Sonos One: Voice control for Sonos is not supported in your country, yet

I live in finland, Alexa is not supported here either but I successfully setup Alexa and now using it.
the trick is to have a VPN connected to any of UK, US or DE and set your country for digital content on your amazon account to UK, US or DE.

To enable Alexa voice, just go to your Sonos profile https://www.sonos.com/myaccount/profile/ click Edit profile and change your Address info to UK, US or Germany. You should then see Alexa voice control in the Sonos app under More > Voice services.

Yes I already did that: More > Voice services > Amazon Alexa > Add to Sonos > Connect you Amazon Account... and then I'm connected to http://www.amazon.it or Amazon Italy, which doesn't allow me to get into my Amazon UK account...

Hello there, everyone.

Thanks for reaching out. Amazon Alexa is working with Sonos One in the US, UK, and Germany at the moment, but we don’t support any other countries just yet. We wouldn’t recommend trying voice out in other countries, but if you have a Sonos One elsewhere in the world it’ll work great with Sonos, just not for voice. It’ll also be voice ready when services become available in your country.

Hi all,

I live in Italy and received my first Sonos One as a present. I have an Amazon UK account but cannot connext connext my Sonos One to it and therefore cannot activate Alexas. If I click "voice services", next "Amazon Alexa", next "Add to Sonos", next "Connect you Amazon Account", then I'm automatically diverted to www.amazon.it which doesn't allow me to insert my Amazon UK Login details.

I'm travelling to the UK in 2 days time, so I'll take my Sonos Onde with me and try to connect it to my Amazon UK account there.

I wonder though if the voice service then will keep working once I get back in Italy, or the next day when I'll be in Belgium? More concrete: will I be able to use Alexa, once my Sono One is linked to my Amazon UK account, for playing my own library music as well as Spotify when being OUTSIDE the UK, the US, Germany and Sweden?

Second, if the answer to my furst question is yes, and if I then would decide to buy another Sonos One to stereo-pair it with my first Sonos One, would I need to also connect this second Sonos One to my Amazon UK account in the UK in order to make it work elsewhere, or will iut just work fine through my first Sonos One?

Thanks!
Adinda

Please read all my posts in this thread. You will find the answear

I'm sorry but I don't see the answers! I've read your posts alkready five times, and I must say I just don't understand most of it. I'm not a geek, I'm a totally ignorant beginner in this field, so I need very clear and straight answers. Help!

Just to be clear: I do have the UK set as country in my Sonos account, and I also have a UK-based Apple ID and an Amazon UK account. I still can't activate Alexa because as I said in my earlier message the Sonos App diverts me to Amazon Italy in which I cannot sign in with my UK login details.

Hello there, everyone.

Thanks for reaching out. Amazon Alexa is working with Sonos One in the US, UK, and Germany at the moment, but we don’t support any other countries just yet. We wouldn’t recommend trying voice out in other countries, but if you have a Sonos One elsewhere in the world it’ll work great with Sonos, just not for voice. It’ll also be voice ready when services become available in your country.

Hi all,

I live in Italy and received my first Sonos One as a present. I have an Amazon UK account but cannot connext connext my Sonos One to it and therefore cannot activate Alexas. If I click "voice services", next "Amazon Alexa", next "Add to Sonos", next "Connect you Amazon Account", then I'm automatically diverted to www.amazon.it which doesn't allow me to insert my Amazon UK Login details.

I'm travelling to the UK in 2 days time, so I'll take my Sonos Onde with me and try to connect it to my Amazon UK account there.

I wonder though if the voice service then will keep working once I get back in Italy, or the next day when I'll be in Belgium? More concrete: will I be able to use Alexa, once my Sono One is linked to my Amazon UK account, for playing my own library music as well as Spotify when being OUTSIDE the UK, the US, Germany and Sweden?

Second, if the answer to my furst question is yes, and if I then would decide to buy another Sonos One to stereo-pair it with my first Sonos One, would I need to also connect this second Sonos One to my Amazon UK account in the UK in order to make it work elsewhere, or will iut just work fine through my first Sonos One?

