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I have a new Beam (Gen 2) and two Play:1 speakers. All have been upgraded to the S2 platform.

The Play:1 speakers work fine individually, in a stereo pair, and when grouped with the Beam.

But, when I configure the Play:1 speakers as surrounds for the Beam, no sound comes from one of the Play:1’s. (Left Rear). The Beam and Play:1 Right Rear work. The light is solid white on top of all speakers. 

When adding the surrounds, both Play:1’s play the test tone.

The problem occurs for all audio sources: TV input (optical + HDMI), Pandora, Music Library, Sonos Radio.

I have removed the Play:1 surrounds three times and re-added them - after testing they work independently. Still the left rear Play:1 does not have sound. (all speakers show solid white)

I have removed the Play:1 surrounds and renamed their rooms and re-added them - after testing they work independently. Still the left rear Play:1 does not have sound.

I have factory reset the (left rear) Play:1 and re-added it to my account. I tested it again independently, as a stereo pair with the other Play:1, and in a group with the Beam + Play:1 (right) + Play:1 (left). This all works.

But, when I try to setup surround again, the left rear Play:1 stops playing sound. All speakers have solid white lights. Pressing “play/pause” on the Play:1 (left) pauses the music and resumes the music.

I have checked for Sonos system update - no update available.

Sonos App Info:

Version: 15.9
Sonos OS: S2
Build: 75146030
Beam (Gen 2) Hardware Version: 1.25.1.6-1.2 (Status: Connected)
Play:1 (left + right)Hardware Version: 1.20.1.6-1-1 (Status: Connected)


 

Swap the surrounds, left for right and set them up again, does the problem move?

Submit a diagnostic after a few minutes of using the surrounds, contact Sonos support to look into the problem.

Swapping surrounds (i.e., choosing the “wrong” speaker that is playing the tone) did not work. The same Play:1 (left) speaker has no sound.

Unfortunately, Sonos support is closed on the weekends.

Based on a 45 minute call with Sonos Support. They are claiming that one of the Play:1 speakers is connecting to my Wi-Fi’s 2.4GHz channel and the other is connected to the Beam’s 5GHz channel. I was unable to fix the problem with Sonos Support, but #03 below fixed my problem.

Troubleshooting included:

01 - did not fix

  1. unplug/turn off wi-fi router for 1 minute, plug-in
  2. unplug each Sonos speaker for 20 seconds, plug-in, wait for solid white light

02 - did not fix

  1. disconnect wired connection from Sonos Connect
  2. connect wired connection to Sonos Play:3
  3. unplug each Sonos speaker for 20 seconds, plug-in, wait for solid white light

Unfortunately, Sonos doesn’t expose diagnostic information through the Sonos apps, so I have no idea if doing anything while not on the phone with Sonos support actually changes anything.

03 - What *may* have fixed my problem:

  1. disable wi-fi 5GHz band (wi-fi only running 2.4GHz)
  2. disconnect wired connection from all Sonos speakers
  3. unplug/plug-in Play:1 speakers
  4. disconnect/reconnect Play:1 speakers as surrounds (when they appear as “WM:2” they should “work” as surrounds)
  5. (optional) enable wi-fi 5GHz band
  6. (optional) connect wired connection to Sonos Connect 

Now, both Play:1’s show WM:2.

The key step appeared to be 03.2 (disconnect wired connection from all Sonos speakers).
After a minute of no Sonos wired connection, the rear surround speaker started working.
After a minute of the rear surround speaker working, I reconnected the wired connection on the Sonos Connect and the rear surround kept working.

Some other notes:

In the About My Sonos System, the speakers have a “WM:” entry. From this Sonos Community Link:

WM:0 - hard wired (Sonosnet)
WM:1 - wireless
WM:2 - playbar/beam surround
WM:3 - unknown (at one point a speaker was showing WM:3)

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