Answered

So many problems with the Roam!

  • 26 April 2021
  • 99 replies
  • 24570 views
Show first post
This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

99 replies

T

My Roam got splashed by the pool and now it is not functioning. I have four other Sonos products. I am thoroughly dissatisfied with this product.

It’s IP67 rated, so I ‘suspect’ any splashing by the pool is perhaps unlikely to be the issue here.

I would have to agree, it should not have damaged the speaker. The top is now separated, clearly water entered through the top of the speaker. Possibly defective? It’s less than a month old.

Ken_Griffiths

My Roam got splashed by the pool and now it is not functioning. I have four other Sonos products. I am thoroughly dissatisfied with this product.

It’s IP67 rated, so I ‘suspect’ any splashing by the pool is perhaps unlikely to be the issue here.

I would have to agree, it should not have damaged the speaker. The top is now separated, clearly water entered through the top of the speaker. Possibly defective? It’s less than a month old.

I guess if you have a faulty device that had an ingress of water, you should contact Sonos Support, but this is what should actually happen with the device:

My Suggestion though would be to perhaps use the Qi charger method after it gets this wet, until it has dried out.

T

My Roam got splashed by the pool and now it is not functioning. I have four other Sonos products. I am thoroughly dissatisfied with this product.

It’s IP67 rated, so I ‘suspect’ any splashing by the pool is perhaps unlikely to be the issue here.

I would have to agree, it should not have damaged the speaker. The top is now separated, clearly water entered through the top of the speaker. Possibly defective? It’s less than a month old.

I guess if you have a faulty device that had an ingress of water, you should contact Sonos Support, but this is what should actually happen with the device:

My Suggestion though would be to perhaps use the Qi charger method after it gets this wet, until it has dried out.

Agreed. I don’t use the cord.The video is definitely the reason I felt comfortable having a $250 speaker next to my pool.

Ken_Griffiths

@Thokramer 
Maybe post an image of the mentioned water damage to your Roam device here for the Support Staff to see when you contact them.

T

Over the last two years I have purchased many Sonos products for myself Family and friends. I love all the speakers and have had the odd glitch from time to time. But two months ago I bought a Roam. For the first 4 weeks it worked fine, but after that I had nothing but problems with it. The unit would not power up it just died even though it was charged. The app couldnt find it Every time I wanted to use it I had to phone customer care and they would do something their end and it would spring to life. But the next time I tried to use it it was dead and no matter what I tried nothing would work. I could not reset it myself as it would not switch on. My wifi system works perfectly for everything else but this Roam seems to have a mind of its own. If anyone in the UK has ever had to return a product to Sonos you will know what a faff it is. Posting an item to Poland and then getting a replacement from Holland. I have now decided to give up on the Roam it simply is not up to scratch which is a shame as my other Sonos products are great

Ken_Griffiths

Over the last two years I have purchased many Sonos products for myself Family and friends. I love all the speakers and have had the odd glitch from time to time. But two months ago I bought a Roam. For the first 4 weeks it worked fine, but after that I had nothing but problems with it. The unit would not power up it just died even though it was charged. The app couldnt find it Every time I wanted to use it I had to phone customer care and they would do something their end and it would spring to life. But the next time I tried to use it it was dead and no matter what I tried nothing would work. I could not reset it myself as it would not switch on. My wifi system works perfectly for everything else but this Roam seems to have a mind of its own. If anyone in the UK has ever had to return a product to Sonos you will know what a faff it is. Posting an item to Poland and then getting a replacement from Holland. I have now decided to give up on the Roam it simply is not up to scratch which is a shame as my other Sonos products are great

You haven’t mentioned which charger you were using - I am in the U.K. and got my Roams from Poland too. I use two different chargers - the Sonos supplied Qi charger (used for overnight charging mostly) and also a 5v/3A (15w) power output USB-C charger for quick charging during the day and when away from the Home and the Roams are both working fine here.

I’m just wondering if it’s perhaps an issue with your charger, rather than the speaker. I only mention it to assist, because you might otherwise end up replacing the Roam and still having the same problem. 

T

Hi Thanks for your reply. I did think it was a charger problem. So on one occasion while speaking to a Sonos technician He recommended a particular charger that I should buy So i spent a further £14.99 and alas the new charger did not sort the problem. But to be honest I am not too bothered it is just that I expected this new roam to be as good as the rest of my system. But thanks again for your help.

