MacOS Airplay to HomePod Mini over Ethernet

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MacOS Airplay to HomePod Mini over Ethernet

Hi,

I connects my Macbook Pro over 10GB ethernet onto my network. The HomePod mini is connected on the same network, but via Wi-Fi. HomePod mini shows up on my Macbook Pro as an audio source when only connected to ethernet. However, no sound is coming out of the HomePod Mini.

The HomePod mini shows that music is playing via the glowing screen. HomeKit shows the media content is being play from my Macbook Pro. However, there's no sound. When I connect my Macbook Pro via Wi-Fi (with or without ethernet still connected) the sound from the HomePod Mini would work. However, this would cause all of my network traffic to route through the Wi-Fi and not the 10GB ethernet. I can "set service order" in Network to prioritize the network traffic over ethernet than Wi-Fi, but this setting doesn't always persist.

I called Apple support and they told me that I fixed the issue myself by connecting to Wi-Fi...

I think this is totally a bug/oversight from Apple HomePod. If I can AirPlay sound from my Macbook Pro via ethernet to Apple TV, why can't I do the same with the HomePod mini? What do you expect your prosumer do? Connecting over Wi-Fi?

Thanks!

Posted on Aug 1, 2021 1:22 PM

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Answer 1

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ruihai Author

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Aug 1, 2021 5:18 PM in response to ruihai

There doesn't seem to be any elegant way of doing this so I hack my way through this. Basically, I force my Mac to re-route traffic to the HomePod Mini(s) via the Wi-Fi interface, while keeping all other traffic via the ethernet.

sudo route add -host <HomePod_Mini_IP_Address> -interface <en0>

# Repeat for each HomePod Mini pairs
# run ifconfig to find the interface name

This is a really stupid issue, but hope this helps anyone that had the same issue.

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Answer 2

Sep 3, 2021 10:41 AM in response to ruihai

Yeah, this is a dumb bug that has been in macOS for at least a few years. As far as I can tell, it only affects Macs using the Aquantia/Marvell 10Gb controller, and only when using that controller via Thunderbolt. The Macs that utilize a built-in version of that controller (Mac mini, iMac Pro, Mac Pro) can use it to AirPlay without issue. It also only affects AirPlay 2 source, not devices using original Airplay.

I use a CalDigit 10Gb adapter over ethernet, and AirPlay has been pretty busted. If I switch the cable over to the 1Gb ethernet port on my Thunderbolt Dock, AirPlay works just fine. I filed a report with Apple, and also with all of the vendors who make 10Gb Thunderbolt adapters (CalDigit, Sonnet, OWC, etc.) to see if they could also put some pressure on Apple to fix this. It's been at least a year, so I'm not confident it will ever be resolved.

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Answer 3

Aug 21, 2021 10:19 PM in response to ruihai

I have the same problem and have spent about 8 hours working with Apple Support to resolve this. The 'connecting over WiFi' fix simply doesn't cut it. It is clear from https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT202809 that airplay should work with ethernet on a MAC. I have Denon, Apple TV, Android Airplay Apps, PC Airplay Apps and they all work without any issues from my iMAC using ethernet. The HomePod mini doesn't. Shame the sound is good. I've tried re-routing over the WiFi network but to no avail. The routing table shows the HomePods are routing through WiFi but the only way I can get it to consistently work is pulling the ethernet cable out. How did you implement the route changes? Thanks.

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Answer 4

ruihai Author

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Aug 1, 2021 2:47 PM in response to ruihai

Actually, "Setting Service Order" doesn't work either. It has to route traffic via Wi-Fi...

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Answer 5

Sep 3, 2021 10:09 PM in response to thomasjpr

This is on an old iMAC running High Sierra with integrated 1Gb ethernet. We analysed the network (nettopp from Terminal) and for both WiFi and Ethernet a stream from the MAC to the HomePod mini was established in exactly the same way and we could see the data (music stream) being sent from the iMAC to the HomePod mini. Siri could even tell me what was supposed to be playing and control the volume slider; but no music was played. It was like it was missing a signal to switch the volume on.

I also noticed a problem where once you create a stereo pair you can no longer control other airplay devices from iTunes or the Apple Music App so it completely breaks the multi-room setup I've had for over 5 years.

In the end I hit the 'we think it's the MACOS and it's no longer supported' wall. So interesting others are seeing this problem on newer machines.

For the functionality that I can use - I would have been better off just getting Bluetooth speakers - very disappointing

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MacOS Airplay to HomePod Mini over Ethernet

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