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Sonos Roam keeps disconnecting while playing

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V

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

O

Hello there

 

I am a brand new Sonos customer, I received 2 Era-100 and a Roam for Christmas. 
 

The Era-100s have been great, but the Roam is the biggest piece of Chinese garbage I’ve ever used in my entire life. 
 

Our house has fantastic prosumer grade WiFi and signal is so strong I can connect to WiFi half way down my street. 
 

With the Roam, every night I put it on 10 hours of rain falling etc. on Spotify and every single morning, the Roam is dead silent and completely unreachable by the system. There is a red dot in the app indicating it’s offline. Trying to do the repair process fails, says it can’t find the device. Only fix is to manually reboot this piece of absolute junk as it’s not even capable of reestablishing its WiFi connection. 
 

The unit is plugged into the wall adapter and has never dipped below 100%

 

My only solace in this is knowing I’m within my return period as it was a Christmas gift.  I am calling for a refund first thing Monday, I’ve had enough of this.

 

Sonos this is an embarrassment and a pathetic product that should not be for sale. What a disgrace. 

Airgetlam

As I’ve said before in other threads, I’ve tended to use Spectrum devices as a gateway, providing an Internet signal to my own router via the WAN port, and then essentially turning off everything WiFi related on the Spectrum, and using my Netgear router. 

The cable based internet signal I got from Spectrum in CA was good enough, but their WiFi hardware was the pits, mostly, I assume, due to penny pinching bean counters. I had much better control using my own router. 

I did the same thing when in TX, and on AT&T’s DSL. I’m now doing the same thing using T-Mobile in WA. I just don’t trust devices provided by services. If you’re not stretching your WiFi system much, they’re probably OK. But Sonos exercises the networking standards fairly well, and I prefer a ‘designed for’ device, rather than a ‘cobbled together’ device. 

Bruce
O

The Roam is actually dropping its IP address. It does not shut down or go to sleep. It shows a solid white status LED. It stops being available through Sonos direct and Airplay.

After over 3 weeks and over 7 calls to Sonos support, they finally swapped the defective Roam with a replacement

This sounds like what’s happening to me. System just goes dead although still powered on with the solid white LEDs, yet is unrecoverable without hard reboot. I’m pushing for a refund or exchange hopefully because this is just horrendous

L

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

Ken_Griffiths

The Roam is actually dropping its IP address. It does not shut down or go to sleep. It shows a solid white status LED. It stops being available through Sonos direct and Airplay.

After over 3 weeks and over 7 calls to Sonos support, they finally swapped the defective Roam with a replacement

This sounds like what’s happening to me. System just goes dead although still powered on with the solid white LEDs, yet is unrecoverable without hard reboot. I’m pushing for a refund or exchange hopefully because this is just horrendous

Normally when a Sonos speaker drops, or loses, it’s IP address the top status LED will flash white as it tries to get an IP address, so perhaps lookout for the flashing LED and also try pinging its address over the network.

Check your router too to see if the Roam is actually connected, as it might in fact just be a ‘discovery’ issue by the App.

You could also try it on the ‘other’ WiFi band, as the Roam will operate on either the 2.4Ghz WiFi band or the 5Ghz band. If using the 2.4Ghz band (which is more penetrating and has longer reach) then try it on a fixed non-overlapping channel of either Ch.1, 6 or 11 and set the channel width to 20MHz only as that will reduce any interference and will likely improve its connection.

You could also go onto reserve it’s IP address in your router configuration pages and make its address static, as that may help things too.

J
Userlevel 2
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The Roam does not use SonosNet, as you perhaps may be aware. Do you have your router WiFi 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands using separate SSID’s? - if so, then ensure the Roam is put onto the 2.4Ghz band and set the channel to either 1 or 11 (non-overlapping) and if the router allows, also set a channel-width of 20Mhz only and see if that improves the connection to the Roam.

If the SSID/credentials for the 2.4/5Ghz WiFi bands are the same, and cannot be easily separated, then check your router user-manual to see if you can perhaps manually steer the Roam onto the 2.4Ghz band, via the router configuration pages.

I do not see why this is highlighted as the “answer”. It may work in some cases but it does not help in my case and the many other people who have posted on this site.

I have 2 Roams, a 1st Gen One and a Connect.

One of my Roams and both of the other Sonos units work fine and never have this problem. The other Roam disconnects constantly and seems to be getting worse every time I speak with Support.  Sonos support has been giving me the run around for over 2 weeks now and cannot explain why one Roam works fine and the other disconnects every few hours. Same WIFI, one works, one doesn’t. 

Airgetlam

Could easily be a duplicate IP address issue, affecting one or more separate speakers, without affecting all of them. Depends on which IP addresses are duplicated. 

