google assistant on beam does not function


I'm not sure if other assistant enabled devices have this issue, but the Google assistant on the beam has become pretty useless.

I've set the default speaker for the beam to be the beam itself, but I still have to say what room/speaker I want the music to play on.

If I ask to skip the song, or change the volume, I get the response "something went wrong". 

Even with voice match and Spotify premium, getting a playlist or most music to play only work about 40% of the time.

The only way to make things work is to use some other Google home device to handle commands and set the beam as a default speaker.

Does anyone else find the beams assistant integration lacking? Is there a fix?


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18 replies

Userlevel 6
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Hi @Admaster, welcome to the Sonos Community!

I do sometimes find that Google Assistant on my system can start to stumble a little bit, generally a reboot of my router and speakers will resolve that however - have you tried this?

If you’ve already tried that and you’re still having issues, then another possibility is that of wireless interference, and you can find here some tips on Reducing Wireless Interference.

Let us know how you get on :)

Thanks xander. I had reached out to support who recommended the same thing. I unplugged power to the beam and plugged back in. I removed google assistant from the sonos app and re established it. I power cycled by wifi router. The first time, things seemed promising. I could voice command to start playing music, and control the volume. However, when I asked to skip a track it said something went wrong. So I repeated the steps, this time trying to skip a song first. This worked, but when I asked to change the volume I received the same "something went wrong error".

So, resetting the beam and wifi adapter worked briefly, but didn't stick very long.

Userlevel 6
Badge +15

Understood @Admaster  - network layout can also affect the performance of Voice Services sometimes - do you have a mesh system or any wireless extenders in use? Mind giving us a quick overview of how the network is set up, and how the Beam is connected?

I have gigabit internet running through a wireless router (Zyxel C1000Z), and one mesh extender on the next floor up (Netgear EX7300) that is hardwired to the router (so it's more on an access point, not a repeater). I'm broadcasting a 2.4 and 5 gHz signal, with different names. The beam is connected to the wireless, looks like the 2.4 band. 

If there are more stats from the app that are helpful just let me know which ones. Also I know that strength of signal is a factor, but without going into detail of my house layout, I've spent enough time placing the router and extender to maximize my coverage pretty well. The beam is in the next room over from the primary router and gets good coverage from both bands.

Userlevel 6
Badge +15

Got it, thanks for that @Admaster.

I took a quick look at a recent diagnostic from your system, and it looks like the wireless latency on the Beam is spiking, most likely causing you to receive the “Something went wrong" message.

I can also see that both the Beam and the Bookshelf are connecting via the Netgear extender - would it be possible to temporarily power the Netgear extender off, reboot the Beam, and then test to see if Google Assistant remains responsive?

That is interesting that the beam is going to the extender, I would expect that to have a reduced signal at that location. I will do what you said and try to get the beam onto the other router.

I did as you said, I unplugged the extender, and actually did a factory reset on the beam. I'm still getting the same result though. I've re-uploaded my diagnostics with the extender unplugged. 1463522857

Userlevel 6
Badge +15

Thanks for trying that - seems that the levels of interference actually got worse after taking those steps, and we’re still seeing the same issues with wireless latency. 

I did notice that there are quite a lot of networks in the area using the same wireless channel as your router, and it may be worth setting the channel on your router to 1, rather than 6. Aside from that, would it be possible to test the Beam in a different location? If there are any other wireless devices in close proximity to the Beam, then moving the Beam a bit further from them should help.

If there are no other devices close by, mind describing the general environment around the Beam? What kind of surface is it sitting on? Feel free to share a picture showing the Beams location if you’re unsure, and we’ll be happy to take a look for any possible offenders :)

Dear All,

Since last month I have also been facing the same issue as Admaster. I bought Sonon Beam in March2020 and I have never faced such a difficulties to “talk” to Google Assistant through Sonos till now.

Almost 80% of my “request” give Nothing or else “something went wrong with Sonos”.

I did the reset of everything: router (Fastweb), Google Assistant, Sonos App (Unistalled & Installed back), unpluged&pluged Beam. 

Not sure what happend but I am thinking to replace the Beam with Google Home Mini which is working perfectly.

On top to the above I have also noticed a reduction of the volume. I used to listen Beam at volume “40” …. now to get the same volume I have to increase it to “60” (volume 60 was almost “Disco mode” but now I listen to the News with volume set at “60”)….

