ASUS RT-AX86U & SONOS CONNECTION ISSUE SOLVED!

  • 12 December 2020
  • 96 replies
  • 32143 views
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96 replies

B

I agree, but only to a point.  4 years ago, the industry started patching against WiFi authentication vulnerabilities like KRACKS, and started enforcing more than a short list of security keys being used to cycle encryption.  Since then, Sonos has been fraught with issues on WiFi drop-offs on Gen 5 and Gen 6, as the devices themselves are completely losing their connections to the network.  You can see this in the log files of the router, as it shows the disconnects occur in real time.  It has to do with the 4way handshake, and the way the device handles them.  If it was just a multicast issue, we wouldn’t be seeing the devices completely disconnect.

When everything else connects just fine, the one defining detail here is the Sonos firmware.  If every set of speakers, including One, One SL, Move, etc. all fail, but every other smart speaker from JBL, Google, Amazon, Yamaha, etc. all connect without issue?  What’s left?  You guys.

Sonos, you have got to get your firmware up to date (and kept up to date with the latest fixes for wifi vulnerabilities and security standards.  I’ve moved most of my clients away from your products already due to the lack of support that Sonos gives to modern wifi security and industry standards.  

These same issues occur on most WiFi Gen 6/6e routers, not just Asus.  You tell people to upload their diagnostics data then tell them (much) later that you don’t even read them.  It’s smoking mirrors, and it’s gotten old.  If you want business and consumer customers, you’re going to have to figure this out.  Because even the cheap Chinese knockoffs on AliExpress are killing you in this very detail.

Just my 2 cents, prove me wrong.

It’s often because SSDP Multicasting isn’t working correctly on the local network… this (hopefully) explains the issue for you in simple terms:

http://www.steves-internet-guide.com/introduction-multicasting/

 

This exact same thing happened when WiFi Gen 5 (AC) released, and we’re seeing the latest iteration of that occurring now.  Sonos forums are absolutely packed with threads based on it.

I maintain my original statement.  If all the other manufacturers have gotten this figured out, then Sonos needs to get their proverbial butts in gear to address it as well.

T

I’m putting this on here in case it helps people who might struggle in future. 
I’ve just about managed to set up an IKEA Symfonisk (Gen 2) single speaker with a new wifi network using an ASUS XT9 AiMesh router. 

I was considering launching the Sonos speaker out of the window at one point. The speaker just refused to connect to the Wifi network. 
What seems to have worked is changing the setting “Tri band smart connect” in the Asus app to “5GHZ smart connect”. Then do the set up from factory reset on the Sonos speaker. After that has been set up, I switched it back to “Try band smart connect” and it seems to still work. 

I can’t believe some people suggest buying a different router to sort the problem. It seems to work fine with all other wifi devices - only Sonos have made this such a painful experience. 

I

This also seems to work Better for me! Thanks

I downloaded a free version of Wifi Analyzer on my old Android phone and scanned through my apartment and channel 6 (2.4GHz) was the least crowded so I tuned in to it.

It has been working almost flawless since, only some split second drop out and its nothing that bothers me and rarely happens. 

Airplay 2, Spotify connect and Sonos all works.

C
Userlevel 2
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I have not used stock Asus firmware in years--I always use the Asuswrt-Merlin firmware from rmerlin, and many Asus users swear by it. It’s also free, which is great, though rmerlin does accept donations. If you’re not familiar with it, Merlin isn’t tweakware for tech geeks--the focus is on fixing bugs in the stock firmware, better overall stability and improving performance. The interface is almost a duplicate of Asus stock. And Merlin now supports the AX-86U. (I suggest using the latest version in the “Release” folder, not the Beta folder) Since I started this thread 3 months ago, my general experience has been that I lose connection to Sonos Arc system about once a week. The fix is generally easy: turn the Asus off, wait a few seconds, turn it back on. The connection to Arc is usually restored. (First the Arc shows up in the Sonos app, then Subs and Surrounds within a minute or a few at most.) Occasionally, maybe once a month, I’ll have to reboot the Arc, too, to reconnect, but never the Sub or Surrounds.This isn’t perfect, but the hassle is minimal, and a far cry from the constant drops that I was experiencing for a while. 

