Question

Sonos Beam + Alexa: "Didn't find any smart home device" issue

  • 9 September 2020
  • 26 replies
  • 787 views

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Hi!
Alexa, only and exclusively on the Beam soundbar, seems that doesn’t recognize anything because she tells me “Didn't find any smart home device, go to Alexa App to the section Smart Home to start”.

My actual Sonos + Alexa configuration has: 1 Beam + L/R surround with 2 Sonos One, 1 Sonos Connect, and 1 Echo Dot.

Preamble: I was a Beta program member, but when I've closed my program, the issue has started.
I’ve tried a lot of unsuccessful combinations: by default, my Echo Dot (that is placed in the bedroom) works with every Alexa's smart home device and any music service. 

I’ve tried to factory reset my Beam, and I’ve found that the two Sonos One, removed from the surround and enabled with Alexa, works correctly too.

Also with the factory reset, the Beam doesn’t work. The strange thing is that only the Beam. The other components work correctly.

Obviously I’ve tried this guide: https://support.sonos.com/s/article/3516?language=en, unsuccessfully.

What else I can try?


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26 replies

Userlevel 7
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Ah - hadn’t realised that, I thought that it could do that, so thanks for clarifying.

So I don’t have a Hue Hub, as the Hue bulbs don’t need one and can be controlled directly by Alexa.  But my question is can the Beam itself turn these on and off or does a real Echo unit have to do it?

If Beam can, then I can bring my bulbs into the house, get them discovered and put them back, and let the Beam control them.  if not then I have to buy a Hue Switch or Hub, as the Echos are in the house like 20-30 yards away and they don’t quite stretch that far.

The Beam will be able to control them as long as Alexa has discovered them and they are ‘on-line’ from an Alexa viewpoint.

Hue bulbs, of which I have loads, use a Zigbee wi-fi protocol to communicate with each other.  You can either control them via your phone & bluetooth (Latest bulbs only), via a Hue dimmer switch or via a Hue hub. The Echo Show can also act as a Zigbee hub, not sure if you have one of these? Do you have the same wi-fi coverage in your garden room that Alexa is connected too? 

Personally I would recommend getting the Hue dimmer switch as least.

Userlevel 7
Badge +17

It seems you are using bluetooth to command Hue. Your Beam has no bluetooth capability so it cannot turn your lights on.

A Hue Bridge would work - I use it with my Sonos devices and Google Assistant. With a Hue Bridge commands are sent via the Bridge’s Zigbee network.

Another possibility might be the Echo dots, if they would be bluetooth capable. As I don’t use Alexa I’m not sure this would work.

Ah - hadn’t realised that, I thought that it could do that, so thanks for clarifying.

So I don’t have a Hue Hub, as the Hue bulbs don’t need one and can be controlled directly by Alexa.  But my question is can the Beam itself turn these on and off or does a real Echo unit have to do it?

If Beam can, then I can bring my bulbs into the house, get them discovered and put them back, and let the Beam control them.  if not then I have to buy a Hue Switch or Hub, as the Echos are in the house like 20-30 yards away and they don’t quite stretch that far.

Userlevel 7
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Same here - new Sonos Beam arrived today, all setup nicely on Ethernet (it’s in a garden room away from house WiFi), it streams music, connects to the TV and responds to general Alexa commands.

I have 4 Hue lights in the room. I asked Alexa to discover devices and it found none.  Over and over again.  By some fluke, on one attempt one of the Hue lights in the room connected to an Echo at the edge of the house, but not the others - Sonos Beam can turn that on and off, but the Beam simply cannot discover any devices on its own.

(I know it connected to a house Echo, as the Alexa app says so)

Hi

The Beam doesn’t discover the devices, Alexa does this - I know you are asking Alexa via your Beam but the searching for devices is not a Sonos function. Are the Hue lights listed in the Hue App and the Alexa App?  Do you have a Hue Hub?

Same here - new Sonos Beam arrived today, all setup nicely on Ethernet (it’s in a garden room away from house WiFi), it streams music, connects to the TV and responds to general Alexa commands.

I have 4 Hue lights in the room. I asked Alexa to discover devices and it found none.  Over and over again.  By some fluke, on one attempt one of the Hue lights in the room connected to an Echo at the edge of the house, but not the others - Sonos Beam can turn that on and off, but the Beam simply cannot discover any devices on its own.

