Having trouble with Speaker groups? Read this first

[kelanfromgoogle]

Hi everyone, 

Thank you for continuing to notify us of the reliability issues you’re facing with your Speaker groups. I escalated these issues internally and the team is actively investigating a resolution. If you’re able, all feedback is appreciated! Please keep it coming by saying “OK Google, Send Feedback." Providing details, such as mentioning that the issue is with the "speaker group," is especially helpful.  As always, we appreciate your feedback and are working hard to alleviate the issues. 

Thank you for the patience,
Kelan

[kelanfromgoogle · Accepted solution]

Hey folks,

Thank you for your continued patience while our team has been working to address the issues with Speaker group functionality. I want to give you all an update and confirm that a fix was identified which will address a specific problem where some devices, when acting as the group leader, cause an issue with audio not playing on other speakers that are part of the same group. However, you may experience that the main (or leader) device will still play the media as expected.

The following devices will cause this behavior when used as the group leader:

- Chromecast with Google TV (4K)
- Chromecast with Google TV (HD)
- Google Home (Fixed as part of firmware update 3.73)
- Google Home/Nest Hub (first-generation)
- Google Home/Nest Mini (first-generation) (Fixed as part of firmware update 3.73)
- Nest Audio (Fixed as part of firmware update 3.73)
- Nest Hub (second-generation)
- Nest Hub Max
- Nest Mini (second-generation) (Fixed as part of firmware update 3.73)
- Nest Wifi Point
- Pixel Tablet
- A small percentage of third-party speakers were also affected

Note: the issue must be fixed on the device that is the leader of the group in order for the other devices in the group to start playing consistently

The fixes are specific to each device type, and are dependent on upcoming scheduled update rollouts. We will update this post as the fixes begin rolling out for each device so you can test your own speaker groups.

There may be some devices that take longer to receive the update so if you’re still encountering issues, you can try these temporary workarounds:

Cast directly: if you’re trying to play audio in multiple rooms, cast the audio directly to the individual speakers.

Restart your devices: If you’re having trouble with your speaker group and are unsure which device is the group leader, try restarting all devices that are part of the speaker group. This can often resolve the issues.

As always, we deeply appreciate the feedback and your patience. If you are still running into issues with Speaker groups, please leave a comment below with clear descriptions of the behavior you're encountering. This feedback will help the team further investigate and mitigate anything else that might be causing this feature to not work as intended.

Thanks again, we're working diligently to get everything back to how it should be.

Kelan

[Derekf35]

Will a fix be pushed for Google Chromecast Audio devices? My groups worked great until recently and still are not working

[krm1]

I have been having trouble with two Google Home Mini speakers for the past two months. They were working fine for several years. All of a sudden they stopped working - same message on both "Your Google Home isnt setup yet. Download the Google Home app..." I have done a factory reset on both devices several times, done a fresh download of the Home app on my Pixel phone and my tablet...same result every time. Get that same message on both devices. Device info: System firmware version: 415414 Cast firmware: 3.73.415414. Please help!!!

[megaHz92]

Ever since this update to my Google Home, when I ask Google to play music from any source (I've tried Apple Music, Amazon Music and iHeartRadio) the music plays, then randomly starts pausing after ~3 songs

[mrxree]

@kelanfromgoogle it's been a month since your second update which effectively stated that the issue was not resolved for many Google branded devices. What's the status for those, and how is this being addressed with the other OEMs that make Google Cast enabled audio devices that support the speaker group functionality that has been degraded since before your first post four months ago?

In addition, please acknowledge the questions raised stemming from your post wrt which device functions as group leader. There is no user control over this (and I think the group leader role isn't statically assigned). In addition, I don't think Google Home nor the Cast UI provides visibility to this. Some third party applications with Google Cast integrations seem to provide visibility into the leader assignment but not any means for controlling it. As a result, the guidance you provided relating to group leadership isn't actually actionable. 

[CHAZZER]

An update would be nice

[WhyWhy99]

All of my devices are listed above and none of them can stay in a speaker group for more than a day...then turn into ghosts and disappear. This information is false. So chatbot it's been awhile...where is the update?

