Answered

Subwoofer Gen 3 and Surrounds dropping out


Userlevel 4
Badge +3

Hi All,

Hoping to get some support here as Sonos support has been highly disappointing. I have had a Sonos Arc and Sub Gen3 for 7 months and recently added a pair of One SL’s to make the system a compplete 5.1.2. There were no issues initially until last week and quite recently I have started to experience the below symptoms:

 

  1. Sub Gen 3 and Surrounds completely pair out and produce no sound
  2. Produce Lag when a track is played
  3. All speakers show Online in the app (Arc+Sub+LS+RS)  and I dont see “?”
  4. Problem is consistent across platforms when it happens » Playing TV, Apple Airplay, Netflix, Youtube

I have a basic Wifi setup with dual band wifi and mesh that has been there for 6+ months. Initially, I tried rebooting each device which resolved the issue temporarily until it occured again. I then resetted the whole system from scratch starting with Arc, Sub and surrounds each. However, the problem didnt go away. I raised a case with Sonos and to my luck, I came across engineers who dont fully understand the problem and started recommending by shooting in the dark, I did however try all of that:

  1. Changing the Wireless Channel
  2. Hardwiring my Sonos Arc to Router and ensuring each component displays WM0

The problem still continues and experience is that if you let the media play for 15-20 minutes, it reconnects and then few minutes later gets back to problematic state. I have tried every possible combination, tried disabling Wifi Band steering, changing channel to 1, 11, Hardwiring, resetting but nothing seems to work. Neither, I am able to get hold of a qualified technician who fully understands the problem.

 

Unsure, if there is someone in the community who has faced this as mostly the boards I read have Play1’s, etc. I have the diagnostics from when the problem occured as below:

 

  1. 1411405691 » Sub and Surrounds complelety drop out and produce no audio. They show as Online in the App
  2. 1272869643 » Sub, surrounds and Arc are Out of synch and have lag which is easily distinguishable

The case number I have open is ******** . I was told telephonically yesterday that escalation team will be in touch but that hasnt happened. I feel I have wasted 3500 AU$ spent and should have stuck with Bose instead.

 

Would anyone know the escalation matrix in Australia as well?

 

Thanks

K

 

Moderator Note: removed case number

icon

Best answer by Corry P 2 May 2022, 10:06

View original

22 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @kuwarrulz_11 

Thanks for your post!

It looks like you’ve been back in touch since writing this. I’ve directly asked your local tier 2 technician to look at your case, and have also shared with them the following, similar thread here on the community.

I hope we find a solution for you.

Userlevel 3
Badge +2

many of us are in this situation, it's since the update... I hope Sonos will soon publish a fix...

Have you provided a diagnostic to Sonos, and spoken with them?

It’s entirely possible that while the symptoms you are experiencing may be similar, the cause may not. Giving Sonos hard data, via a diagnostic, and then talking to them would either be additional data for them to track down a ‘fix’, or possibly point at a separate issue in your local environment. 

Userlevel 2
Badge +1

Yep, this is happening to me as well, as I’ve documented on a larger thread on the Sonos Forum.  

It’s also seen on the Sonos Reddit here → https://www.reddit.com/r/sonos/comments/ubqrdr/ever_since_146/

Userlevel 3
Badge +2
well when after an update, lots of people have the same problems, problems they didn't have before, it's because it's not from their environment but from the update...

Yep, this is happening to me as well, as I’ve documented on a larger thread on the Sonos Forum.  

It’s also seen on the Sonos Reddit here → https://www.reddit.com/r/sonos/comments/ubqrdr/ever_since_146/

Not having anything better to do this evening, I’ve been trying to reproduce the issue, but so far I haven’t been successful, my surrounds keep working after switching playback sources.

I’m just wondering though, if your Arc is itself wired to the LAN, or if is it running in SonosNet mode (WM:0) - with another Sonos product wired? - I’ve just seen one, or two, posts mention that their setups were connected over SonosNet and I’m running my setup here on WiFi, but can switch things, if that’s a common denominator.

If you are setup on wired SonosNet, does it make any difference if you run the HT setup in wireless mode (WM:1) instead?

Userlevel 2
Badge +1

My Arc is wired to the LAN and provides SonosNet for all my other products, including a separate Beam 2 5.1 setup in my bedroom.  So, yes they all show up as WM:0!  

I have yet to try running them on a wireless mode (WM:1) but hesitate since SonosNet has never been a problem for me in the 2 years that I’ve had a setup. 

I should just perhaps add to only switch between ‘wired’ and ‘wireless’ modes if your are confident you know how to do that and can put things back - see this link:

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/3209

Userlevel 3
Badge +2

I have already tried to connect everything via wifi but the problem is still there and the same, I tried with everything connected by wire and the same problem...

I have already tried to connect everything via wifi but the problem is still there and the same, I tried with everything connected by wire and the same problem...

Ah okay, thanks @Flo14000. It was just a thought that ‘wired mode’ might be a part of the issue.👍

Userlevel 4
Badge +3

many of us are in this situation, it's since the update... I hope Sonos will soon publish a fix...

Hi Flo14000,

 

May I ask what is the version of the update please and when did it happen? My updates are scheduled to occur automatically and glad to know I am not the only one facing this problem.

Sonos has been trying to put the blam on interference but havent been able to prove as nothing at all has changed in ny network since 9 months :) . 

Userlevel 4
Badge +3

Have you provided a diagnostic to Sonos, and spoken with them?

It’s entirely possible that while the symptoms you are experiencing may be similar, the cause may not. Giving Sonos hard data, via a diagnostic, and then talking to them would either be additional data for them to track down a ‘fix’, or possibly point at a separate issue in your local environment. 

