Contributor I

Question

Streaming Issues

Forum|Forum|9 years ago
April 24, 2017
17 replies
1662 views

Hi all,

I have 5 Play:1 and one Connect which are distributed in my flat.
The flat is really small, about 60sqm, there is one Play:1 in every room, in the living room there are two of them as stereo pair.

Also in the living room I use a connect with two wired standart speakers.
As input device to the connect I use a projector, laptop, computer or an echo dot. (I plug the cables in and out)

Additionally there is a Boost connected to my router, the Connect is connected to the Boost via ethernet cable.

When I stream spotify via the app there are no issues at all but when I stream any audio via the connect there are frequent interruptions of the audio to the wirelessly connected Play:1's, the wired speakers (attached to the connect) are playing just fine.

It doesn't matter what the input source actually is. (Laptop, PC, dot, Projector)

I bought the Boost because I was hoping to get rid of this issue but it didn't work.
Is there any benefit from using the Boost vs using the Connect wired to the router?

(The router is ASUS RT-AC66U)

Do you guys have any ideas what the issue could be? (Or at least how to debug)

I have checked the cables, they work fine, also my router shows that all my Speakers are connected via cable, which indicates that they are properly connected either to the Boost or Connect. The status page of the Boost shows:

Port Link Speed
0 1 100FD
1 1 100FD

Connect:
Port Link Speed
0 0 0
1 1 100FD

Sonos Boost

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

G

GMenAuthor

Contributor I

I have tried:

- set 2,4 Ghz to 20Mhz Bandwith from 20-40Mhz Bandwitch on my Router

- changed SonosNet Channel to 1 and 11, with 11 the left column on the matrix changed to orange.

My reference number is:
#170424-001034

ratty

What channel is the router using now? In the first network matrix snapshot the devices were all being slammed by ambient RF noise. It might have been the 40MHz router setting. The situation is rather better in the second snapshot but not great. Do you have any non-WiFi wireless devices nearby, such as Bluetooth or cameras?

The BOOST is adding nothing. Signal strengths to/from the CONNECT are excellent.

Uncompressed Line-In is a demanding stream. It's essentially WAV lossless, with a very shallow buffer to minimise latency. You could try setting the Line-In to Compressed. This will reduce quality somewhat. A halfway house is to use 'Airplay Device' as the Line-In Source Name and leave the compression as is. This increases the amount of buffering to 500ms, improving the resilience of the stream at the expense of a slightly greater delay.

G

GMenAuthor

Contributor I

Thanks for your reply,

I changed the Sonos Channel to 11 and Router Channel to 3

I have some smart-home devices which I guess all send stuff:

- Philips Hue, 1 Bridge, 5 Bulbs
- Netatmo Welcome Camera connected via WiFi (it is disabled for now, i can also change it to cable)
- Netatmo Weather Station via WiFi and one Outdoor Module (I think they communicate via ZigBee, but they exchange data every 2-3 mins as per manual)

The WiFi has:
- 1 Shield via 5Ghz
- 1 Chromecast via 5Ghz
- 2 Phones via 2,6 Ghz

Using compression is kind of... a bad feeling. I really don't like to but I will try if I can't hear a difference I'm good with it. I mainly stream music with Spotifiy, altough I have Premium which means better Quality I guess compressions is still there.

ratty

In a busy environment, channel 3 is good for nothing at all. It will badly overlap channels 1 and 6. Since each 20MHz channel is 5 numbers in width you should only ever use 1, 6 or 11.

Hue uses ZigBee. Although it's at a relatively low data rate it could interfere with other 2.4GHz users, i.e. SonosNet and WiFi. See if the situation improves if you turn it off.

I understand the discomfort about using Line-In compression. See if the 'Airplay Device' trick makes a difference, whilst leaving the compression setting unchanged.

G

GMenAuthor

Contributor I

Turning off Hue didn't change anything...

Some rooms now turn up green, although I didn't change anything, "Wohnzimmer" (=Living Room) still stays orange...

I changed the compression and fine with it for now, but it didn't solve the issue.

ratty

I would turn off the BOOST. It's not helpful given the CONNECT's good signal strength figures.

When you group the CONNECT with other speakers, it will always be better if you start with the wired device (the CONNECT) and add the others to it.

The left column in the matrix takes a few minutes to react to the disappearance of interference. See if the orange cells improve.

If the obvious remedies don't resolve things you'll need to submit a diagnostic to Sonos, post the number, and they can take a look.

G

GMenAuthor

Contributor I

I have already contacted the support. My reference number is: #170424-001034

Actually if I remove the boost things get worse. My guess is that the Boost is located farer away from the router (0.5m) and the power distributor (~ 1,2m), which is of a lower quality kind I guess.

I'm just reading another thread ( https://en.community.sonos.com/troubleshooting-228999/ofdm-ani-level-9-38816 ) where RF interference was an issue.

My hardware setup is not really good at the moment, I will try to improve this, also by using better power distributors, which will arrive in 2 days and have proper certifications.

I will also check the UPS (APC SMART-UPS SC 420VA)...

I have to correct my last sentence above, enabling compression seems to solve the issue.
I do have FLAC Audio files but I listen to them with headphones, so this is no issue. But how is the quality reduced with Spotify Premium or Deezer (I heard they use really good quality)?

ratty

Power supply should have no effect, unless perhaps it's somehow carrying large amounts of conductor-borne interference.

Spotify Premium and Deezer Premium stream at 320kbps. Both are therefore lossy, but some might have trouble telling them apart from CD/lossless. Spotify uses the Ogg Vorbis codec, which is rather better than Deezer's MP3. Deezer Elite is of course FLAC.

G

GMenAuthor

Contributor I

Am I right that activating compression only compresses Line-In of the connect, meaning that eg Spotify and Tune-In will not get compressed additionally?

ratty

Yes, Line-In compression only affects the Line-In when it's digitised on input. It doesn't apply to other sources.

Show more replies

Sign up

Login to the community