[JohnLand]

I know I've been spending way to much time on all this, but have been getting very good at Speaker Whack-A-Mole. I am able to identify the group "leader" easily now, not that it really makes much of a difference. But what I have noticed several times is that if I start playing on a group that I setup, it renames it to the group leader with the number of speakers playing. Today Google home has it +9, yet Youtube Music has it as +7? 

If I remember correctly they added back the volume control "quickly" after the judge reversed some of the Sonos lawsuit. To me that's when the major problems started, it was rushed without testing it properly.

I am attaching screenshots of a group called "Office Group" that is playing on "Bedroom Edifier" the group "leader" of the Office Group+7+9 

[Raydar]

What is a group leader device and how it is identified?

[WhyWhy99]

I'm sorry the mic is off.

[Hundry]

Are chromecast audios concerned? 

[rpwong]

Hi Kelan,

I'm having this problem with a Chromecast Audio, which demands to be the leader in a speaker group. Will Google release a fix for it?

From what I can tell, the CCA and Chromecast Ultra haven't had a firmware update in three years (I assume since they were discontinued), and I don't see them mentioned in your list of devices. Without a fix, my CCA is basically obsolete.

Thanks!

[ArtyMarty]

The thing is, the chromecast audio WAS working, and google broke it when they changed the firmware on all devices because of the sonos lawsuit, so they do need to fix it. (under Australian consumer law they do anyway)  or refund the full purchase price of the chromecast audio devices + expenses (which would include the YouTube subscription fees paid since 2015).. About $1800 in my case... 

[Uncle-Googs]

Same.  Everything used to work... then Sonos.  Google acts like we dont now any better... "Oh yeah... Reset your device..." - give me a break.

[MrKistic]

I have been thinking the same thing regarding the ACCC, this behaviour would not be allowed by a manufacturer if it was any other kind of product that did not have magical auto-updating software. If your coffee machine with an expected 10 year life stops working after 2 years they are required by law to either refund or repair.

Realistically Google should let us turn off automatic software updates and pin the firmware to a specific version. I just want my speakers to work in a group and I don't care if they aren't running the latest version or don't get the latest "features" they might offer in terms of voice recognition etc. If we could run them with the last version of the firmware that actually worked we would not have any of these problems.

[ArtyMarty]

I have an audio group with :

• 3x chromecast audio 
• Nest mini 
• Google home mini 

When I ask Google home hub or mini etc to play on that group, it usually ONLY plays on the chromecast audio devices. (one of the chromecast audio devices is pretty much always the group leader.) 

Sometimes it will play on all devices in the group correctly. 

Often it appears to work and play on all devices, however the Google mini or Nest mini in the group will keep announcing that "your YouTube account is being used on too many devices "

THAT MAKES IT 1000% MORE ANNOYING when it's a Google problem with a service I'm paying for!

Restarting all the devices in the group might get it to work correctly one time, for a little while, but if I make a second request to play music it either goes back to playing only on the chromecast audio devices or playing on the chromecast audio devices and the minis in the group, but thinking the minis are an additional seperate request so they keep announcing the "YouTube account being used on too many devices" rubbish 

[Uncle-Googs]

Welcome to the google ecosystem.

Pixel phone, google fi, google wifi, nest minis, neat audios, paid YouTube music service... and I cant consistently play music.

What joke.

[MrKistic]

I've had the same issue for a while now. I only have one chromecast audio in the group but after a certain period of time, usually around 24 hours, starting music on the group only plays on the chromecast audio. If I remove it from the speaker group and then add it back the speaker group works properly again; at least until the next time it fails but it normally works for at least a day.

It's an annoying workaround but I can deal with it for now. It would be interesting to know if you can pinpoint which of yours is the leader and whether you only need to remove and add that one or if you'd need to remove and add them all.

