One speaker from stereo pair stops working


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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.

176 replies

Hi 

I have the same problem where one of my sonos one stops working when two speakers (both sonos one) are paired as a stereo pair. Both speakers are wireless/on wifi. 
 

They can be set up as a stereo pair, but only one of them plays music, which forces me to unpair them and set them up as a group. Unfortunately the group-pairing does not stick which means I have to group them again and again. 
 

Speakers are located approx. 10 meters apart. My network works fine and is a 1000 mbit coax connection – all other streaming from tv/devices has no problems. 
Diagnostics number: 375031593

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Hi @AndersPG, thank you for reaching back to the Sonos Community. I appreciate you for providing us with a detailed concern and for submitting the diagnostic report. Let me help you and figure out what's happening.

Based on the diagnostic, there's interference in your wireless network that may be caused by wireless congestion, an audio dropout was detected in your due to sync error and the audio feed is too slow causing the playback to stop. These network-related issues that may be causing the issue.

Let me suggest the next troubleshooting steps, to perform a sequential reboot of your network devices, all your Sonos products, and force close mobile controllers to refresh the connection. 

  1. A sequential reboot means that we need to do this in order.
    • Unplug your network devices (modem, router, any wireless access points on the network) from the power and wait for 60 full seconds before you plug it back in.
    • Once the router is back online, unplug all your Sonos devices from the power. Please wait 15 seconds before you plug back them back in.
    • Force close the Sonos app from your iOS or Android device.
    • When the status light on your Sonos speakers are solid white, get back on the Sonos app and check if you're connected.
  2. Ungroup your 2 Sonos Ones
    • Start playback on each speaker to check if you will be able to hear the music
    • Run a diagnostic report
  3. Create a stereo pair
    • If you have confirmed that both of the speakers are working individually, create a stereo pair.
    • Start playback and run another diagnostic

Let us know how you get on with the advice above and include the confirmation number of the diagnostic report in your response for us to check. If you have any questions about this. We and the community are always here to help.

Hi @AndersPG, thank you for reaching back to the Sonos Community. I appreciate you for providing us with a detailed concern and for submitting the diagnostic report. Let me help you and figure out what's happening.

Based on the diagnostic, there's interference in your wireless network that may be caused by wireless congestion, an audio dropout was detected in your due to sync error and the audio feed is too slow causing the playback to stop. These network-related issues that may be causing the issue.

Let me suggest the next troubleshooting steps, to perform a sequential reboot of your network devices, all your Sonos products, and force close mobile controllers to refresh the connection. 

  1. A sequential reboot means that we need to do this in order.
    • Unplug your network devices (modem, router, any wireless access points on the network) from the power and wait for 60 full seconds before you plug it back in.
    • Once the router is back online, unplug all your Sonos devices from the power. Please wait 15 seconds before you plug back them back in.
    • Force close the Sonos app from your iOS or Android device.
    • When the status light on your Sonos speakers are solid white, get back on the Sonos app and check if you're connected.
  2. Ungroup your 2 Sonos Ones
    • Start playback on each speaker to check if you will be able to hear the music
    • Run a diagnostic report
  3. Create a stereo pair
    • If you have confirmed that both of the speakers are working individually, create a stereo pair.
    • Start playback and run another diagnostic

Let us know how you get on with the advice above and include the confirmation number of the diagnostic report in your response for us to check. If you have any questions about this. We and the community are always here to help.


Hi Rowena

 

I tried the above mentioned approach. 
 

Under 2 the diagnostics number is 528898578

 

Under 3 the diagnostics number is 969732768

 

I am unfortunately still unable to make a stereo pair with my two Sonos Ones. In the meantime I encountered another problem where a Sonos One and a Beam disappeared from my app completely. They back only when I unplugged them and them turned them on again. 
 

 

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Hi @AndersPG, thank you for your response and for updating us. I’m sorry to hear that you’re still having the same issues after performing the steps that we recommended. At this point, it would be best to understand your network setup and continue working with us over the phone to further check on this. It would be great if you can provide the make and model of your network devices to check compatibility with Sonos and how are they communicate to your network. I recommend contacting our Sonos Customer Care support to perform further troubleshooting and to do some tests on the Sonos app to isolate the issue to provide the best option for you. If you have any questions about this, If you need help with any other information, feel free to reach out. We and the community are always here to help.

