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 ran into some problems with a Bluesound Vault 2i. The first thing I did when it arrived was to rip all 175 of my CD's onto its 2 Terabyte hard drive in "bit perfect" multiple passes it makes over each CD. However, it was impossible to arrange the recordings by composer. It s set up only for pop music: name of the song and name of the performer. I wanted a backup copy of my library and they transferred it to my laptop. My collection took up only 28 GB. I took all the compositions in my library and made a folder for each composer and in each folder the symphonies, concertos, overtures fell into numerical and alphabetical order. CDs having become obsolete, I added some high resolution downloads to my library. I made two copies of my library on two 60 GB flash-drives. I put a flash-drive into the Vault 2i and I use the flash drive and ts folders to play anything from my library. I stream internet radio such as the classical stations when the weather interferes with the signal to my towered antennas pointing to these distant stations.
I would have preferred a simpler way to do all this, but it all works without using the 2 TB internal hard drive which for all I know has moving parts in it, unlike a flash-drive. I also use a much better DAC than the one in the Vault 2i.
I have four units scattered around in my life… And they all work flawlessly. Two are on Wi-Fi and two are wired. I think the user interface is excellent.
I was ready to throw my node 2i in the trash I was so fed up with it - same issues as you. Tried every fix I could find but nothing helped. Then I realized it was being thrown off by the wifi extender in the next room, while I was connecting to the main router downstairs. I switched to the extender and the problems disappeared completely. As others have said, make sure your connection is solid, hardwired if possible. When you get it working, it's a good unit.
I use a Node 2i and have had no problems. One bit of advice to anyone still on wifi: dump it!  The sooner you move your gear to ethernet, the sooner your system will get up to speed and make everything sound faster--except the noise!
I have been using Node2 since 2017. I got off to a rocky start but Bluesound support eventually got me straightened away. They work hard to sort things out.
My initial connection issues were resolved once support set up a fixed IP address on my modem, whatever that means. Connectivity has not been an issue ever since that matter was taken care of.
BTW, all of my AV gear is connected via ethernet cable, despite that fact that virtually everything in my system is wifi capable. Modem is located directly behind the wall where my media center is located, so why not?