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CharlieATL
Avid Contributor I
December 18, 2016
Question

iPhone does not see Sonos on WiFi

  • December 18, 2016
  • 4 replies
  • 1018 views
For some reason, when I try to open Sonos on my iPhone, I get a screen saying I'm not connected to WiFi.
In the iPhone's settings, I show I'm connected to a 5.0 mHz network, which is what I have my iOS devices set to. The Play 3 plays and Speedtest, over WiFi, gives me a 40+ megabit downstream, 12+ up. To further muddy the water, my iPad Air sees and operates Sonos in the same location that the iPhone does not see it on my WiFi network. I had to use my iPad to set up TruePlay since my iPhone couldn't see Sonos.
Any thoughts?
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    4 replies

    John B
    December 18, 2016
    Connect to 2.4GHz. Sonos only operates at 2.4. With some routers traffic can pass between the two bands. It appears not with yours.
    ratty
    ratty
    December 18, 2016
    Move the iPhone to your 2.4GHz network.
    CharlieATLAuthor
    Avid Contributor I
    December 19, 2016
    John B & ratty -

    Thank you for your reply. I did change the iPhone to the 2.4GHz WiFi network (forgive my 1000x error in misidentifying my WiFi network frequency in my OP please), and yes, it now works on my iPhone SE.
    But the mystery remains...my iPad connects just fine on the 5.0 network, and I believe both the iPhone and the iPad worked on the 5.0 network prior to the iOS change today.
    John B, I guess network communication may indeed have passed between 2.4 and 5.0 in the past, but I have to wonder if the iOS update affected that since now it does not work. (I have posted this in the Apple community.)
    Not trying to make a research project out of this for anyone, and the issue I think is solved.
    That being said, the operability of iOS devices is allegedly "better" at the 5.0 range than the 2.4 range, plus that frequency is very likely to be less congested since most stuff in one's household is in the 2.4 range. I'm out running my headlights here but have to wonder why I'm having this issue.
    ratty
    ratty
    December 19, 2016
    The issue is generally not that a router won't pass traffic between WiFi bands, some specifically won't forward broadcast traffic. A Sonos controller needs to use broadcasts/multicasts to locate the players.

    Given the quirks of some routers, and the fact that history has shown that some iDevices don't get on with some routers in terms of broadcasts/multicasts (irrespective of WiFi band) it's not much of a surprise that an iPhone can behave one way and an iPad another.

    If the situation becomes really annoying, put the Sonos into SonosNet mode ('BOOST Setup') by wiring one device (it needn't be a BOOST). All traffic should be forwarded between a wireless segment and the wired network.
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