Radio skipping backwards - BBC radio repeats



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No sadly it does via Alexa or the app.

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Nothing it appears

3 months and counting.

 

 

Same problem for me too! I listen to Radio 2 via Tunein and it started jumping back about 6 months ago and nothing has changed regarding set up.

I'm sure the issue is getting more frequent too!

My partner also has the same issue on his system!

It's driving us both nuts!!

I have the same issue with radio 2 skipping back.  I use tunein and am on the S1 system.  For me the issue began around the time Sonos were trying to force everyone to switch to S2.  
Definitely time for Sonos to sort this out.

Same here, started a few months ago, repeats on tunein though dosen’t when streaming from NAS

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This problem appears to be getting worse. The details are the same as my earlier post.  There are no recents responses from Sonos.  Is the issue now recognised as ‘real’ and are Sonos able to provide details of its cause, and when it is going to be resolved?

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Just want to record my dissatisfaction on this issue too. I have had the same experience as the others on this thread. 

I am a long time customer and advocate of the Sonos brand  but feel I can no longer recommemd Sonos to others. Please get this sorted Sonos. 

I have the same problem.…

Can add no more than Andy MC

GET IT SORTED SONOS!!
 

 

 

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No you are right its still doing it. Just had a better day yesterday clearly.

 

And SONOS I agree with the above poster. It is incredibly shoddy to tell the consumer to sort out the problem with the BBC. You are providing the stream and its the only platform on which this occurs. Your egineers should be talking to theirs.

@Xander P - so are you saying that this is something people will experience whether listening to Sonos or via any other (internet radio) device?  Or is it possible that it could only happen via Sonos?

I can’t help wondering if this is linked to the general ‘strangeness’ that exists in the relationship between the BBC, TuneIn and Sonos (and maybe throw Alexa in there, too).  The BBC withdrew its stations from Tunein a while back because it really wants everyone to listen through BBC Sounds.  However, it has allowed Sonos and some other ‘third party’ music players to continue to play a URL directly, with that URL supplied by TuneIn.  Could this be in any way relevant?

If the HLS stream is the problem, then some of the users who have posted on this thread may want to try using a non-HLS stream, which they can add as a manual radio station to Sonos.  This would be as an experiment and/or temporary workaround.  The following link has non-HLS streams that can be tried. 

https://garfnet.org.uk/cms/tables/radio-frequencies/internet-radio-player/

To add a station to Sonos

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/260?language=en_US

The BBC have some previous form on screwing things up on particular servers, causing problems that affect only a subgroup of users:

 

Hi @Xander P thanks for the info. Appreciate your response. What your saying makes sense. And like @John B says, I suspect its to do with the way BBC handled the tune in situation. I have emailed the BBC so I'll see if I get a reply. I will give the workaround a shot, didn't know that was an option. Thanks. 

This seems to be becoming more and more problematic, its becoming almost unlistenable when you have the radio on all day. Driving me mad.

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I wonder if Sonos could chime in some more on this really annoying issue? If we are still in the position of Sonos blaming the BBC and the BBC blaming someone else, i will probably dump my Sonos gear and look for another solution. No doubt Sonos will be shaking in their boots at the thought me getting rid of my Sonos gear, but it now simply doesn’t work for me.

 

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I also have this issue and after seeing the message from @Xander P i contacted the BBC today. This is their response:

Thanks for contacting BBC Sounds support about your Sonos device skipping backwards when listening to BBC streams.

This has now been confirmed to be a Sonos fault rather than a BBC issue. You should check out their help forums where they have updated some of the threads to show this.

 

I did a search but have not found any reference this updated status - is anybody able to point me to where the threads have been updated?

I've had this issue for weeks now on various BBC stations. It doesn't make any difference what app is used to select the stations or whether selecting control of Sonos by Windows pc or phone app. I don't have Alexa or any voice controllers. This fault appears to have been going on for ages with Sonos and BBC blaming each other. Maybe time to bring the issue to the attention of  mainstream media. Perhaps the issue will be resolved faster if the BBC's reputation and Sonos sales are in danger of being affected?

Hi

Had the same problem. Not sure if it's a universal fix, but changed from Tunein to myTuner Radio as the music service for radio.

Quality of sound better, and no more skipping backwards. Hope it works for others!

This can’t be purely a Sonos problem, as I’m experiencing exactly the same on my Netgear Orbi speaker, which uses Alexa, but has nothing to do with Sonos (see post above) 

Do we know if other users using Alexa but through non-Sonos devices (e.g. Echo) are also experiencing it?  

 

OK, some history.  (I hope my recollection is correct where it’s needed, but I won’t guarantee it.)

