Most likely this is a network issue. The diagnostics will log this. SonosNet may be more reliable. You could experiment by wiring one or more players to your network. BOOST is simply a player with the audio removed in order to reduce costs. Best placement for BOOST is about midway between a good area and a problem area or as the only wired player if you don’t want to run any wires to the player locations. Since you have some single players (not stereo paired), you can try different locations for a potential BOOST by moving a player. I’m not suggesting that you need a BOOST, only that you can easily experiment before purchasing a BOOST. BOOST can be wired or wireless, but at least one SONOS unit must be wired before BOOST will function.

Note that the first player in a Group is the Group’s “Coordinator”. All data traffic for the Group passes through the Coordinator. The left speaker in a stereo pair is Coordinator for the pair. Sometimes building a Group in a different order is helpful. For example unit ‘A’ might be sitting in a high interference or weak signal area, while unit ‘B’ is in a great location. Unit ‘B’ would be the better choice for Coordinator.

I would first try these - except change from uncompressed to compressed, not to auto.

@buzz good to know about the group coordinator role. That is news to me. Regarding Boost position, do you think there will be performance issues if I wire it upstairs but my main listening group is downstairs? The rooms are directly below/above each other, but I'm not sure how well the signal will travel through the floor. 

These were my thoughts too. Is there any noticeable quality drop with the compressed line in? I've read that it uses SBC codec, which seems to be bluetooth quality. I'm using line in to primarily play 320 mp3.

I have not heard any difference. I also don't know anyone that has, in a controlled blind test. Claims that it does not sound as good are plenty, but these are subjective opinions, probably driven by the usual human biases.

gimmesub,

Only you know what sounds “best”.

Try the compression and decide for yourself if there are any sonic disadvantages. For someone who insists on HiRes, compression is a nonstarter. Your MP3 files are already compressed. 

We don’t yet know if you have a signal strength or interference issue. The diagnostic will clearly show this.

Successful transmission through a floor depends on the floor. Any wall or floor will attenuate the signal. Lower signal levels will result in slower links. At some point the link is too slow. Cement or marble is opaque. You can easily experiment by wiring one or more speakers and moving your single speakers around. If the floor is too dense, a player near an open stairway may help send the signal to the next floor. If you find a location that helps the other floor, this is where a BOOST should be placed.

In very difficult situations multiple BOOST’s can help. For example, BOOST’s at the head and foot of the stairs. Up to 32 units are supported -- BOOST counts as a unit.

Just reporting back on how things went if anyone is curious. I didn’t get very far with the troubleshooting. All I had to do was change the audio delay to 2000ms (left the audio uncompressed) and I haven’t had any skips or dropouts for the last 5 days. Didn’t need to adjust anything on the network.

I am still debating whether or not to return my boost. The performance has been flawless but I do like the audio of cleaning up the network and having things streamlined with SonosNet.

I’d keep the Boost. What if it turns out that the performance in WiFi mode isn’t as flawlessly as you had expected it to be?

@gimmesub : is the system performance in grouped mode using line in as source permanently addressed via this solution?