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BBC radio not working on Play 3 speaker

  • 30 September 2022
  • 18 replies
  • 247 views

Hi, 

I’ve got a number of Sonos products which generally work ok and can usually solve any problems that arise but I’ve got one now that has me beaten.

I’m trying to play BBC radio stations on my Play 3 speaker. It shows up on the system list OK and will happily play TuneIn stations but when I try BBC stations I get the message “Unable to play the selected item”.

My other speakers ( Play 1, Amp and Arc) all play the BBC stations ok, it’s just the Play 3 that wont.

The only thing I can think of is that the Play 3 has been disconnected for about a year and has only just been switched on again. I updated the software on it and have tried turning it off and on a few times. Not sure why this would be an issue but it’s the only thing that’s “different” about this speaker.

Any ideas?

Thanks

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18 replies

Mr. T
Userlevel 7

The BBC have restricted how UK listeners can access BBC live radio.

You should not be able to listen to live BBC radio stations via TuneIn, unless you are not recognised as residing in the UK?

Add BBC Sounds as a music service within the Sonos app and listen that way.

See this thread for more details:

 

S

Hi, 

I’ve got BBC Sounds installed and working. As mentioned, all the other speakers on my Sonos system play BBC radio stations OK. It’s just the Play 3 that won’t.

 

Mr. T
Userlevel 7

Okay thanks, it wasn’t clear from your initial post that you were using BBC Sounds.

What exact content is not playing? A live radio station? Podcast?

As you have updated the firmware, rebooted the Play:3 several times and it plays other content, I would submit a system diagnostic within 20mins of recreating the issue, then contact Sonos Support to discuss.

They will be able to evaluate the data within the diagnostic which hopefully uncovers the reason why the selection is not playing.

J

I am confused. You mentioned TuneIn in the original post. Where does that fit in?

Mr. T
Userlevel 7

I am confused. You mentioned TuneIn in the original post. Where does that fit in?

I now think that they just meant other radio stations from TuneIn will play on the Play:3, but BBC stations from BBC Sounds will not.

S

Hi Mr T, 

Thanks for the suggestion. I will send in a diagnostic and see if Sonos Support Can help.

Yes, you are correct in that other radio stations from Tunein will play on the Play 3 but not BBC stations.

Thanks for your help.

O

This is a big problem which has been going on for years. You just have to look through these forums to see that. Sonos seem to be blind to it.

The Google  assistant  functionality on the Sonos beam is terrible and has hardly any functionality at all Compared to a Google smart speaker.

Compared to a Google smart speaker.

It won’t play anything from BBC Sounds, doesn’t have any voice recognition and there are many Google home commands and routines which it just won’t recognise.

 

 

 

 

M
Badge

Yup same problem. Play 3 not playing BBC Sounds Stations. First click selects the station but it takes 2 or 3 more clicks or taps to play. This is both on iPhone and PC. The error in between clicks reads:

“Monday, December 5, 2022 - 8:12 PM Greenwich Mean Time: Dublin, London

Unable to play 'Radio 2 ' - the connection to BBC Sounds was lost.”   

Other Radio stations via TuneIn work perfectly. 

J

So is it playing OK after a brief delay or is it not playing at all?

Mr. T
Userlevel 7

Yup same problem. Play 3 not playing BBC Sounds Stations. First click selects the station but it takes 2 or 3 more clicks or taps to play. This is both on iPhone and PC. The error in between clicks reads:

“Monday, December 5, 2022 - 8:12 PM Greenwich Mean Time: Dublin, London

Unable to play 'Radio 2 ' - the connection to BBC Sounds was lost.”   

Other Radio stations via TuneIn work perfectly. 

I have a standalone Play:3. Never had a problem playing BBC Sounds on it. I suggest you take a closer look at your local network environment.

Have you ever submitted a diagnostic and contacted Sonos Support to discuss?

M
Badge

I am sure the issue is not the Play 3 (I have 5) in its own rite. I have had excelent support from Sonos in the past but in the last instance the BBC responded with a “re set it all to a low level”, which I did and which has not  changed the behaviour of my Sonos system.  I have been lazy in continuing to investigate but with Christmas comming up it is time to resolve the issue. 

I sure you are correct in exploring deeper with the Sonos support team. 

As complex as my system is with  Asus Wi-Fi Mesh and Hassio, my system has worked perfectly and continues to do so if I listen to other radio stations via TuneIn or music files  from my NAS. It is only the BBC Sound element that is glitchy.  This of course makes it diffecult to narrow down where the issue lies but the common element is BBC Sounds. So…. not so much a Play 3 issue. 

J

Hi. I am still unclear about the nature of the problem in your case. Perhaps I am just being dim.  Does this affect just one Play:3 or several?  Is it glitchy or terminal?  Are other Sonos players working OK or don’t you have other Sonos players?

Do you have any Sonos device(s) wired to your network?

M
Badge

Hello John, 

                  The problem presents itself as the need to click 2 or 3 times to get a Radio channel to play via BBC Sounds, an integrated music service. The service appears to start but after the first click an error message appears “Connection to BBC lost”  after a couple more clicks the service starts playing. Other services provided by TuneIn work just fine.  There is also a “Port” in the mix which behaves the same way as the Play3. 

Today with the input of Sonos support I dismantled and corrected a Network potential conflict, changed radio channels, and moved my Sonos on to my mesh network from the Sonos system. Cleared off the original Controller apps and reinstalled …. Right now I still have the same problem TBC.

J

Hi. Thanks for clarification. I would not expect moving Sonos off of SonosNet to have any effect on this issue. I would be concerned it might create other problems. 

So you have installed the BBC Sounds service in the Sonos App, you are selecting BBC Sounds from the Sonos App browse screen, then tapping the required station in the list at the top of the screen that appears? And at that point you get the message?

M
Badge

Yes … I get the BBC station Dogtag “4” with the word connecting beside it ….time passes and then a pop up gives me the “connection lost …. “  click again and Radio 4 plays … 

Both IOS and Windows 10 behave that way TuneIn radio Services do not. 

My mesh network is providing a better signal vs Sonos’s  but there is no change in the way NAS music  files or TunIn stations play. 

 

J

OK. I don't experience this at all so it isn't a generic Sonos problem. Equally, it doesn't happen to sources other than BBC on your system, suggesting it's not your network. 

So my best guess is some glitch in the relationship between your router and the BBC servers. My suggestions, without huge confidence, are:

1. Power cycle router and Sonos. 

2. Change your IP's DNS servers to Google Public DNS  

M
Badge

After having a chat with Sonos Technical support and tried a number of their suggestions, without there being any real clues in the diagnostics, other than that I live in a network noisy house (lots of home automation) and have some noisy neighbours, I bit the bullet.  I took all 8 Play3 and Port back to Factory Default and did a new install, including desktop and IOS control Bingo now all works fine with one exception I have copies of the Play List in Sonos … which I am sure I will resolve at some stage.  

If in doubt take it to Ground Zero and Rebuild !

M
Badge

There might have been a DNS issue with my Sonos - BBC problem. I changed my routers DNS Address  from my ISPs  to Googles 8.8.8.8  because another bit of kit was having extenal address issues and it worked like a charm for that kit,  so it might have been a part of my solution with BBC Sounds ???  I will never know as with so many things that go bump in the night. :-) 

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