One Sonos One SL Speaker Connects--The other one won't to Arc

  • 20 December 2020
  • 7 replies
  • 479 views
J
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I bought my two Sonos One SL Speakers separately.  One speaker connected to the system beautifully, but the other (the new one) simply will not. My system consists of an Arc, a Subwoofer, a connect generation 2 (to connect my CD player) and the two speakers.   I have tried all the fixes I know so far---the last one was to try to set up the new speaker with the ethernet cable. My system recognizes the new Sonos One SL (sometimes!) but then nothing happens, not even when I do restarts, etc.  Can anyone advise what the next steps would be?   (BTW, when I tried to connect the connect, I had a similar problem, but I was eventually able to connect to the system after about a dozen tries).

 

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7 replies

buzz

Was the recent purchase a new or previously owned unit? This could be a network issue. Describe your network for us. What is wired? Wireless? Do you use any network switches?

J
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The Sonos One SL was an open box purchase, so it’s possible it was registered to someone else. I believe I did a factory re-set on it, but I might have to re-do.  The challenge was that when I went to do the re-set, the button never began to flash green, and I couldn’t seem to get it to do so.

My wifi system has a router, and attached to the router is an Apple TimeCapsule from which the network emanates. Attached to that is an Eero Mesh system.  I imagine that some of these things will be part of the challenge and any advice greatly appreciated!

 

buzz

Here are Factory Reset instructions. The light will flash orange when the reset begins.

A previously owned SONOS unit should always be Factory Reset before adding the unit to your system.

Now we get to the difficult part. Potentially you have three router devices on your network. Each router is a take charge device and they will each fight for control of your network. The poor user does not win this fight. It is possible that you have three different WiFi networks, even if they all have the same SSID (WiFi name) and password. SONOS cannot operate in this environment. I’ll assume that your router was supplied by the cable company. TimeCapsule is ancient technology by modern standards, Eero is much more modern. I recommend that you retire the TimeCapsule. Now we potentially have two routers in this fight, but that is still one too many. There is usually an option to “Bridge” the router supplied by the cable company. “Bridge” mode disables the router function and converts the box to a simple interface between the cable in the street and a computer network. This network connection will service only one device. The function of a router is to breakout this single connection to service multiple clients. Connect the Eero (and only the Eero) to a network port on the cable company’s router and configure the Eero to be your router. This is the usual Eero default.

[An aside: If you have FIOS, their router cannot be Bridged, but you can turn OFF it’s WiFi. Networking diehards will ague among themselves over this approach, but I don’t think that this matters for your purposes.]

Now, make sure that Eero is using the correct WiFi SSID and password.

Next, reboot EVERYTHING on your network. Otherwise, you may have a device or two attempting to use the TimeCapsule, which has been retired or the cable company’s router which has been disabled.

At this point I expect that your usual devices will all be working, however, you may need to adjust their WiFi credentials to reflect you single WiFi setup which is now 100% Eero.

Yes, I know that this can be a mess, but it is a one time mess.

Now we are ready to deal with the new SONOS unit. It’s already been Factory Reset. Temporarily wire the SONOS unit to a network port on an Eero and add the new unit to your SONOS system. If you do not have enough network ports in this new arrangement, you’ll need to add a “Network Switch”. They are not expensive.

Whew! Now you can be a networking bore at parties.

Finally, we should not rule out the possibility that the “open box” unit is somehow defective, but this cannot be evaluated until the network has been properly configured as above.

J
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This is definitely elaborate, but I do mostly follow it.  Will take it step by step tomorrow. The only challenge for me is that I really like to use the Time Capsule for automatic backup of my laptop.  Is there technology I can use that will provide automatic and scheduled backups without my having to plug in?

 

J
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Another question, though:  in trying to factory reset the Sonos One SL, I run into a funny problem.  I unplug the speaker, I hold the ii> button, and the light stays white instead of turning orange.  I have to hit the button again to get it to flash orange, and when I do, it will flash a couple of times then stop. Then it turns solid white for a while, then it begins to flash only white for a while.  I assume that means that it’s trying to factory restore, but I’m not sure.  Then I wait for the green but nothing happens.  What do you think is going on?

Ken_Griffiths

Another question, though:  in trying to factory reset the Sonos One SL, I run into a funny problem.  I unplug the speaker, I hold the ii> button, and the light stays white instead of turning orange.  I have to hit the button again to get it to flash orange, and when I do, it will flash a couple of times then stop. Then it turns solid white for a while, then it begins to flash only white for a while.  I assume that means that it’s trying to factory restore, but I’m not sure.  Then I wait for the green but nothing happens.  What do you think is going on?

If you are Factory resetting your Sonos One SL speaker then you are pressing the wrong button - you first need to power off the speaker to begin the reset process… You need to press and hold the rear ‘join’ button (just above its ethernet port) on a Sonos One SL (not the play/pause button) and whilst keeping it pressed, power on the device… do not let the join button go until the status LED flashes amber.

After you let go the button, the LED will continue to flash Amber for a few moments and then it will switch to flashing green. You can then open the Sonos App and add the speaker to your system and go onto set it up as required. 

buzz

With respect to the TimeCapsule, you can use it as long as it is in Bridge mode, it’s WiFi is turned OFF and nothing is attached to its WAN port. You’ll need to wire a network cable from Eero to one of TimeCapsule’s LAN ports. I’m not a TimeCapsule user and cannot be more specific than this. Apple might have another name for “Bridge Mode”. The most important goal is to turn OFF the router function. If you cannot figure out how to turn OFF its WiFi, make sure that its SSID is different from Eero. Then configure your WiFi clients to use the Eero WiFi. Having an extra WiFi access point will clutter the environment and slow things a bit, but it’s not a show stopping issue.

Maybe a TimeCapsule user will follow on and have exact instructions on how to deal with it.

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How is the laptop currently connecting to the TimeCapsule? My original suggestion above is not the only way to approach this but it avoids a number of issues that would need a workaround.

How old is the TimeCapsule? Hard drives do not last forever.

 

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