SENA 10S Intercom problems
Discussion
Calling anybody who has a SENA 10S intercom unit or preferably a pair of units to find out if you have regular problems with the intercom function?
I bought a dual paired SENA 10S kit, primarily so my wife and I could communicate with each other when we were out on our bikes.
Ever since these units were first installed we have had regular problems with the intercom function and just wondered if anybody else had experienced similar issues.
The main symptom is that most of the time when you press the button on the unit to start an intercom conversation the intercom does not work properly - in that one party can hear the other, but it is only one way conversation.
Also, it is an intermittent problem and often the intercom works fine - but as soon as you encounter this situation where it doesn't work then the only remedy is to turn one of the units off and on again and wait for them to re-pair - following which the intercom will work perfectly. When I say work perfectly - it will work perfectly at least once, sometimes twice, occasionally 3 times but will eventually fail again, resulting in a need to restart one of the units.
I think I have now exhausted all of the customer service options with SENA and I have to say the customer service team have been very helpful on the phone and also online with chat. In summary, we have updated the firmware with their online website (JESUS THAT TOOK HOURS), done a factory reset on both units and also done the local reset (sticking a paperclip in the tiny hole). Obviously this has taken a while because after each update or reset units need to be reconfigured and then you need to go out and test them on the road.
Both units work very well on the Bluetooth connection to our respective phones for listening to music, and following satnav guidance or making phone calls. Also, when we set off the intercom always works the first time a connection is requested but will fail on a later attempt.
On average I would say the intercom function fails - i.e. no two-way conversation is possible - at least two times out of every three attempts. It is very frustrating because often one of us will press the button to start a conversation and you hear the road noise from the other bike as the connection opens up so you think it's going to work and then the other rider start speaking, but it's clear they cannot hear you, or vice versa.
Just to be clear, this isn't a situation where the unit gives the message "intercom failed" - the intercom definitely connects and it cuts off the music for the other rider, but the microphone from one of the units does not connect. And as I say, it can be either of the two units that fails, so it's not a case of I always can't hear my wife or she always can't hear me. It will be one or the other.
On the occasions when it connects properly the intercom is perfect and if we get a good connection with working intercom. Following a good connection it never fails during that period of conversation, but when we press the button to end the conversation and go back to listening to music there is a very good chance that next time we start an intercom conversation one of us will not be able to hear the other and we will have two restart one of the units.
As a test we once decided to only use intercom and not switch on Bluetooth to connect to our phones. We rode for over an hour having many intercom conversations switching on and off from either end without any problems and thought we had discovered that it was switching from a Bluetooth function to intercom that was causing the issue. But just when we thought we had discovered the problem, one of us called the other and could not be heard. We had to reset the units again.
It's a very annoying fault because if you've got an intercom function then you want to always press the button and speak straightaway not discover that the connection doesn't work and have to turn the unit off and on again by which time what you had to say might be irrelevant anyway.
We have had these units are couple of months now and tried very hard to fix the problem, but SENA are saying that we have to send them back to our supplier to be replaced. Which is pretty annoying because we've installed the speakers and microphone in both helmets along with the base units and now have to strip them down again and pack them up. Also, I don't know how long it will take to get the replacements.
So just wondered if anybody else had experienced anything like this with the SENA 10S. I'm quite inquisitive and persistent in trying to fix things. The thing I find most baffling/surprising about this fault is that I would have expected it to be one of the two units to be faulty. But the fault manifests itself in both directions ie I can call my wife on the intercom and she can hear me, but I can't hear her or it can happen the other way round where I can hear her perfectly, but she can't hear me.
The units have loads of other functionality, including music, satnav radio, phone calls etc all of which work perfectly, but the main thing we want is the intercom which is the bit that often doesn't work.
So a bit of a rambling thread and I really should be better at explaining it than this, given all the time I have spent dealing with customer services at SENA. I'm just keen to know if anybody has experienced anything similar with the 10s unit.
I bought a dual paired SENA 10S kit, primarily so my wife and I could communicate with each other when we were out on our bikes.
Ever since these units were first installed we have had regular problems with the intercom function and just wondered if anybody else had experienced similar issues.
The main symptom is that most of the time when you press the button on the unit to start an intercom conversation the intercom does not work properly - in that one party can hear the other, but it is only one way conversation.
Also, it is an intermittent problem and often the intercom works fine - but as soon as you encounter this situation where it doesn't work then the only remedy is to turn one of the units off and on again and wait for them to re-pair - following which the intercom will work perfectly. When I say work perfectly - it will work perfectly at least once, sometimes twice, occasionally 3 times but will eventually fail again, resulting in a need to restart one of the units.
I think I have now exhausted all of the customer service options with SENA and I have to say the customer service team have been very helpful on the phone and also online with chat. In summary, we have updated the firmware with their online website (JESUS THAT TOOK HOURS), done a factory reset on both units and also done the local reset (sticking a paperclip in the tiny hole). Obviously this has taken a while because after each update or reset units need to be reconfigured and then you need to go out and test them on the road.
Both units work very well on the Bluetooth connection to our respective phones for listening to music, and following satnav guidance or making phone calls. Also, when we set off the intercom always works the first time a connection is requested but will fail on a later attempt.
On average I would say the intercom function fails - i.e. no two-way conversation is possible - at least two times out of every three attempts. It is very frustrating because often one of us will press the button to start a conversation and you hear the road noise from the other bike as the connection opens up so you think it's going to work and then the other rider start speaking, but it's clear they cannot hear you, or vice versa.
Just to be clear, this isn't a situation where the unit gives the message "intercom failed" - the intercom definitely connects and it cuts off the music for the other rider, but the microphone from one of the units does not connect. And as I say, it can be either of the two units that fails, so it's not a case of I always can't hear my wife or she always can't hear me. It will be one or the other.
On the occasions when it connects properly the intercom is perfect and if we get a good connection with working intercom. Following a good connection it never fails during that period of conversation, but when we press the button to end the conversation and go back to listening to music there is a very good chance that next time we start an intercom conversation one of us will not be able to hear the other and we will have two restart one of the units.
As a test we once decided to only use intercom and not switch on Bluetooth to connect to our phones. We rode for over an hour having many intercom conversations switching on and off from either end without any problems and thought we had discovered that it was switching from a Bluetooth function to intercom that was causing the issue. But just when we thought we had discovered the problem, one of us called the other and could not be heard. We had to reset the units again.
It's a very annoying fault because if you've got an intercom function then you want to always press the button and speak straightaway not discover that the connection doesn't work and have to turn the unit off and on again by which time what you had to say might be irrelevant anyway.
We have had these units are couple of months now and tried very hard to fix the problem, but SENA are saying that we have to send them back to our supplier to be replaced. Which is pretty annoying because we've installed the speakers and microphone in both helmets along with the base units and now have to strip them down again and pack them up. Also, I don't know how long it will take to get the replacements.
So just wondered if anybody else had experienced anything like this with the SENA 10S. I'm quite inquisitive and persistent in trying to fix things. The thing I find most baffling/surprising about this fault is that I would have expected it to be one of the two units to be faulty. But the fault manifests itself in both directions ie I can call my wife on the intercom and she can hear me, but I can't hear her or it can happen the other way round where I can hear her perfectly, but she can't hear me.
The units have loads of other functionality, including music, satnav radio, phone calls etc all of which work perfectly, but the main thing we want is the intercom which is the bit that often doesn't work.
So a bit of a rambling thread and I really should be better at explaining it than this, given all the time I have spent dealing with customer services at SENA. I'm just keen to know if anybody has experienced anything similar with the 10s unit.
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