Google Speaker Groups not working

[MsLevis]

I'm also having similar problems-  Have mix of Google audio cast and google enabled speakers across the house- most of the time casting doesn't work - If I go into the home app the groups are disappearing and re-appearing alot- I'll select a group that worked the day before and only one speaker plays - it still shows all devices playing-  I can try it a few times- go in and out of the google home app and try to force it that way- sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't - all the firmware is up to date and it's just SOOOOO frustrating -  I even went and got a new google home speaker thinking maybe gen1 was causing an issue- nope still same problem-  COME ON GOOGLE!!!  

[Boogieman]

The next problem with synch between rooms is distance between speakers. Seting them beside each other means same distance. 

Moving it back to its original place and then moving yourself (walking) will inevitably chaange distance between you and 2 or more speakers so there will allways be a small out of synch due to distance (same way you adjust speaker distance in a surround sound setup). But for sure a lot better than no adjustment.

Next level **bleep** would be google sensing you position (using phone for example) relative to each speaker and adjusting delay on the fly. This is needed even for their own products to get a perfect synch. I doubt it will happen in the near future though 🤣

[Boogieman]

Delay adjustment again.

It's "broken" because You can not adjust delay on the nest screens.

So if i add 95ms delay on JBL speaker towards HK to make them play in synch, the JBL is out of synch with google nest. Tried adjusting the display foe ages but nothing helped.

Puting jbl back to 0hz made them play in synch, regardless the setting of the google display and the only way to make those play in synch. But that means i cant get neither to play in synch with JBL LMAO. 

Google didn't really think this through 🤣

[CameronS]

This is off topic.  Start a new thread.

[Andrew3726262]

I got my speaker group fixed:

1. delete the speaker group

2. reset each Google mini or other speakers. Here is a link how to reset minis:

https://www.google.com/search?q=jhow+to+reset+google.mini&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS982US982&oq=jhow+to+reset+...

3. add each speaker back to Google home one at a time and create the speaker group after you add the first speaker and add the speaker to the group and test to make sure the speaker group plays properly.

4. Continue adding one speaker at a time to Google home and then to the speaker group and test. This will rule out any speakers that may have some other issues.

I have a JBL speaker, three nest minis and an old Google mini and now they all play on the same speaker group.

[OmaCoder]

Follow up with us in a week or so, I'd be curious if it continues to work for you, consistently.

[NikolaiM]

I tried this exact procedure recently when I moved and got a new router. Once I got to the 5th speaker and added it to the group it stopped working. 

[Andrew3726262]

Ok so yes my speaker group broke again the next day. My current theory is the JBL 20 has old firmware (1.44) and cannot be updated. So I don’t think it works well in speaker groups. I’ve removed it from the group. I now have three nest mini and one Google mini in the speaker group and it’s been working perfectly the past 3 days. Hope this helps someone.

[saschko]

It is the same with JBL playlist. And my theory is the same: JBL playlist has old firmware and does not work in groups with devices using newer firmware.
However, I do not understand why it is not possible to update  the firmware and fix it. JBL says, google is responsible. Google says, JBL is responsible. And nobody does anything.
Meanwhile, JBL still sells JBL playlist and promote its "multiroom chromecast" feature. And it does not work. 
 

[Andrew3726262]

You can check the firmware version under device info in Google home.

[saschko]

Of course I know how to check the firmware version. The problem is: the JBL playlist use chromecast firmware version 1.28

And as a customer, it is not possible to update. Because neither google nor chromecast offer an update for JBL playlist.

[OmaCoder]

It's nothing to do with JBL...

I have all Google devices and they still don't work. 

[Andrew3726262]

My speaker group is still working fine and I’ve been using it everyday. Thanks 

[BurntOC]

Everyone who reports how they've "fixed" this issue should be assigned a pass/fail assignment to report back on the status in a week.  While I appreciate their intentions, these fixes never last except in maybe the absolute simplest network environments.

These issues have been known to Google for years and more have come as a result of the recent updates.  I know of devs who have studied the group casting behavior along with those of other providers as part of app design and they've given up on these altogether.  Google doesn't care.  Maybe if everyone who uses a Chromecast device switched to DDG they would, though.

[QueensNicky]

Completely agree 

[treeder6]

I noticed this morning that things fall apart when I try to play on a group. Crackly sound, song shuts off, plays on select speakers not full group. I really think the Sonos lawsuit messed things up. I’m considering Ankers speaker company, Soundcore. They work flawlessly. I’m just curious if plugging it into the wall and leaving it on will work. Or do they shut off after a bit. They let you chain multiple speakers together. So this might be my new direction. Plus no Google eavesdropping. 

[BurntOC]

If I were an attorney I think I'd jump all over a class action on this.  Thousands of hours, sure, but the payoff will be huge.  There's been few more glaring, longer running, post-sale FU's to the customer than what Google has done with these devices in the pursuit of saving a few bucks after their mistakes.

[Boogieman]

Google can't do hardware or software for it. Google can do search engines that spy on the user for more info on humans.

They have become Facebook I'm afraid.

And they are not alone, but they are the only big player that sells hardware that works worse than small Chinese companies hardware.

I'm going back to Xiaomi, at least it works even after updates. And cost about 30-50% of Google or less when it comes to smart things in the lines of samsung and others (google don't do smart things unless things like thermostat that is crazy expensive counts 8-o )

Or Alexa, they should grow in Europe soon as well. I understand they are huge in US.

