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So many problems with the Roam!

  • 26 April 2021
  • 99 replies
  • 24508 views

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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?

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Best answer by James L. 27 April 2021, 12:01

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99 replies

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.

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.

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 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?

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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.

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!

I am having problems with the Roam and getting it to connect to my network.

Very frustrating, I have not had so many problems with other Sonos products

Same. What a mess. Just wanted a good quality Bluetooth speaker. Always a hassle to get connected and usually give up. 

I’m having issues too, first roam went offline, got it back on somehow. This time it started a loud static noise that we couldn’t stop using any of the buttons on the speaker. Now it’s offline again! Nothings working. Very dissatisfied with it. Now what?

Call Sonos Support directly to discuss it.

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 Sonos system and network.

 

Similar story. I purchased two Roam units to add to my existing Sonos (generation 2) ecosystem.

First one is flawless, the second one has issues:

  1. Goes to orange-white status whenever stereo paired to the other Roam. It does not matter which is the primary one to initiate stereo pair.
  2. Audio cuts out and there is a periodic (scratching?) sound. App thinks everything is fine.

I’ve tried numerous things:

  • Reboot
  • Reset
  • Use iOS device for setup
  • Turn off WiFi when resetting
  • Remove units as BT devices from phone

I tried Sonos chat last night and went through all the questions and the bot finally said no agents are available. I will call support at 10 AM when they open today.

 

A potential root cause: When the second Roam was going through the initial software update, I switched to another app on my Android device. It did complete and I did not think much of it, but I do not have any other leads other than a hardware fault with the second one.

I wish there was a way to get the device to actual factory setting with the original software, downgrade the software, or reinstall the software. But it appears the software update overwrites the firmware and there is no downgrade/reinstall procedure.

@rsivarajan,

As you have unusual LED lights showing compared to your ‘other’ perfectly working Roam and have tried the various resets etc. Have you submitted a diagnostic report, made a note of its reference and spoken to Sonos Support - if not, you can contact them via this LINK to see if they can suggest anything further for you to try.

@rsivarajan,

As you have unusual LED lights showing compared to your ‘other’ perfectly working Roam and have tried the various resets etc. Have you submitted a diagnostic report, made a note of its reference and spoken to Sonos Support - if not, you can contact them via this LINK to see if they can suggest anything further for you to try.

 

Thanks, Ken.

Yes, I just spoke with Sonos support and they will send a new unit. My theory of a fault during the firmware upgrade was wrong and there is indeed a hardware issue. The CSR was able to confirm the issue when I initiated a stereo pairing and the second Roam went to the orange-white status state.

Sonos needs to do more testing before shipping these units out. At the least a stereo pairing, though it may be difficult to automate.

 

Thanks, Ken.

Yes, I just spoke with Sonos support and they will send a new unit. My theory of a fault during the firmware upgrade was wrong and there is indeed a hardware issue. The CSR was able to confirm the issue when I initiated a stereo pairing and the second Roam went to the orange-white status state.

Sonos needs to do more testing before shipping these units out. At the least a stereo pairing, though it may be difficult to automate.

Ah that’s good news @rsivarajan and will save you the bother with troubleshooting things further.

I guess Sonos have been selling many hundreds/thousands of these devices all around the World in the run up to Christmas/Holiday season, so I guess a few devices may run into a few problems and of course that means the customer often then lands here in the Sonos community to complain and that can make the issues feel worse, as rarely do people pop-by these pages to say they’re not having any issues. 

At least Sonos will often quickly diagnose a fault when a diagnostic report is sent to them …and they certainly never quibble to replace a device if something is found to be wrong with it. I still find that to be great service, personally speaking.

Anyhow I hope the new Roam, when it arrives performs well and that this is the end of your troubles…

Happy Holidays & New Year too.👍

I too am having the same issues as everyone else. Bought this as a Christmas present. 

Had to bring it home to work on it. They sent me a replacement. It is doing the same things. They are sending me a third replacement. After reading these comments I doubt the third one will work either and am thinking of just asking for a refund and looking for another brand. Maybe Bose would be better? 

