I think I've made an expensive mistake.

Every wireless audio system has these issues. And while responses may be faster, solutions may not be better. I have a Dot that is stuttering and the quick response from Amazon was to first power cycle and if that does not work, do a reset. Amazon has no way of running a specific fault finding diagnostic in the way Sonos can. In my case, the stuttering completely stopped before I did any of these things, so now I shall do these actions with hope, the next time this happens. But this shows that the solutions are as hit and miss as broad spectrum antibiotics.

But I agree that Sonos needs to look at staffing of help lines as well as this forum to improve response times/levels. It is a service provider and not just a hardware seller, and needs to meet standards on support that service providers set for themselves, 24/7. Including holiday weekends, because that is when the system will both see most use and can least suffer stoppages. Support of unpaid users ought not to be relied on to achieve acceptable levels of support as is done here, but to improve it to the "Exceeds Expectations" level.

Amazon will replace all the parts. That just might be the best solution.

I'm not sure what that means Amazon will replace the parts. You mean return. If you don't want to bother correcting issue.

The concept I have seen in multiple threads, which causes the most concern, is that many of these issues were not experienced with the product when originally purchased. I am not sure how the company can justify the effort to create constant updates that nobody wants or needs, but they cannot seem to fix the problems associated with those updates. Nobody expects perfection, but as Kumar stated above, consumers deserve available support that is effective. I do not need someone to tell me to turn off the router and turn it on again...I got that from AT&T in the 90's

90% of all problems can be corrected by assigning fixed IP addresses to your network devices. IP addresses - problem for routers in the 90s and problem today. Sonos can't fix issues with routers assigning the same number twice.

I update my Sonos and other network devices consistently and have absolutely no troubles. No matter how many times people want to act like its a Sonos issue it almost always is not. Fix your router. Fix your IP addresses. Troubles gone.

Amazon will replace all the parts. That just might be the best solution.
They did that once for a speaker defect in a Dot, and now I have a free Dot lying at home because it is too expensive for them to pick it up! On which the speaker works these days...so this worked for me:-).

For my specific issue I would not let them do this even if they offered because it is not the solution; I tried replacing Dots in the same location and stuttering continued.

I also agree that with updates exposing network issues that cause system stoppages, Sonos would release far fewer ones than it does. But that seems to be what the market wants, as it gets bored in a hurry with how the app looks and looking old fashioned is supposedly a sales killer these days. I could not be bothered if the app looked and functioned exactly as it did when I bought Sonos in 2011, as the desktop controller largely does, but apparently I am a very small minority that does not crave cosmetic refreshes.

With wireless systems at home, let sleeping dogs lie is always a good idea. Unfortunately, every one of the frequent updates will have them all barking away and breaking things.

All this said, ever since I reserved IP addresses in my router, and used a Boost wired to the router to anchor my Sonos net in 2014, every update has been flawless with no stoppages. The only reason I still hate updates is the consequent forced relearning of how the new looking app works.

Sixth song - Hot damn!!

Chris, here is my issue with the fix you suggest: I should not have to do this. Every single product I have that connects to my Wi-Fi network works seamlessly, with the exception of the Playbar. Fixing my router is not something I should have to go through because I purchased a Sonos product. It is absolutely unacceptable, even if it works, for a user to have to spend time diagnosing issues, wait half an hour on hold, then adjust their router when other products using Wi-Fi and the exact same applications have no issue. That is an inherent problem in how the product connects to the Wi-Fi network on its own, and you cannot expect people with very little IT experience to start messing with router configurations.

Thanks Kumar and Tek_Freek, glad things are working! I will give it a shot.