Stuck in loop on S2 mobile app

Hi @JCBoston 

Thanks for your post!

That really shouldn’t have happened - as it did happen, I’ll let the right people know. The steps you took to fix it sound like exactly the right thing to do to me.

Having a third option to mitigate this issue would indeed be a good idea. I’ve marked this topic as a feature request. Thank you for reporting this.

Just FYI -- This has happened again. With a twist.

Last time, invoking the S2 app recognized the three devices on my S2 ‘subnetwork’ but then forced me to try to add the non-S2 device it was also seeing. I was in an infinite loop until I unplugged the non-S2 device.

This time, the S2 app recognized the non-S2 device but said that device was incompatible. It did not recognize the three S2 devices at all, and I could not proceed until, as previously, I unplugged the non-S2 device.

(I use ‘subnetwork’ in a non-technical sense -- two groups of devices. All four devices reside on a single wi-fi network.)

This is comically odd. The S2 app should not be able to see any device it is incapable of managing. Or at the very least, it should see such a device but give me the option of ignoring that device. Anything less is just plain bad design.

Settings > App Preferences > Allow Pop-up Messages

Disable it and see if it helps. Failing that you should always be able to swipe down on a pop-up to dismiss it.

Hi @JCBoston 

Thanks for the update.

This likely happening because, at least for a little while, the S2 app is unable to find the S2 system - as long as the app remains in contact with a system it “knows”, it will ignore others. Rebooting the router by removing power for at least 30 seconds may help. If it does, repeating this step a few times a year may keep things reliable.

Do you have anything that extends the reach of the WiFi? If so, and if your iPhone and S2 system are not connecting to the same access point, that may cause the issue - it depends on what type of access points you are using. Toggling WiFi off and on again on your iPhone the next time it happens would be a good-ish test for this - assuming your iPhone is in the same rough location as the S2 system.

The S2 app is capable of seeing the S1 system so that it can tell you to use the S1 app, but I do get your point. You understand the difference between S1 and S2, however - many may not, and not understand that there is an alternate version of the app that they need to download instead. Especially first-time-users, and they’re often the ones actually downloading the app, as opposed to updating it. I suppose we’re trying to do the best thing for the biggest number of people.

Out of curiosity, is the S1 device the only Sonos device wired with ethernet? If it is, that may explain why the S2 app keeps finding it first. Try it on WiFi.

Thanks.

My wi-fi system has no auxiliary access points. And all four Sonos devices are on wi-fi -- no hardwired Ethernet connection is present.

My router is on the middle floor of the house. The S2 devices are one floor above and one floor below. The S1 device is on the same floor as the router, so it is physically closest to the router.

Both times this problem occurred, I was on my iPhone, in the S2 app, one floor down from the router, thus nearest my paired S2 Fives. It seems to me that

• In the first occurrence, the S2 app found S2 first, then ‘warned’ me that an S1 device was also present. (So contrary to what you state, S2 was in contact with a system it ‘knows’ but nevertheless also connected to a second system???)
• In the second occurrence, the S2 app found S1 first, then ‘warned’ me that the S1 device it found was incompatible, and did not see the S2 devices at all. (So perhaps it did ignore the second system, as advertised???)

I’ve disabled pop-ups, as suggested by ‘Ratty’ above, and that might help; we’ll see. If this happens again, I’ll also try rebooting the router and/or toggling wi-fi on the iPhone.

Hi @JCBoston 

As you’ve only got one access point, something other than my main theory must be happening. A router reboot has a good chance of helping.

If the reboot of the router doesn’t help, I’d then put my money on interference. In this case, could you please submit a diagnostic from your S2 system and reply here with the number given? Thanks. Please do so while you are connected successfully.

In your first occurrence, this would be the kind of pop-up that should be able to be dismissed, as described by @ratty.

In your second occurrence, this is the situation I described. The app will try several times to find speakers it knows, and when it fails to do so it resorts to reporting the S1 system’s presence instead and, as you can see, stop looking for others. This may happen when the app looks like it already is connected - if the connection refresh fails, the first you’ll likely know about it is seeing the message you’re reporting (though the controls in the app will likely fail to work some seconds before this).

Please let me know how it goes.

I connected successfully to S2 from my iPhone while standing near my paired Fives, one floor down from the router. Neither problem occurred, but I submitted diagnostics anyway -- confirmation number 839373836.

If the problem reoccurs, I’ll generate a second set of diagnostics, correct?

Thanks.

By the way, standing near the speakers in question is immaterial. The phone doesn’t connect directly to them; it connects via your WiFi and hence through the router.

Hi @JCBoston 

Thanks for the diagnostics!

No need - if the system isn’t connected, there won’t be much information to be had anyway.

I do see a suspiciously high transmission error rate for the Left Five (suspicious because it has the strongest signal) and a high rate on the One SL too. As you mentioned that your router is old (and therefore relatively weak in transmission) I’m going to guess that the Five is too close to the router - please separate them by at least 1m (3 feet) if this is the case.

As for the One SL, that could also be interference, but likely due to proximity of another WiFi client device this time. Or, extreme proximity to a metal or glass surface.

However, it seems that there are ~100 WiFi broadcasts that the speakers are able to pick up, many are of the hidden variety. They are mostly split well between channels 1, 6 and 11 - the only channels that do not overlap - but each of these is very busy. Your router is currently on channel 1, and that does look like the best option, but please be aware that the shear number of these may be causing congestion on that frequency, slowing the response of some of the units. One way of avoiding this would be to teach S2 your 5GHz WiFi credentials, then remove the 2.4GHz ones. This will shift S2 over to the less-congested frequency. You can find the options to do so at Settings » System » Network » Manage Networks. If you have trouble removing the 2.4GHz credentials, they will be in use. Disable and re-enable 2.4GHz (apply/save in-between) on your router to force them over, then try removing the credentials again.

I also saw evidence that the router needs a reboot - DNS queries shouldn’t take 5 seconds.

I hope this helps.