Hello,  I just submitted diagnostic report number:   505203605

My system is relatively new,  about 1 month old. I play music often and my older play 3 (right speaker) just started intermittently dropping audio. Router is new and should be very capable of streaming multiple devices. Can you please identify any issues in the diagnostic report?

 

Is there a way to self diagnose issues and read those reports at the user level? 

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Hi @Andrew.rasmussen1

Thank you for reaching out to the Sonos community and for sharing this with us. Let me help you with this.

Based on the diagnostic, there's interference in your wireless network that may be caused by wireless congestion or low wireless range; an audio dropout was detected in your due to sync error, and the other one is a dropped room in one of your rear speakers. These network-related issues may be causing the issue.

Have you performed the steps we provided in this thread? The sequential reboot of your network devices, all your Sonos products, and force close mobile controllers to refresh the connection. Let me provide you the troubleshooting steps.

  1. Sequential reboot to refresh your network and all your Sonos devices connection.
    • Unplug your network devices (modem, router, any wireless access points on the network) from the power and wait for 60 full seconds before you plug it back in.
    • Once the router is back online, unplug all your Sonos devices from the power. Please wait 15 seconds before you plug back them back in.
    • Force close the Sonos app from your iOS or Android device.
    • When the status light on your Sonos speakers are solid white, get back on the Sonos app and check if you're connected.
    • Test playback from your Apple music and observe.
  2. Hardwire one of your speakers to your router.
    • Test playback and observe Sonos performance.
  3. If you have access to your router settings, below are the settings that need to be verified. You can contact your Interner Service Provider or router manufacturer for assistance.
    • The auto channel must be set to Off
    • Choose the best non-overlapping channel (1,6,11)
    • Set channel bandwidth to 20MHz
    • Both 2.4GHz and 5GHz should be enabled
    • UPnP should be enabled
    • 802.11 bands should be set to b/g/n
    • Airtime Fairness should be disabled (if applicable)

If you’re still having the same issue, you may need to contact our phone support team with your full network set up to look into this. Our phone support has the tools to check what's going on in your system and to remotely access your device to address the issue. 

Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns, I'll be glad to assist you. 

Hi, same problem here. Right speaker of setup of two ONEs stops playing, can only be reset by resetting router. Diagnostics report: 1697165304

Userlevel 5
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Hi @HDLA, thank you for reaching out to the Sonos community and for letting us know about your concern. Have you performed the troubleshooting steps provided in this thread? Did it work? If you have already gone through the steps and nothing work, I recommend contacting our phone support to further assist you. If you need help with any other information, feel free to reach out. 

Hi!

I have the exact same problem. The right speaker of my setup of two ONEs is silent while the left keeps playing. 
 

I have two ONEs in the kitchen as a stereo pair and two ONEs in the bedroom as a stereo pair, same issue in both rooms.

The system was working fine with the “old” S1-app and started when i changed to the new S2. 
 

I’ve tried everything that I can think of, also the above instructions.

 

Diagnostics report: 1398258530

Userlevel 5
Badge +16

Hi @Sunne,

Thanks for reaching out to the Sonos community and letting us know about your concern. Let me help you with this.

Based on the diagnostic, shows audio dropout due to sync errors and wireless interference was detected in your Sonos system and it's caused by poor wireless conditions. Wireless interference can occur when two or more wireless devices compete for the same WiFi space.  You can also find instructions on how to reduce wireless interference in our short video.

Here are the steps that you can follow and see if it works for you.

  1. Sequential reboot to refresh your network and all your Sonos devices connection.
    • Unplug your network devices (modem, router, any wireless access points on the network) from the power and wait for 60 full seconds before you plug it back in.
    • Once the router is back online, unplug all your Sonos devices from the power.
    • Please wait 15 seconds before you plug back them back in.
    • Force close the Sonos app from your iOS or Android device.
    • When the status light on your Sonos speakers are solid white, get back on the Sonos app and check if you're connected.
  2. Hardwire one of your Sonos speakers to your router (not your modem).
    • Observe your Sonos system performance.
  3. Separate and re-create stereo pair on your Sonos One's speakers.
    • Observe your Sonos system performance.

