Hi @wilwong829
Thanks for your post!
The fact that reinstalling the app fixes it suggests that the issue may be more to do with network communications than with the system, ie. the app can’t always talk to the system properly.
I recommend you switch off your WiFi router and Sonos devices. Once the router has been off for 30 seconds or more, switch it back on and wait for WiFi access to be available before switching on the Arc. Once the Arc shows a solid white light, switch on all your other Sonos devices (I suspect all you need to do is reboot the router, but you may as well do the rest to give the system the best chance).
If you have any WiFi boosters or extenders, please turn these off to see if it improves matters.
I hope this helps.
Hi @wilwong829
Thanks for your post!
The fact that reinstalling the app fixes it suggests that the issue may be more to do with network communications than with the system, ie. the app can’t always talk to the system properly.
I recommend you switch off your WiFi router and Sonos devices. Once the router has been off for 30 seconds or more, switch it back on and wait for WiFi access to be available before switching on the Arc. Once the Arc shows a solid white light, switch on all your other Sonos devices (I suspect all you need to do is reboot the router, but you may as well do the rest to give the system the best chance).
If you have any WiFi boosters or extenders, please turn these off to see if it improves matters.
I hope this helps.
Thanks for your kind advice! I will try to reboot the router as well as the related SONOS speakers… It’s strange because the setup works fine but just not showing the SUB and Surrounds in the app...
I'm using an Android mobile phone as well as an iPad Mini... This happens only on the Android app but not the IOS. How to explain? At the time that the surrounds and SUB are missing from the Android app, I could see them normally in the IOS app...
Doesn’t make sense. The controller is merely showing you a ‘view’ of the system running on the speakers. There’s no networking going on on the controller, so I’d be looking at the potential for some sort of wifi interference as he suggested there, but at the end of the day, if you want to provide better information to Corry, I would recommend that you submit a system diagnostic from both controllers, and post the resulting numbers here, so he can compare and contrast the two reports to see what might be going on.
Note, it is going in to the weekend, and I suspect Corry does get time off occasionally. You may not get as quick an answer as you’d like.
Doesn’t make sense. The controller is merely showing you a ‘view’ of the system running on the speakers. There’s no networking going on on the controller, so I’d be looking at the potential for some sort of wifi interference as he suggested there, but at the end of the day, if you want to provide better information to Corry, I would recommend that you submit a system diagnostic from both controllers, and post the resulting numbers here, so he can compare and contrast the two reports to see what might be going on.
Note, it is going in to the weekend, and I suspect Corry does get time off occasionally. You may not get as quick an answer as you’d like.
Yes this is strange... just reinstalled the Android app again and no problem for now... I will submit a diagnostic when this happens again. Thanks!
Just submitted #408500547
Thanks!
Hi @wilwong829
Thanks!
It seems your surrounds are dropping their connection to the Arc because the Arc feels it necessary to change 5GHz channel repeatedly - due to interference.
I recommend you check your router settings to see if you can stop it from changing channels (by setting a particular channel to be used), but the interference may be coming from a neighbour.
If you have anything near (within 1m) of your Arc that might be producing 5GHz WiFi, please remove it from the vicinity of the Arc.
There’s some information on interference on our Reducing wireless interference help page.
I hope this helps.
Hi @wilwong829
Thanks!
It seems your surrounds are dropping their connection to the Arc because the Arc feels it necessary to change 5GHz channel repeatedly - due to interference.
I recommend you check your router settings to see if you can stop it from changing channels (by setting a particular channel to be used), but the interference may be coming from a neighbour.
If you have anything near (within 1m) of your Arc that might be producing 5GHz WiFi, please remove it from the vicinity of the Arc.
There’s some information on interference on our Reducing wireless interference help page.
I hope this helps.
Thank you so much for your kind reply... but I really cannot understand your meaning of "dropping their connection" because the surround speakers were working perfectly fine as well as the SUBs... They're just occasionally missing from the Android app, and still exists normally in the IOS App. So the 5GHz wifi and wireless interference only affect the Android app?
It's hard to understand...
Hi @wilwong829
Apologies - you did indeed mention that the surrounds still worked in your first post. The issue you are experiencing may still be related to this channel switching happening, but if the speakers continue to play then it’s not as big a deal as I surmised earlier. Preventing it may indeed mitigate the issue, however.
As the app is not properly displaying the current status of your Sonos system, it’s likely that communication between it and your system is being blocked or impeded somehow. This is most likely due to the network infrastructure or interference.
Given that your home is apparently surrounded in some particularly powerful WiFi broadcasts, I can’t find a channel for Sonos to use that’s not going to be affected by this, but you can certainly try changing SonosNet to 1 or 6 to see if that improves matters. If you know your neighbours, you might want to discuss everyone lowering the WiFi transmission power on their routers - you may be able to help each other improve everyone’s WiFi in general (your speakers are picking up what I presume is your neighbour’s WiFi with more power than I generally see on Sonos owner’s own WiFis, so your neighbours likely don’t need it to be that strong).
