Sonos for Mac post 2024 system updates

Hi @somerby 

Welcome to the Sonos Community! And, apologies for the delay.

If you have both Sky broadband and Sky Q, the Sky Q boxes will repeat the Sky WiFi signal, but not in a way that allows Sonos devices to communicate across the bridge. Therefore, SonosNet will very likely give you the best results, as when it is active, all your speakers (barring any portable speakers you might have, and Eras) will prefer it, avoiding the Sky Q WiFi broadcasts.

However, if you phone is connecting to the Sky Q box, then there could still be issues. I find it puzzling, therefore, that you mention that the app does not work in the one room where you are likely not connecting to Sky Q. I am of course assuming you even have any Sky Q boxes - please let me know if you do not.

In answer to your question, yes it does - you should not have any issue connecting to your Sonos system from the macOS Desktop app. There are multiple possible reasons for it going wrong, however.

So, the biggest question is whether you have Sky Q or not - if not, you can largely ignore what I have said above, but it means I am not sure where things are going wrong for you. Please expand upon what “not working” actually means, and I’ll do my best to help.

If you do have Sky Q, please try unplugging them all from power, and wait a minute or two. Do you still have the same issues with your Sonos system while Sky Q is off?

I look forward to hearing back from you.

Edit: I just spotted the Can’t Connect to Sonos tag. Have you tried force-closing the Sonos app and reopening it? It works for me. I hope this helps.

Hi Corry P

Thank you very much for your reply.

Yes, I have Sky Q as well as Sky Broadband.  I have the Q box in the living room with the Beam, Sub and two SLs.  I have three Sky mini boxes which extend the wifi.  I have experimented with splitting the 2.4 and 5 but they are back together now.  When Sonos re-introduced the ability to change the Sonosnet channel I tried many different permutations of channel on the router and on Sonosnet.

I had a Sky engineer here for half a day and he left me two wifi boosters.  After trying them for a few weeks I removed them as they made no difference even when the 2.4 was turned off on the sky boxes.

I tried your suggestion and unplugged the Q box and there was an immediate improvement so I think you have identified the problem. It seems the two products, Sky Q and Sonos, are incompatible.

As I said I can control my system with the iPhone and iPad app downstairs but not upstairs and cannot connect to the system with the Mac app.

A new problem has arisen over the last two days.  Voice controls, Alexa and Sonos, give a positive response to a request to play radio or music service but are followed by silence.  I have rebooted everything yet again but they still don’t work.  My Amazon Echo does however still play music services and radio normally.

Hi @somerby 

Good to hear that unplugging the Sky Q boxes did help - it lets us know we are on the right path! Sonos typically uses data transport methods that other devices do not, and Sky Q boxes have long been known to block these methods, for whatever reasons.

So, your speakers will now remain connected to the router until they (or the router) reboot - this will likely be with the next software update, so please keep in mind that if the next update reintroduces issues, just reboot the Sky Q boxes again (all at once) to fix them.

If you are able to ethernet-wire all your Sky Q boxes to your network, you could then ask Sky to disable the WiFi broadcasts on them all. It’s a long-shot, I know, but worth mentioning just in case you can.

All I can recommend, really, is that you keep at least one Sonos device connected to ethernet - that will ensure that all but your portable speaker will avoid Sky WiFi. Should you see the same issue where you are unable to connect to Sonos when in the room with Sonos, I recommend disconnecting and reconnecting WiFi on your phone. Assuming you have your one ethernet-wired product ethernet-wired to the router (please do this - wiring to a Sky Q box would not be advised), reconnecting WiFi when closest to the router should ensure your phone connects to the router rather than to Sky Q, and thus be able to connect to Sonos.

Regarding why your Mac can’t connect to the system, I would have to presently assume that it is connecting to Sky Q - a reboot of all Sky Q boxes at the same time should ensure the Mac connects to the main router (assuming it is within range), just like with Sonos. If you have not checked since you rebooted Sky Q, this may already be fixed (temporarily).

The Alexa issue you describe is typically due to the expiry (or corruption) of some account security tokens that are exchanged between the speakers, the Alexa/Sonos servers, and your chosen music service. They can generally be fixed by breaking the connection, and remaking it. With Alexa, this can often be achieved by disabling and re-enabling the Sonos skill for Alexa, or by removing Alexa from the Sonos device and adding it again.

It is also worth ensuring that the music service you are trying to listen to is reachable through the app too - if the speakers can’t play it when told directly, they are unlikely to be able to play when voice-commanded. If this is the case, please remove the service from your system, then add it again. As Sonos Voice Control does not involve an additional third-party and is also affected, I suspect this is what you need to do.

So, please try the following steps in order, but test results after each number, and stop once things work:

1. Remove a music service account from Sonos then Add a music service to Sonos
2. Alexa skill toggle: Alexa app » More » Skills & Games » Your Skills » Sonos » Disable, then Enable to use.
3. Remove Alexa: Settings icon » [relevant room] » Amazon Alexa » Remove Alexa. Then add Alexa: Settings icon » [relevant room] » Add a Voice Assistant » Amazon Alexa

I hope this helps.

Hi @somerby 

I forgot to mention your Roam - it will not use SonosNet, so will always be in “danger” of connecting to a Sky Q box. Ensuring it is closest to the router when powering on should ensure that it connects to the router, but be aware that any Sonos device will try to connect to the last WiFi broadcast that it successfully connected to, if within range. If your Roam was not on when you rebooted Sky Q, then it might reconnect to Sky Q even if the router is closer. Turning it on when Sky Qs are all off will keep it connecting to the Sky router until it is turned on when that broadcast is no longer available.

