BlueSound Stinks(!), anyone?

If I may? I too originally had bad experiences with the Node2i. Bad connectivity to the internet, the decommissioned Apple i6 I use couldn’t find it, etc. I was thinking it would be "plug and play" however it is not. Like any other component, it takes proper setup and dialing in to work its best. I did the following: 1) As mine is not hardwired I made sure it gets the best wifi signal I can give it. I got a wifi extender for my livingroom and it’s configured such that the only thing that connects to it is the Node2i. That was a big improvement right there. 2) I raised the Node2i’s location in my cabinet so that the wifi has a better line of sight not only to the wifi extender but for its internal hotspot to the phone I use. 3) I keep it updated. Bluesound regularly releases new software. It’s best to keep it up to date. With just those minor adjustments to the setup, it’s been very much better. Occasionally the phone will drop its connection but it reconnects on its own rather quickly. I like that I stream from Amazon, my own library of ripped music or use Pandora via BT. I think for the $500 it was a good purchase for me.
Happy listening!

Get a phone or PC based Wifi analyzer app.  Make sure you are on an unused channel.

Best,

Erik

Ok, thank you for all your thoughtful comments and help.  You all have given me hope to will drive on and endure a bit longer....although my wife is very vocal how she hates the move to BlueSound.  As a next sttep, I just purchased a Netgear Nighthawk CM1100 modem and eero Pro 6 router.  I will see how that works and if it does not, I should still have better wifi in the house so it would not be a loss.

With all this being said, I do have a bit better luck with my ethernet connected Node 2i in my listening room (marginally but better) but my kitchen system is in my daughters closet with no cable near to hardwire. 

If nothing works I will join,  jollygreenaudiophile22 in my disgust although I will go back to Sonos and a happy wife.  

All, thank you again! 

I had the same problem with the Node 2. I got a great on the Vault 2i and have had no problems with it, and I have received several updates. Customer Service sucks, you will grow old trying to contact them, and they always call back when you are at work and can't do anything.

To me, all this talk about having to spend more on better routers and modems, or having to have a LAN connection is just a bit silly. I use my WiFi every single day for not only work, my computers, my phone, my printers, but also 3 Roku TV Streaming devices that should be much more demanding than a music streamer. I have no issues, or if I do, they are very rare. In fact, you don’t need much of a high speed connection to run a TV/video streaming device, let alone streaming music. If the device works well you can get away with as little as 10-11 down with a single device for video. Of course a house full of users and you would need more. I live alone.

I dunno, to me it is a bit discouraging that a $500+ device won’t work well with most anyone’s WiFi setup or equipment today. For that kind of money, to me, it should.

As I stated, I have a Dayton Audio streamer/access point that only cost me $50, and does not have these issues. And in most cases, I simply select the Dayton streamer/access point as the audio device selection on my phone or iPad and steam my music directly from my Tidal app -> Dayton streamer -> DAC -> pre -> amp. I will use the Dayton Audio app to connect to my simple hard drive server, but that is rare, and I must feel very lazy to do so.


Can it stream with the quality of a higher end streamer? Possibly not, but streaming is typically my 4th choice for listening to music, not my 1st.