Ken_Griffiths

Hi Thanks for your reply. I did think it was a charger problem. So on one occasion while speaking to a Sonos technician He recommended a particular charger that I should buy So i spent a further £14.99 and alas the new charger did not sort the problem. But to be honest I am not too bothered it is just that I expected this new roam to be as good as the rest of my system. But thanks again for your help.

I’m surprised the technician didn’t just recommend the Sonos charger to you, as it can be used both as a Qi charger or a USB-C charger. It has a 5v/2.1A (10.5w) power output and works well with the Roam.

Ken_Griffiths

If your other Sonos speakers work fine, it is not your system that is at fault, it is their product.  

The above statement is not entirely accurate, as the ‘other’ Sonos Speakers could (just as an example here) be running on their SonosNet signal - whereas a portable device, like the Roam, does not use the SonosNet mesh, for obvious reasons, and so if you were to add it to say a UniFi WiFi network in your home with multicasting switched off, then it’s likely not going to work correctly with your ‘other’ existing products. That’s just one of probably many reasons why Roam (or numerous other devices for that matter) may not play nicely together. These things though are usually fairly easy to fix, but no point exchanging a product, as you just end up in the same predicament. The answer is usually to sort the local network environment in most cases.

K
Badge +1

Hi @hanajohnson878,

 

I can assure you that the issues you mentioned are not common, nor should they be expected. I’ve asked that your open case with our support team get escalated to a senior agent. You should receive a response from them in the next day or so.

As you can see from the thread, and personal experience, these issues ARE common. And continue to be. 

D

Thank you. Much appreciated.

F

I completely gave up with all the troubleshooting and factory re-setting required of this expensive item.  I just sent mine back to SONOS.  Bought it direct less than a month ago.  I understand there was a bad batch of these shipped out.  After I receive my refund I MAY consider trying again.  When it worked it was great, but that isn’t good enough.  It should always work.

B

Same issues with a new Roam. Prior one works great. This one won’t stay connected to Wifi and requires constant resets. Doesn’t seem to charge properly on 220 or with a 100 adapter (I bought it in the EU).  I have re-booted, updated, re-connected etc. to no avail. Been waiting for a chat agent but no responds here in France. 

Ken_Griffiths

Same issues with a new Roam. Prior one works great. This one won’t stay connected to Wifi and requires constant resets. Doesn’t seem to charge properly on 220 or with a 100 adapter (I bought it in the EU).  I have re-booted, updated, re-connected etc. to no avail. Been waiting for a chat agent but no responds here in France. 

Are you able to try it on a different WiFi band? If you have the 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz bands broadcasting different SSID’s on your router, then perhaps switch the Roam to the ‘other’ band and see if that resolves your issue.

Ken_Griffiths

I completely gave up with all the troubleshooting and factory re-setting required of this expensive item.  I just sent mine back to SONOS.  Bought it direct less than a month ago.  I understand there was a bad batch of these shipped out.  After I receive my refund I MAY consider trying again.  When it worked it was great, but that isn’t good enough.  It should always work.

Which Roam did you have and send back? Only your online profile mentions you have/had both a Roam and a Roam-SL. It’s quite unusual to encounter two ‘different’ faulty Sonos products, or is one of them still working okay for you?

Ken_Griffiths

Good luck getting Sonos to replace anything after the 1 year.  2 Roam units both with major issues playing continously, dropping out, charging, connecting.. you name it.  They are both bricks now after the suggested reset due to charging issues.  400$ worth of equipment rendered useless due to poor design of battery charging system.  Next up is a laywer.. Yes, I may spend a few thousand dollars but it will be worth it to expose Sonos and the lack of support for the roam.   The roam is Junk and Sonos knows it.

The few Roam battery issues I’ve personally seen reported online are because some folk either use under-powered 5w (5v x 1A) phone chargers, or their chargers are not PD certified and have a 5V x 3A capability and if the voltage fluctuates above the 5v, then my understanding, from reading about the PD spec. is there is a possibility of damage to the device.

Some people it seems  have managed to recover their devices through the power-reset option you mentioned and by using a certified charger, but it seems some have unfortunately damaged their devices, perhaps beyond repair.

12 months manufacturers warranty is probably about average for such a small portable products, but there are extended warranty options available online for those that wish to extend that period. Some offers online are quite cheap too - I just covered a 32” Kitchen TV for 4 years for less than £30, which is a bargain, I think, and it helps to provide some peace of mind if it ever breaks down in that period.

You might have been better looking into that option of taking out an extended warranty perhaps, rather than spending a few thousand dollars on a lawyer now, after the horse has bolted.