Bruce
J
Userlevel 2
Badge

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.

 

In my case, the defective Roam stops appearing on my router as connected. After I restart it, it reconnects.

Does this mean there is a problem with the Roam?

B

I must admit I’m relieved to see so many of you with the same issue I have with my Sonos Roam SL. I bought this because I had purchased another one for a second home--which was PERFECT right out of the box. This additional one that I bought about 4 months ago constantly disconnects randomly, several times a day, and is not easy to reconnect. No other wifi items in my home behaves like this. Because the other one works so well, this has to be a defective product. Other than putting me through endless rebooting and trying to blame it on my router, Sonos has been no help. What a black mark on their good name. You take your chances buying this product.

Ken_Griffiths

 

In my case, the defective Roam stops appearing on my router as connected. After I restart it, it reconnects.

Does this mean there is a problem with the Roam?

I see you mentioned the other Roam was running on the same WiFi, but what band is the Roam using that keeps disconnecting and what channels and channel-width are you using? Of course any device may have a fault, but maybe try to eliminate some of the obvious things first. You mentioned the device was dropping its IP address - maybe give it a reserved address in your routers DHCP table and just see if that improves things. 
Note the routers 2.4ghz band is far reaching and more penetrable than the 5Ghz band, so ensure it uses that band and set its channel to 1, 6 or 11 (non-overlapping) with a channel-width of 20Mhz and just see if that sorts things for you.

J
Userlevel 2
Badge

 

In my case, the defective Roam stops appearing on my router as connected. After I restart it, it reconnects.

Does this mean there is a problem with the Roam?

I see you mentioned the other Roam was running on the same WiFi, but what band is the Roam using that keeps disconnecting and what channels and channel-width are you using? Of course any device may have a fault, but maybe try to eliminate some of the obvious things first. You mentioned the device was dropping its IP address - maybe give it a reserved address in your routers DHCP table and just see if that improves things. 
Note the routers 2.4ghz band is far reaching and more penetrable than the 5Ghz band, so ensure it uses that band and set its channel to 1, 6 or 11 (non-overlapping) with a channel-width of 20Mhz and just see if that sorts things for you.

 

I reserved an IP address in my router for the Roam that keeps dropping off the network

My WIFI uses both the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands and the best band is determined by the device. 

Both Roams are on the same network and both are using channel 161 on the 5Ghz band.

The one that drops off is currently at a signal strength of -59 dBm and one that doesn’t have a problem is at -69dBm

Ken_Griffiths

I must admit I’m relieved to see so many of you with the same issue I have with my Sonos Roam SL. I bought this because I had purchased another one for a second home--which was PERFECT right out of the box. This additional one that I bought about 4 months ago constantly disconnects randomly, several times a day, and is not easy to reconnect. No other wifi items in my home behaves like this. Because the other one works so well, this has to be a defective product. Other than putting me through endless rebooting and trying to blame it on my router, Sonos has been no help. What a black mark on their good name. You take your chances buying this product.

Try switching the WiFi band in use. So as an example if the Roam is using the 5Ghz band SSID then switch it to the 2.4Ghz band instead. Set that band to use a fixed ‘non-overlapping’ channel, either 1, 6 or 11, with a channel width of 20Mhz only and see if that resolves your issue.

(PS - don’t forget to remove the 5Ghz SSID from the device using the App network settings). 

Hope that fixes things for you. 👍

Ken_Griffiths

I reserved an IP address in my router for the Roam that keeps dropping off the network

My WIFI uses both the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands and the best band is determined by the device. 

Both Roams are on the same network and both are using channel 161 on the 5Ghz band.

The one that drops off is currently at a signal strength of -59 dBm and one that doesn’t have a problem is at -69dBm

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.👍

J
Userlevel 2
Badge

It has now been 9 days since I connected the replacement unit and I have not had any disconnections.

Sonos support needs to reevaluate what it considers a good, working unit. They consistently blamed my network for the problem even though I tried every solution they offered without a resolution. Honestly, I tried many of their solution more than once. Phone support was persistent in believing the problem was in my network settings and ignored the fact I had another Roam that was working properly. If I wasn’t comfortable with tweaking my network settings and I didn’t have another Roam that did not have the issue, they probably would have intimated me to just give up and assume my network couldn’t handle this Sonos Roam. That would have created an unhappy customer for simple reason they were to stubborn to think the problem was with the Roam.

Thank you to everyone who offered suggestions to try to fix the problem.

 

R
Userlevel 1

Hi,

I’m experiencing the same issue and also have a TP-Link Deco Wi-Fi system. Re-booting the system didn’t make any difference for me. Are there any other possible solutions?

