HomePod Mini Internet Connectivity Issues

Have you tried this.

go to the home app on device associated with homepods. 

tap on the little house top left. 

go to home settings. 

tap on your picture, or if no picture, on your name. 

turn off, then turn on “recognise my voice” follow very quick set up feature and this might fix it. It worked for me and I did inform Apple.

good luck and a very happy new year to you and yours x

@Garberinc - your problem is simple. Your internet setup cannot handle the bandwidth required to run all the devices you have at once, period. The evidence is that when others aren't on the network, it works. The repeater isn't helping, as those slow down wifi networks considerably. I don't know how your FirstNet tablet is connected to the world, but that's where the problem starts.

To run all the devices you list, throughput of at least 50Mbps is required, and perhaps more at times. In our house, 150Mpbs is now considered "just adequate".

Two days now and the HomePod mini has been rock solid so I am very much hoping this has been the fix. If I was motivated I would try moving my living room full-size HomePod to my office to see if it has the same issue when the Wi-Fi signal is weak. If not, that would seem to confirm that the networking hardware in the mini is not as good as in the full-sized unit. If it had the same problem, then the issue would seem to be present in all HomePods. But since everything is working, I’m not terribly enthusiastic about moving hardware around. Of course, it is also possible that it was something in the third reinstall that worked correctly and it had nothing to do with the Wi-Fi signal which was just a coincidence.

Hard to say, but given my experience I would encourage users with problems and multiple SSIDs to use the one with the strongest signal. If there is only one SSID then it might be worthwhile moving the HomePod mini next to the router to see if that makes any difference. Also more than one attempt at reinstall might be worthwhile before giving up.

I know it didn’t work for everyone but for me the new update fixed the issue for me. My HomePod mini was in the same room as my router and actually after it started working I moved it to my bedroom, which is further away to the router. It’s worked fine now for a few weeks. So I doubt the wifi signal is the issue, at least not in my case.

I moved it to my bedroom, which is further away to the router.

Further away is NOT the same as less signal strength which has other variables that come into play but it doesn't sound like you played with the placement before the update so no way to know. I also tried with another router almost next to the unit but had problems. It's not until I switched to the 2nd and stronger of the two SSID's that things starting working. However, as I already wrote, there is no way to tell if it was the change of signal or the reinstallation that fixed things.

In your case, it seemed the update was a fix. No idea what might have been changed.

I did a little more investigation and I found a new wrinkle. Turns out the SSID I am connecting to is set to use both 2.4GHz and 5GHz, unlike the earlier SSID which is set at only 5GHz The bottom line is I cannot be sure if the increased signal or a frequency change was responsible for the unit working because the Powerline web interface does not show connected devices. (I could try switching off the Powerline 2.4 GHz band but I am loathe to mess with success at this point. :) I suppose it is also possible that the Mini just likes the Powerline adapter more than the ISP router per se but I would definitely recommend trying a WiFi frequency change as a possible solution.

Same here in Germany. I replaced two AmazonEcho speakers by HomePod mini and was happy to receive them right before Christmas. Now I will have to return them as they don’t support Spotify and have connection problems all the time. I tried to fix this by using different router settings but without result. Spend hours to fix these issues...

"they don’t support Spotify"

Not exactly true. You don't get the same level of functionality as with Apple Music but you certainly can use Spotify:

https://www.the-ambient.com/how-to/streaming-spotify-apple-homepod-siri-airplay-commands-345

"have connection problems"

It's hard to try and help with these if you don't specify exactly what kind of problems you were having and what you tried to do to fix it.

I have been following this thread since it started hoping that someone out there, smarter than me, would find the solution to this frustration. Many theories, so many suggestions—all to no avail; SSIDs, DNA Servers, bandwidth, range extenders, turn on and off the 'recognize my voice,' to name a few! The bottom line is, it's a $100.00 speaker that doesn't work as advertised.

My home network has worked flawlessly since I set it up in 2010; now, all of a sudden, with the addition of a cheap smart speaker, I have to believe the range is in question? My phone is set to my network. My Homepod is set to the same network—and yet, this Spacegray paperweight tells me it's connected to the wifi and cannot access my calendar.

Apple, you rolled out the Homepod Mini in response to Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant—and it doesn't work! Period! Now for the rest of us, we have to ask ourselves the question: "Are we going to return it to Apple, or hold out until they decide to develop a fix."

"and it doesn't work! Period! "

I understand that you are angry as anybody would when their product isn't working as intended but to say that it "doesn't work period." is not really true. It's working for me, after some issues, and I would assume for the millions of other people irrespective of the undoubtedly minority of people who are having problems, as annoying as those problems are.