If you have anything that extends the reach of your WiFi, like a booster or extender, and if your Android device is connecting to it, that could also cause some problems. If you have any of these devices, please test with them powered off.
To change SonosNet channel, first please make sure that all of your Sonos devices are online and reported properly in the app. Then, select Settings » System » Network » Change SonosNet Channel » 1 or 6. Wait a couple of minutes. If there are any rooms now missing, move back to channel 11 to recover them and try again (Sonos devices will look for SonosNet on their “Home Channel”, which is what Change SonosNet Channel alters. If they do not get the message to change, and SonosNet moves to another channel, the units that did not get the message will be unable to connect).
If this doesn’t help, I recommend you get in touch with our technical support team, as I’m unfamiliar with your router and there may be some settings on it which need to be adjusted.
Hi @wilwong829
Apologies - you did indeed mention that the surrounds still worked in your first post. The issue you are experiencing may still be related to this channel switching happening, but if the speakers continue to play then it’s not as big a deal as I surmised earlier. Preventing it may indeed mitigate the issue, however.
As the app is not properly displaying the current status of your Sonos system, it’s likely that communication between it and your system is being blocked or impeded somehow. This is most likely due to the network infrastructure or interference.
Given that your home is apparently surrounded in some particularly powerful WiFi broadcasts, I can’t find a channel for Sonos to use that’s not going to be affected by this, but you can certainly try changing SonosNet to 1 or 6 to see if that improves matters. If you know your neighbours, you might want to discuss everyone lowering the WiFi transmission power on their routers - you may be able to help each other improve everyone’s WiFi in general (your speakers are picking up what I presume is your neighbour’s WiFi with more power than I generally see on Sonos owner’s own WiFis, so your neighbours likely don’t need it to be that strong).
If you have anything that extends the reach of your WiFi, like a booster or extender, and if your Android device is connecting to it, that could also cause some problems. If you have any of these devices, please test with them powered off.
To change SonosNet channel, first please make sure that all of your Sonos devices are online and reported properly in the app. Then, select Settings » System » Network » Change SonosNet Channel » 1 or 6. Wait a couple of minutes. If there are any rooms now missing, move back to channel 11 to recover them and try again (Sonos devices will look for SonosNet on their “Home Channel”, which is what Change SonosNet Channel alters. If they do not get the message to change, and SonosNet moves to another channel, the units that did not get the message will be unable to connect).
If this doesn’t help, I recommend you get in touch with our technical support team, as I’m unfamiliar with your router and there may be some settings on it which need to be adjusted.
Thanks for such a detailed reply! Yes I live in a small apartment but have quite a lot of devices using wifi... I cannot move anything at all so I can only try with another SonosNet channel. Thanks!
Tried changing the SonosNet channel but didn’t help… So I can only uninstall and reinstall the app whenever this happens… Not the end of the world but just find it strange because my wife use the same phone but she never encountered this.
Hi @wilwong829
Not the end of the world but just find it strange because my wife use the same phone but she never encountered this.
That changes things! If your wife uses the same model of phone on the same Sonos system and never sees the same issue, then the issue is more than likely happening on your phone. I recommend a reboot of your phone, and please also make sure it is up-to-date.
If this doesn’t help, there could be a conflicting app on your device - though it would be some work to identify which. Presumably, it’s an app that your wife does not use. I would certainly try cleaning out old apps that you no longer use, as a starting point. If you have a VPN on your phone and your wife does not, that’s definitely worth checking.
If your phone was provided by your workplace, there could be some management routines/rules in operation that only your work would be able to adjust/remove.
Finally, if you’ve made any device-specific connection rules on your router that affect your phone and not your wife’s, then you could try disabling these rules.
In the meantime and until you find the source of the problem, you should find that resetting the app is as effective as reinstalling the app but takes less time and effort,
I hope this helps.
Hi @wilwong829
Not the end of the world but just find it strange because my wife use the same phone but she never encountered this.
That changes things! If your wife uses the same model of phone on the same Sonos system and never sees the same issue, then the issue is more than likely happening on your phone. I recommend a reboot of your phone, and please also make sure it is up-to-date.
If this doesn’t help, there could be a conflicting app on your device - though it would be some work to identify which. Presumably, it’s an app that your wife does not use. I would certainly try cleaning out old apps that you no longer use, as a starting point. If you have a VPN on your phone and your wife does not, that’s definitely worth checking.
If your phone was provided by your workplace, there could be some management routines/rules in operation that only your work would be able to adjust/remove.
Finally, if you’ve made any device-specific connection rules on your router that affect your phone and not your wife’s, then you could try disabling these rules.
In the meantime and until you find the source of the problem, you should find that resetting the app is as effective as reinstalling the app but takes less time and effort,
I hope this helps.
Thanks again for your kind reply!! 
I think resetting the app will be the best option for me as it’s much easier!
