why are there no wireless headphones that I can use all throughout my home?

[subjonas]

My bluetooth Airpods and RF Senns start cutting out as soon as I go into another room. I tried searching online for headphones that can stay connected throughout a home, I suppose via wifi, but not finding anything. I'm guessing wifi headphones would be too power hungry? Still it seems like wireless headphones that work throughout an entire home should be a very common market demand--I would have thought there would be a ubiquitous solution by now, ie. one that I could just pick up at Best Buy. If there is a solution, it doesn't seem to be commonly used.

Alternatively, instead a new pair of headphones, maybe there is a bluetooth range/signal extender? The only thing I found online was something called ESP, but my first impression is it looks very technical, and more intended for smart home functions, not headphones.

I have Homepods in every room, so I did try out ditching my headphones and outputting audio to all the speakers simultaneously, but there were multiple issues with that:
- outputting from my ATV, it would often disconnect from speakers randomly and I'd have to set it up again
- this only works for ATV since Mac doesn't seem to be able to output to multiple Airplay speakers simultaneously
- this may annoy others in my home

I was just thinking, that would be cool if Apple made some kind of range extender feature for Airpods using Homepods as a network. When Airplaying to Airpods, maybe it could somehow also bounce the audio data to all the Homepods on the wifi network and when you get near a Homepod, the audio will switch to streaming to your Airpods from that Homepod.

Edit-
In case it's not clear, I'm talking about using headphones with my ATV or Mac, obviously not my mobile devices which are mobile.

 

[Bigwaff]

Why not just connect your AirPods to your iPhone, play your music, put iPhone in your pocket, and walk around your home?

 

[subjonas]

Why not just connect your AirPods to your iPhone, play your music, put iPhone in your pocket, and walk around your home?

This is for when I'm listening to something on my ATV or Mac (and most often it's not music). My most common scenario is I'm working and watching/listening to something in the background. If I get up to use the bathroom or get a snack or do a quick chore etc, I'd like to continue listening no matter where I go in my home.

Edit-
Another common scenario for me is watching a sports game on my ATV in my living and getting up to do stuff, coming in and out of the living room, and wanting to hear the game even when I can't see the TV.

 

[MacCheetah3]

Alternatively, instead a new pair of headphones, maybe there is a bluetooth range/signal extender?

Supposedly, not really.

Boosting Bluetooth Signals: Do Bluetooth Repeaters Exist? - Easy Tech Solver

In today's world of wireless technology, Bluetooth has become an essential feature in many devices, from smartphones and headphones to cars and home

easytechsolver.com

My bluetooth Airpods and RF Senns start cutting out as soon as I go into another room. I tried searching online for headphones that can stay connected throughout a home, I suppose via wifi, but not finding anything.

https://www.tomsguide.com/audio/over-ear-headphones/whatever-happened-to-wi-fi-headphones

Beyond power consumption, there’s no widely adopted Wi-Fi wireless audio standard — several proprietary ones though (e.g., HED Tech Unity). Additionally, and perhaps the reason for the lack of a standard (thus far), is that Wi-Fi in general doesn’t seem to be the take-all solution:

Wi-Fi Interference​

One common problem with wi-fi is stability. I’ve experienced frustrating cutouts and disconnects from the network and stream intermittently – but especially when I walk a distance from the wi-fi router.

I live in a city and in a neighborhood with a lot of wireless traffic. From my bedroom I can see more than three wi-fi networks available and my own isn’t even the strongest. It’s possible that the tiny size and efficiency of the wi-fi chip relies on a stronger signal. But generally, I’ve experienced intermittent cutouts from other wi-fi devices. I’d recommend a good strong wi-fi router if you’re in an area with lots of potential interference.

Koss STRIVA Pro Wi-Fi Headphone Review

Koss wants to revolutionize how we all listen to headphones with its new STRIVA wi-fi headphones. Read full review now.

www.audioholics.com

 

[Royksöpp]

Why not just connect your AirPods to your iPhone, play your music, put iPhone in your pocket, and walk around your home?

 

[subjonas]

Supposedly, not really.

Boosting Bluetooth Signals: Do Bluetooth Repeaters Exist? - Easy Tech Solver

In today's world of wireless technology, Bluetooth has become an essential feature in many devices, from smartphones and headphones to cars and home

easytechsolver.com

https://www.tomsguide.com/audio/over-ear-headphones/whatever-happened-to-wi-fi-headphones

Beyond power consumption, there’s no widely adopted Wi-Fi wireless audio standard — several proprietary ones though (e.g., HED Tech Unity). Additionally, and perhaps the reason for the lack of a standard (thus far), is that Wi-Fi in general doesn’t seem to be the take-all solution:

Koss STRIVA Pro Wi-Fi Headphone Review

Koss wants to revolutionize how we all listen to headphones with its new STRIVA wi-fi headphones. Read full review now.

www.audioholics.com

Great info thanks!
It looks like WiFi headphones just aren't a thing. The HED Tech Unity seems to only do music by connecting directly to a streaming service which is very limited use. Same with the Koss but also that doesn't seem to be sold anymore. The Sonos Ace comes very close but it requires using a Sonos Arc soundbar which I don't want to do, especially not with my Mac.

But the Tomsguide article reminded me that the Sonos Move 2 and Roam 2 are portable WiFi speakers. I'll have to look into those to see if they are viable options for me.

 

[eyoungren]

Here is the solution I use…

Sena Parani UD100 with a 1000 meter antenna. It's a BT4.0 USB device. I have three. There is a terminal command to force a Mac to use the USB BT stick instead of the internal BT. The default snub antenna is 300 meters.

Sena Parani UD100

I have a two story house and have never had an issue walking around while playing music from my Mac Pro downstairs.

Oh - the pics show Windows, but the device functions just fine on Mac in the exact same way as stock Bluetooth.

MODS: The above eBay auction is not mine. I am not selling anything, just showing a link to a product on eBay. I have no affiliation with the vendor.

 

[subjonas]

Here is the solution I use…

Sena Parani UD100 with a 1000 meter antenna. It's a BT4.0 USB device. I have three. There is a terminal command to force a Mac to use the USB BT stick instead of the internal BT. The default snub antenna is 300 meters.

Sena Parani UD100

I have a two story house and have never had an issue walking around while playing music from my Mac Pro downstairs.

Oh - the pics show Windows, but the device functions just fine on Mac in the exact same way as stock Bluetooth.

MODS: The above eBay auction is not mine. I am not selling anything, just showing a link to a product on eBay. I have no affiliation with the vendor.

Interesting, I never knew this existed. I'll definitely have to look into it, thanks 🙏

 

[eyoungren]

Interesting, I never knew this existed. I'll definitely have to look into it, thanks 🙏

Sure. I found out because I was working inside one of my Mac Minis and borked the internal BT antenna. At the time, I already knew about USB BT dongles because I used one for my old Quicksilver. The bonus in finding the Parani is that it allows multiple connections at one time.

Technically, it's for industrial use and so the price kind of reflects that. But they work fantastic.

PS. The link was primarily to show you what the device looks like with the extended antenna. Most retail sites on the internet don't seem to include that longer antenna. But you can buy the device just about anywhere.