I bought a Sonos system six months ago from and installed by BestBuy for a second home which I am in about once a month for a couple of weeks. I have become disgusted with the lack of consistency of the system. At least once a month (once a trip) I spend anywhere from 15 minutes to well over an hour on the phone with service to resolve an issues of one or more units not playing or something else. For the kind of money I spent, to have to spend that amount of time on a regular basis to keep the system functioning is beyond reprehensible. On the off chance that somebody in charge at Sonos reads this, I will mention that I have already cost the company business by telling friends about my woes and advising them to purchase something that works as it is advertised. Other complaints will never be addressed, like the portion of a minute of my life I lose every time I open the app on my phone from the time I tap on the icon until the app opens and becomes fully functional. This company wants to charge executive prices for its products and system and doesn’t seem to understand that people paying these prices consider their time precious and deeply resent that time that could be put to better use is spent nursing the system to stay functional.. Imagine how annoying it is to get a phone call and have to wait the better part of a minute for the app to allow you turn the volume down. It’s a poorly designed system. Further, the instructions and help articles were written assuming knowledge which few have and can be confusing at best and useless at worst. Hey, Sonos, get your act together or risk going out of business..
The link in my last reply gives the ROAM and MOVE shutdown procedure. As you bring up the power it is important that all of the ORBI’s be booted prior to starting AMP, MOVE, and ROAM.
Visibility of the ARRIS WiFi depends on how you scan. Some “experts”, in an attempt to appear clever, can setup an access point such that it will not be displayed by basic scanners, pad/phone/computer, but SONOS might attempt to use the access point anyway and get into trouble. For the moment, let’s proceed by assuming that the ARRIS WiFi has been shut down.
Be anal about the startup sequence and physically separate the units as discussed.
There is one detail that we have not yet discussed and dealing with it will be messy for you, however, if you follow the anal startup routine, this detail will mostly remain under the carpet unless you have frequent power failures while you are on site.
Thanks for further info. It is good if you are only seeing Orbi wifi. It does make me wonder if the Amp would be better plugged into main Orbi rather than Arris, but there is some evidence that this is OK as it is.
The physical location and proximity of the various bits of equipment is the most likely explanation for your problems.
We await your return.…
As far as I know, I am given only the choice of Orbi for WI-fi on phone, computers, etc.
Is there a special way to power down the Move and the Roam. I just unplug them. I also turn off the power strip that supplies the amp. Should I do something else first?
You are correct, I am no longer in the townhouse and everything there is without power until I return.
At this writing you’ve probably left the building, but I’ll share this point while I’m thinking about it.
You’ll improve the ultimate life of the units and reduce the possibility of startup drama if you power down ROAM and MOVE as part of your checkout procedure. On return, first bring up the network as I’ve described prior, then wake these units.
I expect to be around, but there are lots of experienced users on here who will be able to help when you come back on.
I am absolutely certain that your system can be as robust as ours
If you have a chance to answer one question now that would be good, but it can really wait until next time. Do you have a choice of networks to which you can connect your phone, one from the Arris and one from the Orbi system? Or is just one of those avaliable?
Thanks again, buzz & JohnB. As earlier mentioned, I am abandoning this place for two weeks. I hope you will be available and kind enough to continue to coach me when I return around July25th, at which time I will move all my furniture and separate the pieces before I turn the system back on. Am curious about what equipment might be better, but that’s for a later discussion. Yes, I do move the Move and Roan around occasionally to different rooms and the deck of the townhouse, but never for long and always redock for charging. This, and the consistently good sound, are things that I appreciate about the Sonos speakers. Playing anywhere else in the building when not plugged in has not been a problem, at least not yet. I think that is because the Orbis do give very strong Wi-Fi coverage.
On the system page are listed:
Main Bedroom [the Klipsch speakers, plugged into the nearby Orbi which is plugged into the Arris]
Living Room [the Move]
Kitchen [the Roam]
at bottom os system page, a bar with:
Main Bedroom + 2
As mentioned before, the only place to control the volume on the Klipsch speakers (as far as I know) is through the Sonos app.
