Skip to main content

I’ve read a bunch of “fix-it” docs on here but none really with what I’m seeing. I have no issues with my actual speakers playing music. I have 2 Sonos 5, 3 Sonos 1, and HT system. None have problems connecting or playing music. But the app is horrible lately.

Every time I go to access the app, the “Rooms” section shows maybe 2 of my speakers, but when I go into “Settings/System” they’re all showing up. So I know it “sees” them. Or maybe not, is “System” connected to my account and not what it sees on the network? When I’m in “Rooms” it only shows a few of them. Then, it takes forever for the app to connect to all of my music sources (i.e. Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, etc). 

As I type, right now I can only see 2 speakers in “Rooms”. When I go to “Settings/System” I can see all my speakers. But I can’t pause the music on the app.

I don’t believe it’s an issue with my wifi network (Orbi Mesh network). All speakers are connected wirelessly, but as mentioned above don’t have any issue with them dropping music.

Thoughts? Oh and I've done the restart the modem, router, and all Sonos speakers and re-downloaded the app.

Mine was playing up about 3 weeks ago (version 11.1) but I found that a neighbour had a new Router and was using the same wifi channel as me. A locked to a new channel and all has been fine since then.
 

Everyone says “my wifi network is fine” but that’s not always the case! Perhaps that may sort your system too?


Thanks nik9669a. Should I use these directions to do this? I believe this is what you’re referring to. What channel are you on?


I use SonosNet which I now run on channel 1 and my wifi network is on Channel 11 - 11 being the one least used around me. You could either use trial-and-error or download a wifi analyser to see what channel usage is in your neighbourhood. 


Got it, so you also set your wifi network to a specific channel. I’ll look into that. Basically just set to the channel that’s being least used in your neighborhood.


nik9669a, one last question. I did a scan and looks like Channel 6 is best for 2.4. However it says Channel 161 is best for 5Ghz. When I go into my router admin I only have options for 48, 44, 40, 36. Not even close to 161. It’s set on 48. And 2.4Ghz is set to “Auto”. I’ll change 2.4 to Channel 6 and then set SonoNet Channel to 6 and see if that works. 


Sonos speakers are only on 2.4ghz (except between HT and surrounds and sub which use the 5Ghz band).  Try Channel 6 and see how it goes. 


Appreciate all your help. Thanks.


When I go to the Sonos app the option for “SonosNet Channel” is greyed out. I can’t click on it. It also says Channel 6 but everything is greyed out. I’ve set my router to Channel 6 for 2.4Ghz. Any ideas on how to activate the SonosNet Channel? Does one of my speakers need to be hardwired to the router or a satellite router? All are connected wirelessly right now.


Yes, in order to enable SonosNet, one Sonos device must be hardwired. Don’t hard wire  a ‘bonded’ speaker, such as surrounds or SUBs. 


Got it. Alright, all set up. I hardwired my Sonos Connect and it became active. Set to Channel 6. Let’s hope this helps. Huge thanks to nik9669a and Airgetlam.


Make sure you move your WiFi channel away from 6 then, so the two don’t clash. I’d suggest 1 or 11. 


Make sure you move your WiFi channel away from 6 then, so the two don’t clash. I’d suggest 1 or 11. 

OK, I did a wifi analyzer and it said Channel 6 was best for 2.4Ghz. So I should leave that for Sonos and then change my Orbi to 1 or 11 as you said right? Why wouldn’t I want my router to be the same if that’s the best channel for 2.4Ghz?


Having both Sonos and your WiFi on the same channel is going to cause you some level of interference. Put SonosNet on the best and your router on the second best.

Since SonosNet isn’t WiFi, it only uses the same channel, it is hard to see the utilization levels it adds to the channel it is set to, most WiFi analyzers aren’t able to see non-WiFi signals on the same frequencies.