You wouldn’t automatically get a response from Sonos when you submit a diagnostic, you have to reach out to them in parallel. See the information in the Diagnostics - How do they work? thread.

My guess, without being able to see that diagnostic, is some sort of wifi interference . Probably worth reading that FAQ as well, and then post a new diagnostic number here, so that one of the forum moderators can follow up with you. 

Note that Sonos devices in particular seem to be more sensitive to wifi interference than many other network devices, due to the fact that there are multiple connections going on...not only to the controller, but to the outside world, or your local drive, as well as between themselves, in order to stay in sync. So while you may have issues with Sonos, you may not have issues with your MacBook. There’s also the common issue around setting up local network permissions in iOS, a subject covered all over the place in this forum. 

Bruce many thanks for taking the time out to make such a detailed response. I’ll take a look at the FAQs you recommend thanks.

I can understand that Sonos can’t reply to each submitted diagnostic report, though I must have sent a dozen so far this year as the connectivity issue has got worse and worse.

I have to confess to being very tempted to ditch all the Sonos kit given the brittle fragility of their dialogue with a stable wifi and upgrade my Bluetooth kit which is so easy and reliable.

Ultimately we all look to music for relaxation, serenity even. The irritation and frustration of Sonos’ unreliability  cancels the benefits of the very thing it’s supposed to be transmitting.

I certainly understand your position, but there’s no effective way from my perspective, for them to understand which diagnostic submissions are valid, and which ones are spurious… not unlike the ones I made when originally getting the system. I’d imagine that they probably get thousands in a day, and likely less than 10% need actual looking into….but that’s speculation on my part.  As explained in the thread I linked, you either need to call them, or post the number here in the forums in order to get someone to actually look at it. 

I had early issues with connectivity, but I went with two solutions, and the system has been rock solid (with two minor non-Sonos related exceptions) since. First, I moved from a wifi connection to a BOOST (Wired) connection. Placing the Sonos on its own network was a boon. Second, I set up reserved IP addresses in my router for all network devices, leaving space for visitors to get the randomly assigned IPs when they visited my home. My old router was not particularly good about remembering previously used IP addresses, and when the Sonos rebooted following a firmware update, I often got hit with duplicate IP addresses. 

The two non-Sonos related issues for me was a Microwave device going bad, and when in use was “spamming” the wifi that my kitchen speakers were connecting to. Fortunately, fairly easy to diagnose, the speakers only would disconnect when the microwave was on. The second was when I had new neighbors move in, and their router used the same channel I was using for SonosNet. A quick change in my controller, and everything was fine again.

I’m still a believer in wifi networks being somewhat of a Voodoo art form, since they’re impacted by so many things from “outside”, be it wall thickness, various material types, electrical fields from other things, and even sunspots. Not to mention issues actually “inside” the network. But I’ve found with those two changes above, my system has been extraordinarily stable….for years, now.

Thanks for taking the time with all the detailed advice Bruce, it looks like I’d have to upgrade my IT skills significantly to coax music reliably out of my Sonos system.

Looking at their 1800 reviews on TrustPilot over 80% are in the worst possible category ( 1 star of 5 ).

Even in places like this, people are people. Kind of like the news each night on TV. You don’t normally see the good stories, you see the wars, murders, rapes, etc. If you’re happy with your Sonos, there’s no great incentive to rush out and post a review. It’s only when you’re unhappy. And that’s across the board, not just with Sonos, so I always take those kinds of things with a grain of salt, but certainly your milage may vary. 

But those of us who hang around here to assist folks often hear the refrain of “look at all the people who are having difficulties”.  One of our wise members likens it to going to a hospital, and judging that because most people in a hospital are sick, then everyone in the world is equally sick. 

But enough of that. Yes, any network system, especially as network complex as Sonos, depends on a high quality connection. And there are often local issues. However, it doesn’t mean that Sonos is without occasional and fairly rare fault, either. The key thing is to involve the correct folks in the process, and take the advice with an open mind. I know I had preconceptions when I first came here, which turned out to be wildly incorrect, and I continue to learn little by little from folks who have greater networking knowledge than I do. I also never presume I’m 100% correct...I make suggestions that will work in at least hopefully 99% of the cases, but there’’s always the chance that it’s not the common issue, but one of the more rare ones.  But resolving that 99% chance gives more time for the folks at Sonos to deal with the 1% issues, which require more effort. I hope that I’m helping in that regard. 

In general, most (not all) networking issues can be resolved by a simple refresh of the network, by unplugging all Sonos devices, and rebooting the router, then plugging back in the Sonos devices. There’s more permanent ways. of doing the same thing, which do require slightly more knowledge, but it’s not overly complicated. Shoot, I figured it out, and I’m certainly not a network engineer.  And truly, once I understood the process, it was relatively quick and easy to do, and benefited me in the long run, across multiple systems/routers/homes. And those Sonos FAQs are chock full of good information about other potentials that can affect networks. Usually, once you resolve what you’re experiencing, you would likely never have that issue again….but it’s that first step that’s the challenging one.

I would encourage you to involve Sonos via phone. The access that they have to the diagnostics, once you’ve told them what the number is, and also what experience you’ve having (which isn’t necessarily easy to see, I’d expect), I would think they’d be happy to help.  

Thanks for all the advice Bruce. I did try the Sonos chatbot, which didn’t frankly add any value; and I tried calling Sonos without success. The only email Sonos seems to provide is for the CEO.

For others out there with these repeated connectivity issues I had a EUREKA! moment when I worked out that I can tether the sound bar to the TV and operate the volume of it manually if necessary, bypassing the capricious Sonos app.

No such solution for the speakers, I can only connect with them 4 times out of 5 by switching the router off and on again, and it takes 3 or 4 minutes to reboot and of course interrupts all other wifi activity so this doesn’t offer a way forward. 

My way out of this impasse has been to sell the Sonos speakers on eBay and replace them with bluetooth ones. The sound quality may not be quite as good but the connectivity of these speakers with my music and radio apps on various devices is 100% reliable so far. Bliss.

I have to say I’m astounded that Sonos doesn’t seem to monitor its own discussion board here, so many issues on connectivity, which is pretty key. 

Silence Of Non Operational Speakers anyone?