Again, thanks for your help!
I read here that the Sonos Amp (Main Bedroom) was supposedly wired direct to the (primary) Orbi Hub, which in turn was wired to the Arris (inferring that the Arris is bridged and the Orbi Hub is the LAN router) - However the Amp is clearly connecting over WiFi? - maybe it’s cable is faulty perhaps, or is the comment in the post quoted above just a mistake?
Is there perhaps a reason here to switch off the Amps WiFi adapter anyway (just for now) to reduce any interference as it’s wireless is not actually needed (at the moment) with the two other devices being portable Sonos products. Its helpful to know too if the installers did disable the Arris WiFi adapters, as I can’t see a (good) reason to have them enabled in this situation with Orbi Hub wired and in such close proximity.
By the way, this controller is working through AMP as it accesses the system. If AMP is struggling with its WiFi connectivity, system control will be difficult
This in itself would be sufficient to explain why your controller app takes so long to connect to the system. The norm is pretty much instantaneous.
Hi again
But I think we should park that until other issues are resolved, other than to ask if the portability of your speakers is important to you? Do you move them around the house a lot? Take then away from home?.
Yes, The ‘WM:1” for AMP indicates that it is not wired to the network, physically separating it from ORBI is important, and there is likely a benefit to separating it from ARRIS.
By the way, this controller is working through AMP as it accesses the system. If AMP is struggling with its WiFi connectivity, system control will be difficult
Is this the information you are asking for?
Associated Product: 192.168.1.10
---------------------------------
Sonos Roam: Kitchen
Serial Number: 38-42-0B-30-88-E4:F
Sonos OS: S2
Version: 14.10 (build 68330100)
Hardware Version: 1.33.1.9-1.9
Series ID: A102
IP Address: 192.168.1.6
WM: 1
FCC ID: SBVRM027
IC: 5373A-RM027
---------------------------------
Sonos Move: Living Room
Serial Number: F0-F6-C1-57-F4-46:G
Sonos OS: S2
Version: 14.10 (build 68330100)
Hardware Version: 1.25.1.9-1.2
Series ID: A101
IP Address: 192.168.1.7
WM: 1
---------------------------------
Sonos Amp: Main Bedroom
Serial Number: F0-F6-C1-96-F6-F0:D
Sonos OS: S2
Version: 14.10 (build 68330100)
Hardware Version: 1.24.1.14-1.2
Series ID: A104
IP Address: 192.168.1.10
Audio In:
WM: 1
buried behind the TV, under one of the Orbis, and between to the Arris and the CD player is an amp, a Sonos - Amp
Placing ORBIS directly on top of AMP will cause some WiFi interference and can explain some of the issues that you are experiencing. Ideally they should be separated by two to three feet or more. Proximity to ARRIS is also likely to cause WiFi interference.
Show us your System Information. It will be easiest if you can capture the screen, but if you can’t capture, just give the information I’ve outlined in the gray boxes. There will be one section of Sonos System Info for each player -- you’ll have three of these.
I am embarrassed to admit this (and it doesn’t mean that all of the problems I have experienced haven’t been real and frustrating), but, moving all the components in the main bedroom, there is buried behind the TV, under one of the Orbis, and between to the Arris and the CD player is an amp, a Sonos - Amp 250W 2.1-Ch Amplifier, which is obviously driving the system and is what controls the Klipsch speakers. This doubtless clears up many of the questions you have had about how the system is configured and functioning. (No Sonos rep on service calls has ever asked about or even mentioned the amplifier. For me it has been out-of-sight, out-of-mind.)
On the system page are listed:
Main Bedroom [the Klipsch speakers, plugged into the nearby Orbi which is plugged into the Arris]
Living Room [the Move]
Kitchen [the Roam]
at bottom os system page, a bar with:
Main Bedroom + 2
As mentioned before, the only place to control the volume on the Klipsch speakers (as far as I know) is through the Sonos app.
Again, thanks for your help!
