Google Nest Mesh + 3rd-Party Speakers

Lmdini on 27/08/2022 - 21:46

Hi all,

I have a Nest Wifi set-up with a hub in the living room and two Nest points in the bedrooms. The wifi points are speakers, so we've synced Spotify music in the bedrooms, but I'd love to have the same music playing from the speaker I have in the living room too (an Ultimate Ears Megaboom 3 bluetooth speaker). Unfortunately though, it seems the only way I can get that speaker included on the network is to have it replace one of the Nest point speakers in the mesh.

After much swearing and googling, I realized this is probably because the UE Megaboom isn't Chromecast-enabled. Then I stumbled on a nice previous exchange here and realized others are having similar problems :)
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/490894

Some questions (especially for @frodmann and @martyyyy, since they apparently use JBLs to solve this problem):

  • if I were to sell off my Megaboom and buy a JBL portable speaker instead, I would be able to include it as an additional (i.e. third) speaker in my network, it wouldn't have to replace one of my Nest speakers?

  • with most portable speakers I've used, even if plugged in, they turn themselves off when not used for a while. Would this cause a problem for the mesh link? For example, would I have to relink the JBL into the mesh every time I want to use it or can I just turn it on and go?

I'll take any other suggestions on making this work, thanks for the help!
mdini

Electrical & Electronics Bluetooth Speaker Google Mesh Network Speakers Ultimate Ears Wireless Router

Comments

  • scrimshaw on 27/08/2022 - 22:48
    +1

    The Ultimate Ears MEGABOOM 3 isn't a smart speaker and does not have Google Home functionality built in — it only has Bluetooth. You can try pairing it with your Google Nest using these instructions here.

    Audio played via BT will have some degree of latency, so you'll need to manually tweak the group playback delay to have the music synched up.

    But as you've already guessed: this doesn't add to the total number of speakers you currently have, since pairing the Megaboom to the Mesh unit basically mutes it. TLDR, Bluetooth ain't the answer.

    with most portable speakers I've used, even if plugged in, they turn themselves off when not used for a while.

    If you don't want to mess around with all those settings or worry about the power standby issue, I'd just buy a google Nest Audio or a JBL Link series and add it into your Home as a new device.

  • HansGruber on 27/08/2022 - 23:03

    I have the Nest mesh with three access points and two Nest audio speakers. The router, three access points and the two speakers can all be used to play music. The two speakers can also act as Google Home access points for voice commands and stay connected all the time (i.e. don’t sleep or disconnect). Each point/speaker can be grouped in various combinations so you can play on some points/speakers and not others depending on the circumstances. All this operates for us smoothly through Google Home. This may be something that would work for your purposes.

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