I’ve had Sonos now from the early days when they first started, but recently I’m seriously considering finding a different set up!! Sonos is now so unreliable, zones cutting out, then coming back on again, then not working at all!! It never used to be like this! I have upgraded all of my zones from the S1 equipment, and these seem awful, especially for the upgrade prices!! I have a very stable internet connection. SONOS YOU NEED TO SORT THIS OUT BEFORE CUSTOMERS START GOING ELSEWHERE!!
unreliable Sonos!!
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The challenge often is that you may have a stable internet connection between your router and the outside world, but it is still possible that your Sonos devices may not have a stable connection to your router. Unfortunately, there are several reasons, possibly, and your post doesn’t give enough detail to be sure, and there is no indication that you have called Sonos Support directly to discuss it.
There are a couple of possibilities that spring to mind. The first, and likely most prevalent, is wifi interference .
The other that springs to mind is relatively simple duplicate IP address issues, exposed when the router is not functioning properly when the Sonos reboots, as it does every time Sonos updates the firmware. There is a relatively simple, albeit potentially temporary fix for this, by unplugging your Sonos device from power, then rebooting your router. This forces the router back into an appropriate state, and after a two minute pause to allow it to reload everything, plugging back into your Sonos devices will request new IPs from the refreshed table in your router.
Of course, the more permanent version of that is to assign reserved IP addresses in your router’s DHCP table, using the instructions in the routers manual.
But those are merely guesses, and apply to most cases reported, but not all, I suspect. You’d need to make that call if neither of those potentials work on your system.
Bruce
+16
+1 to SonoPhone and the Sonos Desktop app.
I allegedly have terrible network interference that the new app volume control doesn’t work, as well as speakers dropping off and long load time.
But somehow SonoPhone and the desktop app work perfect for the past year. The SonoPhone saved me money, it was suggested I upgrade my router and add access points for the new app but f that.
+16+1 to SonoPhone and the Sonos Desktop app.
I allegedly have terrible network interference that the new app volume control doesn’t work, as well as speakers dropping off and long load time.
But somehow SonoPhone and the desktop app work perfect for the past year. The SonoPhone saved me money, it was suggested I upgrade my router and add access points for the new app but f that.
You can add SonoPad for iPads to the list..works excellent for sonos systems.
I am sick and tired of Sonos blaming some weakness in connections in home set-ups. The common denominator is Sonos, sadly it is just not adequate.
+17I am sick and tired of Sonos blaming some weakness in connections in home set-ups. The common denominator is Sonos, sadly it is just not adequate.
I have to disagree with this statement, because, My Arc is the same as others; my Amp is the same as others; my Five is the same as others. But my system is very reliable and I use the app exclusively.
The thing that IS different are routers/networks.
I am staying with friends for the week who have a Sonos system that is all wireless. After a couple hours I do notice some audio dropouts. I did a signal scan of their WI-FI and found that their signal strength drops during the times when there are audio dropouts. At my home I do not see this behavior and can play music on grouped speakers all day long.
The differences between their network and mine is twofold: I have a Ubiquiti UniFi network with most of my Sonos devices hardwired and they have an Eero mesh network with everything wirelessly connected. I am not saying that Eero is a bad product, but the nodes are older and they have to constantly restart the system to regain functionality. They have ordered the Eero Pro 6e that should arrive today.
So if the speakers are the same and the new app is the same for everyone, why is it that some users have issues and some don’t?
Is it the app?
Is it the speakers?
Is it network issues?
You are majority hard-wired, that is the difference.
The fundamental idea of Sonos is no need for cables, but that's when issues arise, which you note at your friend's, providing evid nice for the point I am making. :)
Whereas I am in the other camp, majority not wired. And my experience is the same as
+17You are majority hard-wired, that is the difference.
The fundamental idea of Sonos is no need for cables, but that's when issues arise, which you note at your friend's, providing evid nice for the point I am making. :)
On the Sonos support site if you read the section on when to use a wireless setup, you will see:
“Use a wired setup if your home WiFi network is slow, unreliable, does not meet our system requirements, or does not reach all the rooms where you want Sonos.”
If I was struggling with connection issues I would find a way to use the provided Ethernet ports so that I could enjoy my investment. Because it is marketed as wireless doesn’t mean you have to use it that way.. you do have another option.
You are majority hard-wired, that is the difference.