Go to this screen on your SONOS controller and tell us what you see.
Honestly, good luck with Best Buy. In my past, I’ve found their expertise to be extremely variable. At this point, I’m down to using them for TV mounts and other physical labor. Or, at least, in Austin, that was the case. Haven’t tried any of the techs here in San Diego yet.
One of the reasons that we can’t fully understand your issues is that the Klipsch R-51M speakers are passive and there is no way to directly connect them to the ARRIS. It’s possible that there is another SONOS unit that drives these speakers and also accommodates the CD player and TV.
You can follow the wires attached to the Klipsch to whatever drives them.
Thanks again to all of you. I will take this up with BestBuy Totaltech and in person with the guy who sold me the “system” and the installer, both of whom I think I can track down.
Your responses have left me wondering why the Sonos reps I have spoken with for long calls have never mentioned any of this and read the sent-in diagnostics and clearly understand (or fake understanding) that the Sonos app controls the sound system in three rooms including the hard-wired Klipsch speakers.
I was misleading in my description of the other equipment being “controlled” by the Sonos app. The television and the CD player sound can be controlled through the app when the sound output of the items is run through the Arris and the app (the TV can be directed to do so, the CD player is wired directly into the system).
I don’t know what to tell you about the Orbis. I was told only that they were strong routers used to extend the power and range of the Wi-Fi. Questions about these two items will be on my list for BestBuy.
I would appreciate if someone could tell me how to control the volume manually on the Roam and Move. I don’t believe this is possible on the Klipsch speakers, and think they can only be controlled on the app.
Thanks for spending the time writing and getting back to me! It is much appreciated.
.
Must admit, it sounds as if the network/setup/install isn’t too clever. I didn’t understand the part about two Orbi routers aswell as the Arris? - whether things are setup as double NAT, or if it’s a ‘bridged’ network setup - I would have personally bridged the Orbi’s, making them access points only (preferably wired directly back to the Arris) and switched off the Arris WiFi adapters and set things just to connect to the Orbi mesh only. However there are a variety of ways to go about the available network setup, including using one of the Orbi’s as the main router instead and setting the Arris ‘bridged’, or put into ‘modem’ mode.
I tend to look after my own Home Sonos, a holiday Home and help with our two childrens Homes too and all of us rarely have any bother from any Sonos products. All work well - I think it’s going to be issues with multicast/broadcast discovery of the Sonos products across the LAN, but it’s difficult to know precisely what’s going wrong, without knowing the full details about the Home network setup.
Like
castala,
Have you contracted for the BestBuy Totaltech membership? If so, I suggest that you make them own these issues. What you have described so far is just a gaggle of equipment that was never intended to work together as a “system”.
The long wait time required to get control of the SONOS items indicates that the WiFi is not likely setup correctly.
Your power up sequence is incorrect. First turn ON only the ARRIS, wait, then turn ON all of the ORBI and wait. This is your best shot, but I don’t think that the WiFi is setup correctly and I have low expectation that the situation will be trouble free.
What is the source of your music?
I am sorry but I am baffled by your replies, for the same reasons as
Your Sonos system consists of just two speakers (it would appear, unless I misunderstand), one Roam and one Move, and you presumably have the Sonos app on a mobile device? Anything else you have is nothing to do with Sonos. Could you please confirm if you have any other Sonos equipment?
I have no idea what BestBuy are doing here, but if they have recommended that you have two portable Sonos speakers, no other Sonos speakers, and some other non-Sonos equipment, then that is, in the kindest words I can find, extremely puzzling. If you have been given the impression that the Sonos app can control all of your equipment then you were misinformed.
Sonos is a networked multiroom audio system and because it consists of multiple devices, needs your network to be set up in particular ways. For technical reasons I won’t go into right now, with your network set up I would not have gone for portable Sonos speakers for your system..
Just on one point - you can raise and lower the volume on the devices, just like every other device you have owned. You don’t have to do so in the app.
