With the speaker temporarily wired, go to Settings/System/Network and update the WiFi details.

Thanks!

I tried it, but the very same happens there. Within the Wi-Fi settings of the system in the Sonos app, before being able to input the actual Wi-Fi details, the app is “looking for the system” for ever, and doesn’t find. Even though it is perfectly connected, and recognized within the Sonos app.

So, your speaker is wired and the app can see it and control it? Is the ‘WiFi’ (radio) enabled on the speaker? 

When the speaker is wired, the app can totally control it (access settings, play music, etc.)

But, wired or not wired, the problem is the same: when trying to update the Wi-Fi details, I bump into the same “Recherche de votre système en cours…” / “Trouver le système” two screens that alternate when I click on the buttons.

What do you mean “ Is the ‘WiFi’ (radio) enabled on the speaker? “ On the device, I see no such button. When wired, through the Sonos app, yes, I was able to enable it, disable it, reenable it without any issue. And now it’s enabled.

Yes, I meant the ‘Disable WiFi’ setting in the app, since you said you’d been turning it on and off. It should be ‘Enabled’.

I’d suggest you:

• power the speaker off for 30 seconds then on again
• reset your Sonos app (via Settings/App Preferences) and when you restart the app tell it to connect to an existing system

See if that lets you deal with the WiFi credentials. 

So, here is what I did:

1. power speaker off for a couple of minutes, on again, wait for another couple of minutes
2. reset Sonos app
3. open app again

Here are the screens

1. Welcome screen
2. Configurer un nouveau système / Ajouter à un système existant. I ticked “Ajouter à un système existant” (add to existing system)
3. Recherche de Sonos… (looking for Sonos)
4. Nous ne trouvons pas de système Sonos sur le réseau de votre appareil mobile. Avez-vous effectué des modifications au niveau des paramètres de votre routeur ou du réseau ? Oui / Non (I clicked “Yes” because I did modify network/router)
5. Voulez-vous ajouter un réseau de confiance à Sonos ou modifier un réseau existant ? Oui (only choice: yes, to add a network)
6. Saisissez l’adresse e-mail et le mot de passe de votre compte Sonos (enter your Sonos credentials; which I did)
7. Votre nom: Saissez un nom à ajouter à amy email address] (I added a name) Only choice: Continuer (continue)
8. Sonos a besoin d’accéder à la localisation pour trouver, connecter et configurer vos produits situés à proximité. Continuer (continue ; allow GPS)
9. (super long text asking for microphone access; yeah, granted)

10. “Assurez-vous que tous vos produits sont allumés. Cette opération devrait durer entre 1 et 2 minutes” with a “Trouver le système” (find system) button

11. “Recherche de votre système en cours…” (currently looking for your system)

12. Système Sonos introuvable. Vérifiez que vous êtes bien connecté et que la connexion à Internet de votre appareil mobile se fait sur le même réseau Wi-Fi que celui du système Sonos. Continuer. (No system found; make sure you’re connected to the same Wi-Fi network as the Sonos device).

Then looping forever between screens 10, 11, 12.

Also note that point 12 is stupid: the device is not connected to the same Wi-Fi network as the phone, precisely because I am unable to update the Wi-Fi credentials for the speaker!

I'm starting to suspect a problem with your router. Some don't forward traffic between their network segments correctly.

Remove the Ethernet cable. Make sure your phone is connected to the 2.4GHz WiFi (not 5GHz) and try again. 

The nuclear option is to factory reset the speaker and set up from scratch, but this would erase any Sonos playlists, service accounts, settings and so forth.

An additional attempt with the wire. Here is what I did.

1. power speaker off for a couple of minutes, on again; plug the Ethernet wire; wait for another couple of minutes
2. reset Sonos app
3. open app again
4. the app immediately finds the device
5. I play music (just to make sure it works; and it works)
6. I go to System settings
7. Network: “gérer les réseaux” / “Canal SonosNet” I select “gérer les réseaux” (manage networks)
8. Gérer les réseaux: only choice is “mettre à jour les réseaux” (update networks). NB: Before, i could see my former network, but I have deleted in one of my numerous attempt to update the network.
9. Voulez-vous ajouter un réseau de confiance à Sonos ou modifier un réseau existant ? Oui (only choice: yes, to add a network)
10.  (super long text asking for microphone access; yeah, granted)
11. “Assurez-vous que tous vos produits sont allumés. Cette opération devrait durer entre 1 et 2 minutes” with a “Trouver le système” (find system) button
12. “Recherche de votre système en cours…” (currently looking for your system)

And then, just as in the very beginning of my problem, alternating forever between screens 11 and 12.

What can I do?

