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I purchased and installed a home theater system with a Beam Gen 2, Sub Mini, and (2) ERA300 surrounds. After installation I encountered persistent issues with streaming music from within the Sonos app using Apple Music and Amazon Music. I made several calls to Sonos support and allowed a support person to connect into my network and run tests on the Beam Gen 2. No matter what we tried the issue persisted. I've put this together so that if others are having this issue they may benefit from my endeavors and perhaps offer some help !

Here is what I experienced within the Sonos app, so much so that it is unable for streaming music.

  • Message: Couldn't play AAA. The connection to Apple Music was lost.
  • Message: Couldn't play AAA. It's not encoded correctly.
  • Pauses, and skips while playing music.

So, after hours for frustration here is what I did ----->

The Sonos app:

  • Remove ALL speakers from my system.
  • Settings -> General Settings -> Forget Current System.
  • Account -> App Preferences -> Reset App.
  • Close app.
  • Re-open app.
  • Remove app.

Apple Music app: Remove.

iPhone: Power off. Wait 15 minutes. Power on.

Reset Beam Gen 2 and ALL speakers to factory settings.

Power off ALL speakers, but leave the Beam Gen 2 powered on. Why? I want to configure my system with just the Beam and then try Apple Music within the Sonos app before adding any more components.

Install Apple Music app.

Install Sonos app.

Speaker or Component. (login into Sonos account), says yes to everything, find the Beam. Proceed through setup. Beam applies a firmware update. Do not add a TV.

Your Services -> Click on + button -> Content Services -> Click on Apple Music circle -> Add to Sonos -> Authorize -> (input Apple ID password) -> (complete setup).

I DID NOT ALTER ANY OTHER SETTINGS, BUT YET THE ISSUES PERSIST !

 

My Observations:

  • There could be an issue with my network however Sonos support connect to my computer and verified that my network was good. I have Fios 300Mbps service, CR1000A, no extenders, no repeaters. The router and Beam are in the same room, about 15' apart.
  • There could be an issue with the Sonos app, but I don't think so.

My Conclusion: There is a hardware/firmware issue with the Beam Gen 2. And, with the minimal setup as described above, the issue is not caused by adding other components and/or by altering any of the out-of-the-box settings.

 

Some screenshots:

 

Sounds like a potential issue between your home router, and the Apple servers, to me. What I don’t see in your post is a full network refresh. This covers a litany of things, many of which you’ve already done in your various attempts, but the one I’d be chasing is an update of, and distribution to, the clients of potential updates to DNS information.

While this will take a little amount of time and effort, there is no cost, and certainly couldn’t hurt anything. Try powering off all of your Sonos devices, then reboot your router. This should pick up any new data presented by your ISP’s DNS server. After the router has come back up, and settled, power back on your Sonos devices. That will force them to grab new DNS data from the refreshed router, if there is any. Wait a couple of minutes, then test, and see if you can recreate the issue.

As I say, this is only a potential solve, there are no guarantees, but I don’t see from your post that you’ve tried this. It might be worth changing the DNS settings on your router, at least temporarily, to, say, Google, to see if that changes anything, but it’s not something I tend to recommend to others.

Good luck!

Sounds like a potential issue between your home router, and the Apple servers, to me. What I don’t see in your post is a full network refresh. This covers a litany of things, many of which you’ve already done in your various attempts, but the one I’d be chasing is an update of, and distribution to, the clients of potential updates to DNS information.

While this will take a little amount of time and effort, there is no cost, and certainly couldn’t hurt anything. Try powering off all of your Sonos devices, then reboot your router. This should pick up any new data presented by your ISP’s DNS server. After the router has come back up, and settled, power back on your Sonos devices. That will force them to grab new DNS data from the refreshed router, if there is any. Wait a couple of minutes, then test, and see if you can recreate the issue.

As I say, this is only a potential solve, there are no guarantees, but I don’t see from your post that you’ve tried this. It might be worth changing the DNS settings on your router, at least temporarily, to, say, Google, to see if that changes anything, but it’s not something I tend to recommend to others.

Good luck!

Have done that several (if not a dozen times) as per Sonos support. Thanks for pointing that out. I’ll update my original post to indicate that was performed as well. And, yes, I’m not in the mode of changing (default as provided by FIOS) router settings.

Thanks for the update. 

At one point, I switched from AT&T’s DNS to someone else’s (I think it may have been Google) temporarily, which seemed to work, eventually switched it back after probably two weeks. Probably due to the fact I don’t trust Google all that much. At the time, I was living about 10 miles from their campus, and had a few friends that worked for them. Fortunately, my router’s firmware made it an easy change for testing purposes. But I kept track of my original, and eventually switched back. No idea if anything is ‘better’ on either side, it was mostly a test on my part, for speed. 

Sounds like a potential issue between your home router, and the Apple servers...”

More info: This is also happening with Amazon Music. Received message Can’t play “AAA”. It’s not encoded correctly.

And, I tried to ‘edit’ the original question to include additional info but that does not seem to be an option. Perhaps, once someone replies the original question cannot be edited?

Doesn’t alter the potential of DNS issues, unfortunately, but certainly points to a ‘local’ issue, since there aren’t thousands of supporting posts. 

I think the forum ‘edit’ feature, from my own experience, is time based, rather than response based, but I don’t know for sure. The data’s in a subsequent post, I suspect/hope those who have other suggestions will read the whole thread. 

As you mentioned you believe it’s a problem with the Beam I suggest you try this….

Setup an Era as a stand-a-lone speaker. Try playing Appe music.  If the issue persists then it’s most likely your network and not the Beam

I am the original poster. I re-signed up using a new Sonos account and that is why the poster is now shown as Anonymous.

This issue is now solved. I replaced my Verizon FIOS CR1000A router with a Verizon FIOS G3100 router.

I don't know if the CR1000A was faulty, an older hardware revision of the CR1000A series, or incompatible with my FIOS ONT which is over a decade old.

Good luck to anyone facing similar issues.

I am the original poster. I re-signed up using a new Sonos account and that is why the poster is now shown as Anonymous.

This issue is now solved. I replaced my Verizon FIOS CR1000A router with a Verizon FIOS G3100 router.

I don't know if the CR1000A was faulty, an older hardware revision of the CR1000A series, or incompatible with my FIOS ONT which is over a decade old.

Good luck to anyone facing similar issues.

So it was your network as I suggested. Glad you made that determination. Enjoy your Sonos!

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