Airgetlam

This is the first I’ve seen of a ‘bad batch’. Can you provide more details about you found this out?

Bruce
I

“I can assure you that the issues you mentioned are not common”(??)

I have to say I chuckled when reading this from support. I’m over 3 hours in on support for my Roam, and still not fixed. Connectivity problems, airplay issues, bluetooth issues, delay (25 sec) in playing after pushing play and 5 sec delay when pushing pause. Very poor and confusing UI (one button and one LED), rapid battery drain when unit powered off, and more. Can’t believe the Move was designed by the same co., as it’s as near perfect as one can get these days (sound, UI and connectivity).

I’ve settled for use with my phone only on the road so i can continue listening to SONOS programming while traveling. Won’t use it for anything else despite use with my laptop was main reason for buying it. Bitter taste in mouth on this one, adding to the love/hate relationship with SONOS.

J

Hi @hanajohnson878,

 

I can assure you that the issues you mentioned are not common, nor should they be expected. I’ve asked that your open case with our support team get escalated to a senior agent. You should receive a response from them in the next day or so.

What makes you say this is not common?  It is also happening with my Roam - it has been nothing but problems.  I am calling support on Monday (they are closed over the weekend) and am assuming I am going to have to return it.  Very frustrating.  

W

I experienced the same thing when I got mine, fixed the problem in a few minutes. The Roam doesn’t seem to  like if you have more than one network available to it. I connected if first through Spotify on Bluetooth to make sure it worked out of network, and then I removed the 2nd network i had available for it,  haven’t had any problems since. Plays all the time, doesn’t log itself out, works fine.

James L.
Badge +17

I have the EXACT same issues! The Roam have been pretty much unusable. I have been waiting for updates to solve the issues but none of the updates have fixed the problems. I need to do a hard reset (power button for ~13s) every single time i wan't to use it. Then it makes scratching noises, the buttons stop working constantly, the sound get all weird from time to time.

 @James L. Can you please help me resolve my issue? How should i proceed?

Hi @johonathan,

 

I would highly suggest getting in touch with our support team for this. There’s limited troubleshooting we can do here on the community and I think you’d definitely benefit from working live with a support agent.

Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.
M

We received our Roam last week and have had endless problems with it, which haven’t been solved by Sonos Customer Services.

Initially, it wouldn’t connect to our existing Sonos system at all. Then when it did, the speaker didn’t work properly - it was really tinny with no bass, and when we tried to change the volume there was an awful scratching noise.

We eventually managed to play music normally - but the it cuts out every 3-5 minutes!! On the Sonos app it still says music is playing, and the buttons on the Roam don’t work.

This happens whether it’s on Bluetooth or wifi. Other problems include not being able to turn it off, and the buttons sporadically not working at all.

We spent 45 minutes on hold to CS, and then 2.5 hours chatting with a very nice but ultimately unhelpful technician who remote-accessed our router settings and tried everything he could to get it working. This resulted in us having no internet…. because he changed our router to modem mode, which meant nothing else connected to the router worked! He then told us to call our ISP - even though it’s clearly a problem with the Roam and not our wifi network.

We’ve had no problems with our other Sonos speakers. But although I am loathe to call CS again but I’m going to have to to return this obviously faulty item. Sort it out Sonos!

Are these common problems or is it just us? How do you get Sonos to acknowledge that something is faulty?

I am having the worst time as well. Guess I need to return it. Hours with cs. Brand new out of box two days ago. Charged up. No matter what I do I cannot get it to connect even though it shows up in the app. I've tried everything. Have 7 other Sonos products with no trouble. Roam is definitely a dud. 

J

I have the EXACT same issues! The Roam have been pretty much unusable. I have been waiting for updates to solve the issues but none of the updates have fixed the problems. I need to do a hard reset (power button for ~13s) every single time i wan't to use it. Then it makes scratching noises, the buttons stop working constantly, the sound get all weird from time to time.

 @James L. Can you please help me resolve my issue? How should i proceed?

Hi @johonathan,

 

I would highly suggest getting in touch with our support team for this. There’s limited troubleshooting we can do here on the community and I think you’d definitely benefit from working live with a support agent.

Ok thanks!

Airgetlam

Your sample size is one, or those posting in this thread, a handful.  James L. likely has knowledge as to how many of these devices have been sold, and can extrapolate from that number that your particular issue is not common. That doesn’t by any means suggest your issue doesn’t exist, but more so that it’s not occurring with most other users of the Roam, a group that includes as me. 

Bruce
Terms & ConditionsCookie settings