Squeezebox is officially the worst purchase I have ever made

[ravinghill]

Having now had a Squeezebox duet since December 2009 I can now honestly say that it is by far the biggest waste of money I have ever come across - and I would happily pass that information on to anyone who asks me.

I can honestly say that in the time I have had it I dont think I have ever had a successfull full days listening without dropouts and failure to connect to mysb.com.

I even decided that it couldnt be this bad and got a replacement from the shop I purchased it in and .. lo and behold, it is if anything, worse. I now cannot listen to a song from Napster without a rebuffer every 10 seconds - and that is when it actually manages to connect to mysb.com (which for some reason is currently using the Washington server when I am in the UK). Why oh why do we have to use a remote server ???

This is the worst piece of kit I have seen - yet it promises so much. The fact that you have to use mysb.com has destroyed any integrity this product has.

I will be offloading it on ebay ... I have resigned myself to losing money on it but at the end of the day its no more use than a paperweight at the minute.

[copperstate]

Why don't you use a local SB Server instead? This should solve most, if not all the problems you have now (I know its not a perfect solution, but it works pretty well nonetheless).

[aubuti]

Why oh why do we have to use a remote server ???

This is the worst piece of kit I have seen - yet it promises so much. The fact that you have to use mysb.com has destroyed any integrity this product has.

It's too bad that SB hasn't worked for you. They work smoothly for me and I have one in every room of the house.

As copperstate has pointed out, you do not have to connect to mysqueezebox.com, because you can run a local Squeezebox Server instead, and local SBS is usually more reliable. Also, the reason some intermediary is required for subscription services like Napster is because that's how they enforce their authorization. On a pc Napster does it via their own player, but that is obviously not an option with a SB.

Whether you decide to give SB another try or try another product, good luck.

[snarlydwarf]

I now cannot listen to a song from Napster without a rebuffer every 10 seconds - and that is when it actually manages to connect to mysb.com (which for some reason is currently using the Washington server when I am in the UK). Why oh why do we have to use a remote server ???

Well, Napster is a remote server.... So if you want to use Napster, you have to use their server which is, well, remote to you.

Rebuffering is caused by the audio stream not arriving fast enough at your device. Since you stated earlier that this happens in the "busy hours", then your problem is caused by insufficient capacity between you and Napster.

It may be that Napster itself, it may be your ISP, it may even be your own network (especially if you're on wireless and have a neighbor on a nearby channel that downloads torrents all evening on a nearby channel).

There is nothing Logitech can do to make your ISP faster and your neighbor stop spewing all over your channel. They might be able to relay your "hey, napster get more bandwdith!" on to napster, but I doubt that's the real problem. It is MUCH more likely to be one of the other two hops that is not able to stream fast enough.

[pski]

Having now had a Squeezebox duet since December 2009 I can now honestly say that it is by far the biggest waste of money I have ever come across - and I would happily pass that information on to anyone who asks me.

I can honestly say that in the time I have had it I dont think I have ever had a successfull full days listening without dropouts and failure to connect to mysb.com.

I even decided that it couldnt be this bad and got a replacement from the shop I purchased it in and .. lo and behold, it is if anything, worse. I now cannot listen to a song from Napster without a rebuffer every 10 seconds - and that is when it actually manages to connect to mysb.com (which for some reason is currently using the Washington server when I am in the UK). Why oh why do we have to use a remote server ???

This is the worst piece of kit I have seen - yet it promises so much. The fact that you have to use mysb.com has destroyed any integrity this product has.

I will be offloading it on ebay ... I have resigned myself to losing money on it but at the end of the day its no more use than a paperweight at the minute.

What's your EBay ID? A lot of loss we hope.

P

[ravinghill]

Well, Napster is a remote server.... So if you want to use Napster, you have to use their server which is, well, remote to you.

Rebuffering is caused by the audio stream not arriving fast enough at your device. Since you stated earlier that this happens in the "busy hours", then your problem is caused by insufficient capacity between you and Napster.

It may be that Napster itself, it may be your ISP, it may even be your own network (especially if you're on wireless and have a neighbor on a nearby channel that downloads torrents all evening on a nearby channel).

There is nothing Logitech can do to make your ISP faster and your neighbor stop spewing all over your channel. They might be able to relay your "hey, napster get more bandwdith!" on to napster, but I doubt that's the real problem. It is MUCH more likely to be one of the other two hops that is not able to stream fast enough.

To answer all your questions - i dont use a local server because I dont want to have one running 24/7 - thats why I bought a squeezebox !! A product like Sonos doesnt require me to run a local server or connect to something like mysb.com !! Also, why am i connected to washington mysb.com when in Europe ??

there is no issue with other devices running off the same wifi connection so neighbour / wifi signal are not the problem.

and it does not just happen in busy hours - it happens ALL THE TIME. the problem is the same whether it is running at 18:00 or 03:00.

as for napster being a remote server itself and needing something like mysb.com to allow for security - again, Sonos can do it without connection to a 3rd party.

i stick by what i said - worst purchase i have made.

[aubuti]

You've apparently made up your mind, so this will probably fall on deaf ears, but anyway.... No one ever said running a local server has to be 24/7. Turn it off when not using it, or better yet, use basic power management to suspend or hibernate the pc when the SB is idle. And good luck with whatever you choose instead. Honestly.

[Phil Leigh]

To answer all your questions - i dont use a local server because I dont want to have one running 24/7 - thats why I bought a squeezebox !! A product like Sonos doesnt require me to run a local server or connect to something like mysb.com !! Also, why am i connected to washington mysb.com when in Europe ??

there is no issue with other devices running off the same wifi connection so neighbour / wifi signal are not the problem.

and it does not just happen in busy hours - it happens ALL THE TIME. the problem is the same whether it is running at 18:00 or 03:00.

as for napster being a remote server itself and needing something like mysb.com to allow for security - again, Sonos can do it without connection to a 3rd party.

i stick by what i said - worst purchase i have made.

Sonos IS a server. It is acting as the third party between you and the internet radio services - it's just you can't see it.

[ravinghill]

You've apparently made up your mind, so this will probably fall on deaf ears, but anyway.... No one ever said running a local server has to be 24/7. Turn it off when not using it, or better yet, use basic power management to suspend or hibernate the pc when the SB is idle. And good luck with whatever you choose instead. Honestly.

well for an update for everybody that claimed it is the wifi / napster etc.

have now connected the system up again but instead of using the receiver as the player (which still does not work satisfactorily) i have connected only the controller as the player and what do you know - works (almost) fine ! Apart from maybe one or two short rebuffers during each song it has played non-stop for several hours now - unlike the receiver that lasted at most 3 songs.

and the other difference ? i manqaged to overide the mysb.com destination and get the controller to link to the european server whereas the receievr is dead set on linking to washington. Explain that one ??????

[aubuti]

For the mysb location, misconnections can happen -- have you tried doing a reset on the SBR? As for the SBC working better as a player than the SBR, maybe your SBR is defective -- have you called tech support?