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BT Smart Hub 2 - Connection Issues (April 2021)

BT Smart Hub 2 - Connection Issues (April 2021)
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Guyincognito76
Userlevel 3
Badge +4

My v0.26.04.04227-BT update says 20th May. But I’m sure it’s not stable? I can tell using my device list in Airplay IOS usually there’s 8 but when it’s playing up only 3? Seems to be intermittent. Without 5ghz streaming video is ver wobbly & annoying. BT should give us a refund! 

I was having problems before the dodgy update, especially with Airplay. It was worse after that update,  and now is back to like it was before the dodgy update. So Sonos rooms disappear occasionally and Airplay is still useless most of the time. 

S

Hi,

My sonos has been working fine since day 1, but suddenly this week every time we go to use it the app cant find the system and the only way to fix it is to reboot the router - not only is this really painful, but I shouldnt need to - any ideas on how to fix?

James L.
Badge +17

Hi everyone,

 

BT have confirmed that the firmware update that contains a fix for this original issue has been rolled out to the majority of users. Therefore, we can consider this issue closed, and I’ll be closing out this topic. 

If your BT Smart Hub 2 router is still running the affected firmware (V0.26.03.01286) then please get in touch with BT directly.

Anyone that still experiences issues on the latest firmware, please create a new topic or get in touch with Sonos Customer Care.

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James L.
Badge +17

Hi @shed53,

 

Was your BT Smart Hub 2 swapped for another Smart Hub 2? If so, there’s a current issue in the BT Hub firmware and we’ve detailed the issue in its own dedicated thread:

 

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A

Anyone experiencing similar problems with other devices such as wireless printers ?

Our HP Envy 5030 is refusing to operate but says connected to router but remains invisible to laptop iPads and iPhones.

L
Userlevel 1
Badge +4

I have a BT engineer due tomorrow to look at our broadband, as it is very slow & poor.…

 

I’ll ask him if he has anymore info on the 5Ghz issue while he is here….👍

T

Tricky one. Do I value Sonos over slow internet for every other device. 
We need this update! 

72 hours (if that’s a timetable that BT can stick-to) isn’t too long to run devices on a 2.4Ghz connection.
 

I don’t know the BT router, personally speaking, but some routers have a device exclusion list for each of their WiFi bands (I know VirginMedia Superhubs have this option) so if that’s available, then you could add your Sonos MAC addresses to that ‘exclusion list’ instead. 

I’ve plugged one in with a Ethernet cable directly to the router and that has allowed my phone to see both speakers. 
Will just use it like this until the firmware update is released. 

James L.
Badge +17

I also join the list of people having issues with Sonos/Bt software. I am more annoyed with Sonos for not informing their customers about the problem, I almost thought out my system thinking that it had packed up. But I found that turning on/off the BT hub resets the Sonos app. I have a mix of Apple ,Sonos and Amazon speakers and I must admit that Apple is our go to speakers as anyone in the family with Apple device can play there music without downloading extra apps. I am reluctant to invest any more money into Sonos speakers. If I dig out my old Sonos bridge would that help ?????

We have informed customers who have experienced this issue, both in this very thread and through our support channels when affected users have contacted us. We can’t personally inform the millions of users with BT Hubs that may or may not be experiencing issues in any other way, I'm afraid. This isn’t a Sonos specific issue, and has the potential to affect many other devices connected to these networks. It’s a bug in the BT Smart Hub 2's firmware that has been acknowledged by BT and a fix is being worked on. 
 

If you’re still using S1 then wiring the Bridge back into your network may help mitigate the issue, but isn’t guaranteed to work. If you're on S2, then the Bridge isn’t compatible with your system and wouldn’t do anything to work around it. Please, read of the first post in this topic to learn about the workaround for this issue.

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A

Confirming my hub firmware- I took a photo on Wednesday of my hub software info page and it’s still the same this morning - v0.26.03.1286

 

 

M
Userlevel 1
Badge

...

I’ve had issues since 10th April (when my router firmware was updated), and I was on 14.4.x at the time… now on 14.5 and still the same. It probably burst back in to life because your phone won’t exclusively live on 5ghz - it will dynamically switch to 2.4ghz if it thinks that’s a more reliable connection. When your phone/controller is on 2.4, you will see your Sonos system.

Sorry to spam the thread.. something you can try that is hours of fun and entertainment: Open your Sonos S2 app; note that your system doesn’t show… turn your wifi toggle on your phone on/off/on/off… after a couple of tries (maybe many), at some point your Sonos system will pop up when your phone drops on to the 2.4Ghz band.

Well the iPad is currently still on 14.4.1 whilst I checked and is currently sat on 5ghz as is my iPhone 11 which is now on iOS 14.5. 
Both are currently able to ‘see’ the whole system and control it. 
My partner (iPhone 11 iOS 14.5) can only see the Sonos Ones which are connected to the WiFi disc but not the Symfonisks connected to the Smart Hub 2. 
My daughter (iPhone 11 iOS 14.5) can’t see anything of the system other than under Airplay but fails to connect. 
 

I fully expect them to drop from my devices soon as well. 
 

It’s all rather annoying. Beyond this I’ve no complaints with BT and the service. My Symfonisks whilst great value considering (bought on a whim whilst in IKEA) have for the last few months been very hit and miss compared to the Ones hence my initial scepticism on it being just BT at fault and were hit and miss whilst on the Home Hub (FTTC) not the Smart Hub 2 (FTTP). 

At this point I’m now beyond caring who’s at fault and just want the system working reliably again. 

ratty

Devices will be discoverable, or not, depending on the local traffic path. Different mobiles on different access points, connecting to different speakers on different access points, may see different results. If something blocks all the traffic, or merely multicast traffic, then speakers could go missing.

