There is also a simple workaround in S2: set up line in for autoplay on each Connect Amp, and then use the cheapest Echo device you find that has a line out socket, wired via RCA to each Connect Amp. You are then free of S2, and the Connect Amp becomes a dumb servant of the Echo. And if you group Echos together, you can get all Connect Amps to play the same music in perfect sync as well.

PS: If you can find older Echo Show units that have an audio out jack - the latest models don't have these - you will even get a free bonus of being able to see album art of what is playing.

The major miss here is that this solution will not give you access to music on a local NAS.

sure but I’m already using my line in for my turntable… 

That is a minor issue, solved by a input switch between the source devices and the Sonos line in jack.

I’ve posted this elsewhere but it’s more relevant to this topic.

i now have 3 Connect:Amps and my Connect all suffering from stuttering and drop-outs.

this is not a network issue as all my modern Sonos Amps work just fine.  This is too much of a coincidence to believe these are all suffering failing memory around the same time.  Plus, a reboot solves the issue, albeit temporarily suggesting a memory leak or other firmware bug. 

This all started with a firmware (v15.x?)  push last year and Sonos have been too evasive on causes, other than hinting at faulty hardware, and trying to avoid blame.  Sorry Sonos — this isn’t good enough — this is a problem of your making, and a solution is needed.  Can we have some answers, please ?

Sndrew S 
 

I think you’ve seen all you’re going to from Sonos. They’ve seen the issue, and are working on it. The forum moderators aren’t allowed to give any more information, and likely don’t know any more information. They seem to find out what is in a new software release at the same time we do. If you couldperhaps get into a beta, and that particular beta was working on that issue, you might have advance knowledge…but then would be beholden to the NDA not to discuss what you know. And that’s even if there was a beta that involved that particular bug. 

There isn’t much we can do, beyond sending them diagnostics, and calling in to make sure they are passed on to the engineers to look at. We have to wait, beyond that, to even see if it is fixable. Since we don’t know the true nature of the issue, we can only make assumptions. Sonos’ policies won’t allow them to tell us. 

From personal experience with bugs in video games, they’re both hard to figure out, and resolve. Being able to include our customers in that process was impossible, and we would patch our game just as soon as we could, without notification time. Our forum moderators were never aware, from moment to moment, where the issue’s status was, and consequently were instructed not to discuss it…especially timing of any potential fixes. We often ‘fixed’ bugs on one engineers machine, but it wouldn’t stand the test across the QA machines, so any timing discussion would have been premature.

It is frustrating, certainly, but there isn’t much we can do, as customers, beyond provide Sonos hard data so that they can reproduce the issue, and hope for a quick fix. 

Sonos may as well save some money and replace all the moderators by AI Bots, in that case; in any event the large majority of solutions here are given by Sonos users.

In this case, the moderator probably went out on a limb and said, a couple of months ago, that this issue is getting the “highest priority” in Sonos just now. For what that is worth, then.

Airgetlam , I do fully acknowledge Sonos’s policy around announcements.  And I do understand it — things that go on internally and not for public consumption.  

however their last update on these issues was prior to v16, when they said something like (and I’m paraphrasing here),  they could make no promises on the efficacy on any forthcoming updates.

We’ve now had v16 and v16.1 and they don’t appear to be working.  So I think the time is due for a further update; ie are they still working on it, or is a viable fix not now possible?  Do we stick with the old gear in the hope of a fix or do we look at other solutions ? I have 4 rooms that don’t work as they should and that is a hard pill to swallow without some acknowledgment from Sonos. 

regards

Andrew S 

My device only works for less than 24 hours after power down. It is quite annoying to power down every time before you want to turn the Music on. The Connect amp has also become slower and slower through the app. Next upgrade will be Bose or Bluesound. Sonos seems to be a product of low quality, which might be the case also for bluesound, were Bose has been on the semi high end for years.

You realize you are complaining about a device that is least a decade old? Good luck finding a 10-yr old Bose or Bluesound device that still has any software support. And please, don’t call Bose semi-high end (except maybe for their headphones).

I don’t think that in this case the age is the point.  I had 6 S2 devices that I’d call ‘prior’ generation devices, all bought new and less than 10yrs ago (3 x Connect:amps, 2 x play:1’s and a Connect) that all broke with the update pushed out late last year.   That is over £2000 pounds worth.  It is not ‘supporting’ these devices if the update renders them unable to stream.  I’ve mentioned it before, I have a £25 Echo Dot that is a more reliable streamer.  I think there is a genuine cause for grievance here, after all Sonos could have twilighted these earlier gen devices on the release of S2 but they didn’t.  I’m already in the process of replacing what I have and so far I’ve paid over £1000 already.  To replace the remaining prior gen devices will set me back about another £1800.  Do I feel aggrieved , heck yeah I do.  Wouldn’t you ?  

andrew s 

Not really the point is it, I have 3 CA’s that all started playing up last year, this is obviously software related and not down to the kit itself for them all to develop the same fault at the same time. I am currently going round in circles with tech support whilst they are trying to pick a fault with everything other than their kit,  I have implemented every change they have suggested  but still the only thing that cures the issue in the short term is a hard reset / power down. Clutching at straws springs to mind, as the don’t want to admit they have effectively bricked 100’s if not 1000’s of units that are officially still supported by them. 

