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Sonos S2 system not working well


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I upgraded my Sonos system to S2 a few weeks ago.  I have one Sonos Beam and two Sonos Play:1 speakers.  A complicating factor is that I also switched to a new router a couple of weeks prior to the update, but the system seemed to be working well prior to the software upgrade to S2.

 

Since the upgrade to S2, the connectivity to my speakers over the Sonos Mac OS X app has been very shoddy.  On many occcasions, one or more speakers will not appear on the menu.  Sometimes I will see the speaker on the menu, but when I attempt to play music I have difficulty getting a song to start.  There are some occasions when the system seems to work, but it seems sporadic. Additionally, my ability to use my Sonos speakers directly from the Spotify application has essentially ceased.

 

Please help!

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Best answer by benjamindm 4 October 2020, 00:53

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Hi @benjamindm.

Thanks for reaching out and welcome to the community!

Sorry to hear about it, let me help you on figuring this out.

 

There are many potential causes when the speakers are dropping out of the system (Wireless interference, Gateway issue, Source issue, service issue, etc ).

This can cause audio interruptions during playback and with the Sonos performance as well.

 

If you’re having trouble using direct control, and your Sonos is not showing as the target device, I suggest trying the following steps:

 

Step 1 - Update both apps

  • Update the music service (Spotify) app and the Sonos app. Only the latest app versions work with Sonos
  • Please confirm that no updates are available and bot app are using the latest software version.

Step 2 - Ensure that Cloud Connections are active

  • In order for Sonos speakers to be discovered, they need to have established network connections.

Step 3 - Confirm the Sonos app displays all rooms

  • If the Sonos App can't see the Rooms, the Direct Control App won't work.

Step 4 - Please confirm that the device is on the same network as Sonos

  • It’s not uncommon for a mobile device to be streaming off of the cellular network.
  • Connect the device to the correct WiFi and test Direct Control.   

 

If the issue persists, kindly please submit a diagnostic report through the Mac’s Sonos app, and reply with the confirmation number.

I'd be glad to review your system further and it will also help in identifying what's causing the issue.

 

Let me know how it goes and if you have any other questions or run into any issues, please do not hesitate to reach out.

This is such a BS response. So many people are having major problems with S2 who had no problems with the old Sonos app.

Stop wasting people’s time telling them it is a problem at their end when quite obviously S2 is absolutely riddled with bugs. A big steaming pile of 💩 

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So the solution to the major balls up is to find an old product and buy it so that a new system can be set up in order to downgrade? Why not just make it possible? And don’t tell me “it isn’t possible” because quite clearly it could be if Sonos management wanted it to be. 
 

Regarding your point about IP addresses. I’ve basically dismantled and reassembled my entire network over the last month or so trying to resolve this. Please don’t try to belittle this by telling me it is my network at fault. It isn’t. 
 

The evidence is widespread. S2 was not ready for prime time, was released with no fall back available and then the rug was pulled out from under many of us by abruptly and without warning stopping twitter support.

 

Userlevel 2

Totally agree with the comments above.

  1. No, we don’t have any wireless issues, I have three unifi access points in my setup and it’s working as it should, signal to the speaker is at 99% (-44 dBm). I have also done a wireless survey and selected the optimal (3) channels.
  2. No, we not have IP Address issues, it’s been sitting on the same IP address for months, 4ms ping times to devices. There is no IP conflicts.
  3. These issues did not exist with S1

Please stop giving out canned responses, there are serious issues with S2. Please fix it

 

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I am also having major issues with S2.  I have sat down with support for hours and submitted hundreds of diagnostics, but there is no issue to be found on my end.  In fact there were no issues until the exact moment I upgraded to S2.  

The irony is I’m a huge Sonos fan when it works.  And, like you, I want to provide my honest feedback to the vendor so the product is improved.  

*S2 is not just a new iphone app, it is a new OS and a completely new Sonos platform.*

Sonos should be listening to us instead of sending trolls to arrogantly minimize a real and growing issue.

