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Echo Dot --> Sonos Tunein silent

  • 8 October 2017
  • 6 replies
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M
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Hello,

I have 2 Echo Dots that work fine on their own. I have a Sonos surround system downstairs, Play 1 upstairs. I've connected everything with the Alexa skill for Sonos. I've eliminated any naming conflicts.

Using Amazon Unlimited works flawlessly for me, pushing the music to the Sonos room of my choice. However, using Tunein is another story. If I play tunein on the Echo Dot without pushing it to Sonos, it works fine (I listen to Tunein on the Echo Dot every day). When I try to play Tunein on one of the Sonos rooms, it says it's doing it, but no sound ever comes out of the speakers.

As I said, Amazon Unlimited comes out of the Sonos speakers from the Echo Dot just fine, so the Alexa to Sonos connection is fine. This issue is limited to Tunein. All stations I try. Both of my Sonos room setups. Both Echo Dots being used as the source.

Anyone have any idea how to get Tunein to work properly like Amazon Unlimited is working? I'd love to be listening to these radio stations on the Sonos speakers. Thanks.
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Best answer by macnmotion 12 October 2017, 03:10

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6 replies

V
Userlevel 2
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I've found that some stations will work and some will not. Have you been able to start the station manually through the Sonos app? It's probably worth submitting some beta feedback: https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/beta?=kb2978
M
Userlevel 1
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Thanks for the reply. Stations that do play from the Sonos application on my iMac do not play when I ask Alexa to play them on Sonos, so again I believe this indicates an integration issue, not a Tunein issue. I'll post feedback now.
M
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In case anybody reads this topic, I was able to solve my issue. It's kind of a unique issue but for anyone outside the USA this may be of help.

I love in Asia, and use a VPN with my echo dots to access USA tune in stations. My mistake after linking with the Sonos skill was that I didn't realize that the echo is not sending the Tunein signal to Sonos. It's just telling Sonos which station to go grab and stream from Tunein. However, my Sonos was not on a VPN router. I've switched my Sonos setup to the VPN router, and while it does take up to 45 seconds for some USA stations to load and begin playing, once the stream begins it's flawless.

Chalk this one up to user error, but for anyone casting anything from an Echo to a Sonos speaker, realize that you're just telling Sonos what to do, the Echo itself is not sending the music to the speaker. All streaming takes place on the Sonos, so if you require a VPN for any streaming services, the Sonos system will have to access the VPN.
Airgetlam
Yea, you have to think of Alexa as another controller app, rather than a Sonos source of music. Glad you were able to figure it out.
Bruce
J
I have the same problem but am not using a VPN. Tunein works fine directly from Sonos or Alexa, but when Alexa tells Sonos to play a tunein station, just silence.
D
Same issue here, has anyone resolved this?

Tunein works fine directly from Sonos or Alexa, but when Alexa tells Sonos to play a tunein station, just silence.

It seems strange when I ask Alexa to play ‘radio 2’ the Sonos app reports it is try to play the station ‘89.1 BBC Radio 2 London’ which doesn’t seem to exist when I search for the station directly in the Sonos app. It’s just ‘ bbc radio 2’

Also sometimes the Sonos app states ‘ unable to play xxxxxx - access denied’
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