Question

Beam cutting out

  • 9 August 2019
  • 8 replies
  • 424 views

I’m having intermittent wifi issues and when it drops out my Sonos Beam which is connected to the TV via HDMI ARC drops out as well for a few seconds. Why would that be when it has a direct connection?

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8 replies

It wouldn't have anything to do with wifi issues, as the TV is communicating with the Beam over HDMI.

It's possible, however, if you're having dropouts of surround speakers, it could be as a result of wifi interference in the 5Ghz spectrum, which is what the Beam uses to connect to the surround speakers.

But if it's the Beam itself that is dropping out, that suggests something odd within either the TV, the HDMI cable, or the Beam. I'd start by trying a simple power cycle (by which I mean unplugging the TV from the wall, not just shutting it off with the remote) of the TV.

The next step would be to remove the HDMI cable, at both ends, and then plug it back in. If you have another HDMI cable, try that.

Then I would try a power cycle of the Beam. In the grand scheme of things, this is actually the least likely device to be at fault, it's doing a fairly simple job, but it's worth trying.

You might also want to check to be sure that the TV is running the latest firmware on it. There's always a possibiltiy that an issue has been "fixed" in a later firmware release.

Finally, if none of this works, I would recommend that you submit a system diagnostic within 10 minutes of experiencing one of these dropouts, and either post the number here, or contact Sonos Support to discuss it.

I usually suggest the phone folks, they have more tools available, but are only available Monday through Friday during business hours. Both the Twitter and Facebook support folks are available 24/7.

There may be information included in the diagnostic that will help Sonos pinpoint the issue and help you find a solution.
Sadly this morning my WiFi is not working at all and won’t accept a sign in. The Beam
is cutting out and back in every few minutes but I can’t get a diagnostic because I can’t sign on to WiFi. The joys of a smart home.
While you wait for the WiFi to get fixed in whatever fashion (and hopefully quickly), I'd double check the audio setting on the TV. When connected via HDMI-ARC, the speaker is supposed to tell the TV what format of audio it can accept, I wonder if somehow that isn't working properly. Your TV should be sending Dolby Digital to the Beam.

You already tried the power cycle of the TV, correct?
Diagnostic is 85146561
Great.

The Community moderators won't be around until tomorrow, most likely. Feel free to wait for them to have time to look at it, or contact Sonos Support to discuss it.

Both the Twitter and Facebook support folks are available 24/7.
Yes power cycled telly.

I have two audio settings - HDMI audio format which is a choice of PCM and bitstream - it’s set to PCM - and Audio Format which gives me a choice between Dolby Digital, PCM and DTS Neo2:5. It was set to PCM . I have changed it to Dolby Digital.

Its just cut cut out again when WiFi cut out. I can tell there are WiFi problems because the front light on my Connect flashes. While that happens the Beam cuts in and out. Again it just cut out and back on again and back off and in again within the space of just over a minute.
Interesting.

As I say, the HDMI-ARC connection is supposed to be telling / setting the audio for the TV to send to the Sonos.

I'll keep my eye here on this thread to see what Sonos has to say about that diagnostic.
Cheers. That’s very kind.