Hi Airgetlam,

 

Have you read my post? I dont think so, since you wont be asking these questions if you read the post carefully. FYI, I have spoken to Sonos, did extensive tshoot on something that never is the problem, and have managed to get hold of their Engineering team as Level 1 and Level 2 escalation teams havent been able to isolate and fix my problem.

 

I have given atleast 20 diagnostics and able to reproduce the issue at will!

Userlevel 4
Badge +3

Yep, this is happening to me as well, as I’ve documented on a larger thread on the Sonos Forum.  

It’s also seen on the Sonos Reddit here → https://www.reddit.com/r/sonos/comments/ubqrdr/ever_since_146/

Hi JohhnyDo123,

 

I am facing the exact symptoms. I have tried everything, from changing to Sonos network (Hardwiring Arc to Router) and ensuring all speakers talk to it with WM0, disabling band steering, changing the 5ghz channel on my router to 36, resetting each device one by one, removing them and re-adding them back.

 

Nothing has helped, started to face the issue since 21/04/2022 and feeling super disappointed in Sonos trying to put the blame on the network. My old Jbl speaker worth 50$ is more reliable than this.

I have submitted so many diagnostics and have isolated the issue to be present across all formats:

 

  1. TV - HDMI
  2. TV- Apps (Youtube, Netflix, Disney)
  3. Apple Airplay

I even managed to get hold of Sonos Nw map and see if there are issues but I dont see any Red/Yellow alarms.

Userlevel 4
Badge +3

Yep, this is happening to me as well, as I’ve documented on a larger thread on the Sonos Forum.  

It’s also seen on the Sonos Reddit here → https://www.reddit.com/r/sonos/comments/ubqrdr/ever_since_146/

Not having anything better to do this evening, I’ve been trying to reproduce the issue, but so far I haven’t been successful, my surrounds keep working after switching playback sources.

I’m just wondering though, if your Arc is itself wired to the LAN, or if is it running in SonosNet mode (WM:0) - with another Sonos product wired? - I’ve just seen one, or two, posts mention that their setups were connected over SonosNet and I’m running my setup here on WiFi, but can switch things, if that’s a common denominator.

If you are setup on wired SonosNet, does it make any difference if you run the HT setup in wireless mode (WM:1) instead?

Hi Ken,

 

I had my setup with wifi purely since 8+ months and never had any issue with wireless interference. Still, I decided to go with Hardwiring Sonos Arc to my Router and create Sonos Net. To my surprise, the issue was still there and is easily reproducible at my end. The typical symptom is that Arc continues to play music but Surrounds and Sub are “Silent” despite Status indicator and volume buttons confirming they are on.

Userlevel 4
Badge +3

I have already tried to connect everything via wifi but the problem is still there and the same, I tried with everything connected by wire and the same problem...

Its definitely not a network issue, not everyone’s complaining about the same symptoms post an update. Please upvote this as much as possible so it gets the right attention.

This issue has been driving me nuts since a while now and honestly you dont expect excuses when you pay so much for the brand.

Userlevel 3
Badge +2

this is version 14.6. Sonos will really have to realize that since their update, this is causing problems for a number of us. as soon as I lose the Sub and the surrounds, it drives me crazy. it's really very easy to reproduce the problem ... it comes up very often if you change the source often ... I really hope it will be resolved quickly! because it is not worthy of a brand like Sonos!

Userlevel 4
Badge +3

this is version 14.6. Sonos will really have to realize that since their update, this is causing problems for a number of us. as soon as I lose the Sub and the surrounds, it drives me crazy. it's really very easy to reproduce the problem ... it comes up very often if you change the source often ... I really hope it will be resolved quickly! because it is not worthy of a brand like Sonos!

Exactly, it’s very easily reproducible. I have given Sonos engineers diagnostics where issue occurred with an app, then Airplay.

Sonos needs to address this like they addressed Pandora issue which is widespread on twitter. But first, they need to start accepting it’s not a customers network problem.

Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Edit, May 4th: Hi all, I was a bit premature with posting the original best answer message in this topic. While we have been investigating Topilouf’s issue, we have not seen an increase in surround audio errors and do not see anything that suggests that you all will experience the same issue following the recent update. If you do experience issues while listening to your Sonos system, we always encourage you to contact us and we will do our utmost to support you.

Hi All

Just to let you all know, we have now identified an issue whereby some Sonos Home Theatre satellites will experience audio interruptions after the latest 14.6 update.

We are investigating the situation and hope to resolve it soon. At present, we have no further information to share.

I hope this helps.

Userlevel 4
Badge +3

Hi All

Just to let you all know, we have now identified an issue whereby some Sonos Home Theatre satellites will experience audio interruptions after the latest 14.6 update.

We are investigating the situation and hope to resolve it soon. At present, we have no further information to share.

I hope this helps.

Hi Corry,

I assume Satellites does cover Sub as well?

 

 

Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @kuwarrulz_11 

Hi Corry,

I assume Satellites does cover Sub as well?

Yes indeed.

Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi all,

I was a bit premature with posting the original best answer message in this topic. While we have been investigating Topilouf’s issue, we have not seen an increase in surround audio errors and do not see anything that suggests that you all will experience the same issue following the recent update. If you do experience issues while listening to your Sonos system, we always encourage you to contact us and we will do our utmost to support you.

Apologies for any confusion caused.

Kind Regards

Corry P

Userlevel 1

I'm also experiencing the same thing and am on 14.6.1. Have had Sonos for a very long time and just started having the sub and surrounds start dropping out randomly. It's not just with the TV either. It will happen with just audio as well. I've only had my Arc since January but it worked fine for a while. Certainly does seem suspicious that an update broke something. Defi timely going to be turning auto updates off. Any way to downgrade to a previous version?  This is incredibly frustrating. 

Reply