IMHO they should’ve put S2 in tech preview for longer so the bugs could get shaken out by people that are willing to put up with them.  

My humble opinions!

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I am also having major issues with S2.  I have sat down with support for hours and submitted hundreds of diagnostics, but there is no issue to be found on my end.  In fact there were no issues until the exact moment I upgraded to S2.  

The irony is I’m a huge Sonos fan when it works.  And, like you, I want to provide my honest feedback to the vendor so the product is improved.  

*S2 is not just a new iphone app, it is a new OS and a completely new Sonos platform.*

Sonos should be listening to us instead of sending trolls to arrogantly minimize a real and growing issue.

IMHO they should’ve put S2 in tech preview for longer so the bugs could get shaken out by people that are willing to put up with them.  

My humble opinions!

Definitely. And they should have always allowed downgrading, and given the monumental balls up that S2 has turned out to be, they should allow that now as a priority until they can get their act together.

To put this another way, perhaps in terms that management might take notice: 

I had been seriously considering buying a Sub and/or some other Sonos products to add to my system. There is NO WAY I’ll be spending any more money on Sonos kit until this is sorted. Why would I? I’d be crazy to plough hundreds of £££ into something that doesn’t really work anymore. 

Userlevel 2

are you out of your mind with that response? I’ve been a network admin for 25 years, I know it’s not my network. We’re all having the exact same issues after upgrading. How dare you come and piss all over our issues just because yours works fine. You're the worst kinda internet troll. Piss off, there is a problem with the app update %100. going from S1 to S2. I’m listening to constant dropouts and the app itself slow down and locks up.

Userlevel 2

Add me to the group with lag and dropouts since moving to the new App. Please fix this!! I already have all my sonos using reserved IP’s.

Sonos - please listen to your user community. There is something seriously wrong with S2. We all have a lot invested in this product. This S2 rollout has been an absolute failure. I have four rooms on my network and now only one works. Rooms appear out of no where and then disappear. What is the solution. Can we go back to S1?

What nonsense. Lots of people are having problems with S2.  I would suggest people look at the app reviews in the App Store rather than listen to the denialists in this thread. After S1 working perfectly fine suddenly all these problems. All because people have got network problems? Laughable

The S2 controller/Firmware update has had no issues whatsoever for me.  Obviously different users have different setups, and I can only speak for myself.

But I stick by my claim that if there were really generic bugs in S2 there would be VASTLY more complaints about it on this forum.

As an example, the Arc launched with a bug affecting the base in certain circumstances.  At this point the proportion of all users who were affected was minuscule, but within days there were hundreds of posts.  If S2 were generically and seriously buggy, there would be millions of users affected.  The forum would be swamped.  It isn’t.

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I have submitted a diagnostic.  Confirmation number 915306443.

In the interval period since I wrote the originally post, I have noticed that turning my router off and on SOMETIMES fixes the issue, but mostly, my Sonos rooms and speakers pop out of being available, both on the Sonos app and Spotify Direct Control, without any rhyme or reason that I can discern.  Continually frustrating.

i have also been fighting with the Sonos App2 since upgrade.  i just now decided to google “issues with sonos app2” and found this community thread.  it’s so frustrating!  it’s not always finding each room, it shows it’s playing but it’s not playing, it will not group, it’s very off/on…. continuously throughout the day.  everyday!  we re-start the internet many of times and still have issues.

Agreed.

4 Play:1s and 2 SLs working fine on S1 app…  Suddenly though, the last update to S1 app causes a crash whenever searching for a radio station.  So I upgraded to S2.

Now, none of the SL speakers show up in S2 app.  I’ve discussed on a forum thread here which led to calling support.  After clicking through multiple “solutions” I finally get a phone number.  After nearly 2 hours on the phone I’m sent an email of suggested router configurations… Like really?

