Era 300s wont connect to Arc for Surround

  • 20 June 2023
  • 43 replies
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Wanted to see if anyone here might be able to help on this  

I recently got an arc, sub, and two era 300s. The eras connected via surround fine at the beginning and worked for a few days, but starting today the eras won’t standalone but won’t connect via surround. 
 

I wasted four hours on the phone with tech support today, and for about three of those hours they kept having me plug and unplug the speakers as if they would magically work again. Level 2 support couldn’t help either.. they escalated me up to where I get to wait until next week Monday to have another fun day with tech support…. 
 

Hoping the community might have a faster solution than trying to wait on Sonos “support”. 

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43 replies

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@Ken_Griffiths 

 

yeah I’m going to assume now that the arc does need to be hardwired. I run into this when using an Amp as surrounds, Arc wants to be hardwired.
 

latest thing I tried was a dedicated 2.4ghz for the Sonos, still no joy  

 

Thanks for your input. 

Ken_Griffiths

It the surrounds work when any Sonos device is wired to the router (not a surround speaker, or Sub) then I would ask you to kindly call out the make/model of router here (and firmware version), as that information can be helpful to others here in the community. I would personally then ditch the router and get something to replace it.

Hope the wiring of a Sonos product sorts it for you.

S
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Going by the OPs System screenshot I don't think they are bonded correctly myself. Seems odd to be seeing living room left etc still when they are supposed to be bonded to the arc.

 

I’d try removing the surrounds from the arc and get them working again as separate speakers and test them individually. Then try adding them as surrounds to the arc again.

2 x Play 1, Playbase, Panasonic EX 600, Panasonic UB420. One, One Sl + submini
Ken_Griffiths

Going by the OPs System screenshot I don't think they are bonded correctly myself. Seems odd to be seeing living room left etc still when they are supposed to be bonded to the arc.

 

I’d try removing the surrounds from the arc and get them working again as separate speakers and test them individually. Then try adding them as surrounds to the arc again.

See below…

 

S
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I have had the question marks for lost surrounds. Their old rooms didn't pop up as not connected that I remember.

2 x Play 1, Playbase, Panasonic EX 600, Panasonic UB420. One, One Sl + submini
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@Ken_Griffiths I’ll hardwire my port and see where that gets me - I guess a Boost would accomplish the same thing too

Ken_Griffiths

@Ken_Griffiths I’ll hardwire my port and see where that gets me - I guess a Boost would accomplish the same thing too

Yes @rmidel, if the wired Port sorts the surround issue for you, then I was going to suggest later, that you perhaps consider getting a Sonos Boost, that’s if you don’t want to change your router or leave a Port/Speaker product cabled to the router.

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@Ken_Griffiths 

GOT IT! Hardwired the Port, gave the system about 30 minutes to settle in and the Eras can now be added properly as surrounds. Thanks for your guidance. I’ll make sure I have the ARC hardwired when I deploy this set up in the field. Thanks again 🫡
 

now for the new problem, went thru Trueplay setup and got a really bad popping out of all three speakers. Disabled the eras then set them back in surrounds and it went away. I’m assuming there’s a bad firmware/software to cause that so I’ll live without it for now. 

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So to recap for anyone having trouble getting the Era 300/100 to connect as surrounds, at least one device in the system has to be hardwired to your network. If you don’t have Amps or Ports in your system and it’s not the ARC soundbar that’s hardwired, add a Sonos Boost at your router. Give system a few minutes to negotiate its wireless network, then add the Eras as surrounds. Enjoy. 

Ken_Griffiths

@rmidel 

Note, it’s really very rare that a router does not support a Sonos Home Theatre main product proxying the IP addresses for its surrounds and Sub. Reports are rare, I can probably count them on one hand only during the past 5 years here in the community. It would be nice though to know the make/model of router and its firmware version, as that really can help others get to a solution more quickly if they encounter the same problem.

Anyhow, glad to hear that wiring the Port device and running all on SonosNet fixed things for you. 👍

 

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@Ken_Griffiths 

comcast modem all-in-one. I’ll be replacing soon with an Araknis router

 

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Update from my original post.. system is still broken. I’ve swapped out the Arc for a new one and still no luck keeping the Eras connected as surrounds. I’ve tried hardwiring the Arc into my switch and into my router, they Eras still disconnect. 
 

The Eras stay connected just fine a stand alone speakers, but shortly after connecting as surrounds, they disconnect from the Arc. 

