Skip to main content

Apologies in advance for the rant.  If you hate rants scroll on, this will end part rant/part questionand feedback solicitation.

SYSTEM INFO

2 Sonos 1 speakers, 1 Roam, 1 Beam Soundbar, 2 connect amps (5 yrs or so old) that I connect 2 sets of outdoor polk speakers, 2 into each amp.  1 sonos boost.  OS is S2 

Intend to add the mini subwoofer but after this may refrai from spending  ore money on Sonos products 

 

ISSUE

Audio is cutting in and out of the outdoor speakers.  Sometimes  1set plays and the other set does not. Or the audio cuts in and out.  It's not the speakers because when the issue happens, it happens to the entire pair.  

 

WHAT DID I DO BEFORE CONTACTING SUPPORT 

The usual stuff, rebooted the modem and router.  I then changed the network channel in the sonos app and tried each of the 3 channels. Still had the same audio issue

 

WHAT DID SUPPORT SAY?

Via chat, I contacted support and ran 2 diagnostics, one without the system being used and another lucky enough while I was having the audio issue.  I use a Netgear NighthawkMesh Wifi6 system.  Support tech says my problem is common but solvable with this type of wifi. Gave me a case number,said to call the 800# so they could remote in to change some router settings or walk me through the changes.

I call with the case number and gave some background. Tech asks to run one more diagnostic as issue could ha e changed. Ummm? Ok, i guess?.  I oblige, leaves me on hold for a good 15 minutes and tells me my connect amps are at the end of their life and need replacement.  What?, is this for real? 😡 Sort of expect $1,000 of audio equipment to last more than 5 years.

 

Really frustrating to get 2 different answers and you really don't know who is right.  Fast forward a few hours, I messed around with the channel settings on my router and everything is fine.  Audio back to normal.

Rant over.  Any feedback on router settings or preferred channels are appreciated. Thanks for listening 

 

My connect amps were $500 each, and while everything has increased due to Inflation, I'd looking at a 40% increase as these now cost $700 a piece.  And highly doubt both amps would go at the same time but what do I know

First the second Sonos tech sounds like he wanted to duck working and get you to hang up. End of life isn’t a Sonos thing for most gear. CR-100, Dock and Bridge come to mind as EOL. Some really old devices are in limited support (S1) mode but they are still supported.

Before I did anything else on your setup I’d go in and set static/reserved IP addresses for all Sonos devices from your router’s DHCP page. Power down ALL Sonos, reboot router, restart controllers and then power the Sonos back up. There is much discussion on this, mostly “it works for me” and “it fixed my problem” but not a lot on exactly what is going wrong with the dynamic IP assignment, might be duplicates, might be other issues But without internal access to our Sonos we can’t see the information needed to nail it down.

 

Thanks Stanley.....will research that and give it a go.

 

Have never set static ip's to devices but will do some googling and figure it out.  

 

Also if my Netgear Nighthawk Mesh system is indeed the problem, I have my ISP router and cable modem which provides a separate SSID from my Mesh system and may move my sonos devices to that.  We shall see

I had the same issue with a Connect amp at c4 years old. It wasn’t able to recover from a short power outage (other components unaffected), even a factory reset didn’t work. Only advice from tech support was to replace...I returned the expired box by courier (which tech support set up very efficiently) and now I have a 30pct discount code to use if I want a replacement. Not an ideal outcome. Now I’ve had to factory reset my other Connect amp to get it to talk to a new wifi network and 5 years of playlists are gone……unhappy!

Usually no need for the factory reset, there are many better options.

https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/connect-sonos-to-a-new-router-or-wi-fi-network

The Connect:Amp has ten year old wifi hardware/protocols in it. Mine is a lot older than yours, and it occasionally drops. It always comes back. I don’t use SonosNet mind you, but a solid Wifi 5 router. I am just happy its a Gen 2 that I got it for $250 on eBay. One day I’ll splurge on an Amp, I guess.

Terms & ConditionsCookie settings