Reply To: Issues Stereo Pairing Beolab 28s

[trackbeo]

1) Yes, of course you should *test* it wired.  For the cost of one 20′ and one 40′ prepack Category 6 (or even Cat 5e, it doesn’t need expensive cables) you can eliminate all uncertainty as to software vs. [hardware damage + transmission failure].  If that fails, you just return them, full stop (and ask why your dealer didn’t deliver & set up your  $15,000.00-to-$18,000.00 speakers as part&parcel of the sale).

2) Sonos got issued a lot of bogus patents way too easily, but their original ones — for building & automatically maintaining a mesh network and synchronization among their zones — were real gems.  Versus B&O which must rely on the quality of the underlying Wi-Fi network.  Making your Wi-Fi network error-free may or may not be possible depending on where you live and what hardware you use.  But that’s where you go, next.  Another reason to at least try cables as part of the debugging process.  See #1 above.

3) There may yet be a B&O software bug responsible; recovery from transmission errors requires both high quality software engineering and a transmission channel that isn’t too frequently hit.  (And doing the pairing at all, though it sounds easy to you & me, still requires a fair bit of software.)  Or there may yet be a hardware bug, or some defect with your particular units’ Wi-Fi SoC or antennas.  (One might argue that debugging this isn’t your problem, but what price beauty?)  Cabling them up for a test gives you a baseline from which to work. See #1 above.

I agree with you that Sonos’ system software is way more developed than B&O’s.  B&O doesn’t even have a method (well, at least not customer-facing) to tell the units to report how well their transmissions (receptions, actually in most cases) are working.  But complaining about that and waiting for reply or updates is a fool’s errand.  Good luck, and please don’t forget to post once you figure it out!