Question

long delays in starting radio playback through alexa on sonos

  • 22 October 2017
  • 22 replies
  • 1962 views

Since connecting to public beta we are facing long delays between requesting playback of radio and it actually playing on the sonos device. This is after having previously been using dot via line in with limited issues re response times. When i look at the sonos app it shows connecting but takes up to 30 seconds to connect. If i select through the dot and playback there is no delay and if i simply use the app there is no delay on starting playback on a device but using voice has these long delays. This is not every time but happens a lot when i first connect - is this buffering issue? Music playback is fine. Broadband speed is 30mb fibre

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22 replies

Userlevel 2
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do you still have the line in connected ?

If it is, it can seem like a delay as you cant hear the Echo's responses as they wont come out of the echo with the cable plugged in, and they wont come out of the Sonos as its muted during Echo's response phase.
No - I am no longer using line in as it didn't work well following beta launch

I request radio on kitchen and the dot says it is playing on kitchen and then it takes forever to actually connect

In that time i get the app out to see if it knows what it is doing and it simply says connecting underneath the radio icon

if i then simply select it separately from my sonos radio stations it plays immediately

So this is the length of the delay - enough to get phone out, open app and select an alternative
Userlevel 2
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I have the same problem with my new Sonos One. Interestingly I DON'T have the same problem with other Alexa-enabled devices playing the radio through Sonos
I have exactly the same problem connecting my echo dot to a Play 5. When I ask it to play a radio station Alexa replies correctly but most times it takes forever to play and sometimes not at all. You can watch it in the app trying to connect. I wonder if is a problem when the Play 5 has been previously playing from a different source such as Spotify.
I have the same issue but can be with any Alexa device. I have two dots and Sonos One Alexa acknowledges and says Eg “Playing Radio 4 on Tunein in Kitchen” then takes ages to connect and sometimes not at all! Once connected it will work ok, but if system not used for little while back to square one,
Userlevel 1
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Same here when I request BBC radio 6. Takes up to 20 seconds to connect to 225.648 (can see this in the sonos app). Works nearly instantly when I select the radio manually from the sonos app. Is Alexa looking at different links in tunein?
Userlevel 2
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Sonos - would be good to hear some thoughts from you on this... ??
Userlevel 1
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Getting lots of dropouts today on radio 6 through Alexa, but not if selected manually through sonos app? Anybody else experiencing this ?
Userlevel 3
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Same here for Radio 2 and Radio 4.
Userlevel 7
Badge +26
Hi guys, thanks for the details. It sounds like the radio station stream that's being selected by Alexa might not be the same streams selected by Sonos when you play through the app.

We'd love to get a closer look here, so if you get this often, can you give us a call on our support line and a technician will take a look with you?
I get the same issue - long delay between asking Alexa to play radio 1,2,6 in the kitchen. Maybe an update needed?
Userlevel 2
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Chiming in to agree.
I have the same issue, long delays, drop outs, no audio after a request, requests to use radio player instead just gives silence.
Gone back to my old echo tower and turned off Alexa on Sonos speaker.

Mostly using BBC radio 1-4 in the UK. Echo works fine.
Badge +1
Also having this issue using a full-size Echo. Alexa responds to the request properly, but the Sonos ether takes ages to connect, or doesn't connect at all...
Also having this issue, selecting BBC Radio 2 via Sonos App plays instantly. Asking Alexa to play BBC Radio 2 in say the Kitchen (Sonos Play 5) results in a long delay 30 seconds or more and in some cases I have to ask it again to get it to play. Also experiencing dropouts from time to time on BBC Radio 2 stream when launched via Alexa and don't get this when launched via the App. Obviously a stream issue as discussed. Im running on a 1Gbps symmetrical internet link so no speed/latency issues.
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Seeing this same issue here, after the latest update (yesterday). 8.1.1 seemed to trigger this issue, 38946251 is the update to 8.1.1. Not all the time but definitely frequent.
Userlevel 1
Badge +2
Same issue here in relation to delays and drop outs - I am usually asking for radio 2 and the stream alexa eventually selects - as observed on the app - is called something like "Radio 2 - Horwich" - interestingly if I then use the app to select Radio 2 from my favourites - the "Horwich" bit disappears, the new stream starts but is usually about 2-3 seconds behind the stream Alexa had selected. Does that explain why the Alexa stream drops out from time to time?
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I get issues with BBC Radio 2 via the TuneIn skill too. When connecting via Alexa, it can take some considerable time before sound starts to through the Sonos speaker. Pretty flaky to be honest. It would be ideal to know what's going on. Also, is there a U.K. support number we could call, rather than the US number advertised by Ryan S?
Assuming you're talking about Sonos support, I'm pretty sure you should be going to the UK version of the site, by going to https://www.sonos.com/contact

Let's see if I can get the specific UK site directly. Ah, here it is. Not UK, but GB.

https://www.sonos.com/en-gb/contact
And on the linked page from that: Call us on 0800 026 1526
Mon - Fri 9am - 5pm
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Thank you Airgetlam.?
No messages on this thread for the last month. I have tried playing radio on Sonos One via Alexa and Tune in takes about 5 seconds to connect. Radio player ( my preferred player) says it’s connected then silence. Both fine via the app.
Has anyone had this issue resolved or are you just waiting for an update?