Built in zigbee on hubs is a major bonus for smart homes going forward.

Google just can do... Google... And not even that 😕

[OmaCoder]

Finally, getting some traction in editorials!

www.androidpolice.com/google-sonos-lawsuit-lost-features/amp/

[LADYZ]

My all speakers group is completely missing and will not play any music

[klemsonguy]

I was having this issue, and found that my wifi was broadcasting on 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. Once I turned off 2.4 and forced every client to connect on 5 GHz, everything magically started to work as expected. 

[OmaCoder]

Even if this is truly the solution to everyone's problems, who on earth would want to disable their 2.4 Ghz network? Especially those of us who run smart homes? 

[LADYZ]

That is not an option in my home. Many of my IOT devices, like my lights run on 2.4Ghz. 

[Boogieman]

?

When you set google home up you chose a network to connect to. Shouldn't matter if 2 bands are active not even 3 (e-ax) as google devices should connect as per inatalltion insteuction.

Maybe you connected a few to 2.4 abd a few to 5 GHz due to distance to router? Should still work (but maybe not google think so?), but if not it should be enough to tell all devices to connect to one band i.e. 2.4GHz of you have distant devices or 5GHz if a lot of neighborhood networks in 2.4GHz (i.e. apartment complex).

Otherwise...its crazy....i got no disconnect issues on 5ghz in a crowded network area but i also spent a lot of time to setup router placement and choosing a solid AC router.

[Boogieman]

Sorry, Google don't support wifi e or ax but 2.4 and 5 they should 

[LADYZ]

I ended up kicking all my Google devices out of my "Home" and setting them back up again. Once they were out, the "All speakers" groups (yes plural) re-appeared. I deleted both of them. I rejoined my devices to the Home and set them to the correct rooms and edited each to add them back to the new "All Speakers" group. Everything is working fine again. 

[NikolaiM]

Unfortunately, it won't be working for long. 

[Rotorguy3]

What difference does it make by assigning rooms. ..Google can't see what room it's in. You could say bathroom on all devices yet they are located elsewhere...I already  did your suggestion..worked for a few days.

[OmaCoder]

This was troubleshooting step #1 of about 50 different things that Google tech support tried with me a year ago when I contacted them 4 months ago about this.

Big win for you if this solves all of your problems!! But for me, after reluctantly deleting my home and relinking everything and all of my 3rd party integrations and resetting up my 8 speakers, the issue still persists.  😞

[treeder6]

I have reworked it all and Groups do not show up any more. I think the Sonos lawsuit is set in stone. The whole reason I bought these stupid things is to stream audio throughout the house. Very annoyed. Thanks god I have the bigger ones for upstairs and downstairs, but I have to toggle between them. Wanted to share a photo for proof, but I can’t. 

[TIDCDAD]

I have 2 hubs, 10 minis. I have 4 speaker groups set up. Many months ago I was having issues with devices disappearing from a group that I would add back using hub. But for months now everything works fine. Only lingering issue is the centralized volume control. But I’m not fussy about that. If I want to change volume it’s usually just for the room I’m currently in anyway.  All my stuff is google so maybe that makes a difference. I’ll try adding my JBL speaker to a group and see if that works for me. 

[OmaCoder]

Consider yourself privileged! I have all Google devices and mine hasn't worked for 5 months now. Google Support has stopped responding. They know about the issue.

[TIDCDAD]

Google support used to be awesome. But ever since the Nest rebranding, it has been crap. 

[DeeSaR]

I've made the following observations:

I've been using four chromecast audio and one chromecast without any problems for some time (single and grouped together). 

The problems started when I added two nest mini v2 as a stereo pair to the setup. When adding the stereo pair to the group the group is within a few hours destroyed. The nest mini stereo pair shows up as device and sometimes as separate speaker group and disappears. when trying to cast the nest pair talks "something went wrong", sometimes the app I use to cast (poweramp) says that the nest pair is not compatible for the cast, sometimes not...

The nest stereo pair should not be in a speaker group, then it is somewhat stable (but looses wifi connection sometimes and have to be rebooted. But chromecast and chromecast audio devices alone are much more stable in speaker groups. 

[OmaCoder]

Interesting. I had been using my setup for quite some time as well. All of a sudden earlier this year, it stopped working. I didn't change any of my hardware or add any nest mini v2 speakers. Ho humm....

[uhassan]

Stereo pair is no longer an option in Google Home (latest version) may be that has to do something with your specific issue. For me the issue got worse when I updated to latest google home app.

[uhassan]

I just updated the home app, deleted the old speaker group, created the speaker group again. That fixed the issue and it works like a charm 🙂

[DeeSaR]

oh you are right, since yesterday a new version is online (v2.55.1.4) I updated home, deleted the speaker groups and recreated them and so far everything seems to be fine. But sometimes it takes a while, until the problems start. Let's observe this. 

[treeder6]

Let’s see how long that lasts. Mine was fine for a while. But no speaker group. 

[DeeSaR]

That's not true, stereo pair is an option (and works standalone) with the latest version oft Google Home (v2.54.1.7). The problems is, if you add the pair to a speaker group. Then sometimes the pair is displayed, sometimes both single speakers appear, sometimes only one speaker of the pair appears, sometimes the pair shows up as a device, sometimes it shows up as group. 

[uhassan]

This post was for the previous version which for some reason didn't have the pair option. The latest has it. Now I get both the options of pair and group, and both work.