Thanks!
Adinda

Please read all my posts in this thread. You will find the answear

Hi Redwall,

I do not have Sonos myself but I have done a lot of research since I am interested in the Sonos system. My brother on the other hand does have two Sonos One and two play 5 speaker with Alexa built in and I think I know what you have done wrong.

I myself just like you are rocking an echo dot integrated with Logitech harmony elite, 22 Philips Hue products, TP-link wifi switch. Every product/skill has it own problems. The only one that has been simple is Philips Hue.

I would recommend you to not use the app. Why? I think it is poorly made since you can't even switch colors or delete/forget all devices or scenes in one press which is a pain in the a**. @Amazonalexa - please fix. You can delete/forget/inactivate them one by one but if you have 50 scenes well.... you get the point. AND I can't update the app since I need to take an UK iCloud account to download/upgrade the app. So to save you alot of frustration go with the webb gui (alexa.amazon.com).

Make sure the Sonos speakers run on the same network as the echo dot since it does not support the 5 ghz bandwidth. Go with the regular 2.4 ghz. This setting is configured inside your router and since you have the echo dot already configured (I think) this is already under control.

Configure your sonos setup from within the sonos app. Make sure everything is working within the Sonos app as you wanted before you pair it with the Echo dot. Remember that Alexa is pretty dumb so if you have lets say Philips Hue devices that is named something with Living Room and a Sonos speaker named something with Living Room she will most likely reply. - "I found several devices matching that name, which one did you want" This is so annoying and it ruins the purpose of voice control. Makes me frigging angry. I will soon try the google home. Seams to be much more reliable.

Make sure you have changed to a supported language for an Alexa supported country (UK, USA or Germany. My brother picked English - UK. This unlocked voice for the Sonos One and might be the problem for you too. You will want to do this here: https://www.sonos.com/myaccount/profile/. In the lower left corner there is a small flag. Pick United Kingdom.

Now you will want to link the Sonos Skill and follow the account linking setup. Then head to discover devices and she will probably find your speakers. Now you will be able to say. - "Alexa, play jazz in the living room".

Using VPN will not be needed and it is quite hard to route Alexa through a VPN wifi. I did try this back when I wanted to make the Harmony Skill work for me. I had to choose a workarround called Yonomi. This is Supported for Sonos too. Ceck this http://support.yonomi.co/knowledge_base/topics/using-alexa-and-sonos-together. I am not sure if you can use all the commands but it works good. At least it did as a bridge for my echo and harmony.

Can someone explain why the have region restriction on so many products? Just be honest about not having support. I understand you can't support all countries but common. It is soon 2018. Stop making us find work arounds when we pay a lot of money for your products. Why would for an example Sonos even sell the Sonos One in Sweden in the first place? This is not only critique for Sonos but many smart home device manufacturers.

Sorry for the rant in the end but I am very disappointed with this phenomenon even though I love tech. I love being first among my acquaintances showing of all the cool stuff just making their jaws drop and credit cards glow 🙂. But having stupid flaws that any tester should have come across using the product regularly makes me sad. I would love to help even if it means sending the darn thing back in the end. I spend so much time reading reviews, watching endless of youtube reviews and lately supporting people.

I can live with most flaws since I love tech but the best tester is my girlfriend. If she thinks it is annoying how are "nontechies" supposed to co-op with them?

These companies just want to make money and it is fast. The Sonos echo system works great by itself no questions asked. Same goes for the Philips Hue. I have never encountered an easier system to manage. But integrating Alexa ruins the experience.

Peace out 🙂

@FergieBergie, thanks for your response. It is very helpful and kind of you.

So, if i understand you correctly, if i have an Apple account registered in the UK, and Amazon account registered in the UK then i can download the ios app and use Alexa as a voice command to Spotify and any lights etc in the home?

Thanks again

No worries, these things are not so clear 🙂.

You don't need a UK registered Amazon account but an Apple UK account. In the sonos app make sure to set the language/location to UK since this enables voice for the Sonos One.

Hope this helps.
Simon

I got a private message that reminded me of a very important step which I would like to add. If you want to enable voice for the Sonos one. Make sure to change the Sonos profile to an officially Alexa supported country (USA, UK or Germany).

