One speaker from stereo pair stops working

Hi,

I have a pair of Play:1's in my kitchen, configured as a stereo pair.

Several times now (maybe, on average, once every 2 weeks), the right speaker stops working. Once it stops, it never comes back and the only way I can get it to come back is to separate the pair, and recreate it. This (so far) has worked immediately every time, so it appears the speaker itself works fine (in fact, when I separate it, I can always play music directly on it).

I have a couple of other pairs of Play:1's in my setup, and only ever get this problem with the same, right, speaker in my kitchen zone. Nether speakers are wired.

Any ideas why I keep getting this problem? For Sonos support, my Diagnostic confirmation number is: 603946054.

Thanks.

Hi there,

Thanks for sending in the report. There's some wireless interference showing up in your report which is likely the reason for the audio issues you're having. Please start by changing the wireless channel your Sonos system is using.

It may also help to take a look around your Sonos units for any third party electronics which could be causing interference. Try moving any devices you find away from your speakers and see if that helps.

You could try setting a static/reserved IP address for your all Sonos gear using your router's DHCP page, that stops many odd things from happening.

Same issue here- however one of my pair is wired. both are Play:5, gen1.

The wired unit is the one that stops playing. So i swapped them- guess what- the wired one again stops playing! This has to be software related. So far each time i write into Sonos the answer is 'we detected wireless interference" which is nonsense, because the units are fairly isolated. Also, its the Wired unit that stops! How can it be wireless related???

The units still show online in the app, and have IPs.

I;ve had this setup for over 5 years, and this is the most problematic thing that has come up.

I’m going to add a “me too” to this thread.

I’ve already given them static ip addresses. Every week or two the RH speaker does not play as described by previous users.

A bit tedious to take time to re-pair.

Hi folks,

The majority of the time when one speaker in a stereo pair stops playing it is due to a wireless communication error between the sides of the pair. Please submit a diagnostic report after this happens, then reply here with the confirmation number.

Ok, thanks. My report is 714549676. It’s true my new router is not making me happy as well. It’s possible the issue could be connected. Looking forward to further advice.

Thanks for sending in the report. It looks like you have a couple wireless access points in your home. The access points are running on different wrieless channels. This can make it hard for your Sonos speakers to stay connected and in communication with each other. Also, it seems as if the signal strength is very low on some of your speakers. This could be due to range, or interference from nearby networks running on the same wireless channel.

I'd recommend getting all of your access points on the same wireless channel. Channel 6 seems to be the best in your area. Try that out and let me know how it goes.

I’ll have a look at that. Thanks.

This is happening to me as well.

My report is 204777147, thank you for your help.

Thank you Stanley for the suggestion and apologies for the tardy response. The static address for each speaker has solved the problem. I think when the router signal is a bit weak where the speakers are located, a static IP address for each speaker (and other devices) makers all the difference.

I'm thinking static IPs for Sonos are most interesting in the variety of issues they solve. I'm hoping someone at Sonos is looking at their issues in this area and trying to find a fix that works.

I'd recommend getting all of your access points on the same wireless channel. Channel 6 seems to be the best in your area. Try that out and let me know how it goes.

Oops, my bad for forgetting your reinforcement of Stanley's solution. Thanks Jeff as well!

I’m having the same problem after updating my speakers this morning. The right speaker in my living room pair won’t play. If I unpair, they both play fine independently. If paired, the right speaker won’t play. Diagnostic number is 1924058670.

Mark,

As it is the weekend, you’re not likely to get a response to your diagnostic here in the forums, those folks are M-F. You can wait till Monday, or you have the option to hit them up via Twitter or Facebook, where the support is 24/7.

Having the same issue. Diagnostic # 1235254777

HI hunterdog66,

There's quite a bit of wireless interference showing up in your report. Please try changing the wireless channel your Sonos system is using and see if that helps.

I’m having the same problem after updating my speakers this morning. The right speaker in my living room pair won’t play. If I unpair, they both play fine independently. If paired, the right speaker won’t play. Diagnostic number is 1924058670.

