Symptoms like that are almost always due to network problems, specifically IP conflicts.  These often show up after a power outage or an update because a reboot requires the device to request a new IP, and the router, having lost track of prior IP assignments, issues a new IP that is in use by another device.  Constantly rebooting only exacerbates the problem, you must do a system refresh to get the allocation table correct.  Do the following:

Reboot/power cycle your devices in the following order:

Modem
Router
Switches or hubs
Wired Sonos units
Wireless Sonos units
Computers/printers
Wireless devices - phones/tablets etc.

Allow each device to come back up before proceeding to the next.  Note that you can permanently prevent duplicate IP addresses by assigning an IP to each device's MAC address in the router setup.  If you do this, every problem should go away.  See your router manual for details.

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate your help.  However your suggestion to solve the problem isn’t really practical in a connected household, there’s no way one could systematically reset all devices each time a router is restarted in order to get the allocation table correct.  My ISP forces a reboot of my modem/router at least once a week!

Permanently preventing duplicate IP’s would seem to be the solution, but unfortunately my modem/router has a limit of 10 fixed addresses, most of which are already allocated to other devices, so no good for my 13 speakers.  It seems like I would need to introduce another device with no limitation on fixed addresses and connect my speakers to that network - then all my problems will be solved.

I can’t understand why one would be expected to have quite extensive networking knowledge just to get some speakers to work properly. I can’t be the only one facing this problem, surely this is on Sonos to provide a solution that works seamlessly for everyone?

Have you submitted a diagnostic and asked Sonos Support to check for any lurking wireless issues?

As for duplicated IPs, it’s unfortunately an inherent risk given the way addresses are assigned by a router which loses its memory across a reboot. Some routers are smart enough to hash the MAC address to a semi-fixed IP for each device. Others blindly reallocate an address that’s already in use. For regular devices this needn’t matter too much as they just run slowly for a while when accessing the internet; for devices like Sonos which depend heavily on intraLAN comms it’s a showstopper.

If you aren’t able to replace the ISP router with something a bit more capable in terms of address reservation capacity you could always turn off its own DHCP server and use a secondary router repurposed as a pure DHCP server. 

The consensus of opinion seems to be that the only way to guarantee a functioning system is by fixing the IP address for each speaker by whatever means. I will have to source another router as you suggest.

I’m still astounded that I’m expected to go to these lengths to make my system work, how can this be acceptable?  Why aren’t Sonos doing something about it? Where is this “feature” documented to warn us before we go out and spend thousands on a system?  It’s very frustrating.

Thank you for your help in any case, it is much appreciated.

The issue is, unfortunately, with the router, and not Sonos. Sonos is doing everything properly, per general ‘accepted practices/specifications’ of internet device connectivity. 

Yes, unfortunately consumer router manufacturers don’t really care about duplicate IP addresses, because they almost never show themselves in the things most people do on the internet - browsing, email, streaming to a single source.  So companies aren’t going to spend the R&D or manufacturing $$ to engineer a static IP allocation table, especially when IP reservation already exists.  However, IP conflicts wreak havoc with anything which needs to communicate between nodes hundreds of times a second in order to keep in sync, like Sonos.

Thank you for this q-n-a.

For years I have had a problem that has bugged me.

Basic set up : Sonos Connect/NAS drive - all wired connections.

Laptop on W10.

Using the desktop app it would be fine if connected via ethernet, but on wi-fi, the app would lose connection (even of the wi-fi was connected) meaning i would have to shutdown/restart the app.

Not serious as I could just used wired, but annoying.

Upgraded my old laptop recently hoping that the wi-fi aspect would be more stable, but nope.
Same problem.
Then I read this thread and thought maybe, just maybe … 
So I updated my router settings re the laptop IP settings so they are fixed as opposed to DHCP allocated, and for days now the app has worked via wi-fi and not had one single issue re disconnection.

I realise it’s a first world problem, but blimey, am I a happy bunny.

So, thank you.

SONOS is following industry standards. 

I can imagine the frustration when the purchaser of an all terrain, 4-wheel vehicle discovers that it is still not possible to drive safely on glare ice without chains or studded tires. Even then one must take care. 

I was once plodding along on a glare ice highway in my old car when a sporty 4-wheel blasted by in the passing lane - probably gloating about his superior car. A couple miles later I noticed that sporty car a few hundred feet off the road in a field.

Perhaps the dealer should have required that this individual take a course and prove ice driving skill before the sale. Do you think that this dealer could have closed the sale?

I have spent many hours with network debugging tools and reading logs on a fairly high end router looking for evidence of a DHCP issue without finding a single thing that even looked like it was an issue.

I followed the advice here and set static/reserved IPs and things just worked.

I can’t point a finger at the guilty party be it router, DHCP server software on the router, Sonos, DHCP client software on the speaker. I’d lean to the Sonos client software as the suspect but without knowing more about the versions and the OS version it is running on that is unsupported by evidence.

https://www.sonos.com/documents/gpl/14.18/gpl.html

udhcp server/client package - 0.9.8 (021031)

The udhcp server/client package is primarily geared towards embedded
systems. It does however, strive to be fully functional, and RFC
compliant.

Hey ho.
Spoke too soon.
My problem is still happening, just not quite as often.

Why are Sonos not interested in sorting this issue out!? I am sick and tired of opening my Sonos app and it never finding my system! This is a new problem. I’ve been a Sonos fan for years and never encountered such issues. I’ve tried Twitter - they have no interest whatsoever in responding but something is very wrong. There is clearly no back end support for their app and their products. How are you guys dealing with this? I can NEVER just open my app and play music on demand anymore. It’s tiresome and frustrating!

