F.A.Q.

BT Smart Hub 2 - Connection Issues (April 2021)

BT Smart Hub 2 - Connection Issues (April 2021)
James L.
Badge +17

Update - 11th June 2021:

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. 

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.

Update - 7th May 2021:

BT have issued a new statement:

“We’re aware that a very small number of customers are experiencing an issue with their BT Smart Hub 2 connecting with multiple streaming devices on their Wi-Fi network. Any customer who experiences this should get in touch with BT who will update their device remotely as soon as possible. BT will be rolling out an update to all devices later this month. We’re sorry for any inconvenience caused.”

 

Original post - 22nd April 2021:

Hey everyone,

 

We’re aware of an issue affecting Sonos users with BT Smart Hub 2 routers that causes problems with connecting to players in a wireless configuration. This is caused by a bug in the BT Smart Hub 2’s firmware (version V0.26.03.01286) which prevents devices on the 5GHz band from communicating with devices on the 2.4GHz band, and vice versa. Most of the affected users have iPhones running iOS version 14.4.2, but we have seen other types of controller, such as Android devices, affected by this issue as well.

 

The most consistent workaround we have discovered is to disable the 5GHz band on the BT Smart Hub 2. You can learn more about how to do this using these steps:

Please be aware, turning off 5GHz could affect the speed at which other devices connect through the network and should only be considered a temporary workaround.

 

Steps taken from a post on the BT Community.

 

1) Open a new web browser on a device connected to your Hub and type 192.168.1.254 in the address bar. This will open the Hub Manager.

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2) Click Wireless. This will open the Wireless Settings page.

 

3) Select ‘Change settings’

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4) Enter the Admin password. This is found on the back of the router and on the removable card. Click ‘OK’

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5) Toggle 5GHz OFF

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6) Click 'Save'

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7) Click 'Yes' at the warning prompt.

8) Wait for your devices to reconnect. You may need to reboot your Sonos devices by powering them down for 30 seconds and powering them back up.

​

 

Alternatively, some users have been able to work around the issue by wiring a player directly to the router, though this doesn’t work in every case. Systems that have a Sonos Move or Roam on them will also not be helped by this change, so disabling 5GHz would be best for those households.

 

 We recommend that you report this issue to BT with the following information:

 

“Devices connected to the 5GHz band are not able to communicate with devices connected to the 2.4GHz band and it appears the connections are being erroneously isolated.”

 

You don’t need to specifically mention Sonos devices when reporting this issue to BT as the information alone will be enough for them to recognize the issue you’re facing.
 

BT are indeed aware of this issue and are actively investigating and working to resolve it as quickly as possible. We’ll update this post with any further news as and when we receive it.

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261 replies

C

Have you tried changing the wifi channel in the router?

Or maybe you are on a BT router?:

 

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
S

I’ve actually got a better router Nighthawk x6 r8000 which would this and other issues I’m having with the Smart hub 2 but BT are blocking it from working. 

I don’t understand. Turn off the BT WiFi. Make sure the R8000’s WAN/Intenet port is the only thing connected to the BT hub (apart from YouView/IPTV if you have it). Connect everything else to the R8000.

Didn’t realise that was the way to do it. Previously I have just removed the  isp supplied routers and it has worked fine. Presumed I was suppose to do the same.

So modem ➡️smart hub 2 ➡️ R8000

Thanks ratty I will try that. 

 

A

Hi. Yes I’m on a BT router 

A

Thanks ClausN. I’ve read the link. Much appreciated 

I

Hello, has anyone tried using another router? “non bt” etc.

tks 

J

I’ve got the Sonos one and recently I’ve not been able to use it. The app won’t connect to it. I’ve tried all the “fix it” suggestions on the app and nothing. I’ve managed to get it to work twice using the suggestions and when I’ve gone back the next day to use it, it won’t connect. Nothing changed like WIFI, Placement etc so I don’t know what’s gone on. Can anyone help please? It’s driving me mad as I use it daily. Thanks 

ratty

You’re not on BT by any chance? 

 

J

Yeah I am, is there a connection somewhere? I’m just about to throw it out of a closed window and buy a new one. Lol not even my 16 year old son who’s gadget mad knows what’s wrong!! 

J

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

J

Hi. I’ve been told to come here by another user on here. I’ve been having problems with my Sonos one speaker for about a month I think. The app won’t connect to my speaker. I’ve tried all the suggestions on the app and nothing. I’ve managed to get it working once or twice but the next day im back to the same problem. I am a BT customer and have the new router, I’m not technical at all. So what can I do to sort this out. It’s driving me mad as I use my speaker daily, it’s come close to being thrown out of a closed window lol. Thanks 

Guyincognito76
Userlevel 3
Badge +4

I only started having real problems with my Sonos fairly recently but Airplay has been unusable on my Sonos ever since it launched. I also have a HomePod Mini which I’ve never been able to airplay to. 
 

Since switching 5ghz off last night Airplay does seem to be working, although I’ve not tried an extended test. I don’t know if this is a good trade off for 8Mbps internet speed on my phone, mind, seeing as I’m paying for Infinity. 

I

I have the same issue exactly as you, iPhone and iPad can not connect, mac and windows pc can.  Even though this looks to be an apple issue, the Sonos support does seem to be lacking, responses look automated and consist of mainly turning things on and off again which is clearly not going to help with this issue.

 

Here’s hoping that the imminent iOS 14.5 fixes the problem

Same thing happened here, 4 days ago, with iOS 14.5. :(

H

I had or have the same issue. Sonos connected on my iPad (after spending hours getting incredibly frustrated), but it did not work or pick up any of my Sonos products on my iPhone 12.

after yet more hours of resetting to no avail, I managed a fix it by going to wifi and disabling the ‘private address’ feature which I assume is relatively new to iOS 14, Sonos now works across both devices.