Hi there,

Sorry for the delay. In your diagnostic report I see that your home network has multiple access points, and that they are running on different wireless channels. This can make it hard for the Sonos speakers to communicate with each other. Please make sure all of your wireless access points are running on the same wireless channel. I'd recommend channel 6 as it is not very crowded.

Hello, I'm also having the same issue here.

I have a Sonos Beam with Sub and rear speakers (so, 5.1) set up as a room (Lounge) and also two Play:1 speakers grouped as a Stereo Pair at the front, called a different room (Lounge 2), but physically in the same room as the 5.1 speakers, to act as more left/right stereo separation.

In Sonos app, the Room is always grouped so that all of the speakers play together (Lounge + Lounge 2) but I've noticed that the front right Play:1 is often silent. This is one of the Stereo Pair which I added recently to complement the 5.1 Beam system.

There seems to be no reason for that speaker not to work and if I go into the Sonos app and ungroup the rooms, then group them together again, the speaker comes back.

I've tried changing the wireless channel in my router from Auto to channel 6, as suggested above, but it happened again last night.

It's curious that the other people having this issue say that's it's also the right speaker for them too.

I've submitted a diagnostic - Number: 722082023

Can someone look into this for me please?

Thanks

Matt

My RIGHT play1 has also gone silent twice in 6months. Unplug & power up again sorted it completely. Maybe the LEFT is the master and send signals to the right of the stereo pair, then there is a network problem and the right drops off. Don't know how long it was silent before I noticed.

Can anyone let me know what my diagnostics report above said please??

Only Sonos employees can see the diagnostics. You could either call in, or try their support on Twitter or Facebook, or wait here. I would think that on a Tuesday, someone here in the forums would be around fairly soon, I expect Mondays are fairly busy from catching up on the weekend posts.

Can anyone let me know what my diagnostics report above said please??

Hi MattyBur,

In your diagnostic report I see that your stereo paired speakers are losing connection to your wireless network frequently. This may be due to range or wireless interference. There are quite a few networks nearby, so it may help to try changing your network's wireless channel to 1. Also, take a look around your stereo pair for any third party electronics which could cause interference, try moving anything you find away from your speakers and see if that helps.

Hello, thanks for your reply.

So, since then, I've connected both of the stereo pair (Lounge 2) speakers to the router via Ethernet, and disabled WiFi on them, but the problem is still occurring, both when on TV and when playing music.

As before, if I ungroup the rooms and regroup them, the right speaker will come on again, but it will drop off again next time.

I don't understand why this would be, when they're on a wired connection now and not using WiFi.

My router is a Hyperoptic and is fine for everything else.

New diagnosics number is while music is playing and the right speaker isn't working: 361333548

Could you let me know what's going on here please? Thanks, M

Won't hurt anything to set static/reserved IP addresses for your Sonos devices from your router's DHCP page, power down Sonos, reboot router, power up a wired Sonos and then your other Sonos stuff at minute intervals. Might help, might not, won't hurt.

Hello, thanks for your reply.

So, since then, I've connected both of the stereo pair (Lounge 2) speakers to the router via Ethernet, and disabled WiFi on them, but the problem is still occurring, both when on TV and when playing music.

As before, if I ungroup the rooms and regroup them, the right speaker will come on again, but it will drop off again next time.

I don't understand why this would be, when they're on a wired connection now and not using WiFi.

My router is a Hyperoptic and is fine for everything else.

New diagnosics number is while music is playing and the right speaker isn't working: 361333548

Could you let me know what's going on here please? Thanks, M

Thanks for trying that. I see some interference on the 5 ghz spectrum which would only affect your rear speakers and Sub. Take a look around those for any electronics which could be interfering with the 5 ghz signal.

For your stereo pair, I see that the errors are with the connection to your Mac. Is your Mac going to sleep while you are playing from it? Please check the computer's sleep settings in the energy settings page of the Mac's system preferences. Make sure it is set to never go to sleep and to not put the hard drive to sleep.

If these steps don't help, it would be best to continue troubleshooting this live with our phone team. You can find our phone number and hours here.

Sign up

Login to the community

Scanning file for viruses.

This file cannot be downloaded