Pls let me know if you have the chance to look at the error message My Beam is giving

Some hints for you:

  • WiFi 2.4 gHz
  • router distance from Beam → 2mt
  • no signal extender 
  • no other wifi around
  •  

thank you for you kind support

 

Userlevel 6
Badge +15

Hi @Lorenzo.V, thanks for reaching out :)

I took a quick look at a recent diagnostic and I wasn’t seeing any particular issues to explain the poor performance I’m afraid, so we’ll need to look a little deeper.

If you open the Google Home app, tap the profile icon in the top right, and then go to My Activity - is Google Assistant on the Beam hearing the commands correctly?

well the point is that if I ask for “actions” to be done to my GA through SonosBeam, I don’t even get any answer. it is happening very often.  it seems Sonos could not recognize the command “OK Google” whilst on the other hand IF I give same command to Google Mini “he” replys with no issues at all.

i.e. this morning I gave command to “run iRobot”… no answer. I asked for it twice … no answer. i was so pist that I moved to another room where GA is and….it worked.

btw, I checked the GA-MyActivity and it seems that out of My 3 request to Sonos where I asked to run “iRobot” GA only recorded 1, wrongly.

Volume of my voice was high (my neighbour might have heard me shouting at Sonos too :))

The weird thing is that till a month ago it was properly working, system very reactive… than something happend and now it’s a hell :(

Userlevel 6
Badge +15

Understood @Lorenzo.V, and there have been no changes in the setup or positioning of the Beam at all? Are you having issues with all commands given to the Beam, or is it restricted to certain actions?

It’s also worth keeping in mind that there are some differences in functionality between native Google devices, and third-party devices such as Sonos which can have Google Assistant on them, however if the action was working before, and the Beam is not hearing the commands correctly, then we’ll want to try some further troubleshooting on our side.

I’d recommend reaching out to our Support Team via live chat or phone call to perform some live troubleshooting - let us know how you get on :)

 

No changes done. same position same settings.
always been working fine. I was really happy about it !

all troubles started a montha go: GA & volume (regarding volume issue, may it be linked to different settings at software level...or else ?)

I ‘ll get in touch with Support Team and see what comes.

thx btw.

Userlevel 6
Badge +15

Understood - let us know how you get on with the support team @Lorenzo.V.

Regarding the volume change, is this affecting all sources? I’ve noticed on my Beam that with for example the YouTube app on my TV, I can have the volume at around 10 and have no trouble hearing, while for other sources such as Netflix I need the volume to be at least 20 - this is related more to the signal being provided by the app than anything on Sonos side. If you’ve noticed a decrease in volume across all sources, however, then certainly something to bring up when you get in touch.

I did a bit more digging regarding the iRobot skill, and it looks like people have had trouble with using this via Google Assistant on Sonos devices before, while it may work via Alexa with no issue - if it was previously working, then their team may have made some changes to how the skill is integrated, and it might be worth reaching out to their support team directly regarding this :)

“volume issue” → unfortunately yes. I noticed that it is not due to signal … Support team has just suggested to reboot the Beam and restore the factory settings….
“iRobot issue” → it was an example. the issue is about everything I ask for...

Userlevel 6
Badge +15

Got it, I’d also recommend when performing the Factory Reset on the Beam, that you fully remove it from the Google Home settings (Profile > Assistant Settings > Devices > Beam > Unlink Beam) before setting it back up.

If there’s no improvement however, then I’d recommend getting back in touch with the support team for further investigation, as they have more troubleshooting tools available than we do on the community :)

sure. Thank you !

Dear Xander P,

I got in touch with support team. Unfortunately none of the solutions they provided has solved the issue. Sonos is not any more able to understand (“there might have been an error with Sonos” is what I keep listening from the Sonos Beam).

The system need to get an update and currently there is no updates available.

I think I will ask for a refund. 

 

For you to know this is all actions I have been told to do ...and I did them all. spent one day:

  1. unistall&install back Sonos App
  2. Remove Google Assistant from all rooms in the Sonos app
  3. In the Assistant app, unlink the Sonos account.
  4. Start Google Assistant setup again from the Sonos app, 
  5. Removed Access of “Sonos Google Assistant Built-in speaker” directly from the web and went back to the Sonos app and added Google Assistant again
  6. Fabric reset of Sonos Beam
  7. wi-fi network switch off

 

a 50euro google mini works perfectly

the 500€ Sonos Beam does not work anymore (after one year only from the purchase date)

I am so upset!