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scottyboi08
Trending Lyricist I
April 11, 2021
Answered

How do I stop my new Sonos One SL dropping off my controller?

My new Sonos One SL drops off my controller, or stops functioning on the controller like as if it loses signal. It keeps playing with my Beam and Play 1 in the other room, but at times I can’t change the volume until it finds the system again on the app. Or like just now, I go to listen to music on the One SL and it’s not on the app, unlike my Beam or Play 1. They’re only in a room next to one another, and the room that the SL is in, does not have signal issues for any other devices like an Echo Dot, mobile phones, or laptops etc.

All the devices are wireless. This is happening daily.

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Corry P
Corry PAnswer
Sonos Staff
April 14, 2021

Thanks @scottyboi08 - I was getting close to asking for some pictures.

I was more concerned with devices being too close to each other and interfering, than with devices being too far from the router - the signal strength from the router to the Beam is good.

Regarding the transmission retry rate, I’d like you to try turning off the Sky box and PS5 at the power for 10 minutes, play music to the Beam for those ten minutes and then submit a diagnostic - when you next reply here, I’ll compare it to the last.

I would also like to try taking the router out of Harry Potter’s bedroom, to see if that helps - try that after the Sky and PS5 steps (if practical) and send another diagnostic. It could be that load-bearing walls, or a higher amount of solid wood construction around the stairs, is surrounding the router and blocking the signals somewhat.

As for the missing Sonos One, new information has come to light. We have recently been getting reports of this same issue from other BT Smart Hub 2 owners - there seems to be a recently developed problem with them not bridging communications over the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands. This explains your Sonos One being missing while connected to 5GHz. We recommend you get in touch with BT technical support and let them know that “you’ve discovered an issue whereby client devices connected to 2.4GHz (“gigahertz”) and 5GHz are unable to communicate locally, and vice versa, as if the router was erroneously activating Wireless Isolation which is not an option in the router settings”. Ask them if there is a new firmware version available for your BT Smart Hub 2 and if there isn’t one available, ask them if they can see if your router updated in the last 3 months (or however long you think this has been happening) and if so, can you roll-back to the previous version? At the very least, find out if they have acknowledged the issue and are planning an update to fix it soon.

Anyone reading this should get in touch with our technical support team before contacting BT so we can confirm the issue and we’d very much like to document it and gather data to better understand the issue.

There are two workarounds - either disable 5GHz on your BT Smart Hub 2, or wire one Sonos component to ethernet and use SonosNet. Edit: You may have to do both (SonosNet will not help Moves or Roams).

Edit: the Smart Hub 2 firmware version causing this issue is V0.26.03.01286. Not all Smart Hub 2 owners will have been issued with this version yet.

If you mention “Sonos” and issues with your speakers to BT support they’re just going to refer you back to us so please try not to, as in this instance we cannot help - other than to suggest purchasing a 3rd-party router (if you spend at least £60, you’ll get a much better router than any you will get for free from any ISP) to replace the BT one.

Please let us know how you get on.

 

 

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
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44 replies

Corry P
Corry P
Sonos Staff
April 12, 2021

Hi @scottyboi08 

Welcome to the Sonos Community!

I took a quick look at your recent diagnostics and it seems your Kitchen speaker (Sonos One) is connecting to your WiFi on 5GHz, whereas your other speakers are using 2.4GHz. This shouldn’t be a problem, but I think it points us in the right direction to look.

By far, the easiest fix would be to connect 1 Sonos device to the router with an ethernet cable - is your Beam close enough for this? If so, please try it out and see if it improves things in the Kitchen. Please note that you should keep your router 1m away from any WiFi devices.

You should also try rebooting your router by switching it off for at least 30 seconds - try this first.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
ClausN
April 12, 2021

Or try disabling 5 GHz in the router. Some routers can have difficulties bridging between the 2 bands.

scottyboi08Author
Trending Lyricist I
April 12, 2021

Thanks for the response. No I wouldn’t say any of the devices could be permanently wired to the router. Maybe temporarily as a means to resolve the issue, but not permanently due to the layout of the house.
 

