Is your music cutting out? Or are your players disappearing from the app?


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Hi all,

If you’re experiencing any of the above, or your app is sluggish, then your Sonos set up may be suffering from “wireless interference”. In the video, you will see how to fix this annoying issue, and get back to listening to your favorite tunes, uninterrupted.



Feel free to let us know how to get along with the video. If you need any further assistance, we’re ready to help! :D

Please note that we also have a support article explaining how to change the wireless channel here: https://support.sonos.com/s/article/1219

Still having problems? Grab a diagnostic and add it to your reply.

Sonos Controller App for iOS or Android
From the Sonos music menu, touch Settings > Advanced Settings menu > Submit Diagnostics.

Sonos Desktop Controller App for Mac or PC
Select Submit Diagnostics from the Help menu.

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385 replies

Diagnostic submitted. 709448844

Have been getting “bufffer insufficient to maintain playback” off and on for months. Have tried all kinds of fixes - using boost mode, changing wireless channel, bought a wireless booster etc - and nothing has worked. It’s extremely frustrating.

Please help!
Userlevel 7
Badge +20
Diagnostic 748375781

Hello
I run a very small restaurant and bar ( less than 12 tables) and having significant issues with Sonos connectivity. We have two Sonos play 1.. one in bar area and one in dining area.

We have an access point in the bar area with the router on the floor upstairs. Tracks keep skipping and the second dining area Sonos keeps losing connectivity. I’ve tried tunein...Spotify...amazon...all the same. I’ve changed wireless channels and tried moving the Sonos devices around to see if that helps

I’m really at a loss as to how to resolve. The music is not smooth at all and makes for an unpleasant experience. We’ve had to resort to older less desirable options which we don’t want to do.

Please could you advise how to resolve?

Thanks


Hi there,

Sorry for the late reply. In your diagnostic report I see that your wireless access points are running on different wireless channels. This can make it hard for the Sonos speakers to stay in communication. Please try changing all of your access points over to the same channel, and make sure that it's a different wireless channel than your guest network. We recommend using channels 1, 6, and 11 as they do not overlap.
Userlevel 7
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369790263

Thanks for sending in the report. It looks like you're streaming from an iOS device's library. You're probably running into an issue where non-Sonos Airplay devices on your network interrupt streaming from the iOS device. You can get it working by disabling Airplay on those devices, or by disabling the auto lock feature on your iOS device's settings menu under display and brightness.

Another option is to move your library from your iOS device onto a computer or NAS drive,, then setting up a music share. Doing so will allow you to play your library, using any controller without issues if you have Airplay devices active, and even if your iOS device goes offline.
Userlevel 7
Badge +20
Diagnostic submitted. 709448844

Have been getting “bufffer insufficient to maintain playback” off and on for months. Have tried all kinds of fixes - using boost mode, changing wireless channel, bought a wireless booster etc - and nothing has worked. It’s extremely frustrating.

Please help!


Thanks for sending in the report. I see that your Family Room component is getting hit with a lot of wireless interference. Take a look around the Connect to see if there are any third party electronic devices nearby which could cause interference. Common sources of interference include cordless phones, wireless baby monitors, wireless cameras, and wireless printers. Try moving away any nearby devices and see if that helps.
Userlevel 1
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I have five play 5 connected to a sonos bridge which is hard wired to the router

seems to cut music more often than not thats why I had the bridge installed

should I just connect them to wifi and do away with the bridge

diagnostic number 342983582
Userlevel 7
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I have five play 5 connected to a sonos bridge which is hard wired to the router

seems to cut music more often than not thats why I had the bridge installed

should I just connect them to wifi and do away with the bridge

diagnostic number 342983582


Thanks for sending in the report. Your Bridge overall has a clean signal, but your other speakers are reporting a high level of wireless noise. There are some wireless communication errors between a few of your speakers as well. If you haven't already done so, try the steps found in this guide, which help with many of the issues that can cause audio interruptions.

You might look around and in between your speakers for third party wireless electronics which could cause interference. Devices such as cordless phone bases, wireless baby monitors, wireless cameras and wireless printers all could make it hard for nearby Sonos speakers to stay in sync. Try moving away any such devices and see if things improve
Please help, I’m having trouble playing music via Spotify on my Sonos Play 1. It will start playing a song then stop at 15 seconds in (sometimes less) and then go on to the next song. My WiFi is working fine. It’s also up to date with updates. Any ideas?

I did a support diagnostic and my number is: 290947313.
Userlevel 7
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Please help, I’m having trouble playing music via Spotify on my Sonos Play 1. It will start playing a song then stop at 15 seconds in (sometimes less) and then go on to the next song. My WiFi is working fine. It’s also up to date with updates. Any ideas?

I did a support diagnostic and my number is: 290947313.


