Alexa on sonos does not stop or pause music

  • 17 May 2018
  • 9 replies
  • 2830 views

Voice command to pause or stop song does not work. Anyone know how to fix this. Just got sonos one yesterday and will return soon if I cannot resolve this.

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

9 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +26
Hi lolombibi, was this working yesterday and has stopped today? There's been an Alexa outage briefly today that was causing trouble on all devices that use Alexa.

If it's not working once Alexa is back up, I'd suggest give us a call on our support line.
Userlevel 2
Badge +1
Hello
I have the same exact issue
When i tell alexa to play a spotify song she will play it but
me: alexa, stop
(nothing happens)
me: alexa, stop
alexa: hmm. I don't know that
me: alexa, pause.
alexa: hmm, I don't know that.

please help
Userlevel 7
Badge +26
What happens if you target it based on the room name? "Alexa, stop in the _____"
Userlevel 2
Badge +1
What happens if you target it based on the room name? "Alexa, stop in the _____"
Hello Ryan.
after i posted here i turned off my router and went to work. when i came back and plugged it back and used alexa, It started working again e.g. alexa can stop and pause with or without stating the room name.
But this issue that's stated above has happened to me twice, I'll try to find out what it causing it, meanwhile let me know if there are steps that i can take to help to find out about it.
Next time when it happens i'll try asking her to stop with the room name.
Userlevel 7
Badge +26
If Alexa is working unreliably, it can be due to network issues and also larger server-side issues. Network-based problems are easier to troubleshoot since you're entirely in control. You'd want to check wireless interference by making sure there aren't too many wireless devices causing noise on the Sonos or your network broadcast. You'd also want to check connection strength and the basic network health. For Alexa commands to work, the microphone has to hear you, then the audio is sent to Alexa servers for it to be turned into text, then the text gets sent to Sonos servers to be translated into a command, and that command is then sent down to your players. Any sufficiently bad communication problem along any point in that path can cause the command to fail.

You can do this in a number of ways, and sometimes just rebooting the router is the easy fix if it's set to automatic settings. You could give us a call on our support line if you'd like to work with a technician to optimize your local network to make sure everything there is working great.

If it's a larger Alexa server issue, most of the troubleshooting is going to be out of your hands. You can see if that's the case by checking other devices that might use Alexa, if you have any. Your mobile phone could have the Amazon Music app which does have Alexa built into it. That's at least one way for you to test the Alexa servers, though it doesn't test everything on the Alexa to Sonos connection.
Same issue, just got the Sonos One and have this issue every few days like clockwork. Works fine and then suddenly cannot stop/pause music anymore. Only solution so far is to disable and then re-enable the Sonos skill in Alexa. Then it starts working again...for a few days anyway.
Userlevel 7
Badge +20
Hi

I wonder if you are experiencing duplicate IP Addresses across your Network. Can you please power down these devices for 5 secs, allowing each to complete the boot sequence before moving to the next device:

- Router
- Any wired network switch
- Any wired Sonos product
- Any other Sonos product
- All other connected network devices - A pain I know!

If this fixes the issue, I suggest that you reserve IP addresses in your Router set-up for your Sonos devices. (I use the range 192.168.0.200 and above for Sonos devices).
Ok I can try that. But if that was the issue, how come simply disabling and re-enabling the Sonos skill in Alexa fixes the issue?
Userlevel 7
Badge +20
Ok I can try that. But if that was the issue, how come simply disabling and re-enabling the Sonos skill in Alexa fixes the issue?

Disabling skill resets the Alexa control and booting the network devices ensure that the Sonos box doesn't have a duplicate IP address across your network. Both can cause issues across network devices.