[InertAgent]

The latest production firmware releases fixed this issue for me, where the Chromecast Audio was the only one playing in a group. Before the new firmware, there was a always a duplicate group leader because they didn't see that the Chromecast Audio was already the leader. I can see the group leader with the go-chromecast command available from https://github.com/vishen/go-chromecast/.  In Windows powershell I use the command ".\go-chromecast.exe ls | sls 'Cast Group' " 

[JohnLand]

The current 3.73.429109 software plays better, but my problem is the Cast Audio running 1.56.28.1627 software. I have 5 Cast Audio devices along with 10 other speakers from Google and other partnered manufacturers. The problem is the "Group Leader" is Always going to a 'Cast Audio Device' and the normal upload for the leader is 30 - 60 Kbps. If I add to many speakers to a group it will literally double the upload with each speaker added. I have had it jump up to 1.5 to 3.0 Mbps, that's when things go south rather quickly. I have repeated this over and over again and would more than willing to demonstrate how adding one speaker doubles the upload, load!

[DJL]

All my speakers are 2nd Generation, and I have rebooted them many times and have also reset them many times , still nothing.

[Yevhen1]

Проблема осталась и я не понимаю, что сложного решить её? Это не сложно, но Гугл по прежнему топчится на месте 🤔

[RussdaFuss]

It's sad. Google is researching quantum computers and can't get a bunch of speakers to play the same music at the same time.

[JohnLand]

I have 15 devices that I want in a group just to play music. I also have another 4 devices to speak commands to control the speaker group etc. Then add in 3 Chromecast with Google TV, 7 Nest Cameras both inside and outside. This all worked until google mucked it all up well over a year ago. 

I have been able to determine that a speaker group will always pick a chromecast audio as a group leader. I believe it creates this in my router logs (user.notice IMPROXY: INFO[imp_verify_multicast_addr@258]: Group) based on the time stamps, I don't have confirmation on this. What I do know for a fact is when adding more than 5 or 6 devices I can see the leader upload choke out the group when the upload get near the 1 mbps. Even with just 5 in the group I can choke it by opening up my live 7 camera feeds. If I close the camera feeds sometimes it will settle back down after a few minutes and resume playing.

Sounds like a wifi router problem? Yah that was my thinking also so I replaced my router setup again for the 3x last May. It's a Wifi 7 with 3 nodes, 2 on main level, 1 in basement in a small 1,000 square foot ranch with 1 Gigabit fiber drop inside.

I have finally found a solution that has been working steadily for the past 3 days with a group of "14 devices" in it! Google sold a "Ethernet Adapter for Chromecast" the store shows it out of stock and the install instructions are still up. You can still get the same adapter from other manufactures. I installed one on the audiocast picked as a group leader. The upload speed has been 3 to 6+ mbps with no stammering or stuttering even with the 7 nest live feeds running! Another very interesting thing the download speeds on other speakers in the group jumped from say 20Kbps to almost 300Kbps.

Again this all worked before google mucked it up and I have no doubt they will muck it up again. Already working on a replacement plan.

[mrxree]

Utterly useless community management

[JohnLand]

Congratulations again! You clowns shoved out another untested firmware version 3.74.437716. Just who is testing this????

I actually had a few weeks of 14 speakers actually playing all together reasonably well. Just last Friday before you again shoved this down our throats I played music for 13 hours.

That's IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Groverjkelley1]

Not fixed as of 11/19/2024.    

Good luck and please try fixing this problem soon 

[mr7uca]

Fyi adding an old Chromecast Audio device to the group of various devices with this issue also allows them to play as a group. I just added one and I finally can play music in a group with my Chromecast with Google TV and my Marshall Acton II Wi-Fi speaker.

[Rdj110]

When I ask one speaker to set a timer it sets a timer for all speakers in the house. Sometimes I ask a question like what's the temperature outside the speaker I'm asking the question of is silent the lights just flicker on it. But then some other speaker in the house will turn around and give the answer. I have never had a problem like this. All have always been functional unless the Wi-Fi was down. I've adjusted everything I can find on the speakers nothing is working for me. This started about December 26th.

