HomePods Mini keep crashing the network
We have a very busy network: five Apple TV devices (two HDs, one 4K, and two 4K22), 10 HomePod mini speakers, lots of IoT devices (LiFX and Meross LED strips, EVE smart plugs, Nanoleaf bulbs, Lutron Caseta switches, Ecobee thermostat, etc), Nintendo and Sony game consoles, three iPads, five iPhones, and Mac mini, and four MacBook Pro M1s.
The network and HomeKit is rock solid with all those devices except three of the HomePod mini. As soon as I plug any of those three in, the network rapidly degrades andbecome s unusable. When devices are able to connect the connection is extremely slow with frequent drops.
Here are some of the troubleshooting steps I've taken:
- I have a Unifi Dream Router and a disabled Wifi router on the cable modem. I unplugged the Dream Router and enabled the wifi on the cable modem with the same SSID. Network is fine until I add in one of the offending HomePod mini. This tells me it's NOT the router or a router setting.
- I factory reset all three HomePod mini by connecting them to my Mac and doing the restore to 16.4. I then disconnect from the Mac and go through the setup process. Once the HomePod mini joins to the network, the network degrades to the point where it's unusable.
- This problem persisted after upgrading to the new HomeKit architecture yesterday. (I was really hoping the new architecture would somehow fix this.)
HomePod mini, 16
