Re: Airplay connection issues with Orbi

Shof · ‎2020-04-08

Greeting Netgear community, I recently purchased and installed an Orbi system with two satellites. It has been a great addition and works great for wifi in general. One thing I can struggling with is using Airplay to stream music from my wifi connected phone to my ethernet connected Denon receiver. I can access the receiver when I type the IP address into Safari on my iPhone, but the receiver does not show up as an Airplay option on any of my music apps. I am not sure if it is an issue with my Orbi settings between wifi and LAN or something to do with Airplay. My AppleTV which is also connected via wifi shows up as an Airplay option, which is why I wonder if it has something to do with the cross connection between wifi and LAN. Any ideas are greatly appreciated!

ekhalil · ‎2020-04-08

What is make and model of the ISP modem/router that is connected to Orbi please?

CrimpOn · ‎2020-04-08

It helps to know "how things are connected".

What specific internet modem (brand, model) is the Orbi connected to?
Are all devices connected to the Orbi, and nothing besides the Orbi is connected to the internet modem?
Which specific Denon model is this? (To look at the User Manual and see how Airplay is activated.)
(Does the Denon stream correctly from other apps, and only fails with the Apple apps?)

FURRYe38 · ‎2020-04-08

What model Orbi do you have? RBK50? 40 or 20?

Shof · ‎2020-04-08

The Orbi router is connected to a moden from Spectrum, the internet provider, and is brand new this year. Unfortunately there is no brand or model listed anywhere on the unit.

The Orbi is the only thing connected to the modem. One satellite does have a GB switch attached to it and from there I connect to the Denon AVR4311ci.

What's confusing is that I can control the AVR from the app on my iPhone and I can see it when I type the IP address in Safari, but when I try to stream music from any apps and choose Airplay, the Denon is no longer available as an option.

Shof · ‎2020-04-08

BK50

CrimpOn · ‎2020-04-08

@Shof wrote:
the receiver does not show up as an Airplay option on any of my music apps. I am not sure if it is an issue with my Orbi settings between wifi and LAN or something to do with Airplay. My AppleTV which is also connected via wifi shows up as an Airplay option, which is why I wonder if it has something to do with the cross connection between wifi and LAN.

At this point, all of the "easy answers" appear to have been ruled out. As for the specific question about "if it has something to do with the cross connection between WiFi and LAN?" the answer is 99% "No". As far as the network is concerned, all of the Orbi devices are simply things on the same IP subnet. How they are connected does not matter.

I found a web site about "How to Fix Common Airplay Problems": https://www.chriswrites.com/fix-common-airplay-connection-problems/

and it's no help at all. You have connectivity. The issue is that i(product) apps do not "see" the Denon as an Airplay speaker. If these same apps did not see the Apple TV, my focus would be on the i(device).

Should probably rule out the actual device. Are there other devices at hand that can stream music to Airplay speakers? Do they show the same situation? (TV yes, Denon no)

When you look at the Denon receiver on the Attached Devices display or the Orbi "app", it is not "Paused" or anything?

ekhalil · ‎2020-04-08

@Shof wrote:
The Orbi router is connected to a moden from Spectrum, the internet provider, and is brand new this year. Unfortunately there is no brand or model listed anywhere on the unit.

The Orbi is the only thing connected to the modem. One satellite does have a GB switch attached to it and from there I connect to the Denon AVR4311ci.

What's confusing is that I can control the AVR from the app on my iPhone and I can see it when I type the IP address in Safari, but when I try to stream music from any apps and choose Airplay, the Denon is no longer available as an option.

How many LAN ports does the modem have? Does it have wireless LAN?

Shof · ‎2020-04-08

CrimpOn, I have been all over the internet trying to figure out where the issues lies, whether with the router or one of the devices. I am starting to think this may be a Denon issue, even though they will deny it. The Airplay feature was a purchased and downloaded software when I purchased this AVR and not sure anything has been done in the past 8 or 9 years to improve on it. It has always been a bit less than stable, but now it's not even showing up. I've looked at a lot of AVR and Apple threads and no one seems to have ever posted a valid resolution. I doubted it had anything to do with Orbi, but was running out of options! And yes, even from my iTunes account on my Windows PC the only option is AppleTV, AVR not showing up.

Thanks to all for taking the time to review and comment. Very much appreciated. If anyone

Shof · ‎2020-04-08

The modem only has one LAN port for the router and it is wireless.

ekhalil · ‎2020-04-10

Is the wireless LAN activated on the ISP router?Is the Wifi network (SSID) the router is broadcasting same as the one of Orbi? Do you have access to the ISP router?

Nyane · ‎2020-04-22

Good.. or rather.. Bad news !

I am having a same issue as you. However, my Denon X4300H Airplay works flawlessly within my network.

I am facing issues with my Hegel H390. The Hegel H390 is connected via Wired Ethernet as well.

Each time I turn on the Hegel H390, AirPlay appears and it works for a short while. After 2-3 songs, the error "unable to connect to Hegel" appears. And mysteriously, the Hegel just disappears from my AirPlay menu. However, if I plug out the ethernet cable and plug it in again, Airplay appears once again and I'll be able to use it for a short while until it disappears again.