Regards,
Fergie

OK - I'm a little confused on the voice command ability of the Sonos One outside of Germany, UK etc. I live in Ireland and i am still confused as to what works on the voice command. Can someone confirm.

I have a Spotify account and would like to use the One to request music via voice command. Can it do this in a country outside of UK< Germany US etc?

I don't want to order pizza, book a taxi or order from Amazon but i may wish to use the facility to command lights in the house etc. Would the voice command work for this in an unsupported country?

I don't want to pay out the money for a ONE if it is only capable of playing music - There are equally good speakers out there for less money if i have to manually call up songs

Thanks in advance for any support you can provide

We wouldn’t recommend trying voice out in other countries, but if you have a Sonos One elsewhere in the world it’ll work great with Sonos, just not for voice. It’ll also be voice ready when services become available in your country.
Automatically voice ready as soon as Amazon makes Alexa available in a country outside the present lot? Or after some Sonos tweaks or upgrades?

I would imagine that a number of things factor into whether it will work or not.

1. Country the device is registered to - If you register your Sonos device as being in China, you won't have access to US services, music and likely voice as well.

2. IP address - If Sonos and/or Amazon see your IP address as being in China, they may prevent access to their services from those IP addresses. Shouldn't be a problem with a VPN, unless (like Netflix) they block VPN services as well.

3. Country your Amazon account is based in - If your Amazon account isn't based in the US, UK, or Germany, Amazon may not permit you to access Alexa services. I believe those are the only countries at the moment that support Alexa.

I would imagine that Sonos will only sell the Sonos One where services are available. If Google Assistant is available in more countries than Alexa, then maybe they'll open up sales of the speaker to those countries as well once Google Assistant becomes available through it.

For the sake of information:
- Sonos is selling the one in countries that are not supported
- Amazon does not check your IP on the echo devices (I use one perfectly well from the netherlands)
- Making an amazon account located in an alexa supported country is very easy
- It's the first time I hear about "Country the device is registered to - If you register your Sonos device as being in China, you won't have access to US services, music and likely voice as well." Can you please elucidate as this is the first time I hear that Sonos asks you to register a device in a specific country. I have never had a sonos speaker so I don't know.

this
I would imagine that Sonos will only sell the Sonos One where services are available. If Google Assistant is available in more countries than Alexa, then maybe they'll open up sales of the speaker to those countries as well once Google Assistant becomes available through it.
is exactly what amazon is doing with its echo devices, and it makes no sense. People can speak english and german also outside UK USA and Germany. They dont seem to understand that. Thank god Sonos is actually going another direction

Remember, the limitation is Amazon supporting Alexa in your country, not Sonos supporting their speakers in your country.

That is such a shame. I am feeling that Sonos wasn’t just frank with users. This is a letdown that will be remembered. :@
It's a little unfair to blame Sonos. I wouldn't blame Samsung if HBO wasn't available in my region. Sonos is enabling you the ability to access Amazon's Alexa through their device. It isn't really logical to think that would somehow change what restrictions Alexa has.

Sonos is calling the 'Sonos One' "future-ready" or other similar terms for the markets where Alexa isn't currently supported. It's difficult because the coverage of these "digital assistants" is so much more limited than we're used to seeing. Hopefully, with their rapid growth we'll also see rapid expansion to more places.

I would imagine that a number of things factor into whether it will work or not.

1. Country the device is registered to - If you register your Sonos device as being in China, you won't have access to US services, music and likely voice as well.

2. IP address - If Sonos and/or Amazon see your IP address as being in China, they may prevent access to their services from those IP addresses. Shouldn't be a problem with a VPN, unless (like Netflix) they block VPN services as well.

3. Country your Amazon account is based in - If your Amazon account isn't based in the US, UK, or Germany, Amazon may not permit you to access Alexa services. I believe those are the only countries at the moment that support Alexa.

I would imagine that Sonos will only sell the Sonos One where services are available. If Google Assistant is available in more countries than Alexa, then maybe they'll open up sales of the speaker to those countries as well once Google Assistant becomes available through it.