Not really. I have a second Roam downstairs that I moved up into the bedroom, and that one seems to work without issues. I might reach out to Sonos about the unreliable Roam but I haven’t had the time. 

Q

Yup mines been doing this for months. It's infuriating as it's getting worse and worse. 

Rebooting via a long press on the back doesn't work for me. I have to forget the device each and every time.

 

I've done that 3 times today alone 

Ken_Griffiths

Yup mines been doing this for months. It's infuriating as it's getting worse and worse. 

Rebooting via a long press on the back doesn't work for me. I have to forget the device each and every time.

 

I've done that 3 times today alone 

Sonos Device Discovery Issue on LAN

 

It sounds a bit like there is something on the phone blocking the ‘discovery’ of your Sonos devices on the local network, what type of phone make/model/OS version is it? Do you have any security software running on the phone, such as a VPN service, firewall or antivirus etc?

Any MAC address ‘spoofing’ features running on within the network connection properties, such as ‘Private WiFi Address’ (usually enabled by default on Apple iOS mobiles), or maybe ‘WiFi calling’ is getting in the way of things?

Also ensure QoS and/or Airtime Fairness are not running on the local router …and (if applicable) that IGMP Snooping and Multicasting/Broadcasting is enabled across both the LAN and Wireless LAN segments (most routers enable this be default, but not all so check your router user-manual). 

If using managed switches on the local network, then you may also find these links helpful…

https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/configure-stp-settings-to-work-with-sonos

There might also be an issue of device discovery arising from Wireless interference, in which case also see this Sonos Support article…

https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/reduce-wireless-interference

Hope the above information helps you to resolve the matter. If the problems persist then it maybe best to speak to Sonos Support Staff, together with a diagnostic report, to see if they can perhaps  assist you to resolve the local ‘device discovery’ issue.

C

Thanks for the explanation of SonosNet--makes sense that it's not that dynamic. The mention of STP reminds me how old Sonos is; I got my first Sonos speaker over a decade ago, and the company was more than five years old then. To their credit, were it not for the S1/S2 switch I would probably still have it. Damn fine hardware. 

The rest of the above is informative but not helpful. I'm just not interested in dissecting my network to make one small speaker work. I've never had this "disconnect but not reconnect" issue with any other device--including my Move, although I don't move it much. 

I remember back in the 802.11b days when "roaming" referred to moving from one AP to another using the same SSID. It was kind of cool; who had two access points back then? Ironically, this seems precisely what my Roam is unable to do. 

I just want Sonos to make it work. 

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.

J
Userlevel 2
Badge

Hi Ken,

Here is the information you requested:

  • Zyxel USG Flex 200
  • Yes is up to date
  • 5 GHz band Channel 161 Signal Strength 58dbm 
  • Yes. I can fix channels
  • Lease time is 2 days but this unit has a reserved static address
  • Both Battery Save and WiFi Power Save are selected

 

Ken_Griffiths

Hi Ken,

Here is the information you requested:

  • Zyxel USG Flex 200
  • Yes is up to date
  • 5 GHz band Channel 161 Signal Strength 58dbm 
  • Yes. I can fix channels
  • Lease time is 2 days but this unit has a reserved static address
  • Both Battery Save and WiFi Power Save are selected

looking at the router user-manual, maybe consider splitting the WiFi bands on your router and try the Roam just on the 2.4Ghz band (rename the 5Ghz band SSID by adding ‘-5G’ (or similar) to its SSID) - Use a fixed non-overlapping channel 1, 6 or 11 and a channel-width of 20Mhz only for the 2.4Ghz band - I would also see if things work better without QoS enabled.

Also try the Roam with its WiFi Power Saving setting set to disabled. 

Hope that works for you.

2 Attachments
Airgetlam

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. 

Bruce
L

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.

M
Userlevel 3
Badge +5

It’s happening the same with my Sonos Roam and it's been like this for months,   no matter if I’m using Airplay or  Spotify, it stops playing randomly.   my router is the M5 from TP Link, rebooted several times, updated the app and reinstall the controller but it makes no difference, no matter if other devices work fine in my network, the Roam kips glitchin.
@CF79, Did you get it sorted out? I perhaps have a network issue at home, the walls are made of concrete,  I got 2 replacement units, same issue. It’s so difficult to diagnose, as it’s random. Mine when it’s playing through Bluetooth cuts out from 1 second  every 15 to 20 minutes or so, but playing through Airplay is mor frequent     

Same.  Doesn’t matter if I’m on wifi or Bluetooth, Spotify or from phone directly.  Always dropping out and/or failing to connect.  No other network issues in house.  Think it’s an issue with Roam that Sonos aren’t acknowledging.  Lots of reports of this.

 

La discapacidad visual no es ningún impedimento, a disfrutar Bros

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