sonos 1 app cannot connect to internet

Hi @Andy1954 

Welcome to the Sonos Community!

We don’t support the use of LTE routers, generally because the quality of the internet connection can literally shift with the weather. However, it’s also sometimes the case that a Sonos system will not accept the type of connection that LTE provides and not be useable at all.

I’d ordinarily recommend you get in touch with our technical support team, but, to be frank, once they find out you have an LTE router, they are not likely to continue assisting you - we literally don’t support their use.

I’d also ordinarily check the connection of your system from our end, but the email you are using here on the community does not have any speakers registered to it, so I cannot see anything - if you send me the email your system is registered to in a private message, I’ll be happy to look for you (don’t post your email here!). It may be that the speakers are connected, but the app can’t talk to them. If this is the case, it may just take the adjustment of some router settings, or the addition of a second, cheap router to form your local network, just using your Huawei as a gateway device.

For what it’s worth, LTE routers usually do work with Sonos, even though they are not supported. The fact that you are apparently unable to do anything with your Sonos system at all suggests that you may be better off with a different internet connection - my last address was out of town and I had an LTE router too, so I understand the problems with getting online in certain locations, but there may be other options available to you? It may be that a different router with the same SIM card will work better, or vice versa.

I know this wasn’t what you were wanting to hear, but I hope it helps.

Hi @Andy1954 

Thanks for the email - I can see the speakers now, and that they are not currently connected to our cloud servers.

It occurred to me (after writing most of this reply) that if you can play from your wife’s Android device, that means the speakers are connected to the network and that the app can communicate with them just fine. Therefore, I think the most likely answer is that you need an internet connection that is not LTE (mobile/cellular data) in nature, as mentioned above, because the system is unable to reach our servers over that connection, for whatever reason. I’ll leave the following advice in case you really have no other options for internet. Note that it is possible that a SIM card from another provider could give better results, but this is in no way guaranteed. You could try the SIM card from one of your phones to compare (briefly - you don’t want to use up your data allowance), but only if your provider has no issue with you connecting multiple devices - some prevent it. 

I notice you have a Bridge - we recommend that you don’t use these devices anymore, as they are well past their Best Before dates, so to speak. You will be better off either connecting a Play:3 to the router with a cable (which will perform the same task), or just using your router’s WiFi - perhaps you will be able to access the app’s network settings once a Play:3 is wired.

I think the difficulty with getting into your Network settings is more likely to be due to fact that the email your system is registered to hasn’t yet been verified - please check the inbox of that account for any emails from us asking you to click a verification link, and do so.

As for which router settings to change, that’s difficult to say when I’m not familiar with the router. I looked at some screenshots, however, and if there are settings that can help, they will be in the Advanced page (not WiFi Advanced). With one exception: please make sure you are not using a Guest WiFi, as that type of WiFi will not work with Sonos. In the Advanced section, please try toggling the UPnP setting - if off, turn on, and if on, turn off. I couldn’t see the other options as screenshots are limited or low-res.

In your PM to me, you mentioned a TP-Link WiFi Booster - please turn this off for now. It may work/help later, but right now we want to minimise the number of possible fail points, and WiFi Boosters are not supported as they can cause problems when the speakers are trying to talk to each other or the app (which is all of the time).

I’m a little puzzled as to the exact meaning of "having trouble connecting to the internet" - I’m not sure if the app is actually referring to the app/phone, or the speakers. The speakers are offline, so my guess it that it’s them. Hopefully, getting rid of the Bridge will help with that (and verifying the email so you can get on WiFi).

If it were 3 years ago and I was on the phone to you, I would ask to remotely connect to your computer so I could have a look myself. There are also basic networking troubleshooting tests (like ping) that I could do from there too. I think it may be worth getting in touch with our technical support team after all, and just keeping quiet about the whole LTE router thing - they might fix the issues before noticing!

To give you fair warning, please note if you do get online, an update will be required, and as a result, On This Device will stop working as the feature has now been removed - see our Play music stored on your Android device help page for more details and alternatives.

I hope this helps.

Thanks, just a couple points for clarity. 

This is all on my wifes android device as she is the holder of the sonos account.

We haven't been using the bridge, just the speakers.

We haven't used the tp-link boosters for the very reason you mention. I mentioned it just in case you thought it would help.

The email address has now been verified but can't see any change of behaviour.

Tried toggling the UPnP setting, didn't help.

On trying to enter the network menu in settings/system we get a Dialog , the title is "Network Problem Detected", the text is  "Check your internet connection and try again "

Trying to browse to a music service like Spotify,  the message is "unable to browse music-there was a problem connecting to Spotify", and yet we can connect to Spotify using the little icon in the top right-hand corner.

At the moment we don't really have an alternative in the short term but thanks for your help. Could you check once again if now the speakers are connected now the email address is verified? 

The Bridge is disconnected from power? (It should be.)

Do you have a conventional router or can you borrow one? If so hook the Wan port on it to your Huawei’s LAN and try hooking your Sonos and your Controller to it to see if it is a glitch working with the Huawei.

Do check that the LAN addresses on the Huawei and your other router aren’t conflicting.

Hi @Andy1954 

I can see the email has now been verified, but other than that, no change. I think it must be due to the nature of the internet connection.

@Stanley_4’s idea is probably worth trying, but I have some doubts.

Thanks all, I will try another router when I can get one.

Just tried a Dutch vodaphone sim. Everything worked! Now not sure if it is the provider that made the difference or the local carrier here in France F SFR. Unfortunately can't continue using the dutch sim. Does anybody have experience of using a RED or Orange sim in France ?

Hi @Andy1954 

Hey - that is what I call progress! I can't help you with carriers, I’m afraid - I am in the UK.

I’m glad to hear you are on the path to a resolution, however!