Back in August 2019, the BBC pulled its live stations from TuneIn.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/aboutthebbc/entries/37e4e3f6-fbd2-4c14-8d72-7f7139641582

The advice for Amazon Echo users was to access BBC stations via the BBC Sounds Skill for Alexa, for GA users to ‘use Chromecast or voice’.  I think GA already had something built in for BBC stations that was not TuneIn, and still does.

A concession was made for Sonos and similar systems, that they could continue to use TuneIn for BBC stations.  (In fact Sonos has never used the full TuneIn app - TuneIn just feeds Sonos the URL and then Sonos fetches the stream directly.)

At the time of the change, this meant the app could continue to play BBC stations via TuneIn and it still can.  There was no impact for GA users, as it wasn’t using TuneIn for BBC anyway.  For Alexa users (like me) it has meant using the BBC Sounds skill instead.  

So the upshot is, I think, that TuneIn is being used for requests from the Sonos app (and seems to have no repeat problems) and the voice systems are using something else, and are having repeat problems.  What is the something else?  In my case the ‘something else’ is BBC Sounds Skill for Alexa and it repeats.  What happens if you don’t have BBC Sounds but specify an alternative service to TuneIn in Alexa?  I don’t know, but it might be useful to know.

But key takeaway may be the app uses TuneIn by default and is fine (no repeats) .  Other radio consolidators also seem to be fine via the Sonos app.  Voice control goes by a different route, or maybe a few possible routes, and some or all of these are problematic.  

On Alexa, I think it will use BBC Sounds if it is installed, not sure about if it isn’t.  Using with BBC Sounds it repeats.

On GA I suspect it just uses GA built-in BBC thing in all circumstances (and that suffers repeats).

Even if correct, it doesn’t answer the question of whether this occurs only on voice control through Sonos or also on voice control of Echo devices and Google devices.  There doesn’t seem to be much out there on the internet about a general problem.  I have a feeling that somehow voice control via Sonos follows a different path and gets a different (faulty) stream from the BBC.  I doubt very much that it is a software error in Sonos.

I shall now reread the various posts on this thread and possibly find that they completely contradict this theory!

The issue has been going on for months for me.  I mostly listen to Radio 4 via Sonos and use the Alexa app on the Sonos to “instruct” as in “Alexa - Play Radio 4”. The response, perhaps since BBC Sounds appeared (??) has been “Playing BBC Radio 4 - BBC Sounds”

Just a thought - the “beeps” Time signal before the News must be delayed!  When and how does it each up?

Will Sonos and BBC PLEASE collaborate and sort this irritating issue?

 

 

 

 

I’ve got the same problem, with Radio4 skipping backwards about 10 seconds.  It does it several times in a single programme. It’s only started doing this since I switched from Sonos Radio or Tunein to Radio Player which I’ve had to do because I believe BBC will cease providing the stream via Sonos Player and Tunein on 22nd March. This feels like a problem between Radioplayer and Sonos - no problem with any other service. This is very frustrating after 12+ years of excellent Sonos listening

Just to add a different perspective, I’m listening to BBC radio through BBC sounds on Alexa, but not using Sonos, using an Orbi Voice smart speaker.  I’m having EXACTLY the same issue as is described, which is very frustrating and makes it unlistenable.

However, it does point to there being a problem with BBC sounds and the streams they send perhaps, rather than the speakers themselves? I found this thread by searching in frustration for people with similar issues, but haven’t come across anyone complaining of it using Echo devices, so I wonder if it is something about the combination of the stream and the speaker, some kind of incompatibility….I really hope we can get to the bottom of it though, certainly miss the BBC stations.

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Hi @HILLBELEY, Thank you for reaching out and welcome to the community. I appreciate you taking the time to submit the diagnostic report. As I check the diagnostic information. I saw some issues like Audio playback failure due to transport errors and Audio drop outs are detected. I’ll ask some questions to further check on this issue. 

  • Is it happening on a specific radio station or any stations?
  • Is it happening on other Music Services?
  • When did the issue start?
  • Are there any changes made on the settings or the Sonos App before the issue occurred?

Keep me in the know with the advice above. 
The Sonos community is always here to help.

Userlevel 1

BBC radio 2 on sonosradio

I mostly play radio, so I haven’t noticed other service issues.

about 6 ~ 8 weeks ago I think

last change was setting up S2

Unfortunately, some streams working correctly doesn’t mean there is no potential for wifi interference in your system. Each streaming company has their own tolerances for interruptions in the stream, so while one seems fine, the next may not, and exhibit the precise symptoms in the complaint. I would second Simon B’s suggestions and links. 

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