If there's no improvement with your Sonos system, I recommend contacting our phone support with your full network setup including the make and model of each device, and for more in-depth troubleshooting steps.

Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns, we'll be glad to assist you.

 

Hi @Sunne,

Thanks for reaching out to the Sonos community and letting us know about your concern. Let me help you with this.

Based on the diagnostic, shows audio dropout due to sync errors and wireless interference was detected in your Sonos system and it's caused by poor wireless conditions. Wireless interference can occur when two or more wireless devices compete for the same WiFi space.  You can also find instructions on how to reduce wireless interference in our short video.

Here are the steps that you can follow and see if it works for you.

  1. Sequential reboot to refresh your network and all your Sonos devices connection.
    • Unplug your network devices (modem, router, any wireless access points on the network) from the power and wait for 60 full seconds before you plug it back in.
    • Once the router is back online, unplug all your Sonos devices from the power.
    • Please wait 15 seconds before you plug back them back in.
    • Force close the Sonos app from your iOS or Android device.
    • When the status light on your Sonos speakers are solid white, get back on the Sonos app and check if you're connected.
  2. Hardwire one of your Sonos speakers to your router (not your modem).
    • Observe your Sonos system performance.
  3. Separate and re-create stereo pair on your Sonos One's speakers.
    • Observe your Sonos system performance.

If there's no improvement with your Sonos system, I recommend contacting our phone support with your full network setup including the make and model of each device, and for more in-depth troubleshooting steps.

Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns, we'll be glad to assist you.

 

 

Hi Rowena.

 

As I said I have tried everything, and i cant seem to find a phonenumber to you for my location. 
 

My system works flawlessly when the ONEs are not “stereo paired”. It takes longer to get the music going but it sounds great. 
The problem starts when i pair them, and whatever speaker i choose as the left one keeps playing music and the right is silent..

For me this sounds like a bug in the software. Mostly because how god everything worked with the old app.. 

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Hi @Sunne, thanks for your response and for updating us. At this point, it would be best to contact our technical support team for more in-depth troubleshooting steps. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have further questions or concerns. We are always happy to help out.

I am having this same thing. I have two Sonos One (2nd gen) in my family room and the “stereo pair” that I create does not work. I have unpaired and re-paried multiple times with no success. It will go thru the whole process and say it’s done, but it does not work. Diagnostic #1528109217. Please help - very frustrating for $200 (each) speakers!

Ah, yes.  This is still happening to me but I gave up trying to get any answers on it.

All Sonos will ever say is that there is ‘interference on my Wi-Fi’, regardless of the fact that I’ve stated many times that the speakers are hired-wired via ethernet and are not using the Wi-Fi.

That’s their stock response though, and means they can blame the user rather than acknowledging any fault on the part of them or their products.

My issue has not resolved after all sorts of attempts. I have finally given up and have the speakers operating independently. 
 

I was considering purchasing the Sonos Arc but have decided to hold off given the lack of customer service on this issue from Sonos. 

There are indeed multiple potential network issues that can cause this, so there is no single answer that would fix all reported cases. 

For instance, simple IP address collisions can equally happen on wired and wireless connections. They’re a result of the router losing its place in the DHCP table, exposed by the soft reboot that Sonos does during the software update process. 

That particular issue is relatively easily remedied, at least in the short term. Simply unplug all Sonos devices from power, and while they are unplugged, reboot the router. Only once the router comes back up should the Sonos devices be plugged back in.

A more permanent solution to that issue, and one that I have done, is to go in to your router’s DHCP table and reserve IP addresses for your Sonos. I actually did it for all my network devices, and left the lower 75 addresses for ‘guest’ devices. Took a couple of minutes to find and read my router’s manual, but I haven’t had an issue since. 

But indeed, that’s not the only potential reason this can happen, just likely the most prevalent. Providing a diagnostic, much like @pdi27 did, can help. And frankly, I don’t expect every customer service rep employed by Sonos to be a true network expert, so I’m willing to invest some time to reach someone who actually understands the issue I’m having, rather than just reading from a script.

