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Sonos Roam keeps disconnecting while playing

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K
Userlevel 7
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Just as an aside to help people troubleshooting.

I have no issues at all with a Move on our TP-LINK Deco S4 Mesh system, works perfectly.

J
Userlevel 2
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I would like to add that once Support agreed to swap my defective unit for a replacement unit, the process was very quick and simple. They quickly sent me a replacement unit that arrived in a few days. They also emailed me a prepaid return postage label and then notified me when they received the defective unit.

Is was a straightforward, quick and easy process. I only wish it was easier to get to that point.

Ken_Griffiths

I have Google Mesh Network and same issue, only turning it on and off works.  Sometimes setting it as a priority device on my network can give it a few more days before it disconnects again.  So frustrating that it’s been over a year and still no fix or workaround.

I seem to recall the Google Mesh System was not popular with Sonos products setup on its WiFi system and there was a recommendation to use ‘wired-mode’ SonosNet - of course that type of connection is not available to the Roam so that’s perhaps why you’ve been having some difficulty. See this thread for further information and note the things mentioned about Google Mesh…

Sonos on WiFi Mesh

Here’s a quick suggestion, if practicable, I would maybe just run the Google Mesh for non-Sonos products using double NAT and maybe run the Sonos setup and a dedicated controller on your ISP provided router WiFi network instead and just see if that perhaps resolves the issues you’ve been experiencing. Hope that suggestion assists.

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J

Thank you both. Hopefully I can get this figured out. So frustrating. 

B

Ken,

Can’t thank you enough for your help in vastly improving my Sonos Roam SL performance. Very rarely cuts out now and it was easy to fix. I really appreciate your help. I was a little intimidated with your instructions on what to do, but it was actually simple once I got on the Sonos app and checked “System.” Once the 5G option was de- selected, the problem was solved.

I take back everything I said about what I thought was a lemon product. It just needed a setting change. 

Thanks,

Beagle Mom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ken_Griffiths

I guess the point here, like, everyone else is trying to say, is that it doesn't happen on my other Sonos products. Ever. So why is it repeatedly on the roam? 

Phone is galaxy 23 ultra. No VPNs, firewalls etc 

Not everyone - The two Roams here are working fine and have done for some years and no issues whilst travelling with them either and using them on different WiFi networks. I can’t recall them ever not connecting and working. So maybe it’s something local or your Roam, Mobile device, software or Network that is at the heart of the issue. Have you contacted Sonos about the matter? If not, then it maybe best to gather some diagnostic information whilst all is connected and after the Roam has an issue and then speak to the Support Staff about the matter. Here is a link to contact them:

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

Hope you can get it sorted.

J
Userlevel 2
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It has been over 24 hours and the troubled Roam has not dropped off of the network.

Hopefully reserving the IP address was the fix I needed.

Ken_Griffiths

Ken, thanks, but I’m not going down that rabbit hole, seriously, and I shouldn’t have to. Nothing else in my Sonos system is (mis)behaving this way, for one. And life is too short, for two. The Roam disconnects whether I have it right next to my brand spanking new MacBook Pro, or right next to the router, which is all of 10 ft away (10 ft of open living room space). It disconnects whether I use the Sonos app on my brand spanking new iPhone, or the Sonos app on my iPad Pro. To put it simply, it disconnects. And to judge by this entire comment stream, I do believe this is a Sonos issue. At any rate, as I say, I’ll await a Sonos fix. Absent that I’ll have to put up with the disconnect issue, as everyone else commenting hereabouts seems to have done.

I think the apt phrase here is ‘you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink’ - I don’t know why you think it’s a rabbit hole - it’s just good basic wireless network administration and the suggestions made, help to provide a robust operating environment, which greatly improves a connection for any such devices that roam (pardon the pun) in and around the Home and will even support the greater demands of TV audio, aswell as music audio. 

Anyhow, I’ve put my suggestions/recommendations on the table here - I do think though if you believe there’s some kind of Sonos fix due that will resolve your connection issues without making such ‘obvious’ local network changes, you perhaps maybe waiting for some time.