Hi there,

Thanks for sending in the report. Your speaker is having a hard time staying connected to your wireless network due to interference from nearby networks running on the same wireless channel as your own. Try changing your router's wireless channel to 1 and see if that helps.
Please help, I’m having trouble playing music via Spotify on my Sonos Play 1. It will start playing a song then stop at 15 seconds in (sometimes less) and then go on to the next song. My WiFi is working fine. It’s also up to date with updates. Any ideas?

I did a support diagnostic and my number is: 290947313.


Hi there,

Thanks for sending in the report. Your speaker is having a hard time staying connected to your wireless network due to interference from nearby networks running on the same wireless channel as your own. Try changing your router's wireless channel to 1 and see if that helps.


Thanks for the reply. I’ve changed it to 1, the songs started playing a little longer but are still skipping into the next song? New diagnostic number: 1338757870.
Userlevel 7
Badge +20
Please help, I’m having trouble playing music via Spotify on my Sonos Play 1. It will start playing a song then stop at 15 seconds in (sometimes less) and then go on to the next song. My WiFi is working fine. It’s also up to date with updates. Any ideas?

I did a support diagnostic and my number is: 290947313.


Hi there,

Thanks for sending in the report. Your speaker is having a hard time staying connected to your wireless network due to interference from nearby networks running on the same wireless channel as your own. Try changing your router's wireless channel to 1 and see if that helps.


Thanks for the reply. I’ve changed it to 1, the songs started playing a little longer but are still skipping into the next song? New diagnostic number: 1338757870.


Your speaker is still having a hard time keeping the communication going with your router. How far away from the router is the speaker? Can you try moving it closer? Are there any environmental factors in between the speaker and router, such as walls or cabinets?
I am having an issue with Play:3 continuously dropping off our network. We have 3 play:1's and and sub on the wireless network currently. The play 1's and the sub work fine on the wireless network. I have reset the play 3 and connected it via ethernet and gone through the setup multiple times adding it into the Sono controller (10.0).

Please use diagnostic number: 1861727639 . The Play 3 gets added into Controller and then I play 1 or 2 songs and then Controller responds with cannot play the next song and the room that is associated with the play 3 disappears or disconnects.

The light is white on top of the Play 3 and and the ethernet port is lighting up green and orange showing activity. The speaker was working fine before and it cannot stay connected.
Userlevel 7
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I am having an issue with Play:3 continuously dropping off our network. We have 3 play:1's and and sub on the wireless network currently. The play 1's and the sub work fine on the wireless network. I have reset the play 3 and connected it via ethernet and gone through the setup multiple times adding it into the Sono controller (10.0).

Please use diagnostic number: 1861727639 . The Play 3 gets added into Controller and then I play 1 or 2 songs and then Controller responds with cannot play the next song and the room that is associated with the play 3 disappears or disconnects.

The light is white on top of the Play 3 and and the ethernet port is lighting up green and orange showing activity. The speaker was working fine before and it cannot stay connected.


Thanks for the report. Your Play:3 is still connected and communicating with your other Sonos units, but it does not have a valid network address. This could be due to an IP address conflict or another network issue preventing your speaker from communicating with your router.

I'd recommend starting by rebooting your router and each Sonos speaker. If this helps, send along another diagnostic report while the Play:3 is showing up in the app. You might take a look at your router's DHCP settings to see if there are any IP reservations which might conflict with the addresses available in the DHCP pool. It's also possible that you need to increase the available addresses in the DHCP pool. If you're unfamiliar with logging into your router's settings, it might be best to have our phone team help out. You can find our phone number and hours here.
We have a retail store with 14' ceilings, both speakers are installed into the ceiling plugged into ceiling outlets at either end of the shop. constant cutting out and one or both speakers dropping off the menu, which is especially rough for us as we have to get on a gigantic ladder to reset. diagnostics: 810930852
I have a Sonos Beam connected to a Samsung UE40NU7120 TV by optical. Both devices are connected to my router via wi-fi. When the TV is off and I play music using Deezer, Google Play, etc. the music often cuts out. When I open the Sonos app to find out what has happened, I can see that the TV has "taken over" even though it is off. How can I stop this happening?

Diagnostic: 1314131821
My Sonos setup (2x Play 1s, 1x Playbar & 1x Sub on Velop mesh network) has been working great for past 2 months when they were initially setup until 2 days ago, my Sub begin to entirely disconnect itself and dropped out of the group. Under "Room Settings", it will show up as "Living Room (+?+LS+RS)".

I have tried:
1. Re-adding the Sub back via the "Add a Speaker or Sub" from the app.
2. Factory reset my Sub
3. Using ethernet connection instead of wireless.
4. Changing my wireless channels etc.
5. Removing all speakers and redo the whole setup of adding my Play 1s, playbar and sub.

