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Several months ago I started to experience connectivity problems with my Sonos system (2 Connects and a Connect Amp): songs would skip mid-play; connections were dropped with increasing frequency; playlists wouldn’t download because of encoding errors; etc. The problems got worse and worse until the system became essentially unusable. I looked on the Sonos Community site and found several people reporting similar problems, but no solutions. I finally discovered a fix and wanted to share what I learned in the hopes it may help someone else.

When I installed my system, I connected the Connect Amp and one of the Connect units via ethernet (over my home wiring) and the second Connect via Wi-Fi. (I assumed the Ethernet connection would be faster and more reliable than Wi-Fi.) For a couple of years, everything worked fine; then I started having trouble. When I started to experience problems, I tried suggested fixes like restarting all my devices and rebooting the router, but none of them worked. I began to think maybe one of the Sonos devices was having a hardware problem so I thought I would test each Sonos unit when it was the only device connected to the Sonos system. Neither of the devices connected to the system by Ethernet would function properly; I experienced the same problems as before. When I tried the unit connected by Wi-Fi, it worked perfectly. I disconnected the Ethernet cables from the other two units, restarted the system, and all seems to be working well.

I know how frustrated I was trying to troubleshoot my problem and figure out a solution. I hope this helps someone else avoid some headaches.

 

via ethernet (over my home wiring)

This is a key phrase. By “home wiring” do you mean your home electrical wiring, i.e. Ethernet over Powerline?


Yes (using a Cisco PLE500). No problems using this connection for several years. Problems only appeared on Sonos units, not other devices connected to it.


Sonos doesn’t support Ethernet over Powerline. It’s extremely variable in its throughput and latency. Supply-borne noise and the presence of other electrical appliances can quickly ruin the party. Also, some makes of EoP aren’t fully transparent for all the traffic types that Sonos needs in order to operate.