Contributor I

Answered

Sonos speaker connected to Access Point but cant be controlled when iPhone connected to another Access Point

Forum|Forum|2 months ago
July 15, 2026
21 replies
205 views

I’ve seen a few discussions about this issue, but I haven’t come across anyone who has found a solution.

I have a Sonos Five connected to one of my access points (5GHz, using the same SSID as my router and other APs). When my iPhone is connected to that same AP and the Sonos Five, everything works perfectly. I can start music from the Sonos app and control playback without any problems.

However, when I move to another part of the house and my iPhone roams to a different AP, the Sonos app can no longer control the Sonos Five. The speaker still appears in the app, but whenever I try to pause, play, or perform any other action, I get a "Could not connect to server" error.

Does anyone know what might be causing this?

Roaming on the iPhone appears to work smoothly, but it feels like the Sonos app isn’t refreshing its connection properly. Even if I leave it for a long time, it never seems to recover.

Interestingly, if I roam back to the main router’s Wi-Fi, the Sonos app immediately recognises what’s playing and I regain full control of the Five. The issue only occurs when the phone is connected through a different access point.

My access points are Omada EAP650s, all configured identically and running in standalone mode. Roaming works fine for every other Wi-Fi device in the house, so this seems to be a Sonos-specific issue.

Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Best answer by craigski

This is the switch I use in my setup

Spec here:

https://www.tp-link.com/uk/business-networking/soho-switch-poe/ls1210gp/#specifications

Two “Features” that will need to be correctly configured in your setup:

Advanced Features • Extend Mode Button (Ports 1–4, Up to 250 m PoE power supply and data transmission)
• Isolation Mode Button (Ports 1–8)
• PoE Auto Recovery Button (Ports 1–8)
• Compatible With IEEE 802.3af/at Compliant PDs
• IEEE802.3x Flow Control
• 802.1p/DSCP QoS
• IGMP Snooping
• Green Technology

Advanced Features	• Extend Mode Button (Ports 1–4, Up to 250 m PoE power supply and data transmission) • Isolation Mode Button (Ports 1–8) • PoE Auto Recovery Button (Ports 1–8) • Compatible With IEEE 802.3af/at Compliant PDs • IEEE802.3x Flow Control • 802.1p/DSCP QoS • IGMP Snooping • Green Technology

Check switch on back, make sure Isolation is set to OFF.

The irony that “Smart” switches can be dumber than a cheap unmanaged switch if the smart features are misconfigured for a specific use case, eg AirPlay, Sonos, etc 😀

Stanley_4

Grand Maestro

You appear to have two access points that are not passing all the needed data between them.

How are the APs connected to your router?

What APs are you using?

Is the router doing any filtering of the connection?

Maybe connect a dumb switch to your router and then both APs to it to remove the router as a possible problem?

S

stephenkwardAuthor

Contributor I

Hi, Archer AX73 router → POE 8 port switch → 2 x APs (Omada EAP650)

APs running in standalone mode. Airplay is also effected. (if my iphone is connected to one AP i can not Airplay to a sonos speaker connected to the other AP - does not show up in Airplay list)

no filtering is turned on on the router and AP isolation if off.

MoPac

Headliner III

Sound like “Standalone Mode” means the APs are separate from each other. That may be the problem. This is only a guess as I have never dealt with a network containing APs. Of course “Isolation Mode” OFF seems to indicate the APs are working together. Confusing!

S

stephenkwardAuthor

Contributor I

Yep makes sense but finding a solution is proving difficult - only thing i can do is add a controller (OC200) and play around with some settings .. just wondered if any other option will work before i do that

jgatie

Yep makes sense but finding a solution is proving difficult - only thing i can do is add a controller (OC200) and play around with some settings .. just wondered if any other option will work before i do that

Access Points should be configured to be on the same subnet and should be actual extenders, not standalone routers/access points. Omada calls this “Repeater Mode”, which can be changed from “Standalone Mode” using the configuration App or a Web browser.

S

stephenkwardAuthor

Contributor I

I can not change the APs to repeater mode with out the Controller. plus, I have the APs connected via ethernet due to distances between them and the router

jgatie

I can not change the APs to repeater mode with out the Controller. plus, I have the APs connected via ethernet due to distances between them and the router

I don’t know why the Ethernet connection would preclude configuring them as repeaters, nor what the “Controller” entails. But my post stands as is . . . if you wish to access your Sonos system via Access Points, they must be configured to be on the same subnet as your main router. They cannot be standalone access points.

S

stephenkwardAuthor

Contributor I

Router and the two APs are on the same subnet

C

craigski

Local Superstar

The issue is with Multicast, Sonos and Airplay rely on a network capable of Multicast between devices. The AP(s) and/or switch are probably filtering Multicast, for ‘performance’. I have also seen this between bands on same AP.

What model of switch?

jgatie

Router and the two APs are on the same subnet

I really don’t know what to say. I’ve given you the solution to your problem (configure the APs in “Repeater Mode”). It would appear you are unwilling to attempt this for some reason. This is a users forum, for Sonos users to request help from other users. We have no way of changing how Sonos operates, so what else would you like us to do for you?

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