All of the above have failed to resolve the problem. I'm not sure if a recent update has caused this issue. I have checked my Sub and it doesn't seem to have any hardware defects going on since it can be powered on/off and able to be discovered by my iPhone Sonos controller app.

My Sonos Diagnostics number is 136702528

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Does it still show up as a ? (how do I make this a question...add another question mark?)

That's an indication that it hasn't gotten a valid IP address from your router. For me, all I had to do was power cycle the SUB, and it picked up the correct assigned IP address.

You may need to try unplugging it, then reboot your router, and once the router comes back up, plugging it back in. This would be the safest bet, but I'll admit I didn't do so on mine.
Oh, it's also possible that there' some wifi interference going on. Read the link, and check around your PLAYBAR and SUB for anything that might be generating interference.
Does it still show up as a ? (how do I make this a question...add another question mark?)

That's an indication that it hasn't gotten a valid IP address from your router. For me, all I had to do was power cycle the SUB, and it picked up the correct assigned IP address.

You may need to try unplugging it, then reboot your router, and once the router comes back up, plugging it back in. This would be the safest bet, but I'll admit I didn't do so on mine.


Hi Bruce,

I have tried but still to no avail. Have already switched off all my wireless devices and the Sub still doesnt want to connect. No IP conflicts as well.
Just curious, how can you identify that there are no IP conflicts? None of the routers I've ever used have provided any way to present that kind of information. All they do is present the data of what is connected at the moment in time the report is generated, and never have any information about what other devices might have been connected to the same IP address over the previous X amount of time

Hopefully someone from Sonos will be along to look at that diagnostic, but if you want to hit the support folks, they're on Twitter and Facebook, the moderators here are much more community folks.
Userlevel 7
Badge +20
My Sonos setup (2x Play 1s, 1x Playbar & 1x Sub on Velop mesh network) has been working great for past 2 months when they were initially setup until 2 days ago, my Sub begin to entirely disconnect itself and dropped out of the group. Under "Room Settings", it will show up as "Living Room (+?+LS+RS)".

I have tried:
1. Re-adding the Sub back via the "Add a Speaker or Sub" from the app.
2. Factory reset my Sub
3. Using ethernet connection instead of wireless.
4. Changing my wireless channels etc.
5. Removing all speakers and redo the whole setup of adding my Play 1s, playbar and sub.

All of the above have failed to resolve the problem. I'm not sure if a recent update has caused this issue. I have checked my Sub and it doesn't seem to have any hardware defects going on since it can be powered on/off and able to be discovered by my iPhone Sonos controller app.

My Sonos Diagnostics number is 136702528

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!


Thanks for sending in the report. I can see the wireless connection between your Playbar and Sub, but your Sub does not have a valid network address. This can be due to IP conflicts, as was suggested above, or other communication issues, such as wireless interference or network congestion. It may be a good idea to set up IP reservations on your network to prevent conflicts.

I do see that there are some wireless communication errors showing up. It may be due to the secondary, unnamed network your router is creating. Both networks are running on the same wireless channel and may be making it hard for your speakers and Sub to stay in communication. Try changing your main wireless network over to channel 1 and see if that helps.
My Sonos setup (2x Play 1s, 1x Playbar & 1x Sub on Velop mesh network) has been working great for past 2 months when they were initially setup until 2 days ago, my Sub begin to entirely disconnect itself and dropped out of the group. Under "Room Settings", it will show up as "Living Room (+?+LS+RS)".

I have tried:
1. Re-adding the Sub back via the "Add a Speaker or Sub" from the app.
2. Factory reset my Sub
3. Using ethernet connection instead of wireless.
4. Changing my wireless channels etc.
5. Removing all speakers and redo the whole setup of adding my Play 1s, playbar and sub.

All of the above have failed to resolve the problem. I'm not sure if a recent update has caused this issue. I have checked my Sub and it doesn't seem to have any hardware defects going on since it can be powered on/off and able to be discovered by my iPhone Sonos controller app.

My Sonos Diagnostics number is 136702528

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!


Thanks for sending in the report. I can see the wireless connection between your Playbar and Sub, but your Sub does not have a valid network address. This can be due to IP conflicts, as was suggested above, or other communication issues, such as wireless interference or network congestion. It may be a good idea to set up IP reservations on your network to prevent conflicts.

I do see that there are some wireless communication errors showing up. It may be due to the secondary, unnamed network your router is creating. Both networks are running on the same wireless channel and may be making it hard for your speakers and Sub to stay in communication. Try changing your main wireless network over to channel 1 and see if that helps.


hi Jeff

Thanks for the advice. I will do the above and report my findings soon as im overseas now.
Just curious, how can you identify that there are no IP conflicts? None of the routers I've ever used have provided any way to present that kind of information. All they do is present the data of what is connected at the moment in time the report is generated, and never have any information about what other devices might have been connected to the same IP address over the previous X amount of time

Hopefully someone from Sonos will be along to look at that diagnostic, but if you want to hit the support folks, they're on Twitter and Facebook, the moderators here are much more community folks.


