can't connect to my Sonos system

  • 18 December 2023
  • 10 replies
  • 202 views
C
Userlevel 1
Badge +2

This ia an ongoing problem and it’s driving me nuts!

I have a Dell laptop running Windows 11.

I have a Sonos 2 system with 6 Connects and a Roam. It rarely works...says it can’t find my system. I try all the suggestions of restarts...sometimes it will work for a while but then a day later, it is off again. Even when Sonos is working, often I have trouble adding music to the queue.

I have a strong wifi connection. My computer sits right above my modem. I have a few Eero devices around my house to cover more area...one sits next to my Connect boxes.

Sonos 2 is installed on my iphone but I prefer to access Sonos on my computer where I can easily see my itunes playlists in my Music Library.

I tried something yesterday. My Alexa Dots are paired with my Sonos. I said “Alexa, play Christmas music on my Sonos speakers” and voila! Music in every room.

What I want to know is, does this shed any light on the problem of Sonos not finding my system when I am on my computer or iphone?

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.

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10 replies

Airgetlam

The first thing that strikes me is your comment ‘ My computer sits right above my modem. ‘. There should be at least a couple of feet separating the two, there can be enough electrical interference from one of the devices to affect the other. 

When you can’t see your Sonos system on your PC, can you see it on your phone? That might be a good indication. Either way, it would be worthwhile to read the wifi interference FAQ. 

Your Alexa Dot test certainly suggests it isn’t a duplicate IP address issue, but it sure wouldn’t hurt to assign them anyway. 

At the end of the day, I’d suggest that you submit a system diagnostic within 10 minutes of experiencing this problem, and call Sonos Support to discuss it.

There may be information included in the diagnostic that will help Sonos pinpoint the issue and help you find a solution.

When you speak directly to the phone folks, they have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your network and Sonos system.

Bruce
buzz

WiFi interference is high on my list of possible causes. You should allow a 2-3 feet between routers, access points and clients. Make sure that your EERO’s are up to date. An EERO firmware update last fall fixed a few issues between EERO and SONOS.

Next I suggest that you reserve an IP address for each regular network client. Always reserve addresses for SONOS units. These instructions are not very clear to me and I don’t have an EERO system available to me at the moment. The goal is to force the DHCP server to assign the same, unique address to each SONOS unit whenever it asks for an address.

C
Userlevel 1
Badge +2

Thank you for responding.

My modem is on the floor under my desk. My computer is on top of my desk (of course)---it has been this way for many years. There is an Eero (new last spring, to increase wifi coverage to the far corners of my house) on top of my desk above the modem...this is where it has to be due to the length of the Eero cord. Eero is up to date.

There is a Sonos Boost next to the modem, plugged into the modem. Do I need it? It was unplugged...I just plugged it back in.

The Connect boxes and Roam are at the other end of my long house, pretty far from the modem. This is where they are wired to the speakers in individual rooms and they cannot be moved...they are the original speakers, put in when the house was built 37 years ago.

I cannot connect to Sonos on my phone either. I just tried and it was putting me through some steps to try to fix it, but I can’t restart my modem right now because my husband is in the middle of something and needs uninterrupted internet. I can try those steps later.

I don’t really understand DHCP or reserving IP addresses.

Later I will try all the restarts again. With no luck, I will Submit Diagnostics and talk to Support.

Thank you!

buzz

Move BOOST away from the modem.

Has the environment changed? Have you (or a neighbor) added any wireless products?

Rebooting is OK, refrain from Factory Reset without further consult.

BOOST should be wired to the base EERO, not the modem.

BOOST may not be necessary and may even be counterproductive in your home. As a quick test, you could simply power down BOOST. Maybe this will work, maybe not, depending on how your network and SONOS have been configured. If you can access the SONOS system prior to powering down BOOST, submit a diagnostic (log the confirmation number) and, using a phone/pad SONOS controller, go to Settings → System → Network → Manage Networks and check that your WiFi is listed, if not, touch Update Networks. If your WiFi is not listed here, add your WiFi credentials. Allow a few minutes for SONOS to work through this, then power down BOOST. Allow another few more minutes for the system to reconfigure itself, then test. You should submit another diagnostic now.

I’m not the biggest fan of  the ERRO website. I find the instructions to be a bit vague. Here is a decent  discussion on how to reserve IP addresses on the EERO -- if ERRO is not currently in BRIDGE mode. 

What is “BRIDGE mode” you ask? Similar to when you enter a large building and are given a visitor’s pass, network clients must ask the network DHCP server for an IP address. The router supplied by your ISP normally provides DHCP services. EERO adds a new layer to this because it also has a DNCP server. This second DHCP server can cause mischief. In our building analogy think of in industrial park where you are given an ID as you enter the parking lot, then another ID as you enter a building? The dilemma now is “which ID to use as you attempt to enter an office?” On the network, BRIDGE mode will disable one of the DHCP servers, thus eliminating the possibility of a client using the wrong IP address. There are running, often terse debates, over which DHCP server is “best”. For your small network, unless you are using some sort of special EERO or ISP feature that needs to work through one or the other, it doesn’t much matter if EERO or your IP’s router is providing the DHCP service. 

