I’m firing up some charcoal and making dinner right now and will try to dive into this later. One thing: I have a pair of early Play1 speakers in one room; a pair of Era 100 speakers in another; a pair of Fives and a SUB in another.

You’ve said SonosNet and the Era100 speakers don’t play together, so I would think I’m not on SonosNet, other than the fact the app seems to say I am.

And to be completely honest, all things being equal it’s not something I’d ever wonder about as long as everything works as I expect it should. Which in a far away land a long time ago — like my home, until late May 2024 — is how things were. It just worked, no questions asked.

If you’re devices are all using SonosNet and you do not have any of the products that do not support SonosNet, as per my last post, (nor intend to get any of those products in the near future) and have no plans to switch your setup to wireless mode to use your WiFi signal, then I recommend going into the Sonos App and removing the local WiFi credentials from your network settings. Set the SonosNet channel in the Sonos App (1, 6 or 11) to the least-used channel in your local environment and be sure to set your routers 2.4Ghz WiFi channel to a completely different ‘fixed’ channel again using the non-overlapping channels (1, 6 or 11).

Also to reduce interference further set the 2.4Ghz band on your router to use a channel-width of 20Mhz only. 

Some users with Zigbee products (Smart lighting, plugs etc.) may find this document helpful too:

Our posts crossed - it’s clear the Era 100s are not using SonosNet, but are connected to your (5Ghz?) WiFi signal (so do not remove the WiFi credentials from the Sonos App). The Play:1’s and Fives will likely be using SonosNet and connected to the Boost you mentioned earlier - so your system is probably partly running on the WiFi and partly running on SonosNet.

Hey @Ken_Griffiths, I admittedly joined this dialog ‘late’ though I’ve just reviewed each post from @chambolle in this topic above. I don’t see anything from @chambolle that would lead me to believe that SonosNet is in play … is there something that I am missing?

Whatever the case, I urge @chambolle not to change anything related to Wi-Fi, SonosNet, and/or networking! The ‘objective’ is reviewing the SNR numbers that would tell us if each Sonos device has solid signal strength … and only after that contemplate any tweaks.

Yes the app upgrade is a nightmare.  I want to throw out all my useless sonos stiff. But they should compensate me first. What a joke

Yes they have a Sonos Boost operating on Channel 11. 

Ahh! Are you saying that because of @chambolle’s screen shot a few posts above? If yes, that is very likely an artifact. My own absolutely-no-SonosNet-for-years system shows the exact same thing, SonosNet Channel 11. It’s misleading and potentially confusing.

It’s a straightforward setup @press250, partly running on SonosNet (channel 11) and the Era pair is using the routers 5Ghz WiFi band. There’s no issue with that.

Whilst it’s not a Sonos setup I would choose, personally speaking, it should still work fine (depending on interference levels and strength of connection) … and it’s up-to @chambolle how they perhaps want to operate their system.

My choice would be to run all on the local WiFi and as we have discussed before to steer the devices (where practicable) onto the 5Ghz band - if the router/strength of signal allows that.  I would set the SSID for both bands to the same name/credentials these days …and use band steering, but I’m not sure if @chambolle has the knowledge necessary to do that. It might be easier to add the 2.4Ghz band to the Sonos system and go about things in just a really simple way. I will just add the channels and channel-width are still in play here too, but those things could be altered later (if required).

That said, not everyone is prepared to give up their Sonos Boost anyway.

(Anyhow, it’s past my bedtime .. ) 

You guys are waaaaaaay outta my league. I’m strictly plug it in and play. I did find info on the signal strength to my two Era 100 speakers… one, the R channel, is 45 dB and the other, the L channel, about 6 to 8 feet further from the router) is 40dB. But I’ve never had symptoms of poor connection… no dropouts, difficulty selecting and saving content, any of that. 

At least not before the advent of the new and improved controller app for iOS.

Absolutely piece of crap. I want to send all of my products back to sonos for a full refund.  What a bunch of incompetent engineers and product folks. Laughable 

Hi @chambolle, I agree with your assessment that your speakers have solid connections. I confess that I entered this ‘conversation’ midway—when you were searching for the SNR numbers—and I should have asked “Is your Sonos system having a specific problem you are looking to fix?”