Ken_Griffiths

For someone who doesn’t know what the heck you’re talking about with bandwidth, 5Ghz—-it’s about Sonos. All i wanted to do was plug and play my SONOS.  I had no problem with my Bose, JBL speaker and i shouldn’t have to be a tech wiz to fix this problem. Nor do i want to learn- technology is not my forte 

I completely agree and that plug‘n’play is perhaps everyone’s expectation - but there are a vast array of different network setups and devices on the market these days and sometimes not everything may always ‘play nicely’ together and when things perhaps don’t work as they should for the few, then some small adjustments, such as changing a routers WiFi channel are sometimes necessary (as an example).

I’m not talking anything too technical here.  However, if these things are still outside your own knowledge to make such network adjustments and you do not have any friends/colleagues who can assist you, then you can always seek advice from Sonos customer care, or your router manufactures support desk, or even your ISP providers technical support desk. 

As stated earlier, I wouldn’t sit and wait for a fix, as these few (reasonably easy) changes suggested, are more about giving your local network setup a better chance of being more robust and providing the wireless connection with a higher degree of compatibility with a good many wireless network devices …so not just Sonos products.

Ken_Griffiths

@TechBrothaOG,

I see you mentioned Spectrum in your post - if you are using one of their routers, then it might be one that has SSDP ‘multicast’ device-discovery issues. Sonos suggest using ‘wired mode’ (SonosNet) for a number of Spectrum routers, as can perhaps be seen here…

https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/charter-spectrum-sax2v1s-sax2v1r-sax1v1s-compatibility

Obviously if that’s your case then you’re out of luck, as the Roam cannot be wired/does not support SonosNet. You might be better off ‘bridging’ the router (or using it in modem mode) and then using your own purchased router instead.

T

@TechBrothaOG,

I see you mentioned Spectrum in your post -

We’ll see if things get better or not once I replace the Spectrum router with my Eero 6. But given the posts here, on Reddit, and quite frankly … all over the internet …. I’m not particularly hopeful. It really does appear that there is some sort of bug or design flaw in the Roam’s networking stack.  As I mentioned above, I don’t have these issues with my HomePods. And we can’t even chalk that up to Apple hardware working better with Apple software because the Roam exhibits the same issues with both Apple’s app and its own Sonos app. That being said, I do find it to be rock solid as a Bluetooth speaker. I have no issues in that mode whatsoever. So I’ve found that if I want to be able to reliably control it from my iPhone I’ll connect via Bluetooth. But if I want the best sound quality with music playing in the background I’ll connect via Wifi from the Sonos app … which is “sub-optimal” at best compared to the Apple Music app for a variety of reasons … so the music will keep playing at least when it inevitably disconnects from my iPhone. But TBH I’ve found that I can’t recommend the Roam to a potential customer because of this. I paid the premium for it precisely because it’s an Airplay 2 speaker in addition to being a Bluetooth speaker. I should never have to use Bluetooth when I’m at home on my WiFi network. But it’s so unreliable on WiFi that I’m forced to choose between control and sound quality. 

My Wife and I have two Roams that we each use - I have a Plume mesh network here at Home and never see single issue with the Roam. It shows up and is always discovered and I can’t recall a time when it wasn’t. It will play all day everyday.

When we go out & about in the camper van, we connect the Roams to a D-Link dwr-2101 mobile WiFi 6 router and that works well too if we have either a 4G or 5G mobile LTE connection - If no mobile signal, (or we are away from the camper) then we may use Bluetooth in that situation with some limited tracks stored on the iPhone via the Amazon Music App.

The Roams have always worked well here. So I suspect it’s the multicast device discovery issue in your case, or I guess we can’t rule out that you may have a faulty device, but in that case I would have expected the device to have dropped off the network completely, rather than it just not being discovered using the  mobile Sonos controller App. You can always go onto reproduce the discovery issue however, then immediately submit a Sonos system diagnostic report from within the Sonos App, note it’s reference and then contact/chat with Sonos Support via this LINK to discuss the matter in detail and see what the Sonos Staff say about the matter.

