Coordinator device for paired or consolidated players

A system comprising:

• a first playback device;
• and
• a second playback device, wherein the first playback device and the second playback device are devices in a zone group of playback devices, wherein playback devices in the zone group of playback devices are configured to render audio content from an audio source in synchrony;
• and wherein a device in communication with the system is configured to:
• analyze a wireless interface performance metric of the first playback device;
• receive a wireless interface performance metric of the second playback device;
• based on a comparison between the wireless interface performance metric of the first playback device and the wireless interface performance metric of the second playback device, (a) receive the audio content from the audio source, and (b) forward at least a portion of the received audio content to the second playback device during rendering of the audio content by the zone group of playback devices;
• after forwarding the at least the portion of the received audio content to the second playback device, determine that the wireless interface performance metric of the second playback device is higher than the wireless interface performance metric of the first playback device;
• and
• based on the determination that the wireless interface performance metric of the second playback device is higher than the wireless interface performance metric of the first playback device, configure the first playback device to stop forwarding at least a portion of the received audio content to the second playback device during rendering of the audio content by the zone group of playback devices.

A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions executable by a computing device to cause the computing device to perform functions comprising:

• comparing a wireless interface performance metric of a first playback device to a wireless interface performance metric of a second playback device, wherein the first playback device is a part of a zone group comprising at least the first playback device and the second playback device, and wherein the zone group is configured to render audio content from an audio source in synchrony;
• based on the comparison between the wireless interface performance metric of the first playback device and the wireless interface performance metric of the second playback device, configuring the first playback device to (a) receive the audio content from the audio source, and (b) forward at least a portion of the received audio content to the second playback device during rendering of the audio content by the zone group;
• after forwarding the at least the portion of the received audio content to the second playback device, determining that the wireless interface performance metric of the second playback device is higher than the wireless interface performance metric of the first playback device;
• and
• based on the determination that the wireless interface performance metric of the second playback device is higher than the wireless interface performance metric of the first playback device, configuring the first playback device to stop forwarding at least a portion of the received audio content to the second playback device during rendering of the audio content by the zone group of playback devices.

A method comprising:

• comparing, via a computing device, a wireless interface performance metric of a first playback device to a wireless interface performance metric of a second playback device, wherein the first playback device and the second playback device are joined into a zone group of playback devices comprising at least the first playback device and the second playback device, and wherein the zone group of playback devices is configured to render audio content from an audio source in synchrony;
• based on a comparison between the wireless interface performance metric of the first playback device and the wireless interface performance metric of the second playback device, configuring the first playback device to (a) receive the audio content from the audio source, and (b) forward at least a portion of the received audio content to the second playback device during rendering of the audio content by the zone group of playback devices;
• after forwarding the at least the portion of the received audio content to the second playback device, determining that the wireless interface performance metric of the second playback device is higher than the wireless interface performance metric of the first playback device;
• and
• based on the determination that the wireless interface performance metric of the second playback device is higher than the wireless interface performance metric of the first playback device, configuring the first playback device to stop forwarding at least a portion of the received audio content to the second playback device during rendering of the audio content by the zone group of playback devices.