[Ronald021255]

First I will make an overview of my wifi environment:
My modem/router is a Ziggo Connect box with 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz dual band. 5Ghz band optimization on
1. Nest Hub (2nd gen)
2) 2 X Nest Audio in stereo pair
3) Google Home speaker
4) 2 Nest Mini in stereo pair
5) Nest Doorbell
6) Nest thermostat
7) Nest Camera
😎Hue Bridge
9) Wifi pods from Ziggo 5Ghz channel optimization must be on
10) 4K Chromecast

The problems actually arose when I added the Nest Audio speakers. But before that I regularly saw the Nest Hub lose its connection and log in again.
Sometimes I hear the left audio speaker report that the connection with the other audio speaker has been lost and the music stream then continues on the left. Usually the right speaker comes back after a few seconds, but sometimes it remains silent. The sound on the left speaker also cuts out at the same time as the right speaker.
I bought the Nest Audio speaker a few months ago and they run on fw 3.74
I use the speakers with the microphone off and set it as the default music player on the Hub.
I usually give the Hub a command to play music from Spotify or to play a radio station on TuneIn. In both cases, the stream stops several times a day and I have to restart the music stream, which often does not work.
I have carried out the suggested steps. Modem/router reset. Also reset to factory settings with the provider. The speakers have also been restarted several times and even reset in the setup.
If I stream spotify to my Google Home speaker I haven't interruptions

Not sure but I think the Nest audio products en Hub have problems with the dual band routers with a channel optimalization on

[GARYSMIFF]

recently suffered issue with a Speaker pair ( 9 nest mini's in my home), " I can not connect to the other speaker in the pair" looks to be a Group setting, worked it out, ensure 5Ghz is the primary connection( shut off 2.4 whilst you build pairs) and then not to add stereo pairs to any groups until they are a paired, if you see they are then added to other Groups without you adding it to those groups, delete that group and start fresh. living the dream now 🙂

[JohnLand]

"Group Leader"

Kelan in his recommended above answer wrote…. “Note: the issue must be fixed on the device that is the leader of the group in order for the other devices in the group to start playing consistently”. Multiple people asked repeatedly how do we know which device is the leader, but no response was ever given.

Turns out the leader of the group sends out data to the others in the group. The non leader speakers download at a rate of 280_kb/s - 310_kbs/s from the Group Leader. The group leader uploads at 1.5_mb/s to 2.5_mb/s normally. When things start going wrong the upload speed goes up and up till it chokes itself out, see pics below of screen grabs of this happening.

If you notice it says wired, the leader along with 7 more speakers are hard wired in the group of 13 speakers. I have setup 3 different routers over the past 2 years to the tune of over $1,200.00 and it has absolutely nothing to do with wifi!

[comalley88]

I have 2 X Google nest audio speakers, when I create a speaker group and try add this to a room I get an error 'there was a problem communication with google, please wait a few moment' I have the latest firmware on the speakers, I have also deleted and recreated my home and reset the speakers individually but the problem persists 

[youpickone]

nah, it doesn't

[youpickone]

Does anyone know a lawyer that's any good with class action lawsuits? He's got a big clientele right here! 

[youpickone]

Look at the dates on the replies from Google. It's like they don't even give a **bleep**

[scragin]

It's not "like" they don't give a **bleep**. They DON'T give a **bleep**

[youpickone]

I bet they are all sitting in the cafe drinking lattes laughing their collective ass off about all the **bleep** they are putting us through.

I'm serious about the class action!

[JacqO]

I still have problems with casting of 4x harman kardon citation one and 1 harman kardon citation 100. 

updated everything; re-installed 4 times

speakers disappear when casting, bleeping every 30 seconds, casting of groups doesn’t work either. Did a new group set up several times too
When playing for a few minutes music is also interrupted. 

I saw this issue already exists for 3 month? Any chance this will be solved soon now?

[scragin]

Known issue. Unfortunately, Google doesn't care as evidenced by the lack of response in this thread and the ongoing reports of speaker group issues.

[yaz_man]

Yep, and with the introduction of Gemini (their new AI assistant), I expect current and past generations of Nest devices will be obsoleted. They aren't setup to run AI, which needs to be running in the cloud.

Hope you all like your paper weights. I switched to Amazon during their last black Friday sale, and so far, everything works as they are supposed to. Not sure what is going to happen with Amazon's AI assistant, so we'll see (keeping my fingers crossed).