Using Ethernet vs WifI on Sonos devices

Resolution:  First off, thanks for all your replies and feedback!  I called Sonos support and they ran their diagnostics to provide a workable solution.  Instead of connecting the “wired” Sonos device from a “router-->switch” combo, I just connected it directly to the router (i.e. removed the switch from equation).  The other Sonos devices were left in WIFI mode so the Sonos network would pick them up.  I have not had any issues with this setup and the power has gone out a few times.  Sonos support suspected the switch was the issue and they highly recommend the Sonos device to be connected directly to the router to have stable behavior.

Not a workable solution for me. Modem is in bridge mode, so no IP assigning, and it has only one Ethernet output. Never had a problem in 5 years and don't have a problem now except for any Mac M1 (non-Intel) product on Ethernet.

The problem must be with the Mac’s Ethernet interface then. Anything different about it? VPN?

No VPN. Nothing unique about the Ethernet IP assignment. Everything works - except for Speaker Discovery, where random speakers are discovered with each reboot of S2. My thought is that the S2 Controller, that is designed for Intel-based Macs, has some issue when dealing with the Rosetta 2 interface on a Silicon/ARM machine. Any Intel Mac or Android on this same Ethernet connection works. Any M1 Mac on the Ethernet connection does not. 

Here’s another bit of information to add to the puzzle(ment).

If the S2 Controller installed on a Mac M1 computer on Ethernet does not discover a given speaker (e.g. it does not show in the System List), I can go to another device (cell phone, laptop, Intel-based Mac) running S2 on our home network, select the missing speaker or speakers (since they are always visible of these non-Silicon Mac devices regardless of whether Ethernet or WiFi), start playing a song, and that speaker/speakers will instantly show up on the list of available speakers on the Mac M1’s/Ethernet implementation of S2.

Weird…...

CharlesTN,

I’m curious what happens if you power down one SONOS component. Are all of the remaining SONOS units then discovered? If so, power up this unit and power down another unit and repeat the test. I’m curious if the issue is with a particular unit or the count of units.

If you have some sort of network analysis App, check the PING times of the SONOS units and also check for dropped packets.

So the controller is receiving event notifications. Yet apparently the SSDP discovery multicast (and broadcast) is not making it out the gate.

1. Powering down a given Sonos speaker that is visible on the System list has no impact on making a missing speaker appear. Interestingly, on the iMac M1, powering down a speaker that is visible on the System list does not cause it to be removed from the System list on S2.
2. Testing Ping and Packet Loss from Terminal on the iMac M1, using the command ping -c<number of times to ping> <IP address> (e.g. ping -c50 192.168.x.xx) to either a speaker that is present on the System list OR to a speaker that is NOT present on the System list results in acceptable ping response (1.1 ms average) from either with no packet losses. Both speakers are visible from a system perspective -- simply slow to be discovered by S2.

Let’s try a variation on the power down test. After powering down a SONOS unit, shut down and re-start the SONOS controller.

1. Power down Speaker that is visible on the S2 Controller on iMac M1 via Ethernet.
2. Quit S2 Controller on iMac M1.
3. Restart Speaker and wait for solid white light.
4. Restart S2 Controller on iMac M1.
5. Result: Speaker disappears from System List. Speaker can be pinged from the iMac.
6. From Android Phone requested music to be played from that Speaker.
7. Speaker instantly appears on iMac S2 Controller.

I’m out of ideas. What I know is that any PC, phone, Mac (Intel or M1/Silicon), or tablet can instantly see all speakers via Wifi. Any PC, phone, Intel Mac, or tablet can see all speakers via Ethernet. All speakers are ping-able. No packet loss.  Using the same Ethernet cable and modem > Router > switch connection, any iMac Mi Silicon cannot see random speakers until music is played on that speaker. It can discover most of the speakers over time, but not all of them.

This is not a WiFi problem. It is not a switch problem. I’m laying my money on some deep, deep inconsistency between the S2 Controller that is designed for Intel Macs, and a Silicon M1 Mac that is running the S2 Controller (Version 13.2) under the Rosetta 2 compatibility software. I’ve got a workaround. At some point Sonos will deliver a version of the controller that is “Universal” -- meaning it is compatible with both Intel and Silicon Mac. At that point I’ll retest. I appreciate everyone’s comments.