If my all my speakers worked perfectly on S1 but then suddenly on S2 the SL speakers do not work, how is it an issue with my router or network which hasn’t been changed any time inbetween S1 to S2? Clearly there is an issue with the new system.

On my router’s connected devices I see TWO different Sonos:  “Sonos Inc” and “SonosZP” so seems like SL and Play:1 have two different clients but yet the S2 app can’t seem to ever find one of them.

As others have said, wanted to buy more Sonos for Christmas but with this I’m thinking I might need to trash all these speakers and find a whole new brand.  Absolutely a disgrace.  Especially the time I wasted with Sonos support and diagnostics. 

are you out of your mind with that response? I’ve been a network admin for 25 years, I know it’s not my network. We’re all having the exact same issues after upgrading. How dare you come and piss all over our issues just because yours works fine. You're the worst kinda internet troll. Piss off, there is a problem with the app update %100. going from S1 to S2. I’m listening to constant dropouts and the app itself slow down and locks up.

In my long experience on this forum providing helpful advice (not trolling) I have learned that someone being in netwrk admin makes it less likely, not more likely, that they will be correct about the nature of the problem.  I am not p***ing on your problems either - just pointing out that ff you don’t tackle whatever is causing the problems you are experiencing, but just call on Sonos to ‘fix’ it, you are never gong to find a solution.

And for a start, the app is just a remote control, so what you are doing if you blame the app update is the equivalent of blaming your TV remote because there is a problem with your  TV. 

Userlevel 1

Hi all,

 

I am having similar issues. Since the upgrade to S2 i have wifi and sonosnet connectivity problems.

 

The speakers are Just a few meters apart from each other but the network is far from stable now.

 

I have tried different methods: sonosnet, wifi on different channels, reboot speakers, modem and reset factory settings etc etc but the app still reacts laggy and buggy.

 

I have no Idea what to do now.

i am another user to the list that cannot listen to music anymore after upgrading to S2 → my whole system of 4 devices is stuck in limbo → cannot upgrade and therefore have limited functionality thus cannot add remove items. have factory reset my PORT and therefore cannot use it now at all since have limited functionality until i upgrade. 2 sessions of 1 hours each with support didn’t help to any solution other then mentioning that my PORT has actually the latest version of the software. However although no other devices are connected it still wants to do an upgrade to whatever version is needed?!

10 year of sonos just works and listing to music → has changed to no music available and calling sonos support with no anwers

this (s2) is indeed a nightmare 

Bruce, it’s where i started. I just didn’t want to waste words on it. It was so useless, it was irrelevant. They read off a condescending script, and try to blame my set up. 
Thanks for the support.

S2 system update is terrible and my system rarely functions properly now even though it was fine 99% of the time before. Look at the Apple reviews recently. A great deal of them are 1 star. This app is extremely buggy. I have about 11-12 speakers and they’re basically functioning as ornaments now. 

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Following this thread with interest.

I’m also finding S2 laggy and unresponsive. No dropouts though.

I’m on iOS with the latest firmware and v12.1 on the Controller. Static IP’s for every device in the house and SonosNet.

Everything was fine with S1 but now I just find S2 unresponsive when I first try to use it, sometimes closing the app and restarting it is quicker to use it than waiting for it to respond.

OK. Now please bumour me even if you don't see the sense in this. Take one of your Sonos speakers and connect it by Ethernet to your router, even if it means moving it from where you want it, just as an experiment. Don't place it right next to the router - leave a 3 foot distance if possible.

Then go into the Sonos app Settings, System, Network, Wireless Setup and remove (reset) your network SSID and password from Sonos. 

Wait a couple of minutes then look in the app to see if all speakers are present. Any that are not, power them off and on.

Can you fix the 2.4GHz channel on Orbi or does it have to be automatic? If you can fix it, choose 1, 6 or 11 then make sure Sonos is on a different channel. ( in Network Settings).

Basically I am switching you to a SonosNet setup. What surprises me is not that you are having problems with S2 but that you didn't have problems with the old app and system. 

