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Sonos Roam, a very unreliable product

  • 12 December 2022
  • 61 replies
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Hi again comunity, I hope you can help me out 

I made a previous post about the behavior of my Sonos Roam and things where improved, but unfortunately, My Sonos Roam now became so unreliable and so unstable again, since I installed the 14.19 update. The music keeps cutting out using Bluetooth and Airplay, and now after reinstalling 14.19 update  the Bluetooth control is not working properly: When my Roam is in Bluetooth mode, I can’t disconnect it using the back button, it gets stuck in the solid Blue light and keeps paired with my iPhone, so, I have to go to my phone and disconnect it manually. 

Factory reset didn’t work, and here in Mexico Tech support is so unhelpful, it’s a hustle to get an efective solution because 1. They keep telling me that I’m not pressing correctly the button and it’s Wireless interference, Really? First of all, I perfectly know how to pair it and disconnect it from Bluetooth, Well,  I made a Speed test and the page tells me that I have 220.37 Mbps, it sounds really Good, all other devices don’t have any type of Wifi issue, neither my iPhone 11, neither my iPad Pro, Neither my brother’s xBox Series X and neither an Alexa 4th gen that I have in my secundary dining room, and about the Bluetooth, I don’t have any issues with other speakers using the same phone, so it’s not my Internet, it’s not my iPhone,  it’s not Wireless interference, and it shouldn’t be that unstable.

     2. I sent a video to the tech support about the Bluetooth control issue and they want to replace the unit, that’s fine, but the problem is that here in Mexico there is a Sonos provider called Biastara, but they don’t answer the Emails, Sonos tech support keeps insisting me to get in touch with them to get this sorted out, but they don’t answer any Email and I can’t wait more time with a broken Sonos Roam just because a Firmware update ruined again the device, resulting in an unreliable product, at least for me.

 Is someone else facing the same issue with your Roams? I don’t want to return it because I love the sound, but it’s unreliability and unstability is dissapointing me so much.   Any help is appreciated.

Thank you and kind regards.

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Best answer by Jamie A 22 December 2022, 11:44

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61 replies

I’m not the world’s greatest fan of that power button. 

I never assume [...], but I play the percentages and network issues is by far the big percentage. I go after the 95%+ before the 0.5% possibilities.

With respect to your Bluetooth connection issues, maybe Idle Auto-Disconnect will help.

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Would you tell me the true? I don’t want anything like… Oh, let’s see if it works, no. I want real and efective sollutions that really work, and as I said before, Sonos speakers aren’t any cheap to have this types of issues. What a shame Sonos

Would you tell me the true? I don’t want anything like… Oh, let’s see if it works, no. I want real and efective sollutions that really work, and as I said before, Sonos speakers aren’t any cheap to have this types of issues. What a shame Sonos

 

Just submit a freaking diagnostic and post the reference number here.  Support will look at it and make suggestions.  Here is how to submit a diagnostic:

https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/submit-diagnostics

And no you do not need to be present for them to look at the data.  You can get back to them at your leisure.  Now, if we don’t see that reference number in an hour or so, we know you have no intentions of trying to fix your Roam.

As I predicted . . .

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Yesterday my Roam was playing music without issue with Airplay so it’s clearly a network problem, but you can’t blame me  as a user when the network is the source of all these problems, I have some videos of the Roam playing music so I have a collection of  all the evidence I can take showing different    behaviors of this little baby, I mean, the Roam. Let’s see how it keeps behaving   

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@buzz You better be respectful, This vocabulary isn’t tolerated jgatie

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Sorry Buzz 

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Yesterday my Roam was playing music without issue with Airplay so it’s clearly a network problem, but you can’t blame me  as a user when the network is the source of all these problems,


You refused to take advice from more experienced users, and refused to even consider the possibility of your network being the problem. Nor would you even try what was being suggested in order to resolve the problem. Are you surprised folk found your posts and your attitude to be frustrating? 
 

Hopefully now you can move forwards, implement what’s been suggested, resolve the problem, and enjoy your system like many others do. 

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Diagnostic number:  2 1 1 9 8 7 4 9 5 8

Problem: Music breaflly cutting out using Airplay

Userlevel 7
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Hi @Manu84,

Using the number above, I’ve had a look into the diagnostics you’ve sent over. That diagnostics is controller only, and doesn’t show any speakers connected, while there is another diagnostics on your account that shows only the Roam with no controller connection.

The Roam and iPhone seem to be connecting to different parts of the network, I can see in the diagnostics there are two access points (BSSIDs) on the network. These are TP-Link devices, but we don’t have the full network topology, so I can’t say exactly what’s causing the issue, or if it’s this to begin with.

However, this may be the cause of Airplay cutting in and out, with your devices connecting to different parts of your home network as your move them around.

In this case, I’d suggest reaching out to our support team as they have the tools necessary to help you troubleshoot and resolve the issue.

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Thanks a lot for looking into the diagnostic, I’ll try to replicate these issues and reach out to the customer support team as soon as anything happens  

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Well… It might be a network problem, it might not, but I’m considering to return my Roam because it seems that is a product that isn’t fulfilling it’s only purpose, listening to music without any interruptions and work accurately with voice assistants.
I worked with Sonos support, they didn’t helped me at all,  yesterday I updated the unit, figured out that the Bluetooth pairing is not working anymore, and AirPlay keeps cutting out. 
It’s a shame that an  almost $250 good sounding speaker can’t work fine and stable just because I live with many neighbors around that are interfearing with the propper functioning of a single device when all other devices in my network work absolutely fine, and yes, I’ve replaced it twice now. 
Excuse me so much, but this is so Unrreliable     

@Manu84,

You sent me a private message. Note that I’m not a SONOS employee and I don’t have access to the diagnostics. It’s more helpful for everyone if I reply here.

