue, reported by a very small percentage of users. We will release the SoundTouch 16.0.x ecosystem to additional customers in the coming days in hopes of gathering more data.

We are taking this staged approach to limit the impact to our customers. Check back here regularly for the latest updates.

The release notes for this update are available HERE. 

- - - 

*** 10/13/17 Update *** 

The primary issue communicated to us relates to using the Play All feature, and/or adding speakers to a group in the SoundTouch app.  Audio can only be heard from the master speaker, even though the app appears to show all speakers still active within the group.  This occurs regardless of which speaker is initiated as the master.  Below are common troubleshooting steps we have found to address this issue. 

1. If you have a dual band (2.4GHz and 5 GHz) router, try connecting one or more of the speakers to a different band.  We have noticed that some customers are seeing performance issues on one band that they are not seeing on the other.
2. If you have a dual band router, verify that each band has a unique SSID (network name).
3. Verify that the Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) setting on your router is at the highest possible settings to avoid packet drop outs.
4. Turn the QoS setting on or off to identify if that is affecting the network performance.

We encourage anyone who is unable to resolve this issue with the aforementioned troubleshooting to reach out to us for additional help.  We have been and will continue to work diligently to better understand and resolve any remaining issues.

---

[marsipulamii]

Changing to the 2.4ghz band (ASUS AC2400) with a fixed channel also worked for me.

At first not, but kept the speakers playing in play all for a minute or two and the "slave" speakers suddenly started working.

hope it will last (i'm on the last update 17.0.8)

[Jocke]

Thanks, putting my ST20 on 5ghz and the ST10 on 2,4ghz resolved the issue for me and I can now "play all".

[Joel_D]

Hi Jocke,

Thank you for getting back to us with the results. I am glad to hear everything is working for you!!

Let us know if you have any other questions.

Regards,

Joel - Bose Support