There have been quite a number, over the last several years, threads about issues with BT smart hubs. Not being a resident of the UK, I’ve not paid a ton of attention, other than the common reply of using SonosNet instead of their Wi-Fi. 

Yeah I had a read through that thread from a couple of years ago. This issue is where SonosNet is so good. Most of my speakers use this via my boost. I do have some Roams, a Move and the Era 300 and 100 though, which are subject to this issue.

Yea, I expected you to come back with that To my recollection, spotty at best, was that most cases were resolved by new software from BT. But you’re likely to get better data from folks like @Ken_Griffiths , who I think uses BT, at least not when he’s caravaning around (do you Brits use that as a verb?) we call them trailers, or recreational vehicles, not caravans ;)

Yeah I’m hoping some of my fellow Brits will advise if they have this issue which would then point to BT mucking things up again. I’m just glad a lot of my system is on SonosNet! 
Yeah we do use the word Caravan for what you call Trailers

@Corry P - as you’re in the UK, do you have any info on this?

Sorry I’m with virgin media, not BT, but my daughter & son-in-law are with BT and they much prefer to run their setup on SonosNet as they too have noticed that some speakers disappear/reappear due to issues with SSDP discovery across the different WiFi LAN segments. I understand that it may vary with firmware updates. So now they use a Sonos Boost, but they’ve recently added an Era-300 to their setup which doesn’t use SonosNet so I’m waiting to see if it causes them any issues as it doesn’t use SonosNet - I guess time will tell, but all has been okay so far.

The back end of a lorry is what I know as a Trailer … ha

Or a Trailer can be something like this, that’s towed behind a car…

Uneducated Brits ;)

Thanks @Ken_Griffiths 

I have only had this issue in the past week or 2 hence why I thought it could be that recent software update. SonosNet is an advantage with the silly BT routers!

It will be interesting to see if your daughter has any issues with her Era 300 in the app.  The annoying thing is the speakers are clearly connected to the network ok - they just don’t show, or show disconnected in the app!

There’s a reason we had a July 4 celebration over here….

But in all honesty, it’s lovely to be able to joke with other members of this community on occasion. There really is no malice behind my thoughts…that I’m aware of ;)

At least we can pronounce both the i’s in aluminium.

Haha, good comeback!

Yes, that sounds rather like an SSDP ‘device discovery’ issue. One answer is to ‘bridge’ the BT router and simply use it as a modem and just put your own router off that ISP provided device, or another option is to switch off the BT routers WiFi adapters and use your own WiFi mesh hub system, bridged to the BT router instead and use that WiFi network in AP (access point) mode. Both types of setup will come at a cost of course, but more often than not, will resolve the device discovery issue. A third option is to consider switching ISP provider. However…

Sometimes it can be the mobile Sonos controller device that’s having a difficult time discovering the Sonos products on the local network subnet …and that’s most often due to security software running on the mobile/tablet, such as VPN client/Firewall/Antivirus software etc. so it’s worthwhile just seeing what happens when trying a different Sonos controller device, just to eliminate it being the mobile controller before looking at the other options mentioned.

@SarahN,
Just to also say if using SonosNet, then ensure the BT router is not using the same WiFi channel. Also set the BT routers 2.4Ghz band to a non-overlapping channel 1, 6 or 11 and switch the channel-width on that band to 20Mhz only (highly recommended) as that greatly reduces interference. You can leave the 5Ghz band alone and if the issue persists, then just as a temporary measure you could consider switching off the routers 5Ghz band and just put all on the 2.4Ghz band - that tends to solve the discovery issue with some BT routers, but it’s not an ideal long term method to use.

Some users believe too that it’s worthwhile reserving all Sonos IP addresses in the routers DHCP reservation table - it’s worth doing, but it is optional.

Hope the suggestions help.

@Ken_Griffiths  - thanks for your replies 

So regarding SonosNet, I do keep any eye on the 2.4 WiFi channel and make sure it’s set to a different one to my own router and my very nearby neighbour. Like I say though, I never have an issue with my SonosNet speakers.

Not sure I fully understand your points about using my BT Router as a modem only - sorry I’m not very technical about these kind of things. One thing I do know though, is that if any of my WiFi only speakers are connected to my BT WiFi disc upstairs (this is the black disc that BT make to use off the BT HUB router), then that also is OK for some reason………..

Regarding the controller device, it isn’t that as this problem happens with both my Android phone and my iPad.

The update on the BT hub was done on 29/06 and I think that might coincide with this issue but I cannot be sure.

Oh the other thing I did last night was to change the Wireless Mode to Mode 2 - I did used to have it set to this but a few weeks ago, I changed it to Mode 1. Maybe this will help? 

I’m not sure what mode 1 and 2 are that maybe something that BT use - ISP provided routers are very rarely the best equipment to use and some have what is called Bridge or Modem mode where the router behaves like a modem and passes the WAN connection along to your own router … if you decide to go down that route at any point in the future. This forum link explains a little more about the process…

https://business.forums.bt.com/t5/Blogs/Advantages-of-using-bridge-mode-on-BT-Smart-Hub-2/ba-p/88650

Thanks @Ken_Griffiths 

Hi @SarahN 

It has been a while, but as far as I remember, Mode 1, 2 and 3 refers to WiFi 802.11 b, g or n, respectively. We used to set it to Mode 2 for the best operation, though that was before Sonos started making better use of 5GHz.

I also remember having to turn both UPnP options off.

Regarding firmware versions/changes, however, I am not up-to-date.

I do agree with @Ken_Griffiths, however - if you pay about £50 or more for a router, you will get better results than from using a free router. If you have BT extenders, however, the answer may be a bit more convoluted, but a proper mesh system will likely perform better (BT Wholehome is not a “true” mesh system).

I hope this helps.

Thanks @Corry P  - I have just turned off the UPnP thingy.

I will leave the Mode set to 2 I think as since doing that, it seems more stable (that could of course be a coincidence) 

Just to add if you have BT’ digital voice and a phone plugged into the router then you are stuck with using the supplied BT trash until such time you move ISP.

Hi @Belly M 

That’s a very good point, though you could plug both a phone and a second router into your BT router. Just disable DHCP, firewall and WiFi on the BT router and you’re good to go.