I’ve read each of your posts under this topic, and imho you’ve expressed matter extremely well. To say the least, the new mobile app is less functional and more buggy that the “April 2024” version. While the new app seems to “work for some people” it is plainly a source of frustration for many others.

Same!

Spent literally thousands on products - the new app is AWFUL!

Anyone know if it’s possible to downgrade the app to the one before?

I guess "therein lies the rub". If things are perhaps not configured optimally network-wise and things certainly don’t (always) work out the box - (Plug’n’Pray), a good many will always first lay blame on the App as that’s what the user interfaces will and sees on screen.

Anyway Sonos will no doubt go onto add back compatibility in all (or at least for the majority of cases) as they examine any gathered data and work through reports, but like the S2 App it will take a while to cover all bases.

In fact so many users kept complaining about the S2 App saying it was over-complicated and had UPnP multicast discovery problems that those complainers encouraged them to move things to this new simplified Sonos App. It will just take time to finish building this App from the ground up and they probably wanted the "real world” data to help them get it right this time, plus I suspect there are some plans to drive things forward with some A.I. in the mix too. (just a guess on my part).

Not much more to add to any of this. Just shameful not to have rolled back to the previous app with the new one having so so many issues. So annoyed with this company now. Music is supposed to enhance your mood. Blood pressure through the roof before hear a note now. Adding to that still not able to listen to your own music library. 🤬

Do they read these threads. Guessing note. 

Local Libraries can and do work in the new Sonos App… its quite likely that you just need to perhaps use a higher version of the SMB sharing protocol.

Why would a company release something that’s so unfinished? The original was clearly working. They opted for a design refresh that was clearly all style and no substance. Get back to work, Sonos. 

Ken Griffiths says: In fact so many users kept complaining about the S2 App saying it was over-complicated and had UPnP multicast discovery problems that those complainers encouraged them to move things to this new simplified Sonos App. It will just take time to finish building this App from the ground up and they probably wanted the "real world” data to help them get it right this time, plus I suspect there are some plans to drive things forward with some A.I. in the mix too. (just a guess on my part).

With all due respect, Ken, your comment is an exercise in denialism. True, I did not like the changes to the interface that came when Sonos went from S1 to S2. That was merely what one would expect in any transition from the familiar to the unfamiliar. A minor annoyance, one that quickly passed. But nothing was outright disabling; nothing removed basic functions necessary to my enjoyment of music using my Sonos speaker systems. Nothing required me to waste hour after hour fiddling around trying to get answers and figure out what was wrong and when it might be fixed, if ever.

And I don’t recall ever reading news reports in major publications about countless thousands of Sonos owners becoming outraged and livid because their systems would no longer work when the app transitioned from S1 to S2. I don’t remember Sonos support being overwhelmed with calls and emails and live chat sessions from users at their wits’ end; nor do I recall spending hours with support people who could not address a problem other than to throw up their hands and beg me to ‘be patient.’

The new version(s) of the iOS and Android controller apps are works in progress, not ready for prime time. They never, ever should have been released other than as an option to users who get a kick out of tinkering with new stuff and being involved in software development.

Unfortunately, hundreds of thousands of users have had this experimental mess of an app force-fed to them, without a readily available option to turn back to what wasn’t broke and didn’t need to be fixed. Many of us incorrectly concluded the problem must be unique to our own setup, until we discovered we were part of an army of countless thousands of users in the same boat.

I have no idea what ‘UPnP multicast discovery’ is and don’t need or want to know. I just want to pick up my phone or tablet, tap the sonos icon, see my playlists displayed on the screen and commence to listening. 

That was my Sonos experience for going on a decade. That’s what prompted me to buy more and more Sonos products. Sonos wiped that out in an instant, on the whim of a bunch of corporate execs and techies.

That’s not acceptable; nor is it a recipe for Sonos’ continued success.

You’re actually just giving the case from your own perspective. Somewhat differently my update from S2 to the new Sonos App was not an issue - everything worked for playback/control - the majority who flocked to the community here were shouting more about the missing features, alarms, library access and search, voice over control etc.

The August 2020 S1/S2 split was just as intense in the community here, in my view. 

There’s nothing I can do about the new Sonos App anyway @chambolle and you venting here, is not likely going to help you re-configure your own setup if it still isn't working?

As just another user here my advice would be to take up your matter with Sonos Support. There are plenty of things that could be done with your own network setup, but you likely need the help of someone with ‘hands-on’.

