BlueSound Stinks(!), anyone?


I am looking for your help.  We recently switched from Sonos to BlueSound to get higher streaming rates.  So far we have had consistent problems and issues(!!).  Specifically, about 50% of the time my and my wife's BlueSound app does not recognize the Node 2i's.  When I delete the app, reinstall it and reconnect the Nodes, we again have the same problems at least 50% of the time.  It is simply a joke of a product and I find we are not alone.  I have tried just about everything.

Also, when I go online to get help, I find that I am not alone and there is a tsunami of negative (to the degree of very hostile) comments about BlueSound and for the most part it is the same issue.  I have tried just about everything and I am about to simply trash/sell mine and go back to Sonos.  If I do go back to Sonos, I will also leave a stream of bad comments on every forum I can since going back to Sonos will represent a big financial loss to me simply because Bluesound is an irresponsible/deceptive company at my expense.

Alternatively, I just want it to reliably work.  Do you you have and advice and/or guidance to get Bluesound to reliably work?  Is there a better alternative to to get higher bit rates thank Bluesound?

Thank you in advance for your help.  Dave


butterman
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.
I own four Node 2i streamers that I use for various secondary zones around my house. But I generally use Roon to control them instead of the Bluesound app. I think they are all connected via ethernet since I have my whole house wired, but I have occasionally used them connected over wifi to set up a temporary system. I've owned them for about 18 months and have been very happy with the performance and reliability. 
I’m listening to Claudio Arrau play Debussy now with my Vault2 streaming files from my NAS,  and really for the price it sounds great.  However, I wish I could be reimbursed for the 2 Node2s that died on me
I have never heard a streaming service that sounds as good as a CD. I don't know why it's all the rage unless it's access to a vast range of music. But you can get a vast range of music from You Tube or from the online branch of many radio stations in Europe and elsewhere. Good Luck.