Does not function as advertised, a huge waste of my time


I bought a Sonos system six months ago from and installed by BestBuy for a second home which I am in about once a month for a couple of weeks.  I have become disgusted with the lack of consistency of the system.  At least once a month (once a trip) I spend anywhere from 15 minutes to well over an hour on the phone with service to resolve an issues of one or more units not playing or something else.  For the kind of money I spent, to have to spend that amount of time on a regular basis to keep the system functioning is beyond reprehensible.  On the off chance that somebody in charge at Sonos reads this, I will mention that I have already cost the company business by telling friends about my woes and advising them to purchase something that works as it is advertised.  Other complaints will never be addressed, like the portion of a minute of my life I lose every time I open the app on my phone from the time I tap on the icon until the app opens and becomes fully functional. This company wants to charge executive prices for its products and system and doesn’t seem to understand that people paying these prices consider their time precious and deeply resent that time that could be put to better use is spent nursing the system to stay functional.. Imagine how annoying it is to get a phone call and have to wait the better part of a minute for the app to allow you turn the volume down.  It’s a poorly designed system.  Further, the instructions and help articles were written assuming knowledge which few have and can be confusing at best and useless at worst.  Hey, Sonos, get your act together or risk going out of business.. 


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32 replies

On the system page are listed:

Main Bedroom [the Klipsch speakers, plugged into the nearby Orbi which is plugged into the Arris]

Living Room       [the Move]

Kitchen              [the Roam]

at bottom os system page, a bar with:

Main Bedroom + 2

As mentioned before, the only place to control the volume on the Klipsch speakers (as far as I know) is through the Sonos app.

Again, thanks for your help!

I read here that the Sonos Amp (Main Bedroom) was supposedly wired direct to the (primary) Orbi Hub, which in turn was wired to the Arris (inferring that the Arris is bridged and the Orbi Hub is the LAN router) - However the Amp is clearly connecting over WiFi? - maybe it’s cable is faulty perhaps, or is the comment in the post quoted above just a mistake?

Is there perhaps a reason here to switch off the Amps WiFi adapter anyway (just for now) to reduce any interference as it’s wireless is not actually needed (at the moment) with the two other devices being portable Sonos products. Its helpful to know too if the installers did disable the Arris WiFi adapters, as I can’t see a (good) reason to have them enabled in this situation with Orbi Hub wired and in such close proximity.

Thanks again, buzz & JohnB.  As earlier mentioned, I am abandoning this place for two weeks.  I hope you will be available and kind enough to continue to coach me when I return around July25th, at which time I will move all my furniture and separate the pieces before I turn the system back on.  Am curious about what equipment might be better, but that’s for a later discussion.  Yes, I do move the Move and Roan around occasionally to different rooms and the deck of the townhouse, but never for long and always redock for charging.  This, and the consistently good sound, are things that I appreciate about the Sonos speakers.  Playing anywhere else in the building when not plugged in has not been a problem, at least not yet.  I think that is because the Orbis do give very strong Wi-Fi coverage.

I expect to be around, but there are lots of experienced users on here who will be able to help when you come back on. 

I am absolutely certain that your system can be as robust as ours 

If you have a chance to answer one question now that would be good, but it can really wait until next time. Do you have a choice of networks  to which you can connect your phone, one from the Arris and one from the Orbi system? Or is just one of those avaliable?

 

@wmbos ,

At this writing you’ve probably left the building, but I’ll share this point while I’m thinking about it.

You’ll improve the ultimate life of the units and reduce the possibility of startup drama if you power down ROAM and MOVE as part of your checkout procedure. On return, first bring up the network as I’ve described prior, then wake these units.

 

 

@buzz 

As far as I know, I am given only the choice of Orbi for WI-fi on phone, computers, etc.

Is there a special way to power down the Move and the Roam.  I just unplug them.  I also turn off the power strip that supplies the amp.  Should I do something else first?

You are correct, I am no longer in the townhouse and everything there is without power until I return.

Thanks for further info. It is good if you are only seeing Orbi wifi. It does make me wonder if the Amp would be better plugged into main Orbi rather than Arris, but there is some evidence that this is OK as it is.

The physical location and proximity of the various bits of equipment is the most likely explanation for your problems.

We await your return.…

 

@wmbos,

The link in my last reply gives the ROAM and MOVE shutdown procedure. As you bring up the power it is important that all of the ORBI’s be booted prior to starting AMP, MOVE, and ROAM. 

Visibility of the ARRIS WiFi depends on how you scan. Some “experts”, in an attempt to appear clever, can setup an access point such that it will not be displayed by basic scanners, pad/phone/computer, but SONOS might attempt to use the access point anyway and get into trouble. For the moment, let’s proceed by assuming that the ARRIS WiFi has been shut down.

Be anal about the startup sequence and physically separate the units as discussed.

There is one detail that we have not yet discussed and dealing with it will be messy for you, however, if you follow the anal startup routine, this detail will mostly remain under the carpet unless you have frequent power failures while you are on site.