So I checked out that Sonos support article and then fired up the Spectrum app to see what kind of router I have. I’ve only had it a few months and it was brand new out of the box. But turns out it is a model SAX2V1S which is listed as being incompatible with Sonos products. The behavior I described above certainly fits what’s mentioned in the support article … 

“Issue

When your Sonos system is in a wireless setup, Sonos products disappear from the Sonos app.”

So thanks so much for the info! This has been driving me nuts and it’s nice to at least have some sort of explanation. When I swap the Spectrum router out for my eero 6 I’ll report back on my experience with the Roam using that mesh router system instead. 

Ken_Griffiths

I’m just going to pile on and say that both Roam and Move are terrible for staying connected and the idea that I need to get in and mess around with my router setting to fix is unacceptable to me.

I love my SONOS but I have zero defence we I hear people talking about how unreliable the software has become.  It sucks. 

The roam needs fixing every time I go to use it. Every time. Same with the Move.  

They’re expensive and they don’t work reliably. 

I’ve owned both those mentioned Sonos products since launch and hand-on-heart I have not had any trouble with either one. They work great in our home, or in the camper van and at the holiday cottage …and that’s three entirely separate WiFi networks, all of which, are added to, and stored on, the speakers and they both switch automatically and connect to each network as we arrive at each location.

So my experience of these two portable speakers is entirely different to yours, but there again, I have no issue with changing router settings, or reconfiguring any part of a managed, or unmanaged, network.

These products after all are computerised wireless network connected products, so having some basic networking knowledge is often helpful, as certainly not every Home router is always configured correctly, or optimally, by default - A configured, working network router, even by default, may change its channels during startup/update and begin to conflict with neighbouring WiFi, or Zigbee channels etc.

Some WiFi band channel-widths can cause interference and IP addresses can conflict - so hoping that these things will work straight out the box everytime, for everyone, is never going to be the case. 

There is a ton of ‘basic’ network configuration mentioned in the various threads here in the community and it’s no more diffucult than changing a plug, but if you’re unwilling to explore these things and change a few settings, then perhaps these network-based speakers are not for you. That said, I can assure you there is nothing wrong with how these speakers work - there are far more issues with some routers, than there are with either of these two portable products.

Ken_Griffiths

Same issue here. Why did it connect without issues 3 months ago and disconnects now every so many minutes? Nothing changed in mu home.

  • Auto-channel-selecting WiFi router?
  • Router firmware update?
  • Neighbouring wireless channel change?
  • Band switching?

…Just ‘four of many’ quick things that might have changed automatically, without you personally changing anything.

T

@TechBrothaOG,

I see you mentioned Spectrum in your post -

We’ll see if things get better or not once I replace the Spectrum router with my Eero 6. But given the posts here, on Reddit, and quite frankly … all over the internet …. I’m not particularly hopeful. It really does appear that there is some sort of bug or design flaw in the Roam’s networking stack.  As I mentioned above, I don’t have these issues with my HomePods. And we can’t even chalk that up to Apple hardware working better with Apple software because the Roam exhibits the same issues with both Apple’s app and its own Sonos app. That being said, I do find it to be rock solid as a Bluetooth speaker. I have no issues in that mode whatsoever. So I’ve found that if I want to be able to reliably control it from my iPhone I’ll connect via Bluetooth. But if I want the best sound quality with music playing in the background I’ll connect via Wifi from the Sonos app … which is “sub-optimal” at best compared to the Apple Music app for a variety of reasons … so the music will keep playing at least when it inevitably disconnects from my iPhone. But TBH I’ve found that I can’t recommend the Roam to a potential customer because of this. I paid the premium for it precisely because it’s an Airplay 2 speaker in addition to being a Bluetooth speaker. I should never have to use Bluetooth when I’m at home on my WiFi network. But it’s so unreliable on WiFi that I’m forced to choose between control and sound quality. 

