6.0 HomePod Setup

There are two ways to connect the HomePod to your network, wired (with an Ethernet cable) or wirelessly (through Wi-Fi). The two methods are mutually exclusive at startup time, i.e. when one is enabled the other will become disabled. When HomePod is first powered up, it will try to detect if an Ethernet cable is attached. If it is, the Ethernet connectivity will have priority over wireless connectivity. If an Ethernet cable is not connected to the HomePod at startup, the HomePod’s wireless connection will be activated. For most users, HomePod will be used in a wireless environment so the Ethernet port need not be used. Follow the instruction below for each connection setup.

6.1 Wired Setup

Before turning on the HomePod, connect it to your network with the enclosed Ethernet cable. HomePod can be connected to a wireless router or a switching hub. Next, plug in HomePod and turn it on. The boot up process will take about 20 seconds, after which HomePod should discover any Audio Servers that have been activated.

6.2 Wireless Setup

Make sure that you have already set up a wireless router or access point (base station) to form your wireless 802.11 b/g network. Your computers and HomePod must be in the same domain as the router (e.g. all must be in 192.168.1.x). Confirm that the DHCP server on the access point is running so that your computers and HomePod can automatically obtain IP addresses automatically (this is usually on by default). If you have WEP encryption enabled in the access point, turn it off for now; you can turn it back on later after the HomePod is running smoothly. Next, plug in the power adapter and turn on the HomePod. The boot up process will take about 20 seconds, after which HomePod should discover any Audio Servers that have been activated.

If the HomePod is unable to find any Audio Servers even though they are running, try the following: Turn off HomePod. Connect the HomePod to the router by a wired Ethernet cable, and then turn on the HomePod again. When HomePod reaches the main screen, go to Network Settings and locate its IP Address. Once the IP is known (say 192.168.1.3), open a browser on any computer on the network and log into HomePod, e.g. type http://192.168.1.3/ in the browser. Once you are at the configuration screen, go to the Wireless Settings tab and look for the SSID field. Change the SSID from the default value of “ANY” to the exact name of your access point (you can get the SSID of your access point by logging into your access point). Click Save and then disconnect the Ethernet cable and reboot HomePod. In a multi-access point environment, setting the SSID to match your access point will help HomePod connect to it much more easily.

If you still have trouble finding an Audio Server, refer to the Troubleshooting section in the Appendix section of this manual. Also

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