(sorry my above answer was posted before I see your answer starting with “I'm starting to suspect…”)

Good point: my phone is (now) connected to the 5GHz network. But when writing my initial message, it was connected to the 2.4GHz; and I don’t think I changed anything, nor left home, meaning it “switches” automatically. I have a “Freebox” (French Internet provider “Free”) which apparently mixes both frequencies on the same ID.

So this is a problem?

OK, I decoupled my networks (one ID for the 5GHz, another ID for the 2.4GHz) and I forced my phone onto the 2.4GHz.

Sadly, the problem remains exactly the same:

1. Voulez-vous ajouter un réseau de confiance à Sonos ou modifier un réseau existant ? Oui (only choice: yes, to add a network)
2. “Recherche de votre système en cours…” (currently looking for your system)
3. “Assurez-vous que tous vos produits sont allumés. Cette opération devrait durer entre 1 et 2 minutes” with a “Trouver le système” (find system) button

…alternating between screens 2 and 3.

How can I factory reset the speaker?

Could be. See if you can split the bands onto different IDs, or at least disable band steering. 

Our posts are crossing. 

To reset, see here: https://support.sonos.com/s/article/1096

OK, I just have factory reset the speaker. Then:

1. I have reset the app
2. I reopened the app
3. I followed the instructions
4. The app immediately found the device (SYMFONISK Étagère) but… …there was a problem with the network!

Here are the screens:

1. Connectons votre appareil mobile au réseau temporaire de votre SYMFONISK Étagère: SONOS-XXXXXXX… (let us connect your mobile device to the temporary network of your SYMFONISK device) Continuer
2. Connection à votre SYMFONISK Étagère en cours… (currently connecting…)
3. Un problème est survenu lors de la configuration. Redémarrez votre appareil mobile ou utilisez-en un autre, et retentez la configuration. Ou connectez votre SYMFONISK Étagère au routeur par câble Ethernet. (“A problem occurred. Restart and try again. Or connect your SYMFONISK device to the router using an Ethernet cable.)

What kind of “temporary network” is the speaker using? Is it Wi-Fi? Bluetooth? So there might be a physical problem in the device?

Note that, again, connecting by Ethernet cable works perfectly; there was some sound exchange, and then everything worked. And then, using the app, trying to set up the Wi-Fi, I enter into the usual problem:

1. Voulez-vous ajouter un réseau de confiance à Sonos ou modifier un réseau existant ? Oui (only choice: yes, to add a network)
2. “Recherche de votre système en cours…” (currently looking for your system)
3. “Assurez-vous que tous vos produits sont allumés. Cette opération devrait durer entre 1 et 2 minutes” with a “Trouver le système” (find system) button

…alternating between screens 2 and 3.

During setup the app uses a direct connection to the speaker, either ad-hoc WiFi or Bluetooth LE, sometimes NFC.

I can only assume that something is not quite right with your router. You’d best wire the speaker again, submit a system diagnostic (Settings/Support), note the confirmation number, then phone Sonos Support. They have a lot of tools which can help resolve the problem.

So, I chatted 2 hours with the support, and they weren’t that helpful (saying a lot of stuff like change DNS to Google, enable UPNP, enable multicast…, which had no result), but eventually they said: just try to configure using a different mobile device.

Which I did. I used a Samsung tablet (instead of my Honor View 10 mobile phone), and… it worked The tablet immediately found the system, asked me to remove the Ethernet wire, and then to input the Wi-Fi credentials.

The very strange thing is: I did configure earlier this year the same Sonos system with my very same Honor View 10 mobile phone on my former router without any issue.

Anyway, problem solved. The bad news is: I have no idea why!

Also note that, contrarily to what everyone said (here and support): having a 2.4GHz and 5GHz with the same or a different SSID plays strictly no role on a Sonos system, at least with a Freebox router: I can (now) control the Sonos system from either a mobile connected to the 2.4GHz Wi-Fi SSID or from a mobile device connected to the 5GHz Wi-Fi SSID. It is always recognized.

Thanks for the help anyway!

Having a phone on a different WiFi band to the speakers shouldn’t in theory matter at all. Some routers however have been found to block multicasts between network segments, thus preventing a controller on 5GHz from discovering players on 2.4GHz.

As for band steering, it has sometimes been found to cause problems when a router tries to force a Sonos unit over to 5GHz. 

So it sounds like it may have been your Honor phone’s interaction with the new router which caused the original problem. Good to hear you now have a solution.

In any case, to play safe, I kept decoupled the two networks (2.4GHz, and 5GHz) to avoid any issue. And Sonos is only connected to the 2.4GHz.

But for sure I can now access the Sonos system from any of the networks.