Ken, ‘my own network setup’ is working… to the extent the current version of the iOS app will allow. It's the ‘missing features’ that are the problem. And those ‘missing features’ are not the myriad buzzers and bells like voice control and alarms and other stuff I never needed, wanted or used anyway. Gone missing is the most basic of functions for a system intended to play recorded music: the ability to create a list of tracks and/or albums; save and edit such lists with the confidence they will not disappear, possibly never to reappear; and above all, to access the library of playlists I saved as Sonos playlists over the course of years of listening. In other words, the digital equivalent of storing vinyl LPs and compact discs. 

All of that is gone; and no amount of ‘reconfiguring,’ advice from you or others on this forum, or time spent with Sonos support will change that. In the world of LPs and discs, it’s as though they were all stolen or lost in a fire.

As I’ve said before, I have ‘taken my matter up with Sonos support.’ Their answers range from ‘that’s above my pay grade’ (that’s word for word) to ‘those features should become available in a future version of the controller,’ with no assurance when or if that will occur. That’s not the fault of support staff… those folks are in the unenviable position of serving as the messengers who must relate the bad news and take the flak for those up the food chain.

I do not need to ‘reconfigure’ my existing system, which includes ERA speakers I purchased quite recently to upgrade from earlier ‘Play’ speakers I still own and shoved in a closet. My system was troublefree right up to the moment the new version of the iOS app took charge. I’ve done every firmware and software upgrade recommended by Sonos since then, to no avail. I’ve tried various diagnostic and troubleshooting methods recommended by you and others here.

My Sonos playlists are still inaccessible; and I am still unable to recreate and save them, even if I had the time and motivation required — because that basic function is no longer available.

Unless and until that basic function is restored, my Sonos system is of limited utility to me. 

Oh I see, I thought you had different problems, such as speakers disappearing or music stopping during playback etc. you just have the same issues we all have, by the sound of it.

Sonos have published their App development roadmap for the last couple of months and this month for all to see and undoubtedly further features will likely follow after that, including queue editing and playlist saving etc. I think there was mention aswell of improving the App user interface/experience on Tablet controllers too.

Ken, that’s all well and good. But Sonos should have completed development of a new app, including all of the essential features you mentioned, before it irrevocably replaced the existing app that already provided those essential features. It never should have forced all of its users to get involved in the development process, with no warning and no clear path or timetable to the completion date.

I suggest you also read the April press release from Sonos concerning the new app (which most of us, including me, likely never read). It promised that all of these functions would be there on day one. Either that was never the intent — and the press release was an ‘untruth’ — or the app was not adequately tested and was an unexpected failure they are now scrambling to rectify.

In any event, I don’t mean to cross swords with you or others who come to this forum to offer technical assistance; and I appreciate your efforts to help people solve problems that could well be the result of issues in their individual network setup. 

Unfortunately, for many of us — too many, really — it’s out of your hands and ours. As somebody said, ‘above our pay grade.’ Sonos management likely has the ability to resolve much of the current problem almost instantly by giving us a simple way to roll back to the older version of S2; releasing the new version ‘in development’ only as an option for those who want to be involved in beta testing, or who may need it to use a new product like headphones; and only releasing the ‘improved’ S2 to the general public when it’s actually ready.

Anyhow, enough. Basta. I’ve said my piece. It’d be nice if Sonos were listening. It seems not.

Sonos Staff do monitor these pages and to be truthful you’re only reiterating what some others in the community have said already. In some instances users have emailed the Sonos CEO too with comments that reflect your post above.

I’m not sure what might be happening behind the scenes at Sonos,  but it does seem to be be the case at the moment that the old S2 App is dead in the water (which many complained about too by the way) and that Sonos are ploughing ahead to get the features we’ve all talked about back into the new Sonos App.

Even then the new App may still not please everyone, but we’ll have to perhaps wait and see what happens.

If it helps, I suspect anyone reading these posts here, will likely feel your own frustration with the new Sonos App too.

I can’t even use Sonos anymore.  I’ve been using sonos for several years.  When are they going to fix this terrible update

Any news from Sonos on this? It’s been a common topic with other users. It’s really gone to *.

*Moderator Note: Modified in accordance with the Community Code of Conduct.*