Stop HomePod from randomly switching WiFi networks?

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Level 1

93 points

Stop HomePod from randomly switching WiFi networks?

I have 3 WiFi networks, with good reason. I want the HomePods to only connect to the Synology router. I always make sure my iPhone is connected to Synology before trying to play music. Always. Every other day the HomePods connect to a different network (a network that is not defined to HomeKit). Sometimes when I go through the steps to change three different HomePods to force them to go back to Synology, the HomeKit app doesn’t even recognize that the HomePod is on a different network, and the red warning message does not show up. When that occurs, I have to either restart my iPhone XS or power cycle the HomePod.

When I do get it working, sometimes the HomePods continue playing autonomously, and when I insist that the HomePods play what is on the Music app on my iPhone, I get the message asking if I want to purchase a family plan, and I have to “Replace” the music that I never changed on the iPhone.

My desire seems simple: I want to play music through the HomePods ONLY from my iPhone, and to not have to continuously reconnect the HomePods to the same network I always use to play music.

I’ve read instructions on how to change networks on HomePod - that is not my question. I specifically want to HomePod to stay on one network - all the time, without having to reset it every other day.

HomePod, 14

Posted on Nov 21, 2020 6:10 PM

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Answer 1

rboko Author

Level 1

93 points

Nov 23, 2020 9:54 PM in response to turingtest2

Thanks for your reply, it provided some insights. I created access control on the WiFi routers that I did not want the HomePods to use (some call it filtering and other terms), to blacklist (the term used on one of the routers) the three HomePods by MAC address. I had high hopes. My iPhone music played on two of the HomePods as expected for the first time ever, celebration. But the Home app on the iPhone showed that the all three HomePods were unresponsive. But two were actually playing what I selected on the iPhone. The third HomePod displayed as an AirPlay 2 option, but there was no click box. Clicking on the name made the HomePod disappear from the AirPlay list. The only way to make the third HomePod work (yet again), was to power cycle.

I’m at a loss to understand how the “best” service seems be the routers that have blacklisted their MAC address - only one router has no blacklist for the HomePods, and that’s the one I want to use for this purpose. Now no HomeKit iOT device works when asking Siri via HomePod - but my Home app scenes work when selecting from the iPhone. The iPhone is connected to the WiFi that it has always been connected to. How is it possible that the HomePods play via my iPhone Music app, but show as unresponsive in Home app, and at the same time the Home app on the iPhone can control HomeKit, which uses the very same HomePod as the HomeKit Hub?

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Answer 2

turingtest2

Level 10

277,997 points

Nov 24, 2020 2:24 AM in response to rboko

I don't know. But most people have a single Wi-Fi router in their homes. Perhaps if you remove the complexity things will work as expected. Blocking a device from connecting to a service it thinks it is allowed to access is not the same as not giving it the credentials to access it in the first place.

tt2

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Answer 3

turingtest2

Level 10

277,997 points

Nov 21, 2020 6:24 PM in response to rboko

Your HomePods will inherit the known Wi-Fi credentials of your iPhone via iCloud Keychain. Presumably they will also attempt to find "best" service when there are multiple available, whatever that might mean. If your phone only has the login details for one of your three networks then that is the one it should use.

When you're AirPlaying content to HomePod it will, if possible, try to fetch the content from source, which will save power on the iPhone. This is an automatic system similar to handoff. You cannot turn it off.

tt2

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Stop HomePod from randomly switching WiFi networks?

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