iPhone X Airplay Doesn't Work When Sonos Connected via Ethernet

  • 6 December 2022
  • 9 replies
  • 402 views

Good Morning,

I was able to get it work this morning with the assistance of technical support but was hoping to get some more information regarding the issue.

In short, recently I have been unable to play music on 3rd party apps via Airplay from my iPhone X when the Sonos is connected via ethernet. My iPhone 8 running ios 12 and a Macbook running 10.15.7 both have always worked flawlessly though.

The story and set-up:

I have had a Beam Gen 1 for my TV for a few years now. The beam is connected to my TV via HDMI ARC and has always connected via ethernet through a switch.

About 1 year ago, the Beam stopped playing airplay music from my iPhone X via 3rd party apps. The iPhone X would show the airplay was connected to the device but no sound would come out of the speaker.

I updated my system over the weekend and added a Sub Mini, 2 Ones, and an One SL. The Sub mini was hardwired to the switch and paired with the Beam and the Ones and One SL were connected wirelessly. I tested the iPhone X with the Ones and One SL and all played music via 3rd party app airplay. The Beam and Sub Mini showed they were connected via airplay but did not play any music. (I also tested the iPhone X with a Roku and airplay via 3rd party apps and it worked.)

When I paired the Ones with the Beam and Sub Mini for surround sound, The iPhone X would show airplay was connected but would not play any sounds from the Beam, Sub Mini, and 2 Ones. The phone would play music over the One SL though.

I reset all my settings on my iPhone X last night but it still did not work. I then updated my iPhone X to ios 16.1.2. After updating, i restored my phone to factory and did not restore my personal data. I attempted to airplay to the Beam and surround system and again it connected but would not play music. I then restored all my data back to the phone.

I disconnected the Ones from the surround system this morning and the iPhone X again played music on the Ones via airplay. I left the Ones from the surround system disconnected after this.

I spoke with support afterwards and we tried directly wiring the Beam and Sub Mini to the router. I did not get any music to the Beam or Sub Mini. I did get music from the 2 Ones and One SL.

At this point, we disconnected the ethernet from the Beam and Sub Mini and connected them via WiFi and VOILA, I am now able to play music from my iPhone X to all speakers in the house.

Technical support said they believe it is a data path issue which is beyond my knowledge of this stuff.

I left the Beam and Sub Mini connected wirelessly now but would eventually like to hardwire them again if i can get the system to work properly

If anyone has any ideas or feedback, I would appreciate anything you could provide. My router is ARRIS BGW210-700

Thank you all in advance.


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9 replies

A Sub or Sub Mini in a Sonos HT setup should not be wired to the router. Wiring the Beam should not affect the use of Airplay.

Rewire the Beam only. Reboot all your speakers. Check that all speakers have WM=0 in About My System (except for any Moves or Roams)

Try Airplay again and post back.

A further thought, although I am not sure if it is relevant ...…

Is your iPhone connecting to a 2.4GHz or 5GHz band?

Thank you John B for the quick reply. I was finally able to get try your recommendation but no luck.

I, first, tested airplay on wireless as it has been set up the last couple days and worked on all speakers.

I unplugged all speakers, rewired the Beam, plugged the beam in, sub mini next, the rest of the HT setup, and then the one SL. Rebooted my phone, verified all speakers were showing WM:0, and tried airplay. Same issue as before, phone shows it is connected to airplay but no sound.

I just cleared and rescanned my device list on my router and my phone is on the 2.4GHz band

Taking a step back, what content are you playing to the Beam using Airplay? Airplay would probably be my last choice for... well, almost anything .

Edit: How do other sources work with the beam wired ?

I have been testing it with either Apple Music or the you tube app. I do not use it often but have tested it with the Spotify app as well and that did not work either. Spotify has worked through the Sonos app though.

The Ones connected to the HT and wired beam do not work and the One SL is hit or miss. It did not work when I tested it with your recommendations.

When you wire the Beam, are you setting it as “Disable Wifi”?  If so, that would be a mistake and could well explain your symptoms.  Please ensure that the Beam (and all other speakers, whether wired or not) are set to ‘Enable WiFi”.

All speakers have been set to “Enable Wi-Fi” during the recent testing periods. 
 

I did have it disabled in the past but have enabled it after speaking with technical support and have left it enabled since. 

Badge

Don’t mean to necro this thread, but I have this same issue with an Arc SL + Sub + Play:1s setup

Few months ago Airplay no longer works. After much troubleshooting, I disconnected the Arc’s ethernet cable and had it connect to Wi-Fi. Suddenly Airplay functionality is possible again. Reconnect ethernet, no dice. All other functions involving the network (playing music from Spotify, grouping speakers) work on ethernet. Just no Airplay.

iPhone 14 Pro, iOS 17.0.3

I know the usual FAQ answer is to reboot the router (which I have tried). It kinda feels odd hard wiring to the router is actually where the problem lies, not Wi-Fi

It sounds like a badly coded router that’s blocking multicast between the wireless and wired segments. Airplay relies on mDNS for discovery.