I bought my S2 Connect that is suffering from this in 2019….

Exactly it shouldn’t matter when they were bought they are still supported and they have clearly caused this and it needs to be sorted. 

The Bose products i have dont need software support for 10 years, they just keep working, which dosent seem to be the case for sonos. If you have a product that continuously need to be tweeked and updated to work then thats not a product for me. I want a finished product.

I truly regret spending money on sonos thinking that this would last a bit longer than the warranty, when there were other brands with the same functions.

Coming late to this discussion, I've run S1 app without ever upgrading to S2 as I have an older connect. I've a mesh WiFi running and it's definitely the connect that's the issue, no other issues with a selection of play ones, a play 3 and playbar. 30% discount to me isn't acceptable as it's a design issue on the connect and if it's memory related the S1 app/software should reflect this. All I want is access to Plex, Sonos radio and a podcast app. Sonos should fix this as it was never an issue previously.

Up until this point I had no idea that running with S1 is also an issue, going on information from other discussions downgrading was a sure fire way to stop the drop outs. Incidentally my Move gen1 started dropping out the other day at the same time as my connect amps, I guess this will just go on and on with Sonos denying any responsibility, they have now asked me to call them to go through some live troubleshooting! Not holding my hopes up! 

Don't hold your breath with live support their knowledge is likely less than yours. Changed my WiFi recently and lost the S1 app, call abandoned after 1 hour with NO solution from their side. I fixed it myself by renaming the network and starting again. Sonos once had this market, but now they most definitely are also rans.

On occasion a defective CONNECT:AMP can cause network issues. Experiment with powering down one at a time.

In terms of network stability, reserve IP addresses for all regular network clients.

I had the same issue with my only connect amp, an old ZP 120.  I also have 2 x ZP80’s and the original Sonos Soundbar with the original Sonos Subwoofer, yes the ZP 80’s are really old stuff, connected to really nice Marantz and Denon amps but they’ve always worked great, as has the ZP120 until recently when drop outs started.  After reading through many threads here I thought I was f’d for allowing the last update to go through.  However, I think I found a fix for my set up.  If the first zone I chose is the ZP 120 amp and then I added other zones, the ZP 120 will drop out constantly.  But, if I start with any ZP 80 and then add the ZP 120 then I have no problems.  The other thing to know is one of my ZP 80’s is connected directly to my modem router and the Denon amp.  That’s the unit I listen to more than anything and where I usually start grouping items.  So in summary, try using a non-amped connect like a ZP 80 or ZP 90 as the first room before adding Connect Amp ZP100’s and ZP120’s.  If you do not have any ZP 80’s or 90’s (the non-amped connect boxes), you could try picking one up for $25 used and use that to connect to your modem and make that the first link in your groupings to solve your Connect amp issues.  Just tossing that out there for you all, I hope it helps someone.

Since you’re on S1 you must have had a different problem (showing the same symptoms), since the problem spoken about here seems to be a memory overflow on older devices using S2.

I posted on another thread before I knew about this one. We built a new house about five years ago and we were convinced by one of the contractors to install all Sonos equipment inside the house. We have seven of the connect amps along with about 10 to 15 other devices from Sonos. These connect amps  all started having a problem last year like everyone else. Dropping audio.  On one I use the most, there is a subwoofer in the mix.  The connect amp will drop out while we hear the subwoofer still thumping along.  Like everyone else I jumped through all the hoops Sonos asked me to do including submitting diagnostics and all they are telling me is the products are old and I need to update with a 15% discount. 
 

We live almost smack dab in the middle of 150+ acres. So neighbors and their Wi-Fi is not our issue. I am not ruling out some occasional Wi-Fi interference inside the house, but we mostly had been fine until the middle of last year.  I have wasted time trying to configure everything over and in different ways when it sounds like these old amps just can’t handle it anymore.
 

I don’t think I’m willing to pay for a bunch of new Sonos equipment with a 15% discount when I may have to do this all over again in a few years. I’m considering what alternatives are out there.  Thanks. 

I was curious if the new software they just rolled out (which is complete garbage without ability to modify the queue) fixed the issue with old connects? For one of my systems I did cave and buy a port, and it resolved all my issues.

The dumpster fire is just the app, no firmware update, so no fix. Maybe they will figure it out someday. 

So far the new app rollout was a complete disaster as it’s wonky slow and nothing works, they’ve updated the app in the last couple of days which is somewhat better but still buggy. No firmware updates that I could see but I guess at this point they’re trying to put out a multitude of fires I doubt this issue is in their priority list.

And that’s even if they’ll ever try and resolve it which is looking more and more like they will not.

Just wanted to do a quick feedback, it looks as though the last updates have addressed this issue as I haven’t had any drop out in the last few weeks! Anyone else?