Please give it a try and see if stability improves.

As a bit more explanation,  there are features of most mesh systems that don't sit well with Sonos in WiFi mode. For example, satellites using different wireless channels prevent the direct routing that Sonos uses, and this can degrade performance. It doesn't mean Sonos is buggy and it doesn't mean there is any fault in the network.  But it may still be problematic. SonosNet gets round most such issues. 

What an update can do is disrupt an apparently stable setup, what with all the reboots. That is what may have happened here.

I can't be sure what is causing your problems or promise my suggestions will fix them,  but they might.

I am frustrated beyond belief.  I have 8 Sonos speakers and a sub and Playbar.  Everything worked fine on the original Sonos app, but since upgrading, I can’t connect my speakers unless at least one is plugged into my router.  I could get some speakers to work but then they disappeared from the app.  I even deleted the app and two speakers continued to play and then I couldn’t turn them off because they were no longer on the app.  Sonos 1 was amazing and I had no issues.  I just want my old connections back.  i can’t even begin to count the number of hours I have spent rebooting, resetting and reconnecting with no success.  This is so disappointing.  I need to find a solution because this is not acceptable and after reading all of these posts, there is a huge issue going on here and it needs to be resolved.  

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Thank you to the Sonos staff who assisted in my initial inquiry.  I actually switched ISP’s and when I did so, I uncovered a few problems with my router settings.  The problems were fixed by adjusting the QoS settings (ideally, turn it off entirely), disabling device priorities, and disabling HomeCare features.  My Sonos connectivity is now much improved.

I'm hesitating upgrading to S2. 

 

I have a playbar, sub and 2 play 1s with a boost, which are all S2 compatible.

 

But after hearing all the horror stories, I'm not game. 

 

I just want the app functionality back. 

 

If you have problems, can you revert back to S1? 

 

Thanks in advance. 

 

 

Hi @benjamindm.

Thanks for reaching out and welcome to the community!

Sorry to hear about it, let me help you on figuring this out.

 

There are many potential causes when the speakers are dropping out of the system (Wireless interference, Gateway issue, Source issue, service issue, etc ).

This can cause audio interruptions during playback and with the Sonos performance as well.

 

If you’re having trouble using direct control, and your Sonos is not showing as the target device, I suggest trying the following steps:

 

Step 1 - Update both apps

  • Update the music service (Spotify) app and the Sonos app. Only the latest app versions work with Sonos
  • Please confirm that no updates are available and bot app are using the latest software version.

Step 2 - Ensure that Cloud Connections are active

  • In order for Sonos speakers to be discovered, they need to have established network connections.

Step 3 - Confirm the Sonos app displays all rooms

  • If the Sonos App can't see the Rooms, the Direct Control App won't work.

Step 4 - Please confirm that the device is on the same network as Sonos

  • It’s not uncommon for a mobile device to be streaming off of the cellular network.
  • Connect the device to the correct WiFi and test Direct Control.   

 

If the issue persists, kindly please submit a diagnostic report through the Mac’s Sonos app, and reply with the confirmation number.

I'd be glad to review your system further and it will also help in identifying what's causing the issue.

 

Let me know how it goes and if you have any other questions or run into any issues, please do not hesitate to reach out.

This is such a BS response. So many people are having major problems with S2 who had no problems with the old Sonos app.

Stop wasting people’s time telling them it is a problem at their end when quite obviously S2 is absolutely riddled with bugs. A big steaming pile of 💩 

Thanks for saying this!  You can tell the pattern of “resolution” that Sonos is using. My solution is now when I see people at Best Buy looking at Sonos, I tell them NO! I printed out one of these community messages and taped it on Sonos display. It lasted half a day before it was removed. I want the quarantine to be over just so more people will see it!  Bottom line; we don’t need a community forum, we need Sonos to do their job. Nevertheless, whatever at this point ain’t enuf.  I’m done.