 

Thanks, Ken.

Yes, I just spoke with Sonos support and they will send a new unit. My theory of a fault during the firmware upgrade was wrong and there is indeed a hardware issue. The CSR was able to confirm the issue when I initiated a stereo pairing and the second Roam went to the orange-white status state.

Sonos needs to do more testing before shipping these units out. At the least a stereo pairing, though it may be difficult to automate.

Ah that’s good news @rsivarajan and will save you the bother with troubleshooting things further.

I guess Sonos have been selling many hundreds/thousands of these devices all around the World in the run up to Christmas/Holiday season, so I guess a few devices may run into a few problems and of course that means the customer often then lands here in the Sonos community to complain and that can make the issues feel worse, as rarely do people pop-by these pages to say they’re not having any issues. 

At least Sonos will often quickly diagnose a fault when a diagnostic report is sent to them …and they certainly never quibble to replace a device if something is found to be wrong with it. I still find that to be great service, personally speaking.

Anyhow I hope the new Roam, when it arrives performs well and that this is the end of your troubles…

Happy Holidays & New Year too.👍

 

No doubt.

I think these are awesome speakers, packing a punch with both treble and bass. I had the pair working for an hour or so before the second one went dead and was amazed at the stereo imaging of the two devices. It became even better when the “Auto Trueplay tuning” was enabled.

My only gripe, than one of the two being defective, is that you cannot create a stereo pair over Bluetooth. Hopefully, that will be a feature coming soon with a software update.

Been a huge fan of Sonos until I bought the Roam…..What a disappointment with connectivity…Still cant get it to work…Back to Bose

Been a huge fan of Sonos until I bought the Roam…..What a disappointment with connectivity…Still cant get it to work…Back to Bose

Admittedly, I’m wondering why you would want to return to Bose, because of a Roam connection issue, when you already have these Sonos products (listed below), according to your online profile, which was apparently created today:

  • Sonos Play:1
  • Sonos Play:5 (gen2)
  • Sonos Beam
  • Sonos Sub 
  • Sonos Amp

Surely you would likely be better off resolving the Roam connection issue.

Maybe just contact Sonos Support via this link instead…

https://support.sonos.com/s/contact

You need a lesson in marketing 101 as well as customer service. 
 

The connectivity should be simple. Figure it out.

You need a lesson in marketing 101 as well as customer service. 
 

The connectivity should be simple. Figure it out.

Well I’m retired, but I did ‘figure it out’ …and just to say my 12 year old grandson said ‘it is a simple setup’. He had no problem at all adding the Roam to his Home WiFi… it really sounds like you may just need some help.

Perhaps refer to my earlier post and contact Sonos Support.

I bought mine and used it for a week before returning it today. It is too unreliable while plugged into power. My kitchen is close to my living room and I thought I can use roam to play along with my other sonos speakers. It did for a day, then every-time I come home I have to unplug, turn it on and off for it to work with other speakers.

Did factory reset, did update the driver… multiple times, did try the qi charger, but nothing worked. 

I like my sonos living room setup very much, but roam was a total disappointment :-/

I am having the exact same problems. Again tried CS and still not working. I’ve kinda given up on getting it fixed. Use it when it works and use my other speakers when it doesn’t. 

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.  

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, this thread has about 70 posts complaining of the same problem so it is not a sample size of 1.  I have no idea what James L is basing his conclusion on - he doesn’t say - but my guess is that where there are 70 folks who have gone to the trouble to log in and explain a problem, there are many, many more who haven’t bothered.  I have been experiencing issues with my Roam since I got it but this is the first time I’ve bothered to post, out of sheer frustration.  I will call customer service on Monday and I expect return this product…  

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I consider myself to be someone who can usually cope with current technology. However, my experience with adding Roam to the existing system was unexpectedly bad. What disappointed me even more, however, was the Roam device itself. I constantly had issues with connectivity, charging, non-responsive buttons. This was not the device I wanted in my bathroom for simple music listening, so I returned it after about ten days.