Contributor I

Never just works. Am I doing something fundamentally wrong?

Forum|Forum|8 years ago
July 5, 2018
23 replies
2207 views

Beyond frustrated. Tired of calling support, them changing random things and assuring me that it will "work much better now." I can never just open Sonos and play music from my library. Not once. But the solution is never the same! Sometimes resetting the router works, sometimes restarting the software works. Every time I want to turn it on that means 30 minutes of troubleshooting, and half the time I can't fix it and give up. And then it will fix itself and randomly turn itself on 30 minutes later and scare the sh*t out of me (but the software still says it can't connect so all you can do is pull the plug on the speaker).

Controller is a PC (sony vaio), connected to wi-fi and plugged into a hard line. Music I want to play is in my library. Have a Sonos Amp and a Play3. There are a couple other things on my wi-fi (2 android phones and an ipad). No major sources of wi-fi interference. Fast internet.

Most common error is something like "Cannot clear the queue" or "cannot play song" or "cannot connect to music library" (how can the controller not connect to the library? it IS the library). Tried different router channels. Tried different routers. Can I hardwire the whole thing?

How many times do I have to sit on the phone with Sonos for them to verify that my library is shared (again), and change my router channel (again), and assure me it is now fixed forever? Only for me to come back in 2 hours to it not working again even though nothing changed?

If it didn't cost so much it would be in the trash already. How does (seemingly) everyone love this system so much?

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Ryan S

Retired Sonos Staff

I'd love to take a closer look at the system too if you don't mind submitting a diagnostic and posting your confirmation number.

There's a lot that we could look into improving, but I'd just like to get a baseline of where the system is right now to see what the best steps might be. Also, when you spoke with the team last time the computer had two DHCP listings in the main router, so they removed the reservation. At least that's what the notes say... 🙂

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J

John B

I shall leave you in Ryan's very capable hands. The diagnostic would be a great first step towards a resolution.

Edit: second step, the first being having lost the second router, at least for the time being 🙂

C

catfartsAuthor

Contributor I

485637234 Diagnostic

Ryan S

Retired Sonos Staff

Thanks. First thing standing out to me is that I'm seeing two different IP ranges there. You've got some devices that are reporting having been on a 192.168.1.xxx range, and currently the computer here has a 192.168.0.xxx range. Which means in all likelihood your Fiber Modem (RouterA) and the one stairs (RouterB) are both assigning out addresses.

Sonos players and their controllers all need to be on the same subnet, same IP range. If they aren't communication issues and network connectivity can definitely suffer.

If you have the one upstairs unplugged right now, that's fine, or you can plug it back in and we'll just need to get everything on the same network.

The easiest way to sort this out to start with, see if you can get one of your Sonos devices and your computer both wired back to the same router. Then, reboot your Sonos (all of them) by unplugging the power for a few seconds.

When Sonos comes back up, if your computer asks, set the network to Private, and open the Sonos app, you should see your devices there.

Once that's done, you can consider going to wireless only, or leaving something wired into the network. If you want to go wireless only, I'd suggest connecting to the closest wireless router, and making sure that your computer is on the same wireless network there.

Ideally, for this setup, you also would want to have only one of your routers distributing IP addresses, which means turning DHCP off on the second router, and having it wired back to the first one (ideally) to/from one of the LAN ports.

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C

catfartsAuthor

Contributor I

The controller and the Amp are both plugged into the fiber modem/router. Router B is unplugged and gone. Can't get the computer to find sonos to say hello to each other. Not sure if I should "connect to an existing network" or start a new one, but neither seems to work. Have rebooted the Amp, the Play3 is unplugged.

C

catfartsAuthor

Contributor I

Ok, had a great time running round the house looking for flashing green lights.

Got the Controller to see the 2 speakers. Seems like it is just a regular wi-fi connection now. Tried to add a "boost" (want to assign the Connect:Amp) but I cant get the Amp to stop being solid white, or flashing white right after I unplug.

But now I turned off the wi-fi on the controller computer, and when I ask the Play3 for music, it plays! What is this voo-doo? The Play 3 is not plugged in to the ethernet. Who is sending it the command to play?

...currently listening to Sonos tech support on hold music...

Ryan S

Retired Sonos Staff

If one of your Sonos players is wired to the network, it'll send wifi out to the others (assuming they're in range). But you also could still have wireless credentials in there from previous setups. Also, "connect to existing system" would have been the way to go.

In any case, if you're on the phone with the team that's probably the best way to go. They'll be able to get you all set up, and you can mention that second router that's unplugged and they'll give you advice on how to get that added correctly, if you need to expand the range.

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C

catfartsAuthor

Contributor I

So, tech support guy told me that I don't have to assign the AMP as a boost or bridge, that it will do it for me. Seems like it did. That would explain how the Play3 knew to play.

Ok, everything is working right now. Lets see how long it lasts.

J

John B

So, tech support guy told me that I don't have to assign the AMP as a boost or bridge, that it will do it for me. Seems like it did. That would explain how the Play3 knew to play.

Ok, everything is working right now. Lets see how long it lasts.I suspect, and hope, that it will be stable now. By way of explanation, the fundamental cause of your problems was having two routers, both of which were dishing out IP addresses under DHCP, as I suggested. Many devices can cope with this because they operate essentially in isolation. But Sonos has multiple controllers and players that need constantly to communicate with each other. Split them across two subnets and you cripple it, which is what you had done.

Even after removing router B, some devices retained the IP addresses it had dished out. That is what showed on the diagnostic. A power cycle ('reboot') of everything should have flushed that out.

I hope you can enjoy your Sonos without further problems, now that your network seems to be sorted out.

Ryan S

Retired Sonos Staff

So, tech support guy told me that I don't have to assign the AMP as a boost or bridge, that it will do it for me. Seems like it did. That would explain how the Play3 knew to play.

Ok, everything is working right now. Lets see how long it lasts.

Glad it's up and running now. As a note, if you didn't do it with the technicians over the phone, to use that second router with your system, you'll need to make sure to have it configured not to assign IP addresses out. It's best to only have one device on your network handling DHCP.

Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.

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