C
Userlevel 2
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Since updating to the latest Merlin firmware, I’ve noticed an uptick in my disconnects--I’d say once every other night--though hard to know if that’s due to the new firmware or some other source of interference. I will say that Sonos is the only wifi device I have that drops its connection like this, so in my mind, the glitchiness is ultimately due to Sonos, not the router. 

Unlike the “bad old days” when I first got my AX-86U, I don’t have the issue with repetitive dropped connections any longer, where I’d no sooner reconnect after rebooting everything, and a half-hour later it would drop again. Now if it drops, I reconnect by just switching the router off and then back on, and I’m good for at least a day or as long as a few weeks. Not perfect, but it doesn’t drive me crazy. 

 

 

Ken_Griffiths

Since updating to the latest Merlin firmware, I’ve noticed an uptick in my disconnects--I’d say once every other night--though hard to know if that’s due to the new firmware or some other source of interference. I will say that Sonos is the only wifi device I have that drops its connection like this, so in my mind, the glitchiness is ultimately due to Sonos, not the router. 

Unlike the “bad old days” when I first got my AX-86U, I don’t have the issue with repetitive dropped connections any longer, where I’d no sooner reconnect after rebooting everything, and a half-hour later it would drop again. Now if it drops, I reconnect by just switching the router off and then back on, and I’m good for at least a day or as long as a few weeks. Not perfect, but it doesn’t drive me crazy. 

If you have not done so already, have you considered reserving the Sonos IP addresses in the routers  DHCP reservation table?
 

Also, maybe try a different ‘fixed’ non-overlapping 2.4Ghz WiFi channel set to a channel-width of 20MHz, with any SonosNet channel (if using) set at least 5 channels away from the chosen 2.4Ghz channel. 
 

See if that perhaps eliminates your intermittent audio/device dropout issues.

M

We had this same problem. We rolled our firmware back to:

3.0.0.4.386_47029

2022/01/05

H

No update yet on my RT-AX82U, last one was Feb and still has the issue! Downgrading to November update fixes the issue.

B

I'll give this a try hopefully this weekend. I wonder if setting that 2.4GHz channel is really what's important. Sounds like it might be the key to at least getting merlin working dependably. Thanks! I'll let you know how it goes.

Annazel S
Userlevel 5
Badge +16

Hi there @charlesnyc.

Thanks for posting and sharing with us what you did to figure this out.

We highly appreciate your time and effort working through this.

Surely, it will benefit those members that might encounter the same issue and look for answers here in the community.

 

If you have any questions,  feel free to reach out.

Cheers!

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Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

It does seem that a factory reset is required on some Asus routers after a firmware update is installed.

Thanks, everyone, for sharing!

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
D
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Besides, disabing the Guest Networks and turning off 802.11ax/ Wi-Fi 6 modes for both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz, I also have the following:

SmartConnect disabled

QOS disabled

Airtime Fairness disabled

Universal Beamforming enabled - some people have said to disable this, but I’m not sure.  Disabling didn’t seem to do anything.

Control Channel set to Auto

With these settings, my Sonos devices stay connected.  Do any of you have the Guest networks enabled?  I will try this weekend to enable the Guest Networks and Wi-Fi 6 and set the channel to 6 and see if it works.

Annazel S
Userlevel 5
Badge +16

Hi everyone. Thank you for your patience in this. It will be helpful to submit a diagnostic report on the Sonos app after a few minutes when the issue happens and reach out to Sonos Support, as we can take a closer look and discuss it with all of you individually in real-time. 

