Is the Sonos ecology just too diverse now?

Many modern routers use dnsmasq for DHCP, and this uses a hash of the MAC address to allocate IP address. If you see what appear to be random IP addresses in your DHCP table (as apposed to sequential) the router is probably using dnsmasq. It means the device will get the same IP address anyway, no need to reserve. Also, more of the local traffic is moving to IPv6 (eg AirPlay) so IPv4 reservation is slowly becoming irrelevant.

A few weeks ago, I pressed pause on an Apple Music stream with grouped speakers, replaced the entire network (Access Points and new router) with  same SSID but totally different DHCP network address (was 10.x.x.x, moved to 192.168.x.x), checked all Sonos speakers had reconnected to new access points and had new/different IP address on new network, when I pressed play on controller, the music continued where it was paused to the group that was originally playing on an entirely different network.

If you try to reserve Sub or surrounds in HT setup, your router may decide its an ARP Spoof, and block traffic.

My experience: you do not need static/reserved IP addresses, will possibly cause more problems.

I think that puts thing in a grey area then because I have seen user posts recommending reserved IP addressed “liked” by Sonos employed moderators.

It’s definitely a grey area (and why I said “explicitly”).  But there’s never been an official (or even unofficial) recommendation in a Sonos post, support column, or FAQ.  My own feeling is they are told not to mention it because it makes Sonos seem more difficult to maintain for networking neophytes. 

My system is pretty modern but even so there are still Sonos issues at power cycles and update reboots without the reserved IPs. Even when all Sonos end up with the pre-reboot addresses.

Not every system needs the reserved IP option, most seem fine without it, but many folks here have made that single change and found their system much more stable.

I'd like to hear more on Sonos and IP v6, anything you can share would be appreciated. Thanks.

The majority of my Sonos devices have reserved/static IP addresses to help with stability. Even if they don’t need them, I find I don’t have any issues with my system.

Interestingly perhaps, because the router lists the IP addresses for my home theatre speakers (Arc, 2 x Symfonisk, and Sub) in linear - i.e. in one long line - with the Arc’s MAC address applicable to all of them because they’re bonded to the Arc, I don’t assign any static IP addresses to them for fear of breaking what’s not broken… They seem to cope nicely without me messing it up!

Thanks everyone.  The erudition and generosity of this community is always a joy to behold.

I guess the development of this discussion highlights my disappointment with my current experience.

My first player was a ZP80.  I’ve been here from the launch of Sonos in the UK and now I just wonder if the evolution of home wi-fi, the proliferation of other devices pumping out their own stuff, and the proliferation of Sonos’ own hardware and software developments hasn’t resulted in an ecosystem which is just too complicated to predict.  (And, yes, I’ve spent hours on the phone to Sonos support over the years which has resulted in wired/wireless setups, wi-fi AP upgrades, replacing “problem” players and more).

Sonos don’t currently offer many prescriptions on the environment in which their products are deployed.  I guess that, for me, my interpretation is that how Sonos performs is now not predictable (some installations WILL require IP reservation, others won’t).  I don’t think it should fall to the community to either tell me that, or, find a way to help me with it.

​@IanJShaw I am definitely no longer a Sonos fan but I do think they will get it right again after, what I hope is just, the new app detour. 14 months ago my system “just worked” then the next day it did not. Nothing changed, no new devices or IP based equipment was added, my network usage stayed the same, the only change was the Sonos Controller and Firmware.

I know that Sonos can work in my environment, because it used to, but not in it’s current Controller and Firmware incarnation. Call me naive but I think it will be OK with the light at the end of the tunnel being the emerging plans to deprecate, and remove, the old communication protocols and focus on the new. This will free up memory in the speakers for the firmware developers but will also mean the end of the Desktop controllers (if I have read and understood the communications so far correctly).

If they were communicating transparently I think they would say they expected to be at this point 3 to 6 months after the new release. But clear and transparent communications have not been a feature of their approach since May last year.

Will this restore Sonos’ reputation possibly not but the important thing is that they know what good looks like and they know, better than any of us, how far short they have fallen. I think they will make it and currently plan to stick around until I need an upgrade but if things are not fixed by then I’ll be exploring the alternatives. 

I’m less optimistic. I’ve been telling myself the next update will fix things since the event. I needed to be patient, Sonos has worked great for me for 14 years, they’ll figure it out. Like you nothing changed on my network but the Sonos firmware/software.  After all these months my patience and good will towards Sonos is gone. if this disaster was fixable they would have done so already. I’m pissed they ruined a good thing. 

I did some traces a while back, not sure if I still have them. From memory, I recall the bonjour service discovery was IPv4 and IPv6. All Sonos devices had a link local IPv6 address, and when I streamed via AirPlay from iPhone it was using the IPv6 link local address of the Sonos speaker.

Streaming from Apple Music service was IPv4, via my ISP.

Thanks, I'm IP v4 only here, Quantum Fiber doesn't offer IP v6 except through the Rapid-Deployment hack and their v4-v6 gateway is slow and unreliable.

At some point I'll have a reason to setup a v6 tunnel, likely using Hurricane Electrics free level of service.