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DunkirkPie
Enthusiast II
October 29, 2022
Answered

CONNECT lagging/out of sync/echoing

  • October 29, 2022
  • 22 replies
  • 2314 views

I update the S2 app on my phone (and the software running on all my speakers) to 14.18 following an in-app prompt a few days ago.

Since then my Connect has been gradually starting to lose time (lag) behind all the other speakers, getting continually further behind.  The echo caused by the lag becomes noticeable after a few hours, and after 24 hours I’d say it’s more than half a second behind.  The lag can be eliminated by rebooting the Connect, ungrouping it from my other speakers, or switching to a line-in source, but it soon returns and appears to get progressively worse.

I’ve spent (wasted) a couple of hours talking to Sonos support through live chat and on the phone with no success.  As usual they have run through their standard set of responses, for example “there’s a lot of wireless interference”.  Well yes, I live in a thick-walled house, in a built-up area, of a densely populated country, not a log cabin made of balsa wood in the middle of nowhere.  Of course there’s a lot of interference.  There was a lot of interference last week too before this issue appeared.  They’ve had me jump through their usual hoops - rebooting all the speakers in turn, restarting my router, switching to a different wireless channel.  Of course none of the solutions worked.  Frankly they are just clutching at straws.

I'm no network engineer but I don’t believe wireless interference can cause speakers to fall out of sync, and even if it did then that would constitute a fault with the system design.  It seems pretty obvious to me that there’s a software bug in the most recent update which has caused this issue.  So if you are also experiencing it (as are a couple of other people on this forum), you aren’t imagining things.

I’ll keep ringing Sonos every morning until this issue is resolved, which from their responses so far could be a while.  Their last word to me today was “I will write your case here so our engineers will take a look and see if the issue is with the software. If it is an issue with the software it should be solved with the new updates :)“  My response was that it will only be solved if the issue is acknowledged and actively investigated.  Simply saying it will be resolved in future updates doesn't make sense and frankly isn't really good enough.

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    Best answer by DunkirkPie

    After another two hours on the phone with Sonos support on Tuesday afternoon they have finally admitted that this issue is nothing to do with wireless interference or my internet, and that my Connect is “faulty” (or, more likely, incompatible with the new software 14.18).

    They have now agreed to replace it free of charge.

    22 replies

    buzz
    buzz
    Grand Maestro
    October 29, 2022

    We have multiple threads on this issue. Where should we reply?

    John B
    October 29, 2022

    @DunkirkPie . May I ask what amp or speakers your Connect connects to? Does the behaviour occur when you begin the group from the Connect and when you start from one if your other Sonos devices?

    John B
    October 29, 2022

    The reason for my question is that the device from which ypu build q group acts as the group coordinator, and handles the sync for the group. I am wondering if the Connect goes astray only if it is the GC, or not the GC.

    There was a sort-of-similar issue about 3 years ago, when surround speakers gradually went out of sync unless the associated soundbar was the GC.

     

    Draddy
    Trending Lyricist I
    October 30, 2022

    Same problem for me.  Sonos playbar (and any other speakers) sound in sync with the Sonos connect when you first add them together, but now the connect slowly falls out of sync with the other speakers. Apparent after ~ 15 minutes, problematic after an hour.  If you remove the connect form the group, then add it again, it goes back to sounding in sync. 
     

    I use a connect to send audio to more powerful subwoofers, so it becomes super noticeable. 
     

    For me, it doesn’t matter which one starts the group (old okay ones, a move, a Sonos amp,    It slowly falls out of sync with all of then)

    is it possible to downgrade to a former update version?

    John B
    October 30, 2022

     Could you please confirm if the problem arises if you group starting with the Connect?

    DunkirkPieAuthor
    Enthusiast II
    October 30, 2022

    @DunkirkPie . May I ask what amp or speakers your Connect connects to? Does the behaviour occur when you begin the group from the Connect and when you start from one if your other Sonos devices?

    I always have all my speakers grouped together, with my Beam (which is the only one plugged into the router) as the “group coordinator”.

    Draddy
    Trending Lyricist I
    October 30, 2022

    Confirmed, “sub” is the connect and was the originator of the group  (connect is RCA direct into a powered sub). Starts without any perceivable lag, but then slowly falls out of sync where the connect is behind the other Sonos speakers. 

     

     

    DunkirkPieAuthor
    Enthusiast II
    October 30, 2022

    @DunkirkPie . May I ask what amp or speakers your Connect connects to? Does the behaviour occur when you begin the group from the Connect and when you start from one if your other Sonos devices?

    For completeness, my amp is a Cambridge Audio azur 340a.  But I seldom use it as a line-in source, usually just playing music with my Beam as the “controlling” component, per the above.

    DunkirkPieAuthor
    Enthusiast II
    November 1, 2022

    I spent nearly two hours on the phone to Sonos support this morning (the first call was mysteriously disconnected after half an hour so I had to start from scratch).

    Despite repeating my view that the idea of this issue being caused by wireless interference isn’t supported by the evidence and doesn’t stand up to any logical scrutiny, Sonos only seem interested in that as a possible cause, and it must apparently be eliminated before any other (in my view more likely) possibilities are even considered.  Their logic seems to be “you have interference, you have an issue, so the issue must be caused by the interference”.

    Over the course of the calls I was asked variously to reboot speakers, move them between different rooms, uninstall my Boost, wire the Connect to the router by ethernet cable, disconnect the Beam from the router, reboot the router twice, and finally reconfigure my entire system to run wirelessly (i.e. nothing at all wired to the router, which runs counter to other advice I’ve had from Sonos over the years).

    I now have a system running entirely wirelessly, which is apparently afflicted by much less interference than I had before (although anecdotally it seems to be performing worse and I’m getting far more dropouts etc.)  I’ve asked Sonos to add to my notes that if this issue persists then as far as I am concerned, wireless interference will have been comprehensively eliminated as a potential cause, and I won’t be prepared to spend any more hours on wild goose chases, trying to resolve the issue by somehow completely eliminating interference from my system.

    DunkirkPieAuthorAnswer
    Enthusiast II
    November 3, 2022

    After another two hours on the phone with Sonos support on Tuesday afternoon they have finally admitted that this issue is nothing to do with wireless interference or my internet, and that my Connect is “faulty” (or, more likely, incompatible with the new software 14.18).

    They have now agreed to replace it free of charge.

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