My Wife and I have two Roams that we each use - I have a Plume mesh network here at Home and never see single issue with the Roam. It shows up and is always discovered and I can’t recall a time when it wasn’t. It will play all day everyday.

When we go out & about in the camper van, we connect the Roams to a D-Link dwr-2101 mobile WiFi 6 router and that works well too if we have either a 4G or 5G mobile LTE connection - If no mobile signal, (or we are away from the camper) then we may use Bluetooth in that situation with some limited tracks stored on the iPhone via the Amazon Music App.

The Roams have always worked well here. So I suspect it’s the multicast device discovery issue in your case, or I guess we can’t rule out that you may have a faulty device, but in that case I would have expected the device to have dropped off the network completely, rather than it just not being discovered using the  mobile Sonos controller App. You can always go onto reproduce the discovery issue however, then immediately submit a Sonos system diagnostic report from within the Sonos App, note it’s reference and then contact/chat with Sonos Support via this LINK to discuss the matter in detail and see what the Sonos Staff say about the matter.

So I checked out that Sonos support article and then fired up the Spectrum app to see what kind of router I have. I’ve only had it a few months and it was brand new out of the box. But turns out it is a model SAX2V1S which is listed as being incompatible with Sonos products. The behavior I described above certainly fits what’s mentioned in the support article … 

“Issue

When your Sonos system is in a wireless setup, Sonos products disappear from the Sonos app.”

So thanks so much for the info! This has been driving me nuts and it’s nice to at least have some sort of explanation. When I swap the Spectrum router out for my eero 6 I’ll report back on my experience with the Roam using that mesh router system instead. 

I brought my HomePods over to the new house and soon noticed I was having the exact same issues I mentioned above with them as I did with the Roam. The next day I swapped the Spectrum router with my eero 6 wifi system and all the issues were resolved with the Roam and the HomePods and they just worked as expected. I gave it several days to see if any issues recurred and they did not. So I’m retracing all the shade I threw at the Roam and redirecting it to Spectrum’s crappy router.

Ken_Griffiths

I have 3 Sonos Roam. Two stay connected and one always disconnects. Frustrating. I will continue to watch this thread.

Are they perhaps operating on different WiFi bands on your network or maybe it’s an overlapping channel that’s causing you the ussue with the one device?

Try running all three on the 2.4Ghz band on non-overlapping channels 1, 6 or 11 and set the channel-width to 20Mhz only in the router configuration pages and see if it resolves the issue.

M
Userlevel 3
Badge +5

I called Tech support and they said that it’s a network issue According To The diagnostics, apparently my Roam is connected to different networks although there’s only 1 SSID registered in the controller app, and told me that there is one that’s causing interference. In my TV room, 
The modem is a square device with 2 antennas and the access point from TPLink  that is a circular device with a blue LED on the top, and a repeater upstairs. I don’t know how to set them up so I can get rid of this ridiculously  disgusting issue, I bought this supposedly   fancy and waterproof Sonos Roam speaker thinking that it would always  work entirely errors free, but unfortunately This Is what I’ve got, an unrreliable product            
    

La discapacidad visual no es ningún impedimento, a disfrutar Bros
G

Just bought a Roam and have the same issue but the bluetooth connection drops at the same time. Any ideas...I’ve had it 4 days and it’s already doing my head in

Ken_Griffiths

What channel is the 2.4Ghz band using? If not using already, perhaps set it to either channel 1, 6 or 11. Also try playing a different audio source like Sonos radio (as an example) and see what happens in that case.

Unfortunately my mesh system (TP-Link Deco) doesn’t allow for manual channel picking.

So the WiFi hubs can overlap their WiFi channels and create wirekess interference? Maybe that’s where your problems lie. I would suggest a reboot of the entire TP-Link Deco system and just see if that reduces interference and resolves your matter.

