I bought 4 Polk Audio Assist Smart speakers with Chromecast built in. I have two, and two are on the way.
It was a relatively inexpensive way to get started in the world of smart home audio.
Then I bought a Chromecast audio device to make a Bose speaker compatible in the bathroom. I take my music seriously.
After days of researching how I connect everything properly, I finally had everything working.
It didn’t last long.
Google Home would say that I wasn’t connected to WiFi, but I was. That was one of the first things I learned. If the WiFi says “5g” on one product, you have to make sure it is set up that way with each new device that you add.
For days now, I would believe I finally had it setup properly, then the speakers would disappear from Google Home, or would play in spurts, over the array of speakers.
Google Assistant would tell me I was playing audio on the group I created, but only one speaker in the stereo set up would be playing.
The Google Home app would confirm this under the “media” tab.
Today I bought Google routers. My place is only about 900 square feet, but wondered if my Spectrum router could be causing issue.
I unhooked the Google Chromecast audio device all together, because I learned it was the reason my other speakers would disappear from Google Home.
My experience has improved with the new routers (I purchased the 3 pack for $200), and taking the loss with Chromecast Audio (approximately $50), and hopeful that set up won’t be a nightmare when the next two speakers come in. Hopefully I won’t find out buying them was a mistake. I found them cheap compared to retail, but would still be out another $200.
During this experience, I tried YouTube Music. I thought that because one of it’s sister companies is Google, that it should work flawlessly. I was wrong. Switching back to Google Home, from Google Assistant prompted playback, was a great deterrent. I did find that using Google Assistant to start playback had a greater success rate than YouTube music.
I learned about the lawsuit won by Sonos, and I guess that’s my question: Should anything I described be cause for concern when I still plan to set up another group when the rest of my speakers arrive?
Did I buy 4 Google Assistant/Chromecast speakers that I will ultimately need to use individually?
I read about a “utilities” app, but I have an iPhone, and don’t think it’s offered in the store. Not sure I could use it anyway. Downloaded similar to see if I could make something happen, but it’s too complex for me.
Thanks y’all