Those folks have a tough job, and for me to expect expertise in each and every aspect of the Sonos system seems to be a bit much. If only Sonos were willing to pay engineer money to their CS folks, I might expect higher levels of knowledge, but I’m a realist. And honestly, every interaction I have had has been ultimately positive, although sometimes requiring some patience and invested time.

Hi, I have a Beam and a pair of One SL for stereo. The One SL keeps disconnecting from the setup. This happens on a daily basis. Whenever this happens, I would need to reboot my router and then everything will go back to normal. My diagnostics number is 152563356. Can anyone help me? Thanks!

Hello, diagnostic report: 70461215

 

only one speaker in pair getting music. 

I am having the same issue… One of my paired speakers doesn’t always play music. My confirmation number from the diagnostic test is 1273355924. Thanks.

Same problem here.   I have already gone through phone support as well as Google Wifi support and the whole system is a total mess.   Speaker pairs intermittently not working, rooms intermittently not working or syncing.   Very disappointing to spend all this money on a system and it doesn’t even work properly.  Shame on you Sonos.

Im having the same issue - speakers are great when i set them up as a stereo pair but 9/10 when i come back later, they aren’t paired and only one plays music. I have to break the pair and reset the system in order to ‘fix’ it.

diagnostics - 233280125

 

There are indeed multiple potential network issues that can cause this, so there is no single answer that would fix all reported cases. 

For instance, simple IP address collisions can equally happen on wired and wireless connections. They’re a result of the router losing its place in the DHCP table, exposed by the soft reboot that Sonos does during the software update process. 

That particular issue is relatively easily remedied, at least in the short term. Simply unplug all Sonos devices from power, and while they are unplugged, reboot the router. Only once the router comes back up should the Sonos devices be plugged back in.

A more permanent solution to that issue, and one that I have done, is to go in to your router’s DHCP table and reserve IP addresses for your Sonos. I actually did it for all my network devices, and left the lower 75 addresses for ‘guest’ devices. Took a couple of minutes to find and read my router’s manual, but I haven’t had an issue since. 

But indeed, that’s not the only potential reason this can happen, just likely the most prevalent. Providing a diagnostic, much like @pdi27 did, can help. And frankly, I don’t expect every customer service rep employed by Sonos to be a true network expert, so I’m willing to invest some time to reach someone who actually understands the issue I’m having, rather than just reading from a script.

Those folks have a tough job, and for me to expect expertise in each and every aspect of the Sonos system seems to be a bit much. If only Sonos were willing to pay engineer money to their CS folks, I might expect higher levels of knowledge, but I’m a realist. And honestly, every interaction I have had has been ultimately positive, although sometimes requiring some patience and invested time.

I appreciate your willingness to help and I completely agree - Sonos customer support shouldn’t be expected to be able to fix advanced network issues. But i’d also say a readily available ‘feature’ in an off the shelf speaker shouldn’t break without advanced network knowledge. Reserving IPs, etc is immediately out of the question for 90% of the population, even with step by step walk throughs.

 

Sure….but the Sonos is just like any other network device. It receives the IP address handed to it by the router. There’s not method that I’m aware of for the receiver to recognize whether or not it is receiving a “valid” IP address. 

The issue here is that Sonos reboots itself with every software update. But it still relies on the router to give it a valid address. If the router turns out to be handing out bad IP addresses, there’s no knowledge or recourse that Sonos can implement….and it would be the same with any other network connected device.

Sonos can not fix local network issues problems, that’s up to the owner of the network. Sonos employees can see potential issues in the diagnostic when presented, but  it’s up to the router manufacturer to create the appropriately valid firmware.  

At the end of the day, any networked system like Sonos is only as good as the network it connects to. Network connected devices don’t have the ability to “fix” the network.

 

Left side of stereo pair on Play One stops playing music but can still control volume and play pause.  Diagnostic code is 1356217039.  Thanks in advance for your help.

 

I’m having a similar problem. Diagnostics report number is 46963233.  any tips?

 

thanks

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