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Davidz
Contributor I
March 10, 2024

unreliable, flakey sonos software

  • March 10, 2024
  • 4 replies
  • 118 views

Am I alone? My wife and I run the Sonos software on 2 iPads and 2 android phones. It is the most undependable software I have ever used. It will disappear from the network on either or both devices in the morning, reappear in the afternoon, and maybe come back in the evening, over and over. Nothing in our network has changed over this time, but whether Sonos will connect is always a guessing game. In contrast, I use Roon for my main stereo system, running it on my iPad and phone. It has never dropped off the network- not once. I am mostly venting here, but if anyone knows a 3rd party app that will run our Play 5, I would love to hear about it. Thanks.  David

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4 replies

Bumper
Bumper
March 10, 2024

Lots of people complain about the software, but what you describe is almost always the network. If you contact support they can probably help you sort it out.
 

If not, can’t you use Roon with your Sonos speakers?

    Ken_Griffiths
    Ken_Griffiths
    March 10, 2024

    @Davidz,

    The ‘discovery’ of Sonos products by the Sonos controller App, on some local Home networks that maybe incorrectly configured, or operating outside the Sonos system requirements, can sometimes be a slightly difficult area to explore, when there are intermittent device discovery issues, but briefly… 

    SSDP (the UPnP simple service discovery protocol) is used to initially discover the Sonos players and is done via multicasting via UDP to 239.255.255.250:1900 and, for good measure, broadcasting to 255.255.255.255:1900. 

    Both the Sonos players and controllers must share the same network subnet. However if the Sonos devices are connecting to multiple access points, the recommendations (from myself) are that they be set to the same WiFi channel and channel-width. This is for optimum performance particularly in groups and for some reason with some (not all) mesh-based WiFi systems, it appears some will work okay with Sonos, but others may not, particularly if the satellites/AP’s are perhaps auto-selecting their own WiFi channels. I’ve seen some people report issues with Google ‘nest’ mesh WiFi, for example, although others will occasionally say it works for their ‘small’ Sonos setup.

    What is certainly not supported though by Sonos, are wireless range extenders, as some can mangle device MAC addresses and EoP (powerline) adapters.. so if you are using those type of wireless access points, to extend the wireless network coverage, then that may cause such intermittent device discovery issues by the Sonos Controller App.

    Reserving the IP addresses in the routers DHCP reservation table can often help with device discovery, so consider making your Sonos IP addresses static. The router user-manual will normally assist you to do that in most cases.

    Just to add aswell, it can sometimes be Apps/software running on the mobile ‘controller’ device that interfere with ‘device discovery’. Examples to perhaps consider are…

    • VPN Client 
    • Firewall software
    • Antivirus software
    • WiFi Calling/Dial assist
    • Private network address (MAC address spoofing)
    • Mobile data enabled for the Sonos App  

    So consider disabling these features, even temporarily, just to see if that may fix your intermittent device ‘discovery’ issue.

      DavidzAuthor
      Contributor I
      March 10, 2024

      Thanks. 

      Lots of people complain about the software, but what you describe is almost always the network. If you contact support they can probably help you sort it out.
       

      If not, can’t you use Roon with your Sonos speakers?

      Thanks, I will follow up w/ support. I think I know why Roon works perfectly. It is running on a music player (the Grimm MU1) that is hard wired to the LAN -- there are no wifi issues to contend with. We don’t have a jack available in the kitchen for the Sonos. Thanks again. -- David

        DavidzAuthor
        Contributor I
        March 10, 2024

        @Davidz,

        The ‘discovery’ of Sonos products by the Sonos controller App, on some local Home networks that maybe incorrectly configured, or operating outside the Sonos system requirements, can sometimes be a slightly difficult area to explore, when there are intermittent device discovery issues, but briefly… 

        SSDP (the UPnP simple service discovery protocol) is used to initially discover the Sonos players and is done via multicasting via UDP to 239.255.255.250:1900 and, for good measure, broadcasting to 255.255.255.255:1900. 

        Both the Sonos players and controllers must share the same network subnet. However if the Sonos devices are connecting to multiple access points, the recommendations (from myself) are that they be set to the same WiFi channel and channel-width. This is for optimum performance particularly in groups and for some reason with some (not all) mesh-based WiFi systems, it appears some will work okay with Sonos, but others may not, particularly if the satellites/AP’s are perhaps auto-selecting their own WiFi channels. I’ve seen some people report issues with Google ‘nest’ mesh WiFi, for example, although others will occasionally say it works for their ‘small’ Sonos setup.

        What is certainly not supported though by Sonos, are wireless range extenders, as some can mangle device MAC addresses and EoP (powerline) adapters.. so if you are using those type of wireless access points, to extend the wireless network coverage, then that may cause such intermittent device discovery issues by the Sonos Controller App.

        Reserving the IP addresses in the routers DHCP reservation table can often help with device discovery, so consider making your Sonos IP addresses static. The router user-manual will normally assist you to do that in most cases.

        Just to add aswell, it can sometimes be Apps/software running on the mobile ‘controller’ device that interfere with ‘device discovery’. Examples to perhaps consider are…

        • VPN Client 
        • Firewall software
        • Antivirus software
        • WiFi Calling/Dial assist
        • Private network address (MAC address spoofing)
        • Mobile data enabled for the Sonos App  

        So consider disabling these features, even temporarily, just to see if that may fix your intermittent device ‘discovery’ issue.

        Thanks for your help. I will try and sort it out with support. 

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