Weirdly, however, the iPad picks up my Sonos network even with the private address function enabled, so don’t know what the issue is. I did end up doing a hard reset and tried reconnecting on my iPad which got it to work, so may have something to do with it.

It is a major issue that software updates like this are not looked into and addressed by the Sonos team, I feel the app has got worse over the last 12 months. 

edit. For reference I had major connectivity issues on Sky router,  it it eventually always found the network, I switched to BT, signal is better but clearly some issues across hub - Sonos - iOS. 

ratty

I don’t know if this is a good trade off for 8Mbps internet speed on my phone, mind, seeing as I’m paying for Infinity. 

I’m not sure where the 8Mbps figure is coming from. If I connect to my BT Hub’s 2.4GHz I see the full available Infinity line rate (around 55Mbps where I live). If it’s as low as 8Mbps there must be some pretty horrible interference coming from somewhere.

O

Thanks for the reply, though not ideal that does seem to have solved it for now 👍

Guyincognito76
Userlevel 3
Badge +4

I don’t know if this is a good trade off for 8Mbps internet speed on my phone, mind, seeing as I’m paying for Infinity. 

I’m not sure where the 8Mbps figure is coming from. If I connect to my BT Hub’s 2.4GHz I see the full available Infinity line rate (around 55Mbps where I live). If it’s as low as 8Mbps there must be some pretty horrible interference coming from somewhere.

It’s an iOS thing. When I had the Homehub I had to split the bands so the iOS devices could connect to 5ghz. 

ratty

I don’t know if this is a good trade off for 8Mbps internet speed on my phone, mind, seeing as I’m paying for Infinity. 

I’m not sure where the 8Mbps figure is coming from. If I connect to my BT Hub’s 2.4GHz I see the full available Infinity line rate (around 55Mbps where I live). If it’s as low as 8Mbps there must be some pretty horrible interference coming from somewhere.

It’s an iOS thing. When I had the Homehub I had to split the bands so the iOS devices could connect to 5ghz. 

The 55Mbps I just recorded on 2.4GHz was measured using an iPad 6 running the latest iPadOS. iOS thing…?

Guyincognito76
Userlevel 3
Badge +4

I don’t know if this is a good trade off for 8Mbps internet speed on my phone, mind, seeing as I’m paying for Infinity. 

I’m not sure where the 8Mbps figure is coming from. If I connect to my BT Hub’s 2.4GHz I see the full available Infinity line rate (around 55Mbps where I live). If it’s as low as 8Mbps there must be some pretty horrible interference coming from somewhere.

It’s an iOS thing. When I had the Homehub I had to split the bands so the iOS devices could connect to 5ghz. 

The 55Mbps I just recorded on 2.4GHz was measured using an iPad 6 running the latest iPadOS. iOS thing…?

I’m sure it’s not everyone with an iOS device. There were other people with the same problem on the BT forums when I was trying to solve the issue. You’re right that something is probably interfering with it on the 2.4ghz. Speeds vary throughout the day. 

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

Guyincognito76
Userlevel 3
Badge +4

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. 🙄 

J

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. 🙄 

Turning off the 5Ghz is something that can be done to prove the issue is having devices using  different bands not communicating (i.e. once only the 2.4 band exists, all devices connect to it albeit at a slower speed) but it’s not a practical long term solution.  My IOS devices wouldn’t communicate with Sonos until I forced all of my Sonos devices to use the same band by plugging one of the Sonos devices into an ethernet socket either on the router or on a complete wifi disc.  It’s been fine since then but the long term solution is for BT to update the firmware on the router so the two bands can communicate in the normal manner.  I understand your frustration but don’t lose your 5Ghz band; if you don’t have a bt complete wifi disc to plug into, you’re entitled to request one (and I think you’re entitled to three actually).  Once you can plug in a Sonos device, you can bring your 5Ghz bak online and all should be fine.

 

Guyincognito76
Userlevel 3
Badge +4

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. 🙄 

Turning off the 5Ghz is something that can be done to prove the issue is having devices using  different bands not communicating (i.e. once only the 2.4 band exists, all devices connect to it albeit at a slower speed) but it’s not a practical long term solution.  My IOS devices wouldn’t communicate with Sonos until I forced all of my Sonos devices to use the same band by plugging one of the Sonos devices into an ethernet socket either on the router or on a complete wifi disc.  It’s been fine since then but the long term solution is for BT to update the firmware on the router so the two bands can communicate in the normal manner.  I understand your frustration but don’t lose your 5Ghz band; if you don’t have a bt complete wifi disc to plug into, you’re entitled to request one (and I think you’re entitled to three actually).  Once you can plug in a Sonos device, you can bring your 5Ghz bak online and all should be fine.

 

OP says the disc workaround doesn’t work with the Roam. 

M
Userlevel 1
Badge +1

Hi. I’ve been told to come here by another user on here. I’ve been having problems with my Sonos one speaker for about a month I think. The app won’t connect to my speaker. I’ve tried all the suggestions on the app and nothing. I’ve managed to get it working once or twice but the next day im back to the same problem. I am a BT customer and have the new router, I’m not technical at all. So what can I do to sort this out. It’s driving me mad as I use my speaker daily, it’s come close to being thrown out of a closed window lol. Thanks 

HI Jodie

Just log into the hub manager and go to advanced settings and then wireless and then toggle to 5ghz switch to off, when BT have got their act together just repeat and turned it back on 

controlav
Userlevel 7
Badge +23

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.

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