Ken_Griffiths

Agree with others--this is obviously an issue with the Roam. Like many, I have a mesh network with many devices connected and the Roam is the only one that exhibits this behavior. If I have to analyze or alter my network topology to suit the whims of one device, that’s just bad design. I also don’t understand why it won’t connect to SonosNet--why build a gadget that’s incompatible with your own proprietary networking scheme?

Let’s see a fix for this, Sonos.

The reason the Roam (or Sonos Move) does not use ‘SonosNet’ & Spanning Tree Protocol is the fact the device is "portable" - anyone walking around the Home with one in hand, would cause the mesh network to continually make/break the connections between devices and cause interruption to any playing audio across one or more players.. 

Anyhow, that aside, I would also double-check in your case if the Roam is connected to the wireless LAN with an assigned IP address from the local router and just see if it actually is simply not showing up in your Sonos controller App. If it is connected, but not showing, it may not actually be the Roam - it could be an SSDP multicast ‘discovery’ issue across the different segments of your wired/wireless mesh network instead… there are plenty of things that may cause that issue. Perhaps as a quick test, you could switch all the mesh hubs to “Bridged AP" mode to a different brand of router (maybe even one provided by your ISP) and just see if that solves the multicast issue.

J
Userlevel 2
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If the issue persists then it maybe best to submit a Sonos system diagnostic report from within the Sonos App, note it’s reference and then contact/chat with Sonos Support Staff via this LINK  and see what the Staff can perhaps suggest to resolve the matter.

Hope you get it sorted.👍

I have been submitting system diagnostics to Sonos from the app and I have spoke to support over 6 times in the last 2 weeks. They never recommended setting a reserved IP address for the Roam but they did have me try many other things. It’s been over 3 hours of phone support with no help from them. Hopefully your suggestion will work. It’s been a few hours and the troubled Roam is still connected. The big tests will be if it last over 24 hours and then over a week. I don’t think its ever stayed connected for a week.

Thanks for you assistance. I will keep this thread updated.

Ken_Griffiths

I have 3 Roams. One continues to disconnect while the other two always stay connected. If someone ever finds a fix, please post. I have tried everything people mention in this thread.

Maybe check your router/access points to see which WiFi bands/AP’s each Roam is using, as that may perhaps provide you with some answers.

J
Userlevel 2
Badge

I don’t understand why splitting the band would help when all of my other Sonos products, including the other Roam that doesn’t have any issues. Plus, splitting the band would affect my entire wireless network and all of the devices that use that SSID. BTW, I do appreciate the screenshots. Thank you for that addition to help explain what needs to be done.

Turning off the WIFI Power Saving makes sense to me since it seems my other Roam does not have that feature on and it doesn’t have this problem.

I will turn off WiFi Power Saving and keep you posted.

L

I have 3 Roams. One continues to disconnect while the other two always stay connected. If someone ever finds a fix, please post. I have tried everything people mention in this thread.

Maybe check your router/access points to see which WiFi bands/AP’s each Roam is using, as that may perhaps provide you with some answers.

Ken, this is a great idea and I did just confirm the faulty one was connected to a different access point so I shut that down to force connection to the same as the other two. I will check back in a week and see if this works.

M
Userlevel 3
Badge +5

Sorry guys… Did you get it sorted out somehow? Hmm! I’m still thinking that there is a possibility that it might be a firmware / hardware issue, rather than an issue with our networks    

La discapacidad visual no es ningún impedimento, a disfrutar Bros
Ken_Griffiths

There is an S2 update today, to 16.1, which claims in the release notes to affect the Roam’s connection process, you may want to update to see if it helps. 

Mine all run 16.0. Can I push a firmware upgrade to the Roams? I do updates as asked by the Sonos controller SW and I guess I though that handled the firmware.

Once you get the latest Sonos controller App v16.1 installed on your mobile device, just goto the Apps “Settings/System/System Updates" and choose ‘Check for Updates’ and let it install all updates on your powered-on products. If any device(s) are powered off at the time, and/or not connected to the local WiFi, then you can always re-run the update process again later via the App, when the device(s) become available. 

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