It does sound like I am telling you to reboot your Sky Q boxes all the time, but it really should only be necessary once in a long while.

I hope this helps.

Hi Corry

I don’t have a Roam.  Beam, Sub and 2 SLs.  Stereo pair Ones, a Five and  single one in the office near the router and  single one in the conservatory.

I have followed the 3 steps you suggested and the voice assistants are still not playing anything although they respond to say they will.

The Alexa set up tells me to say “Alexa play Jazz”.  When I do it replies “sorry that device is offline”

Up until 2 days ago even when the App failed to connect the voice assistants worked perfectly.  I haven’t changed anything that I am aware of.

Hi @somerby 

Oh ok - I was going by your profile where you have Sonos Roam SL ticked. No worries.

Regarding Alexa, the next thing to try would be the following:

1. Remove Alexa from all speakers on your Sonos system that have it
2. Disable the Sonos skill for Alexa
3. In the Alexa app, deregister all Sonos devices: Alexa app » Devices » [each Sonos room/device] » Deregister. There will likely be two entries for each Sonos device with Alexa installed, one each for the rest.
4. Add Alexa to a speaker and test. Part of this process will engage the Sonos skill again, so there won’t be a need to do it manually.

If this does not fix the issue, I recommend you get in touch with our technical support team who have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your Sonos system and what it reports.

I hope this helps.

Hi Corry

Sorry for the delay in replying.

First of all for anyone following this discussion because of the original topic “Sonos for Mac” I can confirm it does still work post the 2024 updates.  It is my Sky Q which is causing the connectivity issue.

Regarding the topic of lost voice control, Corry, I followed your suggestions and they didn’t work.  I have tried reverting to full wi fi connection and even with the Sky Q box off I still can’t get Alexa to work.  Even after deregistering and deleting all the speakers from the Alexa app when I go in to the settings to re add Amazon Alexa it says “Already added” and won’t let me re add it to set it up.  I can’t find “remove voice assistant” anymore.

I know I will have to call the help line when the long waiting time comes down.  It is really disappointing as I know when I turn my Sky Q back on I will not have full functionality with the system but previously I did have voice control.

Hi @somerby 

I’m sorry to hear that Alexa is still not working for you.

At first, the issue was that she would repeat the command but then do nothing, and you saw the same behaviour from Sonos Voice Control. Do you still see this behaviour with SVC? Were you able to play the same tracks via the Sonos app? If this is still happening, I don’t think adding Alexa will bear much fruit - she will likely still be unable to play anything.

I hope the team can help.

Hi Corry

A further update from a few hours spent today.  I unplugged my Sky Q box.  Put 2 sky wi fi extenders in place and rebooted the router.  Deregistered all the speakers from the Alexa and added them again.  Then, and I think this was the key thing, one by one I factory reset each speaker so that it didn’t think Alexa was already added.   I was then able to re add Alexa and it now works.  The next thing I have to do is put my Sky tv system back on and see what fails!  I’ll keep you posted.

Hi @somerby 

A rather extreme set of steps to go through, and I am sorry to hear that you had to do that much work, but I am glad to hear that it is working for you once more - thanks for updating the thread with you findings!

There should be no immediate issues with turning Sky Q back on - only if the speakers or router reboot. Keep an eye on things when speaker updates happen though, as they will induce reboots. Resolving it should be as simple as rebooting Sky Q boxes afterwards - now that you know what it is, it should be reasonably simple (depending on your socket access and mobility, of course).

Full disclosure - I doubt we support the use of the WiFi extenders either. We recommend the use of a mesh WiFi solution, as they are far more stable and compatible. If it works, it works, however.

I hope this helps.

Hi Corry

Sorry, as I am not conversant with the terminology I think I mean mesh and not extenders.  They are wi-fi supplied by Sky when I first had problems.  Previously I had experimented with switching them off and then removing them as they were making no difference.  I put them back because when I turned the Sky Q box off I would have only the router ( no Sky miniboxes) to reach the other side of the house.  After trying to fix Alexa on all wifi failed I did re-connect my Beam to ethernet.  I don’t think that made the difference though, it was the factory reset that cleared the “Alexa already added” allowing it to be reconnected.  I thought I had seen a remove Alexa option in the App before but I couldn’t find it.

Anyway, today it is still working.

To recap, after a speaker update or reboot, a router reboot, or power cut I should turn the Sky Q and miniboxes off and on?

Thank you for your support.

Hi @somerby 

No worries - I wouldn’t expect anyone to really know the difference if not closely involved with networking.

Fantastic! That is the important part!

Yes. Or, if you unplug devices during a power cut (not a bad idea - when power comes back, it can spike quite high), turn those on last.

Also, if you see any rooms go missing, it’s the first troubleshooting step I’d try with your particular setup.

You are most welcome!

Hi Corry

I would like to give you an update on this thread.

I have made a major break through.  After reading another thread concerning problems with Sky Q the expert answering the author mentioned that where the Sky Q box was connected via a network switch that it would need to be a Gigabit switch.  I replaced my network switch with a £10 Gigabit one from Amazon and now my Sonos controller on the Mac works and my system is more stable overall.

Hi @somerby 

Good to hear things have improved - thanks for updating the thread!

So the Sky Q boxes are now using ethernet for their backhaul?