I’m running on a Meraki MX appliance as my router and have gone through the setting several times and there are no setting that would be preventing this from working.  

 

Ken_Griffiths

Update from my original post.. system is still broken. I’ve swapped out the Arc for a new one and still no luck keeping the Eras connected as surrounds. I’ve tried hardwiring the Arc into my switch and into my router, they Eras still disconnect. 
 

The Eras stay connected just fine a stand alone speakers, but shortly after connecting as surrounds, they disconnect from the Arc. 

I’m running on a Meraki MX appliance as my router and have gone through the setting several times and there are no setting that would be preventing this from working.  

 

Might it be your network switch that’s causing you the issue? Have you tried bypassing the switch and wiring direct to the router instead? Also have you checked that the Arc’s WiFi adapters are enabled so that the two surrounds can ‘bond’ direct to it.

C
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Yes, I have tried by passing the switch. Yes, wireless is enabled on the Arc. 
 

the eras will connect, but then disconnect shortly there after. 

Ken_Griffiths

Yes, I have tried by passing the switch. Yes, wireless is enabled on the Arc. 
 

the eras will connect, but then disconnect shortly there after. 

I would perhaps continue to stay in touch with Sonos Support and see if they can help you to resolve the matter.

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Found the solution after a lot of trial and error. It turns out that in my network, there is a security setting that blocks rouge SSIDs from broadcasting and allowing devices to connect to them. Since the Arc connects to the Eras via its own wireless signal, my network was containing that signal and preventing connection. The solution was to go into the wireless network settings and whitelist that SSID to allow it to connect. 

C

Master HT  ‘Home Theatre’ device - which is your Sonos Arc and controls the ‘slave’ devices when they are bonded to it. The slaves in your case are the Era’s - your system was setup and working okay and you mention you have already factory reset your modem/router, the two Era slave devices, but so far you have not factory reset your Sonos Arc, so it makes sense to try that next.

As mentioned when bonded as a HT setup, the Era products switch and communicate with the Arc over an Ad-hoc 5Ghz wireless connection and the router DHCP IP addresses are assigned by proxy, via the Arc, to the Era’s - if your router has been reset then one assumes the DHCP server is working correctly as your Era’s and Arc are working okay when they are not bonded - so my suggestion is to next try the one thing that you have not done already and that is to factory reset the Arc - as that’s the device responsible for the proxying of addresses and the ad-hoc wireless connection. 

Sorry but I thought you were looking for suggestions to save you waiting for Sonos Support? If you don’t want to go down the suggested route then that’s fine and perhaps you are best to wait for level-2 Sonos Support to get in touch with you next Monday. I’m just expressing a view of what troubleshooting I would have tried in the meantime.

I have tried resetting the arc as well the only thing that got me was an Alexa that won’t play music when asked and yes I relinked all my services. After several calls with Sonos they concluded the system doesn’t like the spectrum router. Called spectrum they felt that answer was nothing more than a finger point and not true , albeit they suggested I rent to extension pods to create a stronger wi fi signal. Yes surrounds indicates  they’re connected but almost immediately become disconnected even with a stronger signal. I’m in the process of buying a new mesh router. Sonos era’s produce a wonderful sound when they work but, let’s be reasonable unless you’re a tech genius you shouldn’t spend you’re free time on such an expensive item.

Ken_Griffiths

I have tried resetting the arc as well the only thing that got me was an Alexa that won’t play music when asked and yes I relinked all my services. After several calls with Sonos they concluded the system doesn’t like the spectrum router. Called spectrum they felt that answer was nothing more than a finger point and not true , albeit they suggested I rent to extension pods to create a stronger wi fi signal. Yes surrounds indicates  they’re connected but almost immediately become disconnected even with a stronger signal. I’m in the process of buying a new mesh router. Sonos era’s produce a wonderful sound when they work but, let’s be reasonable unless you’re a tech genius you shouldn’t spend you’re free time on such an expensive item.

That issue with Alexa  sounds like a different issue to the one discussed with @ChiJas in this thread?

I think you only have to look on this forum and perhaps elsewhere online, to see issues (and suggested fixes) with a Spectrum router, so I really don't blame you for getting a new mesh WiFi router/setup. Hope it resolves your connectivity issues.

It’s not a case of needing to be a tech genius it’s just occasionally that some devices are not compatible with others, or they perhaps don’t work together as well as they should ‘out the box’ and need some (often customer-available) settings to be changed and that sometimes means sitting down to read the user-manuals. It’s a case of who has the time/incline to do that after a busy day at work?🤷

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