I’ve rebooted both the SL, and my router, prior to posting on here, and neither have fixed the issue.

 

I’m not sure how to do this, regarding the 5 GHz change. I’m quite good with tech, but admittedly not that good. So any assistance would be needed if I was to do anything like this moving forward.

ClausN
April 12, 2021

You’d have to look in the routers manual how to deactivate 5 GHz. If you don’t have the manual a Google search may be helpful.

scottyboi08Author
Trending Lyricist I
April 12, 2021

Is there a negative for doing this?

You’d have to look in the routers manual how to deactivate 5 GHz. If you don’t have the manual a Google search may be helpful.

 

ClausN
April 12, 2021

There shouldn’t be. 5 GHz is faster than 2 GHz but 2 GHz has better coverage than 5 GHz. I doubt you’ll note the difference. However, 5 GHz tend to be less exposed to wireless interference than 2 GHz.

Corry P
Corry P
Sonos Staff
April 12, 2021

Is there a negative for doing this?

 

That depends on your internet connection. If it’s 70 Mbps or less, you’re unlikely to notice the difference, unless you make a lot of use of screen mirroring to your TV, or something else bandwidth-heavy and local.

If you have 1 Gbps internet (lucky you) then 2.4 Ghz will provide you with less than 1/10th of that, so disabling 5GHz would limit your access speeds.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
    scottyboi08Author
    Trending Lyricist I
    April 12, 2021

    I have around 133mbps. Just ran a check.

    So not sure if that will be heavily impacted.

    Now as an update, the Sonos One SL is on my controller but the other two have completely dropped off. I just ran another diagnostic 1820905494. 
     

    Just all over the place since I got the new SL last week.

    Corry P
    Corry P
    Sonos Staff
    April 13, 2021

    Hi @scottyboi08 

    Ok, so 2.4 Ghz will only give you half of your total internet speed. Any ethernet-connected devices will not be affected.

    Unfortunately, the BT Smart Hub 2 doesn’t allow separation of bands - all you can do is disable one completely.

    I recommend that you disable 5GHz temporarily, long enough to see if that’s what the actual issue is, and then decide what to do from there.

    To disable 5GHz on BT Smart Hub 2 (it looks like that’s what you’ve got) please do the following:

    1. Open http://192.168.1.254 - this is the configuration page for your router. You can open this on any browser, but I recommend using a screen bigger than a phone’s.
    2. When you see the purple boxes, click on Wireless
    3. At some point (perhaps not right now) you’ll be asked for a password to log in. This can be found on a sticker on the router, and is called the Admin or Settings password
    4. You’ll see a page with details for 2.4 GHz and for 5 GHz. Turn off 5GHz only - there will be an on/off switch for it.
    5. Save your changes.

    Test for a day or two until you’re happy it’s better or have determined that it hasn’t helped. If it hasn’t helped, turn 5GHz back on again. If it has helped, but you’re not happy with the loss in speed, I recommend you get in touch with BT and see if they’ll swap the router for one that can split it’s bands (like a BT Hub 6). If they refuse, you’d be better off splashing out on a 3rd-party router instead anyway. Just don’t spend less than about £60.

    Best of luck and if you’re unsure about anything, just ask!

    "Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
    scottyboi08Author
    Trending Lyricist I
    April 13, 2021

    My Sonos Beam and Play 1 will no longer return.

    I even reset my beam, and the controller said it won’t appear in your system tab, but is connected? It plays sound from the TV through HDMI but I can’t adjust anything on the app other than the One SL. I’m not gonna lie I never thought buying another Sonos system would make me want to get rid of them all.

     

    It’s infuriating. The 2.4ghz change was a mess, it was so slow. I couldn’t do anything, so had to change back to 5, too.

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