HomePod Siri Broken when connected to Apple TV

I find that if my HomePods have been linked up to my Apple TV then when I ask HomePod to play music it will wake up the Apple TV, but it does at least respond. Use Feedback - HomePod - Apple to let Apple know things aren't working the way you think they ought to.

tt2

Thank you for documenting the (many) steps you have taken to try and resolve the problem. I have stereo Homepods set up and don't seem to have problems swapping between iTunes on a Mac, an Apple TV and an iPad for audio output.

I am using an Apple Time Capsule for wifi so maybe that is helping keep my system stable.

It is possible that your problem is due to a defective Homepod. In view of the efforts you have gone to I would be trying to get one or both replaced by Apple (hopefully under warranty)

Update - replacement did not work for this person...

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250220263

Try resetting your HomePod or even just unplugging it for a few seconds

https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT208244

also restart your Apple TV

https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT201836

Yes, and thank you :)

I've already try

• to enable both 2.4 and 5ghz : works only if your device with which you set-up the homepods and both of the homepods are on the same band. It's the more unstable. I regret it because there are no reason that because homepods need to be on the same band.
• So, i've disabled the 2.4ghzand put all my devices on 5ghz (because i wanted to keep the performance of 5G) : works but my printer and my Phillips Hue lost the network : bad solution. By the way, homePod kept losing network after few hours.
• So I've disabled 5ghz : Better for connectivity of every devices but my MBPs and iPhones were forced on 2.4Ghz without the best network performance possible. And I didn't bought a performant router dualBand to limit it... by the way, even in this setup, the homePods kept losing network after few hours.

I track the connectivity of the homePods on the GUI of my router. I detect when one disconnect without reason. After a disconnection, i know i'll have to unpair, and/or delete the homePods, and/or reset the homeApp, and/or reboot the router, as you are describing it. But imagine that you have to do it every day.

Finally, and I will write it here for the users community that encounter same issues than me (and there are a lot) :

• I desactivate the 5G of my dualBand router. Reboot the router.
• Then, I set up the homePod.
• Then, I reactivate the 5G
• In the same time, before to reboot the router, I prevent my homePods and the iPhone with which i configure them to connect to the 5G by filtering their mac Address on this band. (important, because they lose immediatly the connection if they are not on the same band, which is a bug for me)
• Before to reboot the router, I also dedicate a static IP address for each devices. I'm not sure but homePods seem to connect quickly during the setup.
• I'd setup a daily reboot of my router because i've noticed that reboot the router helps too.
• I reboot the router.
• I check the homePods and they work.
• Then, I reset my home entirely and invite again my family at the end.

I stoically decide not to play with airPlay feature on my homePods anymore (this is frustrating), and just connect my appleTV to the homePods. I try to not pay attention of what Siri say when it accomplishes correctly an order and complains not to can reach internet, which is weird.

By doing all this, instability is a little bit limited. I simply have to daily unpair and repair the homePods. don't need anymore to reset them and reset the home entirely, or reboot the router. It's better but clearly not what I'm expecting.

I hope this will helps users and hope strongly that Apple will provide a fix soon because the idea of the product is good and the quality of the object is amazing.

In this setup, I reach the best possible : everything works with the best performance even if the homePods keep to be unstable (but work longer).

Best regards,

Hello,

thank you very much for your advices: reset homepod, manually or via homebApp... (cynic) it’s very helpful... the point is that homepod is a bad product. I mean it’s unstable. There are so many bugs. And the official support of Apple is so weak and bad that as an Apple fan, i feel so alone...

I ve passes hours to try to set up them.

they work correctly during 36h max, then i have to reset them as everybody is kindly writing it everywhere. It s very frustrating and disappointing...

what about a fix : why homepods disconnects from internet everyday ? What about a clear information about the router settibgs, 2.4ghz? 5ghz? Upnp ?

Why not explaining that changing the source of the airplay source causes crashs(from iphone to appleTV ) . The best , certainly today, is when i ask homepod’s Siri to switch off the light, after a while when everything is stabilized, It executes the order, then complains that she s sorry, because she could’nt acceccs the network. I have a personnal assistant to complain itself now. Thank you Apple : fix this, please. And please, support team, stop writing everywher, that the user SHOULD reset everything, we are doing it EVERY day, and sometimes, 6 times a day.

Regards,

Thank you @turingtest2, you are always prompt to give everywhere and everytime unuseful answers. If you don't own any gear, please stop trolling the feed.

Homepod is designed to be part of a system. If you use it alone, nice to you, but it wasn't the purpose of the product.

Regards,

Thank you @Vancouver22,

I've already read this one. I've spend many on my network settings, my homepods are just next to my router. Everything works fine but the home pod. To be accurate, they work everytime 2hrs or 3hrs, then, each time, one or both disconnect. And even if both can reach internet, they can't "talk" together anymore, or are unreachable by any device.

Then you have, in the best scenario, to manually unpair them. In another scenario, you have to forget them from your home and reset each of them. In the worst case, you have to reset your whole Home App. All these scenario loop days after days.

Clearly, they are "more" stable when you don't change the source of the homepods. It seems they can't stand any stress. And even if you don't stress them, i mean when you don't change their source, even during watching a movie, one of the homepods stops.

My conclusion is that HomePod WIFI is unstable, and i'm certain that it's a homePod defect. I hope that it a SW defect and not a HW one. But as Apple doesn't communicate, I'm not optimist anymore.

But certainly, you're right: the only solution today and since the launch of the product, is to write feedback to Apple, in the case they don't have any information about the bugs of their product : i will do it :)

Best regards,

We’re only trying to help you with suggestions on what you may or may not have tried.

As for it being a network issue, it’s possible your wifi has Dual Bands and you need to disable one and make the other be the default. Otherwise it intermittently disconnects as it tries to connect to the other. This is why everything else can work, but one doesn’t.

i am not experiencing the issues you describe. I use my Apple TV with the HomePod in the evening and in the morning I’m asking siri and it responds. The first thing I ask in the morning is the weather. I don’t need to turn on my Apple TV to disconnect them.

I can also while using apple tv, ask Siri a question and I get a response and the movie resumes audio playback

The only other thing I can think of to try, which may or may not work, is to sign out of iCloud account, then back in again, using the same Apple ID.. Sign out of Apple TV and HomePod. Restart both devices, then sign back in. This of course would not address a network issue.

Make sure keychain is turned on in iCloud to run your HomeKit

assuming also you’re running the latest software on all devices

Update 2: A thunderstorm zapped my home a few days ago and my Time Capsule network was affected. One Homepod had intermittent connection and some of the above problems. I have just finished converting to another wifi/router for my home network. It was tedious but I went through these steps:

If applicable, ungroup stereo HPs via Home app on iPhone

connect iPhone to the new wifi network

reset the Homepods (power off for 5 secs, power on, wait 5 secs, press and hold top of HP, wait for it to turn red then listen to Siri's instructions

Place iphone next to HP

Follow instructions on iPhone to set up the HP

Repeat for second HP, if applicable (select option to pair them)

(These steps are very similar to settings up HPs for the first time but they seem to be necessary for reliable operation)

So far the system seems to be stable. My point is that the HPs don't like patchy wifi.

Use Feedback - HomePod - Apple to let Apple know. Mine work OK for me, although I don't yet have any HomeKit gear so I'm not making use of all of the features.

tt2

Troubleshoot your Network

Wifi Troubleshooting Tips

https://www.howtogeek.com/180235/how-to-troubleshoot-wireless-router-problems/