The fundamental idea of Sonos is no need for cables, but that's when issues arise, which you note at your friend's, providing evid nice for the point I am making. :)
On the Sonos support site if you read the section on when to use a wireless setup, you will see:
“Use a wired setup if your home WiFi network is slow, unreliable, does not meet our system requirements, or does not reach all the rooms where you want Sonos.”
If I was struggling with connection issues I would find a way to use the provided Ethernet ports so that I could enjoy my investment. Because it is marketed as wireless doesn’t mean you have to use it that way.. you do have another option.
Based on feedback here I’ve enrolled in an online college to get a degree in networking to troubleshoot my Sonos system. I’ll find a way.
Sonos cop-out. Their 'customer services' say the opposite when you finally get to speak to them, they say you shouldn't need to be wired. My signal strength is excellent.
Early eero’s, before S2 existed, would frustrate SONOS. Eero kept passing this off onto SONOS and SONOS blamed eero. Eventually, (with grumbles) eero issued an update that fixed the issue. Here is a SONOS suggestion when deploying with eero.
+2I've been following things here for a couple of months to try to understand what's going on. I wanted to understand so I could decide if I would expand or wait a bit. I'm completely wireless on a Netgear Orbi mesh and have had pretty much no issues other than random and rare no system found. Close app and restart was all.
I got home to another pair of Era100s that just got here and plugged them in, opened the app and 10 minutes they were set, updated and running. The are the only ones that I grouped and that went flawlessly as well.
One thing I've noticed while lurking is the wide variety of wireless routers in use. Having started in computers at DOS 2.0 I've learned long ago all hardware and it's firmware are not all created equally. If I were to take a guess, with no testing, the tech support' "wireless issues" probably have pretty solid base in reality. The old app was mature and had already been ironed out with speaker and the wireless firmware to help smooth things out.
Just as a data point, Sonos CAN be pretty painless. I hope y'all are able to smooth things out. I do feel your frustration having been in the HW/ FW/SW 3 ring circus many times. Somethings things need kicked to the curb to sort things out, maybe it's not Sonos?
I’ll add my two cents….
I have 32 Sonos units of which 30 are active. They comprise 10 rooms of which 9 are active. My network consists of Asus ZenWiFi Pro ET12’s x 3 setup as a Mesh using a wired backhaul. My devices are iPhone, iPad, Mac and Android all running Sonos controllers. Everything is wireless. I can group as many rooms as I like at any time. I have no drops or disappearing speakers. I don't need SonoPhone nor SonoPad.
My suggestion is to check your internal network and/or call Sonos Tech Support as suggested by
My conclusion is that unless you have defective Sonos gear...then it’s your network.
- Arc Ultra’s x 3
- Beam2 x 1
- Fives x 2
- Move2 x 2
- Era 300’s x 6
- Era 100’s x 4
- Subs 3’s/4’s x 7 (total)
- Sub Mini’s x 3
- Amps x 2
- Roam2 x 2 (not active)
- Sonos Ace x 3 (not included in total above nor part of the Sonos active network as rooms)
Just as a data point, Sonos CAN be pretty painless. I hope y'all are able to smooth things out. I do feel your frustration having been in the HW/ FW/SW 3 ring circus many times. Somethings things need kicked to the curb to sort things out, maybe it's not Sonos?
My system worked without issue pre May 2024. Just so I’m clear, you suggest I should buy new network hardware to make it work again? It’s not the buggy, untested and still not finished app and firmware that has new bugs with every release?
The May 2024 and following releases of S2 use some different network protocols. We can argue that these protocols are “better”, “more secure”, “more modern”, or not. I note that some gateway/router/network hardware doesn’t support these protocols by default.
I suggest that you search for “[router model] and Sonos”. Often you’ll discover specific instructions to support these newly introduced protocols.
The May 2024 and following releases of S2 use some different network protocols. We can argue that these protocols are “better”, “more secure”, “more modern”, or not. I note that some gateway/router/network defaults don’t support these protocols by default.
I suggest that you search for “[router model] and Sonos”. Often you’ll discover specific instructions to support these newly introduced protocols.
I’ve been dealing with this pos system for a year and have burned dozens of hours troubleshooting. With an install base of millions if clicking a checkbox to enable mdns (which is enabled by default on my router) imo Sonos would be able to resolve this.
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