What you have is something I barely recognise as a Sonos system. I have been using mine without any trouble since 2011. I have 12 Sonos devices across six rooms. I know this system works well and I suspect that you have been poorly advised by BestBuy. I am sure you will see that as blame-shifting, as your mind is clearly made up regarding Sonos.
You ask ‘Where are Sonos in all this?’. There are Sonos staff who contribute to answers on here, but this is essentially a user forum.
I am not sure where you go now with this. I just wouldn’t start from here.
I am confused about what constitutes your system. You mention 2 sonos devices, klipsch speakers, cd player and TV.
The Sonos app can only control the Sonos devices. Yet you insist the other devices are controlled by the app. This is not possible unless they are attached to a sonos amp.
There's a faint possibility that the the non Sonos devices are using Bluetooth to connect to the 2 sonos speakers - but you don't mention anything about Bluetooth.
Can you give a clear description of the klipsch speakers and the cd, eg. Model names?
First, the quick answers.
The townhouse was built in 1980 and there is nothing wireless in it at all except the garage door opener, designed in 1980 also (in a very different era for electronics), and physically removed from everything else. There is little to no possibility of interference even from my neighbors, and nothing has happened that would make me think in that direction.
I do power up the system as you suggest: first the strip for the Arris (and one of the Orbis); I go about other business, then plug in the Move and the Roam and let them charge; and finally I plug in the remote Orbi, farthest removed from the Arris. (On two occassions, the Sonos speakers refused to play and were the occasions for LONG calls with Sonos service reps who talked me through the rebooting process which reads like greek to me in the guides and, further, is offensively discriminating against the colorblind of which I happen to be one.) I have rebooted them myself a couple of times since then which nonetheless angers me because it is more of my time flushed down the Sonos toilet. Why would someone buy a speaker system that had to be nursed into functionality every time you returned to the house? Why should an expensive sound system require more time and attention than a pet?
The Orbis were explained to me to be employed only to extend the range and wireless coverage over the three stories of the townhouse. I have no reason to believe that they are controlling anything. The two Klipsch R-51M speakers are hardwired to the Arris. The Sonos app is the control panel for the Arris and the two Sonos units, Move and Roam. The Sonos app can also allow me to run the sound from my streaming TV and my CD player through the Arris and all the speakers, but I have not used the system for either of those in months, and the CD player has not been turned on during that time.
As I mentioned, I was a professional musician, so I am not completely out of touch with advancements in technology. My system is not large or complicated (I have figured out the unique parts, like the TV and CD player controls)/ But it malfunctions with a mind of its own and there are no simple and straightforwardly written explanations about how to correct the problems (hence the long time-wasting phone calls).
I always have assumed that advanced, and especially high-end and expensive, technology would and should be better and more efficient than the equipment it replaces. This is, so far, not true of the Sonos app. Nothing else on my phone is slow and everything responds immediately, especially when I am at home and using Wi-Fi for data connection through the Orbis. Only the Sonos app goes blank for fractions of minute, then pops up a screen, goes blank again, then displays another screen, and eventually settles on what it will show me and allows me to change to the screen I want or need. This is a technological step backwards. The wait time is so frustrating I want to throw my phone against the wall, but, of course, it isn’t the phone that’s the problem, it’s a poorly designed or poorly functioning app..
I paid to have the system installed by BextBuy. The technician who came and did that was knowledgeable, efficient, and patient; he and even worked with me to exchange an ill-advised piece of equipment which had been recommended (the CD player). The system should work perfectly out of the box. It took some getting used to, but only the Sonos parts have proved below par. And now I am having to spend my time writing these dissertations and sorting through the replies. I am more than frustrated, I am angry..
Where is Sonos the company in all this? Why isn’t someone there reading this stuff and stepping in for the reputation of the company. Even a company with clout, iMicrosoft, once stood behind its product with me and spent hours online remotely restoring a new computer that had failed even though the fault may not have been Microsoft’s. The most I have gotten from Sonos is reps from halfway around the world who are trained to apologize for my trouble and do four or five diagnostics and fixes until one works.
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