Follow-up and something of a workaround: 

I called support and I could not get the problem to occur while they were ready to troubleshoot.
Next day, it was back to skipping again  .

It continues to misbehave and I will send it back when I find the time.

For now, I have a clunky workaround that may help.
 

• Turn on the Roam
• Connect (via Sonos app or otherwise)
• Play audio through the Roam
• When it starts to skip, press the Play/Pause button on the Roam
  • Press close to the time the “skip” sound occurs
  • If you hear a bit of your audio play, press play/pause button again about the time it skips
  • Repeat, listening to “good” audio till the next skip and then press the button again
• Basically, continue to do this and eventually, audio will just play normally.
• Once it plays for at least 5 seconds, until the speaker goes to sleep or is turned off, it will work perfectly

NOTE:  I have not been able to determine one set of repeatable steps, but I can consistently get the Roam working if I take up to 20 seconds doing the above steps.

I still need to send it back, but I am just too busy to go through the support process right now.  I’ll report back if I figure out anything better, but I’m hoping this might help some other poor soul.

I’m glad I have tons of other Sonos hardware or I’d think badly of it going off the Roam experience.  I feel like they should have a recall or something as they must know what is causing this.

Hi

I have exactly the same intermittent problem on wifi.  I can get bluetooth working fine.  So this isn’t an isolated issue.

However, once I have got it working on wifi it doesn’t drop out.  Its like it needs a little time to settle and connect to the network.

Having got it working on bluetooth, I disconnected the BT and forgot the device as suggested.  I was then able to connect spotify directly to the Roam on wifi.  wierd.

Just an update from me on this topic. I returned the Roam to Best Buy and swapped for another Sonos One.

Sonos Technical support ran diagnostics on my system twice and made the claim that it was my router’s issue. As I had stated to the rep, the Roam was not the only product I had (as they confirmed by pulling the information of my system). They suggested moving the Roam and that it was in a location with a weak signal. I eventually became frustrated and returned the Roam.

I purchased a Generation 2 Sonos One and place it in the same soot as the Roam, in our kitchen. Works beautifully and we just recently added two new connected washer and dryers and dishwasher to our home network. My theory is that there are Roams out there with a terrible WiFi and Bluetooth antenna. Sad, because I was really looking forward to the portability of the Roam. for a portable speaker, I may settle on a UE Boom. 
 

There’s quite a lack of information in the comparison of the two Sonos products and their wireless connection to your network..

What WiFi band was the Roam using and what band is the Sonos One now using? - were they the same type of wireless connection to the router?

Are the devices using the same wireless channels and channel-width (you do not mention what they were?) …or… are the router channels perhaps set to ‘auto-select’?

Not to mention the potential influence from possible neighbouring channels.

If the router auto-selects it’s WiFi channels for each band, then you may just have a case here where you are perhaps simply comparing ‘Apples’ to ‘Pears’, and that’s without even actually altering anything yourself. You may have a case of auto-WiFi connections, which maybe entirely different from each other.

To be fair, I didn’t think I needed to be overly complete in recounting my problems!
 

However;

When Sonos Tech support ran their diagnostics, they suggested to dedicate my Sonos system speakers to WiFi channel 1, 6 or 11 and said that all off their products “typically” work best when on these channels. I tried setting the Roam to one of these channels and it did not resolve the issue. It was then suggested that I had too many connected devices (currently 34) on my netowork and that I may experience better operation when there was less network traffic. Still did not work, regardless of time of day or my disconnection of devices on the wireless network to test. 

Support later suggested that maybe my WiFi issues came from my network being on a similar WiFI channel as my neighbors - causing congestion and pushing the newer Roam on my network to the back of the priority line to connect. So, I did a WiFi scan and selected a less congested channel on my router. I also tried setting the priority high on the Roam in my router settings. Still, the Roam did not work.

The last attempt, Sonos tech support accessed my system online and said they did a reset on their end. The Roam started to work and stream music, but then after about 30minutes of straight running, the audio would cut-off and I could hear a popping sound of the audio coming on and off. There Roam would then no longer connect.  Sort of like a stuttering in audio. Bluetooth, still never worked correctly and with respect to Bluetooth and I was then told to disable all Bluetooth devices connected to my iPhone to try streaming, but that did not work. 

I tried moving the Roam closer to the router antennas, changing channels to the suggested ones that Sonos products best operate on. Nothing worked and so I decided to return it before my store’s return policy expired. 
 

Currently, my Sonos system is now dedicated all speakers to channel 1 (now six) comprised of Gen1 Play:1s and Gen1 and Gen2 Play One speakers. Same ASUS Router Mesh network comprised of an RT-AX88U and RT-AC66U. Some have suggested an issue with ASUS routers in general, but I keep the firmware up to date and never had problems until I tried to connect the Roam.

I may have received a lemon, but it gave me a poor impression that I don’t want to even consider the new RoamSL. 

@RBuchetto,

You mention you set the Roam’s priority in your router to high - is that through Airtime Fairness or QOS?

Did you also do that prioritisation with your new Sonos One gen2 aswell?

Also are any of your current Sonos products wired directly, or indirectly, to the main router, particularly  as you are currently using an Asus mesh system for your WiFi network?

Ken,

all existing sonos speakers are wireless and dispersed across the home (kitchen, living, dining, family room, bedrooms). The home is two levels. 
 

ASUS AI mesh is setup such that AX88U is the primary switch that is wired directly to the cable modem. The AC88U is setup as a wireless repeater and place on the other end of the home to expand coverage of the WiFi. As an example or WiFi signal strength, I can remain connected to my system, two homes down the road. 
 

Regarding the Roam’s priority under the Router’s QoS settings. I also tried giving streaming services QoS priority as well as bound the Roam to the network so that it wasn’t prone to roaming between the main router and the repeater node. Airtime Fairness is turned on by default with the ASUS Routers, so I leave it alone.

Regarding the existing Play:1 and One speakers, none of them are bound to the network or have any higher priority over other devices in the network. 
 

Ultimately I just flat out gave up, as Sonos Tech offered no further solutions and wouldn’t really get deeper into the operation of my wireless network. I spent a lot of time on this and even searched solutions through the SNBForums. 

I also want to point out the the Roam never wanted to group with any of the other wireless Sonos speakers on the system. 
 

However Ken, I really do appreciate all of the time you’ve invested in reviewing this issue with me and offering feedback. You’ve gone above and beyond the level of service that I experienced from Sono’s dedicated support team. Cheers to you!  

@RBuchetto,

It is likely the case that changing default router/network settings are perhaps beyond the remit of Sonos Support and I guess we can all understand that.

I think it’s the case for the Roam to have likely worked on your network that it would have required such router changes/configuration, not least I would personally have suggested disabling QOS & Airtime Fairness on the Router, putting all your Asus WiFi AP’s to run on the same channels/channel-width and set the non-portable Sonos products to only run on SonosNet.

My choice would also have been to put the Roam to run on the 5Ghz band only.. and those things are probably a step beyond what Sonos Support are there to do, which is provide support for their own products only, rather changing settings elsewhere across the LAN. 

If I look around the various threads in the community here, I also see that the Asus Router firmware may cause issues from time to time in regards to SSDP multicast discovery issues too and I guess that may also add to the woes seen aswell. So I guess it’s maybe best to leave things as they stand for the time being and fingers-x’dthat things continue to work okay for you with the non-portable Sonos devices.

Agree that this is all beyond Sono’s scope of support. I had asked if the Roam could be on 5g and I was told that it currently only supported 2.4g.

Fingers crossed that things continue to work. My Sonos system has been up and running for 7 years so far, which is why the Roam had me completely annoyed!