Sonos works just fine with a properly set up Orbi system. Of course Sonos, with the intercommunication between nodes, something that doesn’t happen on most devices, exposes poorly operating networks.
Easiest is to wire one Sonos device to the base router/puck of the Orbi system, putting all of the Sonos on SonosNet, but you can also submit a system diagnostic within 10 minutes of experiencing this problem, and call Sonos Support to discuss it. They can help you get the network under control so that you don’t have these issues.
There should be information included in the diagnostic that will help Sonos pinpoint the issue and help you find a solution.
When you speak directly to the phone folks, they have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your Sonos system and network.
I must concur with the fragility, or I would say perhaps more accurately flakiness. I’m running a system consisting of three Play:1 speakers (each alone in its respective room), one stereo pair of Play:1s, two Play:3s (each alone in its respective room), and a Move. I have an Asus Zen Wifi Ax mesh router system with the base unit + 3 further nodes, all in a single-storey 2,000 ft² (~200 m²) house. Many times the whole system will play flawlessly for a day, but many other days various speakers will cut in and out, or the whole lot will stop playing and suddenly say “the song is not encoded correctly” (FALSE because it was playing a second ago and has not changed) or “the device is not available.” All this when NOTHING else has changed; no other large suck on the network suddenly added, no new walls suddenly built in the house, no speaker moved or even touched … is it that a butterfly flapped its wings on the other side of the world and a Sonos system can’t tolerate that?!
- “Just go into wired mode”/SonosNet can’t be the answer, as I have a Move which will then be bricked.
- “Reboot your router” is a wrong answer. I have tried that countless times, but even if & when that works, there’s no good reason to have to do that hourly or daily. Other products in the house don’t require that.
- “Unplug and plug back in all your products regularly” is a rubbish answer as well. Again, I don’t have to do that with e.g. my television, my AppleTV, my Ooma, my YoLink hub, etc.
Anything that asks me to do those steps regularly as a matter of course is fragile and flaky, to Denny Lee’s original point. Is Sonos really admitting out loud they are that?
While I admit that mine is not a simple setup, I don’t understand why the performance must be so flaky. If it’s too complicated, I’d understand if it never worked or if Sonos published forthright guidance saying “No more than 4 devices allowed on one network” and then it’s my fault for having more. But no. The fact that the misperformance is so inconsistent and unpredictable, with no visible causative change in anything else, is absolutely maddening. It makes me want to sell the whole lot, like Denny Lee, and go get an old-school wired sound system. Sonos needs to stop introducing new products and features or doing change for change’s own sake, when already the existing products manifestly don’t work reliably. Take a 90- or 180-day moratorium on introducing new things, stop adding complexity for a while, and FIX THE BLOODY BUGS.
Running Sonosnet doesnt "brick" your Move. Just one of many misconceptions in your post. Another is having to constantly reboot your router or devices to fix them. That actually exacerbates the problem, which is more than likely due to IP conflicts. The fact is, Sonos is very stable in a stable network. If you wish, we can give a few tips to stabilize yours.
These things aren’t my idea. See for example here: https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/unable-to-connect-to-sonos saying “Unplug your router, then plug it back in.” And here: https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/music-service-audio-stops-or-skips saying “Restart the router.” It’s a common refrain from vendors wanting to deflect responsibility for their own bugful software, and of course I don’t want to do be constantly doing it. I suspect if I asked Asus, they’d say the problem with my Sonos is Sonos, not the router, and “go ensure you’ve updated to the latest Sonos software.” (I always keep it current, obviously, but that seems to just swap in new bugs for any old ones fixed.)
As to the Move, https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/choose-between-a-wireless-and-wired-sonos-setup lists the Move among “Products that don’t support the dedicated Sonos wireless network and so] must either be connected to your home WiFi network in a wireless setup or connected via Ethernet...” Given I don’t have an ethernet connection anywhere near where my Move is located, how would it work if I were to go into wired mode? And I mean work as part of my overall Sonos system, not separately via direct Bluetooth communication with my phone.]
Nothing about those suggestions say you must do them repeatedly. Matter of fact, the instructions I give note a step which assures you never have to do them again.
As to the Move/Roam/Eras in a Sonosnet setup, the Sonosnet capable units run Sonosnet, the others connect via WiFi. This is completely transparent to the user. I currently run Sonosnet to 11 devices, plus I have a Move and a Roam. All are as reliable as a concrete door stop.
Absolutely concur with @jgatie . Sonos itself is stable. The network it connects to is often problematic.
SONOS requires more robust network support than simple web browsing, email, or viewing videos. Networks that are “perfect” for these tasks are not always perfect for SONOS. Issues are usually solvable, but they will not solve themselves. SONOS units are very chatty with each other over the network. Web browsing and such do not require any local network chatting.
This article may help.
I have a system of at least twice the size operating fine on a ASUS ZenWiFi AX mesh. I took care to (1) split the bands onto different SSIDs, (2) ensure that all Sonos devices which could use 5GHz were forced onto that band, and (3) bind non-portable Sonos devices to the nearest mesh node. As a matter of course I also reserve fixed IP address for all regular network clients, but that’s independent of the ASUS mesh.
@jgatie which set of instructions/where? I see you have quite a few posts :) I’m happy to read anything at this point.
@buzz I had Airtime Fairness already disabled across the board so that apparently hasn’t helped. I’m on Asus firmware version 3.0.0.4.388_23285-g5068da5 which is still the latest according to them.