My Sonos setup (2x Play 1s, 1x Playbar & 1x Sub on Velop mesh network) has been working great for past 2 months when they were initially setup until 2 days ago, my Sub begin to entirely disconnect itself and dropped out of the group. Under "Room Settings", it will show up as "Living Room (+?+LS+RS)".

I have tried:
1. Re-adding the Sub back via the "Add a Speaker or Sub" from the app.
2. Factory reset my Sub
3. Using ethernet connection instead of wireless.
4. Changing my wireless channels etc.
5. Removing all speakers and redo the whole setup of adding my Play 1s, playbar and sub.

All of the above have failed to resolve the problem. I'm not sure if a recent update has caused this issue. I have checked my Sub and it doesn't seem to have any hardware defects going on since it can be powered on/off and able to be discovered by my iPhone Sonos controller app.

My Sonos Diagnostics number is 136702528

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!


Thanks for sending in the report. I can see the wireless connection between your Playbar and Sub, but your Sub does not have a valid network address. This can be due to IP conflicts, as was suggested above, or other communication issues, such as wireless interference or network congestion. It may be a good idea to set up IP reservations on your network to prevent conflicts.

I do see that there are some wireless communication errors showing up. It may be due to the secondary, unnamed network your router is creating. Both networks are running on the same wireless channel and may be making it hard for your speakers and Sub to stay in communication. Try changing your main wireless network over to channel 1 and see if that helps.


Hi Bruce/Jeff,

Turned out that my router has been switching wifi channels and after I have manually fix them, my sonos setup is working again. Thanks for the brilliant advice and help!
Userlevel 7
Badge +20
Just curious, how can you identify that there are no IP conflicts? None of the routers I've ever used have provided any way to present that kind of information. All they do is present the data of what is connected at the moment in time the report is generated, and never have any information about what other devices might have been connected to the same IP address over the previous X amount of time

Hopefully someone from Sonos will be along to look at that diagnostic, but if you want to hit the support folks, they're on Twitter and Facebook, the moderators here are much more community folks.


My Sonos setup (2x Play 1s, 1x Playbar & 1x Sub on Velop mesh network) has been working great for past 2 months when they were initially setup until 2 days ago, my Sub begin to entirely disconnect itself and dropped out of the group. Under "Room Settings", it will show up as "Living Room (+?+LS+RS)".

I have tried:
1. Re-adding the Sub back via the "Add a Speaker or Sub" from the app.
2. Factory reset my Sub
3. Using ethernet connection instead of wireless.
4. Changing my wireless channels etc.
5. Removing all speakers and redo the whole setup of adding my Play 1s, playbar and sub.

All of the above have failed to resolve the problem. I'm not sure if a recent update has caused this issue. I have checked my Sub and it doesn't seem to have any hardware defects going on since it can be powered on/off and able to be discovered by my iPhone Sonos controller app.

My Sonos Diagnostics number is 136702528

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!


Thanks for sending in the report. I can see the wireless connection between your Playbar and Sub, but your Sub does not have a valid network address. This can be due to IP conflicts, as was suggested above, or other communication issues, such as wireless interference or network congestion. It may be a good idea to set up IP reservations on your network to prevent conflicts.

I do see that there are some wireless communication errors showing up. It may be due to the secondary, unnamed network your router is creating. Both networks are running on the same wireless channel and may be making it hard for your speakers and Sub to stay in communication. Try changing your main wireless network over to channel 1 and see if that helps.


Hi Bruce/Jeff,

Turned out that my router has been switching wifi channels and after I have manually fix them, my sonos setup is working again. Thanks for the brilliant advice and help!


It's good to hear things are working again.
I have two Sonos One's (about two months old) in one room - they are 10 feet from a brand new xfinity wireless router. Up until this week they have been great, but as of this week they are unusable - they intermittently drop connection entirely, stop playing music and won't reconnect for several minutes, they skip songs, airplay works even worse and will only connect and work about 33% of the time. I have changed nothing about them or my room, they haven't moved an inch. I have tried changing my wireless channel on my router to several different channels to no avail, Ive tried resetting them both to factory settings and setting up the room from scratch. Nothing has managed to help. I have no problem chrome casting in the living room, I have no problem streaming music through any outlet. Please help me, this investment has become a pair of paper weights.

Diagnostics report: 1177339349
This being a weekend, you're unlikely to get a Community Moderator to look at that diagnostic until Monday. If you prefer a more immediate response, I'd recommend that you contact Sonos Support to discuss it. I tend to suggest the phone folks, they have more tools available, but are only available during business hours. Both the Twitter and Facebook support folks are available 24/7.