Playbar no longer appearing in app - flashing red when trying to set up again

  • 3 October 2017
  • 8 replies
  • 449 views

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All of my Sonos speakers got wonky after I replaced my wifi in the house. I was finally able to set up the Play:1 speakers again, but the problem remains with my Playbar. It still plays audio from my TV, but it got disconnected from the iOS app and from the two Play:1 speakers that were its surrounds. I’m trying to re-set up the Playbar, but every time I press the play/pause and + buttons, the light flashes red for a few seconds. Yes, I’ve unplugged the power cord, even leaving it unplugged overnight at one point. But it always returns to this state. I don’t see any way to get the Playbar to reconnect with the app or the surround speakers. What can I do here?

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8 replies

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No responses ... even from Sonos support? Sigh.
Userlevel 7
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Hi there, Chapps.

Thanks for reaching out, happy to help. Would you mind telling us a little more about your local network? A diagnostic report would be most helpful to tell us how Sonos is able to connect to your network. Here is an article that walks through how to submit a diagnostic report. Check it out.

Be sure to reply with the confirmation number it gives at the end.

In most cases where customers replace their router or make network setting changes, we find the best success with this FAQ article. If you run into any problems, please let me know where in the process you run into problems.
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Hey, Keith. I just submitted a diagnostic report: 7919647. I hope it tells you something. I don’t really have the option to remove my Playbar from the wall mount and disconnect from power, then trudge it over to my router and connect via LAN cable. Well, I do ... but that’s kind of nuts and would involve a lot of removal of hardware. I’m hoping that your newest upcoming players no longer have to rely on direct connection to a router, ever. None of the competition does this - they all work via wifi. Sonos is the oldest system, and still has some legacy issues. I was really shocked at how simply changing my router/network completely blew up my Sonos system. It took weeks to figure out how to get the players to get recognized again - which involved direct cabling, and multiple, multiple attempts. I’ve come very close to giving up on Sonos and looking at moving to Apple or Google’s newest speakers.
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Bump. Hoping there’s a solution here.
Userlevel 7
Badge +19
Thanks for the diagnostic report, Chapps.

Seems like we are working with a Google WiFi setup. This can make things a little tricky, especially if you are using a standard wireless setup. The challenge here is your Google WiFi system uses access points (AP's) and broadcasts across multiple wireless channels. While in most cases, this works well for most wireless needs, Sonos requires a little more control over the network in order for all the features of Sonos to work seamlessly. Specifically, Sonos works using Direct Routing. This means that if one Sonos speaker is on channel 6 and another is on channel 11 (being broadcast by a different AP) the two will not be able to see each other or communicate, even if they are on the same network.

So how does this get resolved?

Normally, we would have two options to resolve such a problem with mesh networks. These would include either configuring your mesh network (and all AP's) to broadcast all on the same channel or plugging any Sonos device into your main Google WiFi routing unit. The caveat is that Google does not allow you to lock the channels on their WiFi system, they are always changing. Because of this, no matter what you do, you will eventually run into this problem.

This leaves us with plugging one of your Sonos devices into the main Google WiFi routing unit. This will change how data is moved for Sonos. Instead of Sonos needing to interact with your mesh network, they will communicate the needed data through a separate mesh network created by (and for) Sonos speakers. Check out more information about switching to a BOOST setup here.

If you are interested in checking out the difference between a standard wireless setup and a BOOST setup check out this article.
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Keith - we’ll, Ive tried everything, but my Playbar is kind of bolted to the wall, so removing it is a last option (the main wifi router is in another room, but a Google wifi hockey puck is in the same room). Doesn’t look like anything is going to work. Unfortunately, this means I may have to look to a competitor for a new system. Mesh networks are here, and Sonos needs to be able to easily work with them, much like other wifi enabled devices that I have in the house. P.S. that article link won’t resolve. The Sonos portal blocks it.
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Keith - both of your links resolve to an empty page that has this one message: ‘Customer Portal is not enabled for this interface.’ I’d love to read what’s in those links, but it doesn’t work in any of the browsers that I have on my iPad.
Chapps,

A couple of weeks ago, they rejiggered where the FAQs were stored, causing all previous links to break.

Here's the one on how to set up in a Boost mode:

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/3240

Here's the one comparing Boost versus Standard setup:

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/3235