So, I would like to try and help but it's hard if you don't specify exactly what is wrong other than you can't access your calendar. Also helpful would be to know specifically what you did try to fix it.

Sgmerley: 

Like many, I have connection problems! The paperweight doesn't stay connected to my iCloud account for longer than a few hours. I reinstall the paperweight—it works! Then, for no apparent reason, it doesn't work—even though Siri says it's still connected to WIFI! It does not maintain a connection. Therefore, it's not working as advertised. Period! If an Apple 'Technical Support' adviser cannot resolve the issue after 2-hours of phone support, I don't know what to say. Troubleshooting via telephone with an Apple technician covers many possibilities in far more depth than a support thread. A two-way verbal conversation of question and answer, eliminating potential problems by moving the Homepod Mini, making adjustments to settings, rebooting the router, changing frequencies, reinstalling DNS servers—and finally, resetting the Mini back to factory settings, is, in my mind, an in-depth diagnosis with no results. It appears they don't know what's going on.

I have been a Mac user from back in the day! In fact, I purchased my first Mac computer when Steve Jobs was still knocking out motherboards from his parents’ garage. I bought the very first iPhone, iPad, Apple TV. I have watched MacOS development from Cheetah, through Puma, Jaguar, Panther, Tiger, Lion—all the way through to Big Sur. I have been a loyal Apple user throughout. To say that my house doesn't have Steve Jobs fingerprints all over it would be an understatement. So, for me, in my home setup (after a painstaking 2-hour session with an Apple technician to no resolve), this item doesn't work as advertised. It won't stay connected to a network that has worked flawlessly for many years—managing eight other Apple products—all connected to iCloud. It is the latest addition to my Apple equipment; therefore, it is the culprit.

Like many, I appreciate people like yourself stepping forward to help others resolve issues—In most cases, the information I have found on threads like this has helped. Therefore, I thank you! This is no dig at you or the many others who have put suggestions on this thread. That was not my intention. To clarify a point, I'm far from angry! It's just a $100 Apple speaker—not a Bose surround sound system. You get what you pay for. It still streams music from my phone, which is what I bought it for in the first place.  

So, in my case, I will keep it. I can still listen to 'Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon,' while it doubles up as a useful paperweight to holds down my monthly bills.

If an Apple 'Technical Support' adviser cannot resolve the issue after 2-hours of phone support, I don't know what to say.

Well, I have been using computers for as long and probably longer than you and I would say about 95% of the time when I try to get help from Support, no matter what company, I end up solving the problem myself. Anyway, I think you are describing the problem incorrectly. How could you be streaming music to the Homepod if it wasn't connected to the internet? (Also no idea what you mean by "doesn't stay connected to my iCloud account .") The problem is that, as most people are reporting, the issue is rather that queries are answered with the reply "I am having trouble connecting to the Internet" even though it is clearly still connected and music can still be streamed. Yes, there seems to be an issue here but two of us have reported that we solved the issue by switching to another access point. You may or may not want to do that but it does point to possible solutions and solutions which I am pretty sure AppleSupport never suggested. That is the value of forums like this but it sounds like you have given up which is of course your decision. I probably would end up losing sleep over it but that's me :)

I got lucky with t to be upgrade fixing my HomePod mini. I can now move it anywhere in my house without issue, but you shouldn’t have to change your setup that has worked without issue for years just to make this work. If the update hadn’t fixed my issue I might have just returned it. As someone said, it’s a $100 speaker and not some expensive system that is worth the struggle. It’s unfortunate that Apple hasn’t done more to look into this, maybe it’s because it’s only $100.

“unfortunate that Apple hasn’t done more to look into this, maybe it’s because it’s only $100.”

I am completely invested in the Apple ecosystem and have been for years. One of the reasons I have done so is that it has been my experience that everything will end up working if not always right away. I have a Mac Mini, iPhone 12, IPad Mini, full size and mini Homepods, and the Powerbeats Pro. At the moment, every single piece is working perfectly without any bugs at all. I find that to be remarkable and I don’t believe the same could be said of any other ecosystem on the market. Yes, there have been some issues over the years but all were resolved. Therefore, I consider it highly unlikely that Apple has abandoned a subset of their customers because the HomePod mini is “only $100.” I know how frustrating it is when something doesn’t work as intended but if you have to make some accommodation while Apple resolves the issue is it really so terrible?

Same problem. It’s connected to the internet. It’s on the same wifi as my iPhone and iPad - both 2.4ghz. One HomePod works fine but for the other I continue to have problems. I’ve restarted, removed and reinstalled twice. Problem still remains. Incan play music to it but can’t switch off my lights or ask Siri to tell me what’s in my agenda. Basically just a music playing speaker at the moment.