@dennyleegamble,
The Sonos Staff suggest using Orbi Hubs in bridged AP mode to a main router here in the thread link below. If perhaps not tried already, I would just give that a go and then there’s always SonosNet to fall back to aswell, before selling anything…
https://en.community.sonos.com/speakers-229128/troubleshooting-sonos-on-wifi-6856334?postid=16520976#post16520976
Sonos system is stable, Network stability, network interference and compatibility is mostly the common issue for Sonos devices. I miss discussing stuffs here. 
@jgatie which set of instructions/where? I see you have quite a few posts :) I’m happy to read anything at this point.
@buzz I had Airtime Fairness already disabled across the board so that apparently hasn’t helped. I’m on Asus firmware version 3.0.0.4.388_23285-g5068da5 which is still the latest according to them.
Connection problems which appear suddenly are often caused by network problems, not Sonos problems. The typical cause is duplicate IP addresses. These often show up after an update or power outage because a reboot requires the device to request a new IP, and the router, having lost track of current IP assignments, issues a new IP that is in use by another device. Rebooting the router may offer a temporary respite, but in reality it exacerbates the situation because the reboot simply loses track of the IP assignments all over again. You need to do a complete refresh:
Reboot/power cycle your devices in the following order:
Modem
Router
Switches or hubs
Wired Sonos units
Wireless Sonos units
Computers/printers
Wireless devices - phones/tablets etc.
Allow each device to come back up before proceeding to the next. Note that you can permanently prevent duplicate IP addresses by assigning an IP to each device's MAC address in the router setup. See your router manual for details.
In addition, the specific recommendations for your router should be implemented before doing the network refresh. It's probable that the frequent router reboots to try to fix the router problems have devolved into IP conflicts.
Had my Sonos S1 in SonosNet mode and my Move quite happily talked to the APP and other Sonos speakers (grouping etc).
Worth a try using SonosNet.
We have a TP-LINK Deco S4 Mesh and Sonos is happy on that now in normal WiFi Mode.
Can imagine it being very frustrating when they don't work as they are not cheap speakers!.
Expense does not necessarily protect one from reality. I was once struggling along on a glare ice roadway when a fancy sports car with all sorts of four wheel drive and anti skid features blasted by, its driver probably snickering at my slow clunker. A couple miles down the road I observed that premium car a few hundred feet off the road in a field. I doubt that the driver simply wanted to build a snowman next to a scarecrow.
Thanks @jgatie . I’ll give it another go. I’ve had got as far as binding the Sonos units each to its nearest mesh node ( @ratty ‘s suggestion) but will try to get further to fixed MAC addresses. It does not help that even if I don’t reboot my router intentionally, I live in a neighborhood with somewhat frequent electricity outages. Even though I have power backup, it’s not the industrial-strength kind that can cut over in 0.1 ms or whatever; it takes long enough that the router (and everything else) goes down perhaps 15 seconds and comes back up (translation: involuntary reboot).
It sounds like you have a motor generator type of power backup. For critical items, such as the router and desktop computers an additional battery powered UPC would be useful. It should have good transient protection, but it only needs to support it’s clients until the generator kicks in.
SONOS: 11 Connect: Amp, 2 Connect, 3 Play:1, 5 Playbars, 5 subs, 1 boost.
Network: Deco BE85. Mesh..6 Satellites and 1 main router. 5gb Fiber. Entire house is WIRED CAT 8.
132 Thread devices and 35 Matter.
29 wifi light switches, 18 security cameras (wifi) and some or (hub connected).
HomeKit primary home operating system.
Had URC for AV home control but eventually fell off a cliff when Nest moved to Google.
Network is Router direct to 10gb stacked Switches. (5 units)
Wifi: 2.5, 5 and 6 all running. No guest, No IOT.
Cleaner, Amp, Boards...full Server Room.
I have 22 in-home wired ceiling speakers (Klipsch).
I’ve hired PRO’s from multiple services to come “remedy” my SONOS network issues. Everyone gets it working, the same as I have, for about a day. Network congestion melts down and everything requires Manuel Reset (aka. unplug all).
No solution has worked so far.
Dedicated “myHomesononet” did not do the trick SSID. Wifi or wired.
I have unplugged Sonos for the last time. Sonos 1 v Me 0.
I am seeking any option that may be a mild plug and play alternative to my system with the hopes of replacing the lease amount.
I will say: Playbars all work fine direct connect to TV’s. Using as output for Apple TV is fine. When using Sonos path, the wheels come off.
I’m usually not one to seek “community” feedback but I’ve spent the $10K on pro’s with no luck. Most push their products which may work but they also pushed Sonos. I don’t want to fight the fight any longer. Just swap for proven alternative that can integrate without sending Home Network into tailspin every 12 to 15 hours.
@NixFix,
There are currently two ongoing audio interruption issues, with both the Playbar & Connect:Amp reported recently and Sonos have announced they are urgently investigating the matter. That’s perhaps what you’re seeing. See these two links:
Playbar audio interruption issue:
Connect:Amp audio interruption issue:
I would perhaps wait until the fix has been released, as that may resolve your issue. Just keep your eye on the above two threads.
If you want to check that the reported issues are what you’re encountering, then it’s perhaps best to reproduce the audio issue and immediately submit a Sonos system diagnostic report from within the Sonos App, note it’s reference and then contact/chat with Sonos Support Staff via this LINK and see what the Staff can perhaps suggest to resolve the matter.
Hope that assists.