If you cannot figure out this BRIDGE mode thing, make sure that EERO and the ISP’s wireless are using different SSID’s (WiFi name) and passwords and that only the EERO is wired to the ISP’s router. Your wireless phone/pad/computer/SONOS should all be using the ERRO SSID. If you can figure out how, I suggest that you turn OFF WiFi on the ISP’s router. WiFi OFF and BRIDGE mode may or may not be intertwined in the ISP router configuration. If you’ve configured the SSID’s and wire network clients only to EERO as I’ve suggested, the network will perform, but not be optimized if you cannot work through the WiFi OFF and BRIDGE mode details.

C
Userlevel 1
Badge +2

Good grief.

An Xfinity person has been here today.

We have new TV boxes and now have a couple of TVs that are wifi.

Our Eeros are now in optimal positions for coverage.

Our Sonos Boost is now plugged into the Eero on my desk, above the router.

There is another Sonos Boost in the hallway (that I forgot about), about half way between the router and Connects.

I just tried to connect to Sonos on the iphone app. I turned off, then turned on my 7 Connects and my Roam, as instructed. When it asked me to unplug and replug my router, I bawked because I don’t understand how that might affect the Eeros. I can’t risk upsetting the TVs.

Also, I don’t understand “make sure that EERO and the ISP’s wireless are using different SSID’s (WiFi name) and passwords”.

I am wondering if I should do a complete uninstall and reinstall of Sonos. Will I end up with a bigger mess? What is involved? What will I lose? And if I do this, should I remove the Sonos Boost that is under my desk? I listen to Sirius sometimes, but primarily I use the Sonos Music Library to access my itunes playlists, which I have spent many hours creating and tweaking--I don’t want them messed up. If it’s too complicated, I could call the audio guy who set up my Sonos several years ago.

C
Userlevel 1
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I keep calling my xfinity equipment a router but I guess it is a modem, or maybe both.

buzz

If you Factory Reset all of the SONOS units, your SONOS Playlists will be gone -- and I doubt that your issue will be resolved.

I recommend using different SSID’s for EERO and the ISP’s gateway because your phone might sign-on to the ISP’s WiFi. In this case web browsing and email will be fine, but you will not be able to control your SONOS system. You should remove the ISP’s SSID from your phone.

Don’t wire SONOS units to EERO access points, wire only to the EERO base station or switches wired to the base station.

My preference would be to put ERRO into Bridge Mode.

It’s not so hard to deal with the Xfinity Gateway, but I think that your best plan would be to call Xfinity support and ask them to disable WiFi on the Gateway. This will absolutely prevent any phone/pad/computer from signing into the Gateway’s WiFi. While you have them on the phone, ask how you can “reserve” IP addresses on your network. Don’t tell anyone I suggested this, but it is often productive to have a female call a support line. Macho support agents will often try to humiliate males for lacking a skill or two, but they’ll have compassion for a helpless female. I’ve successfully used this technique in the past.

buzz

Some definitions:

“Modem”: connects wire and fiber in the street, or a satellite link to a network port. Unfortunately, this port will only handle a single network client. Maybe this was OK sometime in the last century, but a ‘simple’ home network can now have dozens of network clients.

“Router”: splits a single network port into a port or ports that can handle multiple clients (computers, pads, phones, etc.). If the router does not have enough client network ports, you can add a “switch” to support wiring multiple wired clients.

“WiFi Access point”: connects WiFi client devices to the network.

“Gateway”: packages modem, router, and Access Point into a single box.

Unfortunately, it is often ambiguous when someone refers to their “router” because it could be a any of these boxes. We’ll usually ask for a model number.

---

The “DHCP server” is a function in the router that hands out IP addresses as clients join the network. You can think of the DHCP server as the receptionist. She keeps track of IP addresses in a little card box on her desk. If she runs off to get married or someone spills coffee into the box, the box is emptied and numbering starts over from scratch. Unfortunately, there is no general notice sent out, asking clients to return to the desk and ”renew” their IP address. As you can imagine, the risk of duplicate IP addresses is very high, resulting in mayhem on the network. If you “reserve” an IP address, the address for the reserved client will always be the same -- thus preventing mayhem if there is a network event, such as a power failure. Duplicate IP addresses are often generated during a SONOS update. This is why we recommend reserving IP addresses for every regular network client -- especially the SONOS units. There is no need to reserve IP addresses for transient clients.

C
Userlevel 1
Badge +2

You are amazing. I have read these last 2 replies of yours a few times and just can’t grasp it. I know it is excellent info for me (and anyone) to have, so I am going to print it out.

BTW...I don’t have any “Sonos Playlists”, in case it matters. All my “playlists” are stored in itunes and accessed in my Music Library.  Also, the 3 additional Eeros that are scalttered around my house do not have anything else plugged into them.  And if I am understanding reserving IP addresses at all, it sounds like a good idea for Sonos.

Time to call my audio guy.

C
Userlevel 1
Badge +2

My audio guy came. This is weird...he could access my system on HIS phone but not on mine!

After a frustrating couple of hours, finally I can access Sonos on my iphone. The last thing he did was restart my phone, which I had not done in a long time.  He also unplugged both of my Sonos Boosts.  Music is playing now on all my Sonos devices. After the holidays, he will return here to work more on getting Sonos to work on my computer so I can make adjustments to my Imported Playlists and update my Music Library. At that time he will also reserve IP addresses for each of my Sonos products, as you suggested.

THANK YOU SO MUCH for your help! Happy Holidays!

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