Is Sonos Move a $400 paperweight? When did Sonos give up making products that work?

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31 replies

Y
Userlevel 1
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Hi @Xander P , the 1st AP (hanging off the Motorola D3.1 cable modem) is an ASUS RT-AC86U, the second AP bridged via ethernet is an ASUS AC3200 which is the only AP my Sonos devices are aware of.

Note that this is not some complex or esoteric network configuration - this is a very typical setup using popular APs to provide coverage throughout a home.

Also - please don’t tell me my network needs to be re-configured to work with Move - if that’s the case then Sonos has failed in designing the Move. All of my older Sonos devices have worked perfectly fine the last 4 years in this network configuration. Consider this for a moment: if I strapped a lithium battery and an inverter to my Play1 with duct tape I would have a portable Sonos speaker that would work anywhere in my home or in my yard, but a brand new $400 Sonos speaker designed to be portable doesn’t work? Does that make any sense whatsoever? If that's the case then Sonos should have simply gutted the AC power supply in the Play1, velcro’d on a battery and would then have had a better, more compatible product than the Move. Sonos is moving backwards.

This is either a shortcoming in the firmware that 1) was missed in testing the product and 2) could be fixed and updated but Sonos has decided not to, or it is a shortcoming of the wifi silicon that Sonos has chosen in their design. Either way its very disappointing to see Sonos fail their customers.

 

Xander P
Userlevel 6
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Hi @ybl84f1, sorry to hear of the trouble you’ve been having!

Do you mind sharing the specific model number of the ASUS APs? We’re aware of some ASUS models which require a Factory Reset to function properly with Sonos, particularly after a firmware update on the ASUS side of things.

As to why this is only affecting the Move - I would hazard a guess that the issue is related to the 5GHz wireless connection; splitting the SSID so that Sonos only connects to the 2.4GHz may help, however performing the Factory Reset on the ASUS hardware may be necessary, if the models you are using match.

Y
Userlevel 1
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For the folks that said it works flawlessly for them, I have no doubt it does for you - I’m happy for you. The fact that some of them do work isn’t really relevant, the point is that it doesn’t work for others.

Regarding @JohnB’s “Sonos makes greater demands on a network setup than most devices” he misses the original point - that I have run my multiple Sonos devices for years on Wifi perfectly fine. No SonosNet. Every other Sonos device works perfectly, Move fails perfectly. It has nothing to do with demands on the network. My Play1 uses Wifi, my Move uses Wifi. My Play1 works perfectly on my network, my Move fails perfectly on the same network. Ergo, the Move’s firmware is broken.

Regarding @JohnB’s “I am afraid most of your post is misguided, as would be your revenge YouTube video”, unboxing videos are standard fare on the Internet because they serve a valuable purpose - educating consumers on products and what to expect. If a company fears consumers viewing an unboxing video of their product then they should probably re-think what they are selling the consumer. Sonos customers such as myself that have significant investments in Sonos should be aware of the potential incompatibility of the $400 Move, I’m afraid your assertion otherwise is misguided.

As for some of the network detail questions above here are some details:

  • Cable DOCSYS modem connected to an ASUS AP (#1), with that connected via a wired connection to a (2nd) ASUS AP. (The #2 AP is simply a wired bridge, no DHCP, etc).
  • The Sonos devices only see the wireless network from the 2nd AP, which is both 2.4 and 5 Ghz on the same SSID (using something they call Smart Connect).
  • All Sonos devices are wireless, i.e. no SonosNet.

To @106rallye I have not tried configuring the Move on both APs - thank you for that idea. I thought having different devices on different APs would be even more problematic instead of less but I’m willing to give it a try. What I did do - successfully, is create a private 2.4 Ghz network off AP #1 and on that network the Move works fine. But before everyone jumps on that saying I’m done: 1) that AP does not cover my entire home [hence the second one - a common setup], and 2) that band-aid is not the point - the point is the Move fails where my much older Sonos products work.

Again - the main point is that I can take my Play1 that is on a portable stand using Wifi, unplug it, move it around anywhere in the house, plug it back in and it works perfectly. If it had a battery instead of a power cord I’d have a Move that works. The Sonos Move, which is designed to do exactly that, fails perfectly. Ergo the firmware functionality of the Move is deficient and would never have passed any regression testing which Sonos apparently doesn’t perform.

 

J

Mine works fine too and always has. Sonos makes greater demands on a network setup than most devices because it involves multiple devices.

The answer here lies in the configuration of your network and the two APs, and/or the network settings in Sonos. The Move does use the same software as other Sonos products.  I am afraid most of your post is misguided, as would be your revenge YouTube video.

Note. One difference in the Move 's connection is that it can connect to the 5GHz band. Whether that is relevant I cannot tell, because your post contains no useful information. 

106rallye
Userlevel 7
Badge +17

Have you tried configuring the Move on both AP's?

G
Userlevel 7

Is Sonos Move a $400 paperweight?

No. My Move has worked flawlessly from day 1.

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
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