Seeing that its happening to your Denon working fine with my Denon seems to prove that its a a router issue more than the receiver issue. I tried turning off WMM, turning off Daisy Chaining, but it doesnt seem to solve the issue for my Hegel H390. This is quite frustrating.

I hope someone out there can help us regarding this problem between Netgear and Airplay.

When the audio starts to get cut off.. This appears..

After a few seconds.. This happens

Followed by the device disappearing..

P.S: The Netgear router I'm using is a RBR20 with 1 satalite.

FURRYe38 · ‎2020-04-22

You might contact the mfr of this Hegal device to see if they have any information and inform them your having problems with it connected to your Orbi system. IF your Denon works well with Orbi, and the Hagel doesn't, kind of points to the Hagel device having problems.

@Nyane wrote:
Good.. or rather.. Bad news !

I am having a same issue as you. However, my Denon X4300H Airplay works flawlessly within my network.

I am facing issues with my Hegel H390. The Hegel H390 is connected via Wired Ethernet as well.

Each time I turn on the Hegel H390, AirPlay appears and it works for a short while. After 2-3 songs, the error "unable to connect to Hegel" appears. And mysteriously, the Hegel just disappears from my AirPlay menu. However, if I plug out the ethernet cable and plug it in again, Airplay appears once again and I'll be able to use it for a short while until it disappears again.

Seeing that its happening to your Denon working fine with my Denon seems to prove that its a a router issue more than the receiver issue. I tried turning off WMM, turning off Daisy Chaining, but it doesnt seem to solve the issue for my Hegel H390. This is quite frustrating.

I hope someone out there can help us regarding this problem between Netgear and Airplay.

When the audio starts to get cut off.. This appears..

After a few seconds.. This happens

Followed by the device disappearing..

P.S: The Netgear router I'm using is a RBR20 with 1 satalite.

Nyane · ‎2020-04-23

Doesnt seem to be an issue with the receiver as Airplay works perfectly fine when I brought it to my friend's place to try it.

There is definitely something going on with Airplay & the Orbi system working together.

FURRYe38 · ‎2020-04-23

Something to open a support ticket with NG support and have them review this.

Shof · ‎2020-04-23

I communicated with Denon and as expected they put the blame on Apple AirPlay and essentially washed their hands of it. That will certainly be remembered during my next AVR purchase.

Anyway, I took the expensive way out and purchased a Sonos Port. This thing works amazingly well with Orbi and streams pretty much anything you throw at it, including anything AirPlay2 compatible. Don’t mean to be advertising another company’s product on a NG thread, but it works well with Orbi and solved my Denon headache so worth the cost. It even converts digital signal to analog if necessary (which I needed).

FURRYe38 · ‎2020-04-23

Thanks for letting us know.

Retired_Member · ‎2020-04-23

@Shof wrote:
I communicated with Denon and as expected they put the blame on Apple AirPlay and essentially washed their hands of it. That will certainly be remembered during my next AVR purchase.

Anyway, I took the expensive way out and purchased a Sonos Port. This thing works amazingly well with Orbi and streams pretty much anything you throw at it, including anything AirPlay2 compatible. Don’t mean to be advertising another company’s product on a NG thread, but it works well with Orbi and solved my Denon headache so worth the cost. It even converts digital signal to analog if necessary (which I needed).

Enjoy

Nyane · ‎2020-05-02

In case anyone was searching for the answer. I have found my problem. The Hegel was plugged into a Switch which was causing the issue. Once i connect the Hegel directly to the port of the Orbi, no airplay dropouts and airplay worked perfectly.

FURRYe38 · ‎2020-05-03

Glad you found the fix for this in your configuration. Odd that switches would do this unless it's a bad switch.

Thanks for sharing.

Enjoy.

@Nyane wrote:
In case anyone was searching for the answer. I have found my problem. The Hegel was plugged into a Switch which was causing the issue. Once i connect the Hegel directly to the port of the Orbi, no airplay dropouts and airplay worked perfectly.

Jevaty · ‎2020-08-30

I had the same air play connectivity issue when I recently installed a new elan video/audio switcher. When I finally unplugged all Apple TV’s from switch (that I have used for years) and plugged directly into Orbi the problem resolved.

FURRYe38 · ‎2020-08-30

Glad you found the fix for this in your configuration.

What is the mfr and model# of this switch you've been using?

Thanks for sharing.

Enjoy.

@Jevaty wrote:
I had the same air play connectivity issue when I recently installed a new elan video/audio switcher. When I finally unplugged all Apple TV’s from switch (that I have used for years) and plugged directly into Orbi the problem resolved.

Jevaty · ‎2020-08-30

Netgear Prosafe 16 port. GS116

Mstrbig · ‎2020-08-30

@Jevaty wrote:
Netgear Prosafe 16 port. GS116

Those are reliable switches. Maybe a dirty port or bad cable.