SONOS Move Remembers Old Network After Factory Reset

  • 30 May 2023
  • 8 replies
  • 401 views
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The problem is my Move remembers an old WiFi network and attempts to reconnect to it despite having a factory reset done.  Is there a way to ABSOLUTELY wipe everything out of the Move?  The “factory reset” really isn’t.

Here are the details:

I have a SONOS Arc, Sub, Amp, Move, and a couple of wall mounted speakers.  The Arc, Sub, and Amp are all connected through Ethernet.  The Move is of course wirelessly connected.

I recently had an Asus router fail.  When the router failed, I replaced it with a Unifi Dream Machine SE.  This gave me the ability to create separate virtual networks for family, friends, work, and IoT devices so I could properly isolate networks with IoT devices that phone home to unknown places from the other networks.  Once the new router was up and running, I temporarily connected everything to the the same same network.  This required a factory reset of the Move since the old WiFi network no longer existed.  The app found the Move, and the new WiFi network (We’ll call it WiFi 1) and everything was fine.  Once everything was running, and the wife and kid were happy, I started connecting devices to the proper WiFi networks and VLANS.  The TV, Arc, Sub, and Amp all cooperated in the move, connecting to their new networks without incident.  All of these devices are on a VLAN that is supported by the WiFi 2 network.  I factory reset the Move a second time in order to move it from the WiFi 1 network to the WiFi 2 network.  Each time I do this the app and move connect to the WiFi 1 network.  I have NO OPTION to pick what network I want to join -- it immediately connects to the WiFi 1 network.  This puts the Move on a different network that everything else. 

I know for a fact that the Move is holding the old WiFi 1 network information after the factory reset, because I disabled the WiFi 1 network and tried a factory reset on the Move.  With the WiFi 1 network disabled, the Move properly prompted me to select a network, I chose the WiFi 2 network, entered the password, and it connected.  Everything was back to normal.  I could sync the Arc and the Move, play music individually to each system, etc.  UNTIL, I re-enabled the WiFi 1 network.  As soon as I did, the Move reconnected to the WiFi 1 network!  Why, oh why????  That network was supposed to be overwritten and forgotten.

I love the SONOS gear.  I use it daily.  I am very eager to get the Move working again.  Any insight anyone can give is greatly appreciated!

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8 replies

Airgetlam

If the Move is part of the system that includes your other speakers, it will ‘inherit’ all the settings stored on them. To remove that network, you need to use the controller, and clear it from the network settings there. That will clear that ‘remembered’ network from all speakers, and subsequently from the Move. 

Bruce
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Thanks Bruce.  I don’t quite understand, and I probably wasn’t clear about the “wall speakers.”  Everything with the exception of the Move is wired to the network -- the Arc, the Sub, the Amp, and the speakers on the wall are wired to the Amp, they are not wireless.  The ONLY wireless SONOS device is the Move.  

The wired devices are on the correct network.  The Move is on a different network and just will not forget the it’s current network after a factory reset.  It immediately connects to the old network after a factory reset. 

I have deleted all wireless networks in the SONOS app network settings with the exception of the one I would like for the Move to connect with.  Is there another place I should be doing it?  I know my way around a network pretty well, but this SONOS move has be stumped.

Thanks for your patience with me and your help.  I do appreciate it.

Airgetlam

If you’ve deleted the ‘old’ network from the controller, than that data should be deleted from the other speakers, too, and no longer being transmitted to the Move.

For conceptual purposes, think of the Sonos system as a monolithic system that resides equally on all speakers. It’s not quite 100%, but it helps sometimes to think of it as one giant piece of software, not disparate pieces that are just running on one device. And certainly never thing of the controller app as the ‘brains’, it is just a window into the data running on the speakers, very little data is stored there.

However, it sounds like one (or more) of the devices isn’t letting go’ of the old data, and is consequently sharing it back to all of the other speakers. 

I’d be tempted to power cycle all of the speakers, and then double check the network settings in the controller, and finally power cycling the Move, but that may be more effort than you’re initially willing to invest. 

The only other solution I could recommend is a cal tol 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.

Bruce
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Bruce, thanks again for your kind and helpful response.  

Today, for some unknown reason, when I returned home from work and started working on this again, I found the Move was on the correct network!  I am completely bumfuzzled.  As far as I know it was not touched by anyone in the house.  I have no explanation whatsoever.  Hopefully it will stay this way, but who knows??!!  Whatever gremlin that was in there is gone for now...

Again, thank you.

Airgetlam

It’s damn magic ;)

Glad it’s working…this is why I never trained to be a network engineer!

Bruce
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Still working!  Hey, is that MacLaren tartan on your avatar?

Airgetlam

Close…Ferguson, or, perhaps Fergusson, depending on how precious you are :)

Bruce
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Ha!  I am involved in a youth program that uses MacLaren tartan in one of it’s programs.  When I see it, it is usually a dead giveaway that someone is part of that program.  I wondered if you were part of it.

 

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