ZenWifi XT8 (Version 3.0.0.4.386.43170 2021/05/10) Firmware Update does not support Sonos System

Hi @Gonedu,

We’ve seen some similar threads to do with other firmware versions on Asus routers in the past. I couldn’t find any specifically calling out the router or version you’ve listed, but there is a large thread that details a possible fix for this issue, should you choose to upgrade the firmware again. I’ll link it below:

I’ve also seen customers state that factory resetting your router after a firmware upgrade is recommended by Asus and can also resolve this problem - though I’m not suggesting doing this without consulting Asus support first.

Hi @James L. 

Thanks for your feedback.

The fix you mentioned is one I tried before deciding to rollback to the previous firmware, because it did not solve the problem in my specific case. However, I did not try a factory reset of the router yet, but I contacted Asus support to ensure they know about the incompatibility and potentially get a solution from them.

I’ll summarize Asus support’s response in this thread.

The Asus ZenWifi XT8 is new to me, recently upgraded to the XT8 mesh system from an older Asus (ac68) router. During my install of the new router, I also upgraded to firmware Version 3.0.0.4.386.43170, which was the newest at the time.

Router worked well in general, but in the Sonos app I had lost access to my two PLAY-3 speakers.

All of my sonos speakers are connected via wifi, i.e, no Ethernet cables.

The sonos AMP and my One’s worked kind of ok, although not 100% stable. I considered downgrading the firmware as mentioned in this Forum, but wanted to keep the newest firmware, if at all possible, as a general rule.

Solution: Instead of downgrading the firmware, I decided to do a complete XT8 reset to factory settings and setup my network again. I triggered the factory reset from within the XT8 router web interface, which in one go did the factory reset for both the XT8 router and the XT8 satellites.

After the router factory reset, all of my Sonos showed in the Sonos app incl, my two PLAY-3 units.

As an additional precaution I also fixed the Sonos Ip adresses by adding Their Mac adresses+ip in the router dhcp setup, and I also locked the sonos speakers to connect only to the main router and not try to connect to any of the XT8 satellites, but these two last steps, I think was not really needed, as I think the factory reset after the Firmware Version 3.0.0.4.386.43170 upgrade was the real fix for all of my Sonos wifi issues with the Asus XT8 mesh router system.

The reset after the 3.0.0.4.386_43170 firmware upgrade worked for me too.
When doing the reset… hold the WPS button after power on both the router AND the node and wait while the light flashes white, then off, then green, then off, before releasing the WPS button.
I had to delete and reinstall the Sonos app on my phone too as it had got itself in a pickle with one of the Sonos speakers. After doing a hard reset on my Sonos speakers and re-adding them they are now working off the Asus WiFi network.
 

Version 3.0.0.4.386.43181 released June 17th seems to have fixed the issue with Sonos speakers.

Hopefully it will also show improved system stability, particularly at the level of devices directly connected via cable to the  Asus ZenWifi XT8 satellite….

I also had problems with my Sonos system disappearing in S2 after a _43181 firmware update.
 

After a few failed attempts to reconnect using the “fix network” wizard in the S2 app on my iPhone I plugged one of my speakers (in my case the Playbase) with an Ethernet cable to the ASUS router - and the Sonos system reappeared. 

My guess is that the problem is related to the ASUS router rejecting use of the default internal Sonos WiFi network (in my case named “Sonos”) to reconnect the speakers after the firmware update. By using an Ethernet cable the Sonos speaker is able to generate a new temporary network bypassing the WiFi which allowed the other speakers to connect. 
 

Not very scientific, but it worked.