(I know it connected to a house Echo, as the Alexa app says so)

Turns out the issue of connecting the speaker back can be resolved by turning off routers 5ghz channel then turning back on afterwards.


Tried this on mine and it didn’t fix it. Will have to wait for the update I guess. 

Do you have this working now as I have the same issue?

 

Thanks

Has the update been completed?

Is the update for Alexa, Sonos or something else?

I purchased the Sonos Beam today and have the same issue.

Turns out the issue of connecting the speaker back can be resolved by turning off routers 5ghz channel then turning back on afterwards.


Tried this on mine and it didn’t fix it. Will have to wait for the update I guess. 

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Turns out the issue of connecting the speaker back can be resolved by turning off routers 5ghz channel then turning back on afterwards.

 

the issue with Alexa and Sonos control seems to be linked to how they communicate , seems it’s beta related (even though beta replaced with current release software) and likely to be fixed with a Sonos update in a couple of weeks.

 

I have created a new Alexa account and linked to test and that works fine so just waiting for software update to fix so I can use my main Alexa account.

 

support were helpful but did just get to do everything I had already done to try to fix it so just ended up wasting another hours of my time, I had told them what I did but guess they don’t trust you to know what you are doing 

Add me to the pile with this issue

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So i stupidly decided to factory reset one of the ones that was on its own, now the Sonos app cant find it and I am unable to add it back to my system.

 

Really wishing i hadnt taken part in the beta as that seems to have borked my whole system - at least from when i reverted back to the non beta software

Have finally managed to get the Sonos One connected back , had to turn off all other speakers other than the move and then connect to home wifi setup, took an aged to get sorted - Alexa stil dwont control any devices or start services on that speaker (or  any other one) either so im out of ideas as the possible things I can try to fix it

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So i stupidly decided to factory reset one of the ones that was on its own, now the Sonos app cant find it and I am unable to add it back to my system.

 

Really wishing i hadnt taken part in the beta as that seems to have borked my whole system - at least from when i reverted back to the non beta software

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I have also contacted amazon who said I can also see from our side that you do have everything successfully set up and connected to Alexa’ but will refer to their advanced technicians

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Rebooted router

Rebooted 2 x wired network switches

Rebooted room 1 (1 by 1 ) - Beam / Sub / 2 x Ones

Rebooted room 2 - Beam

Rebooted room 3 - Move

Rebooted room 4 - One

Rebooted room 5 - One

 

Unfortunately still doesnt work with same message

 

Then for good measure disabled sonos skill and deregistered all devices from amazon alexa , removed alexa from Sonos via S2 app and then re enabled skill and enabled alexa on s2 app.

 

Still broken ….. Alexa on Sonos will reply to any qustions i ask her but will not control any devices or start any music services

 

I submited another diagnostic - 1756944783

Userlevel 7
Badge +20

All my Sonos devices show as offline in the Alexa app , also when I ask Alexa to play music. Eg Alexa play planet rock radio she repeats my request as if working normally the. Says sorry that device is offline

Can you try rebooting these devices, allowing each to fully boot before moving to the next:

Router

Any wired network switches

Any wired connected devices

Any wireless connected devices

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All my Sonos devices show as offline in the Alexa app , also when I ask Alexa to play music. Eg Alexa play planet rock radio she repeats my request as if working normally the. Says sorry that device is offline

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810021618

Userlevel 7
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Can you submit a diagnostic and post the number here.

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This has started doing this for me tonight , echo devices work fine only seems an issue with Sonos , I did just revert from a beta trial to regular Sonos app, have reset everything , disabled skills etc , None of my Sonos devices work anymore - have several ones and beams

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Can you try powering the Beam off for 1 min and then power back on?

Same issues..!

Userlevel 7
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Can you try powering the Beam off for 1 min and then power back on?

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Does asking the time work?

Another things that I’ve noticed is that Alexa shows me the Beam offline. But it’s actually live.

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Does asking the time work?

Yes, it works!

Userlevel 7
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Does asking the time work?

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Have you checked that the mic hasn't been turned off by mistake?

Absolutely, also because the “Alexa” command is recognized without a problem.

 

Plus, I noticed that if I say “Alexa, turn up the volume”, it seems that it’s trying to do something (the led blinks for 5/6 seconds), but at the end, it doesn’t do anything (the volume remains at the same level) whitout any alert.