I suggest contacting our phone team, for they have more resources available for advanced troubleshooting, and the tools our agents can use would be very useful in this case, there can be an advantage if they need to remote into the controller to see what's going on.

 

If you have any other questions or concerns, feel free to reach out.

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C
Userlevel 2
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I can confirm that I have had almost constant connection to Sonos for over 2 months now with the following enabled:

SmartConnect

WiFi 6

So I would cross these off the list of settings that might be causing problems. 

A
Userlevel 1
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I never thought this would solve it for me, but it did, once I disabled QOS, straight away both disconnection issues stopped (i finally managed to register my Sonos Beam) and google assistant worked again! Hopefully It’ll stay this way.

E

Hi, 

 

I have upgraded my router to RT-AX86U too and was having a lot of problems. 

  1. Sonos disappeared / cannot be found randomly
  2. Lost control on music playback, unable to pause/skip, then it lead to point 1
  3. Reboot usually bring back online but same problem repeat 

My setup: Asus RT-AX86U as main router, 2 x AIMesh nodes using RT-AX92U.

After trying everything listed here - QoS turned off, and Airtime Fairness is Disabled, it seems to bring back the streaming playback capability. However, when I performed TruePlay tuning, it kept having errors stating Speaker problem”.

Anyone of you having same problem? 

Seems like Asus RT-AX86U with AIMesh doesn’t really work well with Sonos.

E

Hey @Evielwine, the only way I managed to get things working again is back to the old firmware ( Version 3.0.0.4.384.9318 ). No issues every since. Unfortunately the changes I made above only lasted a few days before things disappear again.

 

Here is the link to the Bios.

https://www.asus.com/au/Networking-IoT-Servers/WiFi-6/All-series/RT-AX86U/HelpDesk_BIOS/

Thank you @altyz, I purchased this router mainly because of the AIMesh function, I really don’t feel like downgrading firmware where all other things are working well except Sonos… I guess as interim every time when I want to use Sonos, I just have to reboot first… :(

controlav
Userlevel 7
Badge +23

Why is anyone in this thread still trying to use these Asus routers? Get a router from an actual network company, eg AmpliFi, and quit wasting your time with these terrible Asus devices.

Author of the leading independent Sonos app for Windows, the only Sonos app for Xbox, and a Sonos app for iOS
P

I had been trying to solve this issue for a few weeks, applied most of the suggested setting changes suggested with mixed success. The factory reset was the solution

 I have had 2 weeks of no drop outs on Sonos 1,3 and 5. 

The QoS was disabled by the factory reset, leave it that way

My other settings of note on the 2.4 GHZ Wireless: 

wiFi 6 mode enabled

Bandwidth 40MHz

Channel 1 (sonos ch 6)

 

 

 

D
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I have the AX86U, using the latest firmware 3.0.0.4.386.42095. For me to get things to work with my Sonos speakers, I have to turn off the guest network and the 802.11ax / Wi-Fi 6 mode for both 2.4 and 5 ghz.  I’ve been working with Asus since the 3.0.0.4.386.41535 version broke Sonos to try and get this fixed.  They can’t seem to figure it out.

C
Userlevel 2
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darkelf, I’m not sure that what works for the Arc will necessarily work for the Beam, but Merlin is easy to install. Here’s what I do on a Mac, which may/may not be the same if you have a PC. First, download the latest release firmware here, which is version 386.2.0 : https://sourceforge.net/projects/asuswrt-merlin/files/RT-AX86U/Release/  You’ll end up with a folder that contains four files. 

Next, login to your Asus router. At the top center of the Network Map screen you see first upon login, click on the firmware version number you currently have. That takes you to the firmware upgrade page. About mid-page, you’ll see Manual firmware update, and click on “Upload” next to it. That will allow you to navigate to the folder you downloaded. Click on it to open to the four files. Then click on the file that begins with the router model in the file name, then click on Choose for Upload. That’s it. Then wait until the upload is finished and you’re good to go. 

 

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