J

James, 

Thanks for your advice on the Smart Hub 2 problems.  I had a similar helpful discussion with one of the Sonos agents a few days ago and have since taken your advice and raised a complaint with BT.

I’ve just had a rather useful chat with regard to that complaint that may help other people.  First of all, the problem has definitely been added to their issue log so, hopefully, we will see a fix for the underlying problem at some point.

Perhaps more usefully, I was made aware of another workaround.  It wasn’t convenient for me to plug a device into the router itself long-term as I need my Sonos devices in other rooms; however, if any customers with this router have one of the BT complete wifi discs, it’s possible to plug a Sonos device into that with an ethernet cable. The system then seems to form a Sonos net connection and the connection problems disappear.  This is far more convenient for me as I’m able to site my wired device in the room I want it.  I’ve only tried it for a short time but it’s been stable so far.

I hope this helps.

ratty

It wasn’t convenient for me to plug a device into the router itself long-term as I need my Sonos devices in other rooms; however, if any customers with this router have one of the BT complete wifi discs, it’s possible to plug a Sonos device into that with an ethernet cable. The system then seems to form a Sonos net connection and the connection problems disappear.

This will work, as with any other WiFi mesh, but don’t be tempted to wire to more than the one node. The Sonos system will or course depend on the mesh backhaul for internet connection, but mostly this shouldn’t cause problems.

B

Anyone experiencing similar problems with other devices such as wireless printers ?

Our HP Envy 5030 is refusing to operate but says connected to router but remains invisible to laptop iPads and iPhones.

Yes I’m having this problem with my Epson XP-8600 as well as my Sonos speakers …. I’ve submitted a complaint to BT

T

Anyone experiencing similar problems with other devices such as wireless printers ?

Our HP Envy 5030 is refusing to operate but says connected to router but remains invisible to laptop iPads and iPhones.

Yes I’m having this problem with my Epson XP-8600 as well as my Sonos speakers …. I’ve submitted a complaint to BT

Yes sky go , iPad/phone all stopped working with sky q box about the same time as my speakers .

controlav
Userlevel 7
Badge +23

I too seem to be having this issue. I’ve plugged my Beam into the router but it’s still only showing as my TV now, can’t seem to get Alexa to work on it either. Just wondering as I know people have mentioned 2.4ghz affecting streaming services, does anyone have Sky Sports/BT sports through BT and will it affect that? 


Why would the frequency affect streaming services? 30Mbps is more than enough for multiple 4k UHD video streams.

Author of the leading independent Sonos app for Windows, the only Sonos app for Xbox, and a Sonos app for iOS
Belly M
Badge +20

Great. My download speeds are now too low to stream things on my Apple TV with 5ghz turned off so I’ve had to turn it back on, and now of course my Roam is no longer showing up in the Sonos app. 🙄 


What? 2.4GHz runs at least 30 Mbps, are you streaming five 4k UHD streams at the same time or something? No idea how 2.4GHz can be too slow for any video streaming. Xbox binary downloads, sure, I saw the difference there on a gigabit fiber connection, but video streaming should be fine.

I don’t know how crap the BT router is feature-wise (I could take a guess), but can you make a separate SSID for 5GHz and put your Apple TV on that, while leaving your Sonos gear and phone on the existing 2.4GHz SSID? You would not need to connect between the two wireless networks then, avoiding the broken code in the router.


Crappier than crap… you cannot split the SSID’s on the Smart Hub 2 nor set alternative DNS servers.

P

Wow! Thanks! That must be it! Timing is about right and would explain why phones intermittently see Sonos as phones connect on 5ghz. Cheers Alex

J

You mean throw your BT router out? Please read the thread linked by @ratty .

ratty

You’re not on BT by any chance? 

 

D

Thanks Ken,

 

I've made the workaround changes, and also reported it to BT too, let's see how it goes.

 

Thank you

 

Daniel

Ken_Griffiths

See this link;

 

M
Userlevel 1
Badge

I have complained to BT, they rung me up, acknowledging the problem is their firmware update and assured me a new update will be pushed to my router very soon. Wow, just goes to show how wrong you can be, I was convinced this was an apple issue with their new anti tracking features, only my iPhone and iPad had the problem, windows and macs are fine, for me though, phone is the most important i always have my phone handy but pcs, not so much.

 

Don’t really want to turn off 5ghz, would rather just wait for the firmware fix, which he did say would be over this current weekend some time

BHD
Badge

We’ve been experiencing the same frustration with this issue. I have now switched the 5GHz option off, which immediately sorted the problem. However, I agree with some of the comments. It can only be a temporary solution as the BT Smart Hub 2 is an upgrade. Therefore, it costs more money and we’re stuck in the contract till 2023! Also, it took a number of days for me to find this thread of communication online. So some transparency is needed so customers like myself know that this is a common issue. 

James L.
Badge +17

I have this issue - I can confirm a cable into a Sonos Arc means my 4x Sonos Play:1 devices now work and the whole system is much quicker. 

It means I have a redundant Sonos Move which is incredibly frustrating. Turning off 5GhZ on the router is indeed a workaround but the WiFi speed was pathetically slow so this isn’t a solution. 

Does anyone know if a Sonos Boost would resolve the issue?

No, wiring a Sonos Boost would achieve the same effect that wiring any other Sonos player would. I do not suggest purchasing a Boost to work around this issue if wiring other devices doesn’t fix it for you. Move and Roam do not connect to SonosNet so wiring a Boost wouldn’t do anything that your Arc isn’t doing at the moment.

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