Read the thread.  There’s a simple solution.

Hi @JakLloyd 

Sorry to hear of your issue with the Sonos app on your device. First of all what device are you having the issue with:

• iPhone
• iPad
• Mac computer (MacBook/Desktop)
• Android Product
• Windows Computer

I know you’ve heard this before but the issue is either with:

1. Device OS not being up-to-date
2. Network
3. Both One and Two

Give us more details.

There really is a reason why so many folks who respond here are always talking about the network as a source of difficulties. In the vast majority of posts here in this community, it is the cause of the issues being experienced. 

Thanks AjTrek1

I primarily use my iPhone which is definitely up to date. 
therefore I guess it’s the network issue? But I have read the thread and see some mention of setting IP addresses etc. This cannot be a reasonable expect for Sonos to assume that regular consumers have the level of technical knowledge that some folks are referencing here. 
A regular consumer expects to be able to a buy a product and follow basis instructions to make it work. I have been a satisfied Sonos user for +12 years and it only within this last year that I’ve encountered these issues. I should’ve expected to configure my router or solve this problem myself. Sonos should provide the correct backend support to ensure their products remain stable and connected. 

Sonos “should” fix a lot of stuff but it isn’t stuff that is hurting sales so it is being given a lower than we’d like priority.

Setting the static/reserved addresses deserves at least a mention in the FAQ but never seems to make it there.

Doing it is pretty simple for most decent routers, just go to the DHCP Settings page and follow the instructions there. Usually just a few clicks. Then power down all Sonos, reboot the router and power up the Sonos and if it was your issue it will be gone until you buy a new router.

Just a quick extra re options for W10/W11 desktop app users that I have put into action recently.

re the Sonos app shortcut : right mouse click on the shortcut, and update the properties so the process runs as an administrator

then once the process is up and running, using the details tab of the task manager app, increase the priority of the Sonos.exe process.

i have been trying to figure out how to make the Sonos.exe process run at a higher priority everytime its kicked off, but other than a deep-n-dark registry tweak it does not seem possible.

note : these extras don’t prevent the desktop app from dropping connection all the time, 
but they do seem to have helped a bit.

I agree, connectivity is terrible and I feel the pain of having to reset everything just to get a song to play. Strange how every other connected item in my house is rock solid except sonos. They must know they have had a problem for years. I dont but the multiple ip address thing. it should just work. but it never, ever does without full reset. Shame as the speaker sound is good.

Setting ip addresses is so simple on most routers. I’m surprised you won’t invest the few minutes to do it, @Mket - and then if it doesn’t fix your issues you can say “I told you so”!

It has been the solution for many folk - including me. 

update : i gave in.

bought an ethernet cable.
(thankfully my recently bought W11 laptop has an ethernet connection, as not all of them do these days).
needless to say i have had no problems since.

I totally agree. What a duplicitous arrogance for Sonos to make a wi fi speaker that will invariably have serious connectivity issues and blame their poorly designed speakers on the buyers router/ modem. I just put my Sonos Play: 5 in the garbage can. I will not further annoy myself by describing the Kafkaesque experience of how my Sonos Play: 5 after working fine for years on the same Xfinity modem/router stopped connecting and the ensuing stultifying  time consuming crushing banalities of time wasted. I feel much better now. I will never buy another Sonos product nor of course would I recommend Sonos to anyone. I just ordered a highly recommended bluetooth speaker.

1000%.  I as well have had multiple Sonos products for years, running in 2 households on Xfinity routers without any issues until about maybe 6 months ago. Since then all the issues listed here; app (both S1 and S2) very frequently not being able to connect to the speakers, occasionally not even seeing the system. 
 

it’s maddening when all you want to do is listen to music. 
 

I’m going to try the assigned IP address solution (if that can even be done on the xFi router). 

Update 

So I finally gave in and got a router, Archer AX 55, and put the Xfinity modem into bridge mode.

Not a single problem since, running both S1 and S2 systems concurrently.  This also fixed AirPlay connectivity issues, and the issues playing directly from the Spotify app to a Sonos device.

And the good news is relatively inexpensive at about $90 on Amazon, and ridiculously simple.  Not being an IT person I was not sure if, by using same wireless network name and password, all pre-existing devices would automatically attach to the new network, or whether I would have to spend a whole bunch of time reconnecting the mall.  Happily they all automatically connected.

I did try ‘reserving’ IP addresses in the Xfinity app, which is as close as you can come to assigning a static IP address, but this didn’t solve the issues, just slightly decreased the frequency.

Not sure if this whole issue is a Sonos hardware / software deficiency, or something to do with Xfinity’s hardware, but I’m just glad the problem is solved.

Hopefully this fix helps someone else out there.

The original thread was started before the new Sonos S2 app was released 7 May but I suspect you had issues with the latest app as well(?).

If you have free time to check things it would be interesting to know what differences the new AX55 router and the Xfinity have in their default settings - if any. I’m thinking that is it some setting (other than the bridge mode) that now makes the system work better or is it just the new router’s overall performance compared to the Xfinity?!
 

Issue predated the new (and crappy UI) S2 app released recently; was hoping that would have magically fixed things but clearly didn’t.
 

per the much more expert posts above and in other threads, it seems to be with how Xfinity router handles DHCP. 

to be clear, I didn’t need to assign static IPs w/ the new router.  Just works as it should.