While we cannot rule out hardware issues with ROAM or its charger, the most likely cause of your problems is network issues. SONOS requires more a more robust network than simple phone/pad/computer access to the Internet.

I suggest that you do whatever is necessary to have the ROAM(s) visible in a SONOS controller then post a diagnostic here. Immediately after experiencing an issue post another diagnostic here. SONOS staff has access to the diagnostics. After it has been proven that you are not experiencing network issues, other causes can be explored. I know that you are certain that your network is solid, but at least 95% of your sort of issues discussed here are actually network related. I’m only suggesting that we play the percentages. It makes little sense to chase after 0.5% possibilities before considering the 95% probability.

If ROAM has been off its charger for an extended period, it may need a different kind of reset. Place ROAM on it’s charger for an hour or more. It may not seem to respond, but keep it on the charger anyway. Now, remove ROAM from the charger, press and hold the power button for at least 15 seconds. Make sure to keep it pressed continuously. If you briefly slip off the button, start the 15 seconds again. This is not a Factory Reset and none of ROAM’s data will be deleted. After the 15 seconds, place ROAM back on its charger and let it continue to charge. I’d recommend continuing the charge to 100%. After ROAM reaches a minimum charge level it will start and you can use ROAM while it continues to charge. Make sure that your charger meets these requirements.

It would be helpful if you describe your network for us. Which router are you using? Model number? Network switches? WiFI boosters or mesh points? 

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buzz 

Thanks a lot for your kind and detailed reply. Yes, I spoke to Sonos Support, and said that I have my Roam connected to different networks. I don’t know how this is possible if there’s only one SSID registered in my Sonos app, even if all other devices seem fine. 
They advised me to contact my Internet provider so they can split the 2.4 and 5ghz band to supposedly reduce wireless interference, but:

  1. I live with 5 family members at home, and everyone use the network at home. 
    2. I’m not who manages the network at home, so I don’t know how to call my provider, and I don’t even know if my family is willing to change my network just to troubleshoot a single speaker just because it has connectivity issues. 
    3: My home is big, but it’s made with concrete walls and I live with neighbors beside my house, so the wireless interference is present for sure, how does it affects only my Roam and not the rest of my devices in my network? I don’t know, but I want something that works stable, reliable, and entirely errors free. 
               

You sent another private message. I’m sorry that you are experiencing network problems. Unfortunately, you have not included enough details for anyone to understand your problem and offer advice. You may have some success if you bring your SONOS controller within a few feet of ROAM and briefly switch the phone into Airplane mode.

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At home apparently we have 3 network devices, in the TV room we have  the modem that is a squared device with 2 antennas, a TPLink device, it’s circular Shape with a blue LED on the top  I think it’s the Access Point, and an other repeater upstairs away from the TV room, and according to Sonos Support my Roam is connected to different bands even if I have only one SSID registered in the Sonos app, ¿why? I don’t know. I just know that it’s driving me crazy; we have an Alexa 4th gen speaker in the main living room and that one works without any issue, so I, still, struggle to believe that is a network issue, and at home no one knows how to set up my network, not even for Sonos; So,  sadly, I think  I’ll have to return the speaker and get a reliable one                

Give model numbers for the modem and TPLink device. What else is on your network?

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Still very unrreliable using Apple Music. Sonos, fix your crappy S2 app, it sucks 

Userlevel 7
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Still very unrreliable using Apple Music. Sonos, fix your crappy S2 app, it sucks 

I thought you said in another post that you were working with Sonos support to check your system and environment, @Manu84. How is that going, or are you still refusing to even try changing anything about your network and just moan? Check your last post here: 

 

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@Manu84 has been trolling this community for quite a while now. Ignore him.

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@Manu84 has been trolling this community for quite a while now. Ignore him. 
Surely you came here to insult, you go away! You’re upsetting me. Don’t you even say that I’m a troll, seriously.  What a disrespectful way of providing any help 

 

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I’m so upset with your rude attitude and unwillingness to provide me any help. You go away and leave me alone, I’ll get Tech Support to help me somehow or throw my Roam into the trash if I can’t get it to work reliably. 
Thanks for not helping me at all, seriously. 
Gracias por no ayudarme en nada   

Promises, promises. One of these days @Manu84 is going to actually follow through on them, but I can’t say I see that day coming anytime soon. 

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You ask for help, @Manu84. You've now had 3 Roams and had the same problems with all of them. Surely even you should now consider the possibility that your network or your environment might be the problem.  You ask for help on these forums, and then refuse to even try any changes to your network. You say you’ll work with Sonos tech folk, but then you won’t. Instead, you post again that your speakers don’t work.
Are you really surprised there are so many people calling you a troll, or fed up with you complaining but never following the advice offered, to try to identify and fix your issues? Or maybe this has become your new hobby, posting on here? It’s been going on for over 10 months, without you doing anything to try to resolve it. Please: try to fix it, or throw it away as you keep promising.  

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nik9669a 

Wrote

:

 

Are you really surprised there are so many people calling you a troll, or fed up with you complaining but never following the advice offered, to try to identify and fix your issues? Or maybe this has become your new hobby, posting on here?

I’m desperate, the Tech support is a nightmare, the chats take too long to start and the wait time is ridiculously long, they’re asking me the models of my router, and I don’t know where is the printed code to enter the settings. 
Now, I lost the charger, and I think it’s out of warranty, so I can’t return it nor sale it