Avid Contributor I

Setup and settings work on my iPad, but not on my iPhone

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
November 7, 2018
19 replies
3617 views

I recently picked up a Play 5 and a One, and when trying to set up the devices at home via the Sonos App on my iPhone (iPhone 😎, I constantly got the error message "Network problem; Check your internet connection and make sure your speakers are plugged in" despite being on the same network at the devices and having a relatively good signal. For the sake of troubleshooting, I grabbed my iPad (iPad Pro 2017) and was surprised to see that I was not having this issue with the Sonos app on my iPad. I was able to set up both devices normally.

The situation now is that I am able to control both my Sonos devices with the App on my iPad and iPhone, but only the iPad app is able to change some settings, like room settings, or add another device, like the One. If I try to do this with the iPhone app, I again get the error "Network problem; Check your internet connection and make sure your speakers are plugged in". Playback to Sonos from third-party apps like Spotify work well from both devices.

For reference:
Both my iPad and iPhone are on the same network as the Sonos, run the most updated version of both the Sonos app and iOS, and are both managed devices with certificates and profiles installed by my employer. VPN is off. Both devices use the same Apple ID and correct time/date settings. I have tried to reboot the speakers, restart my iPhone and reinstall the Sonos app, just in case - unfortunately to no effect.

Any idea what could be causing only my iPhone to refuse to connect to the speakers when attempting to perform setup actions or change speaker settings?

Thanks! 😃

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Airgetlam

Not offhand, honestly. One guess, but you say you've checked it.

The one that stands out as a strong possibility in my mind is that your phone is connected to your router's SSID at 5Ghz, and your iPad is connected to the same SSID at 2.4Ghz. I've taken to naming my two channels slightly different names, so that I'm sure what I'm connecting to. And it may be that your particular router isn't passing data between the two sides.

That's completely a guess, though...since it's not obvious when you look at the wifi settings whether you're connected to a 5Ghz signal rather than a 2.4Ghz signal....it just shows you the SSID name and sometimes what kind of security (like WEP) that it has.

Try going in to your router's settings, and append a 2 to the name of the SSID 2.4Ghz side, and a 5 to the 5Ghz SSID name, and then go in to your phone and "forget" the current wifi, and reconnect to the new name for the 2.4Ghz side, and see what happens.

Beyond that, I'd be stumped. Wouldn't hurt to submit a system diagnostic from the iPad, since it will connect, but it likely won't be a good source of data as to why the iPhone won't connect.

Bruce

LironAuthor

Avid Contributor I

The one that stands out as a strong possibility in my mind is that your phone is connected to your router's SSID at 5Ghz, and your iPad is connected to the same SSID at 2.4Ghz.

Thanks for your reply! I thought this might be it but it looks like both my iPhone and iPad are connected to the 5Ghz Network. If they needed to be on the 2.4Ghz network, I suppose the iPad wouldn't work either?

I found this old thread, in which a user says:

the controller devices -- such as iPhone -- can connect via anything: 2.4GHz, 5GHz, 802.11ac, wire, etc. It's only the Sonos Players configured to use WiFi Setup which must attach to an access point supporting 802.11g. at 2.4GHz

https://en.community.sonos.com/wireless-speakers-228992/2-4ghz-or-5ghz-41446

So I'm guessing this is something on the level of the device, not the network :(

For the sake of troubleshooting I tried to split the SSIDs to 2GHz and 5GHz and connecting to the 2GHz with my iPhone. I was unable to connect to Sonos at all ("Unable to find speakers").

J

John B

You should not rule out the 5GHz issue. In Boost mode (with a wired Sonos device, which used to be mandatory) it is fine for the the controller to connect over 5GHz. If you are operating in wifi mode, then it depends on your router whether it lets a controller on 5GHz talk to a Sonos player on 2.4GHz. Some routers bridge the bands, some don't.

But your subsequent checks do seem to deal with this.

J

John B

Please see what happens if you temporarily wire a speaker to your router???

J

John B

Another speculation... I have a very vague recollection of a user who found his iPhone was set to block the Sonos system, although he didn't know how it had come about. I don't have an iPhone but it may be under Restrictions?

LironAuthor

Avid Contributor I

You should not rule out the 5GHz issue. In Boost mode (with a wired Sonos device, which used to be mandatory) it is fine for the the controller to connect over 5GHz. If you are operating in wifi mode, then it depends on your router whether it lets a controller on 5GHz talk to a Sonos player on 2.4GHz. Some routers bridge the bands, some don't.

But your subsequent checks do seem to deal with this.

Both my iPhone and iPad can indeed talk to the Sonos devices over 5GHz - it is only the iPhone which is unable to access the Setup and Settings on Sonos. It can reach the Speakers when controlling music just fine, so there's at least some one-way communication happening here.

I'll try to wire my Play 5 to the router this evening and will report back. I'm guessing I need to reboot the speakers to force them onto ethernet when this happens?

Smilja

@Liron, check if the so called WiFi Assist ist turned on; should be turned off.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205296

»And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space, Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind.« (›Windmills Of Your Mind‹ [1967]. Music by Michel Legrand ; English lyrics written by Alan & Marilyn Bergman)

LironAuthor

Avid Contributor I

@Liron, check if the so called WiFi Assist ist turned on; should be turned off.

Thanks, I've turned it off. I'll try to connect to Sonos again this evening and will report back!

J

John B

You should not rule out the 5GHz issue. In Boost mode (with a wired Sonos device, which used to be mandatory) it is fine for the the controller to connect over 5GHz. If you are operating in wifi mode, then it depends on your router whether it lets a controller on 5GHz talk to a Sonos player on 2.4GHz. Some routers bridge the bands, some don't.

But your subsequent checks do seem to deal with this.

Both my iPhone and iPad can indeed talk to the Sonos devices over 5GHz - it is only the iPhone which is unable to access the Setup and Settings on Sonos. It can reach the Speakers when controlling music just fine, so there's at least some one-way communication happening here.

I'll try to wire my Play 5 to the router this evening and will report back. I'm guessing I need to reboot the speakers to force them onto ethernet when this happens?Reboot may not be necessary, only do it if it doesn't switch automatically. In About My Sonos system, WM:0 indicates connection over Ethernet or SonosNet, WM:1 wifi.

J

John B

The baffling thing is that it only affects the Settings aspects. Normally when these are unavailable it means one of two things. Either:
(1) the controller is on a device whose operating system is not fully supported by Sonos, or
(2) there is a mismatch in Sonos software version numbers between the Sonos controller and the Sonos speakers.

Everything you have said seems to rule these out, but you could check this in About My Sonos System too.

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