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Connect Amp keeps dropping out audio

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
September 19, 2023
105 replies
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Hi I have 4 Connect Amps that have been working fine for some years but just recently they are dropping the Audio for a few seconds which is very annoying. I have spoken to Sonos Support on a few occasions and done everything they have suggested to fix this which they say is WiFi Interference such as switching channels etc but still have problems. This happens on any music source but I have noticed when the speakers go silent the sound levels are still going up and down on the app as if its playing the audio in other words not muted, not sure if this helps identify the problem. I am getting to the point now where soon these will be removed as they just aren't worth the hassle. I have seen a few threads where people have had the same problem but the only answers I have seen are contact Sonos Support.

Has anyone had this problem and got a viable solution??????

Some posts suggest an issue with S2 being introduced so does anyone know if this is a problem??

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Best answer by Ken_Griffiths

So far I have tried as suggested by Sonos to give the 5GHz Wifi a different name, turned off auto on 2.4GHz channels so I can force it to be 1, 6 or 11, I haven't tried setting to 20Mhz so will give this a try.

Btw Ken can you give me more advice re your comment “give Sonnet a shot”? I did originally have one C:A hard wired to my switch with ethernet cable and then daisy chained the other 3 C:A’s but this didnt help, do you think it would be better for each C:A to be hard wired to the switch?

SonosNet is where one device is wired to the router (but positioned at least one metre away) - that allows Sonos to use its own in-built wireless mesh signal… so all your other Amps connect back to the wired device either directly or indirectly. If doing that, it’s best to do two further things…

Set the SonosNet channel in the App’s network settings so it is at least 5 channels away from your chosen 2.4Ghz router channel, which should in turn be on fixed channel 1, 6 or 11 and ideally set at 20Mhz channel-width (if the router allows).
Remove the router WiFi SSID from the Sonos App network settings as the local WiFi signal is no longer used and that will stop the Amps trying to hop onto your WiFi signal.

All that said however, the fact you now have the option to wire all to a switch - it makes sense to go with that option instead and you could even choose to switch off the Amps WiFi adapters in the Sonos App to reduce the potential for network loops/storms, but if they do work fine with the WiFi adapters enabled, then I would just leave them - that’s a matter for yourself.

Here are some links that may assist too…

Show previous replies

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Anonymous

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.

Part of the issue is that people liken Sonos gear to traditional HIFI components, which can last many decades with reasonable care.

However they are more like network devices. In that respect they can become obsolete due to using outdated protocols or due to being unable to support newer firmwares. I would compare them to PCs, phones or tablets and it’s likely that the Connect Amps are by far the oldest things on your network. They really are generations apart in IT terms from the newer Sonos gear so I think one has to factor in upgrades when buying Sonos, just as you do when buying computer, phones and tablets. It’s just the ‘baked-in’ nature of IT.
For my part my Connect:Amps were 10yrs+ old and were becoming too unreliable. The newer amps I replaced them with have no such issues.

Bumper

Are you sure they were 10 years old? The s2 compatible connect amps were released in 2016ish and Sonos sold them until 2019 and as refurbs into 2020. I think owners should expect more than this from Sonos.

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xludber

Lyricist I

I have the same problem as the OP. After a lot of testing and trial and error I’ve concluded that the drop out problem on my connect:amp only occurs when it is wired to the network. This is very counterintuitive, but I reproduced this with several completely separate networks and the behavior is consistent. So for now I have changed my connect:amp connection to wireless only (and unplugged the cable), my other sonos devices are still connected via cable with no issues. Annoying since all was fine without issues for years before this suddenly started.

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csteddy

Contributor I

I have the same problem as the OP. After a lot of testing and trial and error I’ve concluded that the drop out problem on my connect:amp only occurs when it is wired to the network. This is very counterintuitive, but I reproduced this with several completely separate networks and the behavior is consistent. So for now I have changed my connect:amp connection to wireless only (and unplugged the cable), my other sonos devices are still connected via cable with no issues. Annoying since all was fine without issues for years before this suddenly started.

I’ve tried it with them wired and wireless. Both fail.

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csteddy

Contributor I

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.

Five months later and how is that working for you? ;-)

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