Lets talk about how GOOD the Sonos App is?

J

I had one Era300 speakers for past 6 months. Never used the Sonos App. Worked great. Decided to enhance the sound experience and bought another one last week. To pair the speakers had to use the Sonos App, it all seemed to work perfectly BUT since then it's been nothing but an annoyance! Sound switches from left to right, sometimes doesn't play any sound at all, sometimes can't even connect. Both speakers are great when on the rare occassion it works properly 2-3 minutes then switches from speaker to speaker again.

I've been reading about complications with people trying to connect to other devices and wifi. Read about factory reset and all the info when it helps and when it doesn't. My golly so many issues and complications, what happened to plug in and play?

I just want two speakers that work consistently but these Sonos App seems to be having handshaking problems between wifi, speakers and the Sonos App itself. A shame the Sonos App complications makes a great product into an intense game of frustration.

Conclusion: What am I going to do? As much as I love the sound of the Era300. I can't deal with the amounts problems experienced to get it to work properly for the past week. Most likely give up on them and sell them and pull out my old Bose speakers and use them instead -  may not have Dolby Atmos but at least they are consistently easy to connect without ALL the Sonos App crap! I expect products that function without frustrations. 

This is not a thread to attack the developers, I'm sure they are doing their best but unfortunately with these technical problems being experienced it's difficult to write positively about the Sonos App user experience. I'm hoping others have been able to easily just plug and play without hassles. Please write if all did just work without any difficulty or problems because at the moment I'm feeling like everyone must be expearancing the same frustrations I am experiencing. 

10 replies

melvimbe

I am surprised that research on issues didn’t tell you that the Sonos app doesn’t have anything to do with your speakers communicating with each other or the internet.   It’s effectively a remote control.  The issues you’re having sound like they are network related  I’d highly recommend that you get a system diagnostic after the issue occurs, then contact Sonos support.  They’ll be able to look at the diagnostic and likely be able to tell what the issue is.  It’s possible that there is some sort of issue with IP addresses that bouncing the router/speakers or reserving IP addresses will resolve.  Or perhaps changing the channel your router is using fixes the issue.  And of course, if there is a hardware issue with the speaker, you’ve go the warranty

You can always just sell the speakers if you like, but it seems a worth contacting Sonos about the issues before you do.

Danny
J

Thanks Danny,

Dealing with irate customers like myself is no easy task. Thanks for cool head and assistance.

Its just so frustrating Danny! Ive spent hours and hours and hours over the past week of trying different things… and yes, even without the App - the problems of L speaker fading in and out have persisted but  it does connect to the speakers and plays (intermittently) when not using the App. 

With my comments, I honestly just wanted to hear from other customers - I want good stories about using the Android Sonos App and its ease of use.

If most customers’ setups work perfectly when installing and are happy with their Sonos systems - then that means its a just a “me and my internal systems issue”.

Please, someone in the community tell me some good stories to inspire me to keep going with these tech difficulties. My current ‘feeling’ (with no evidence other than my own) is that many customers are having issues in setup - and its not just “a me thing”. I’m just seeking reassurances from customers that its worth all the initial tech hassle and that once solved they are not re-occurring.

If responses are positive, then yes I shall continue with diagnostics and support - thank you Danny for suggesting. Otherwise, why continue the pain of these tech frustrations further when I can just plug in my old system? 

All I wanted is no-hassle speakers that you plug-in and play, it works perfectly and it sounds great. Maybe, I’m asking for too much? Or perhaps with Support and a few more hours working on it - I may actually get it to work perfectly.  BUT boy ... what a hassle!

Joe.  

 

 

 

Stanley_4
Userlevel 7
Badge +22

I got my Sonos many years ago.

I hated my Sonos until I admitted I had network problems and fixed them.

I was happy for many years.

One of my Sonos quit working right, dropping and stopping, I wasn’t happy.

Sonos Support identified an RF problem, caused by a failing WD drive. It didn’t even have a radio, it was just spewing RF noise. Trashed it and all was well again.

Couple years on I was getting grumpy again as things were not working right.

Once Sonos pointed out I was an idiot (they said it nicer) and I fixed the RF issue I’d caused myself I was happy again.

Been a few years since then and I’m still happy.

Things just work, updates go in invisibly overnight and there is zero Sonos frustration.

 

Amazon is a different matter, they keep renaming things breaking all the stuff I set for them in My Sonos. Seems like a couple things a week minimum and in a couple months about 6 out of 40 saves Stations still play. Remove them, find the renamed (by Amazon) version and add it and I”m good until the next Amazon tinkering.

J

Thanks Stanley, 

Really good to hear and really appreciate you writing. Seems it is worth the frustrations.

I am happy to admit its my network system but I just don't get how all my other devices and 3 portable speakers from different brands and a Bose pair ALL work well without complications on my network - just these Era300 pair has issues? But yes, need to run diagnostic and seek support. Thanks again Stanley.

 

Stanley_4
Userlevel 7
Badge +22

Maybe it is the Eras are seeing issues when connecting as they only use WiFi while other devices are using SonosNet?

Being locked out of almost all internal Sonos data “for our own safety” sucks for a lot of folks but apparently is necessary to protect a few fools.

controlav
Userlevel 7
Badge +23

Please, tell us about your local network, because that is where the problem is.

Author of the leading independent Sonos app for Windows, the only Sonos app for Xbox, and a Sonos app for iOS
J

OK - moving forward, since 3 have told me its my network problem, and I appear to be a dumb A in such matters so I decided to pay an internet network specialist to come, arriving Monday. Let's see...will report their findings/results then. 

I still haven't got anyone replying saying "The App is great and everything worked perfectly in setup!" 

Stanley_4
Userlevel 7
Badge +22

Network specialist may well be wasted money unless they understand the Sonos networking needs. We see folks that know far more than I do about networking coming here, sure that it isn’t their network, but after a bit of troubleshooting they find the problem.

106rallye
Userlevel 7
Badge +17

For its limited purpose, being a remote to the system, the app works well. Most faults are caused by the connection of your speakers to the internet or each other. I do not find the fault messages the app gives very clear in most cases, but I’m not sure if this is the app or the system.

controlav
Userlevel 7
Badge +23

I’m really hoping the “internet network specialist” is not from Best Buy.

In the meantime, please at least tell us your router brand/model.

Author of the leading independent Sonos app for Windows, the only Sonos app for Xbox, and a Sonos app for iOS

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