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Roam setup nightmares.

  • 25 April 2021
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39 replies

W
Userlevel 1

Yes, it is. Shame the Sonos support person didn’t have a clue about it. 

I used to enjoy kludging stuff like this but I’m kinda past the point where I have either the time or interest in searching online for silly workarounds to enable basic functionality of things. Of course Sonos isn’t the only company making products like this. No biggie, it’s already on the way back. Fortunately the market for portable speakers is a crowded one with a lot of great options.

 

 

106rallye
Userlevel 7
Badge +17

The travel router-option is mentioned a lot here on the forum for situations like yours. This is kind of the same thing.

W
Userlevel 1

Further to my experiences with my first Sonos product, the Roam, and receiving it (while roaming) at a hotel with a typical wi-fi configuration.

I did figure out a way to get it set up, using my iPad with cellular data as a hotspot,  and then connecting to it with my phone with the Sonos app and the Roam. This allowed me to enable the magical functionality of using the Roam as a Bluetooth speaker with my various devices. 

A solution, incidentally, I thought of myself with zero credit to Sonos support whom I contacted and could only repeat the mantra of “it has to connect to wi-fi first before you can use Bluetooth”. Funny thing, if you Google “Use Sonos Roam with Bluetooth” it details the process of how to do so with zero mention of the setup steps for a new Sonos device.

Anyway, just in the process of getting an RMA to return it, even though it’s now working with BT.

Not because of the ridiculous user experience...but because it sounds pretty mediocre.

W
Userlevel 1

Yep, just got burned on this one as well. Just started a month-long business trip living in a suite hotel, ordered the Roam to be delivered here for music and it arrived today, my second day here. I was a bit hesitant to buy it for lack of a simple 1/8” input, but I figured I would just use it on Bluetooth until I got home where I had planned to use it with Airplay. The hotel wifi has no password but does have a “Connect” html page so the Roam of course, cannot connect. So I have a nice paperweight for a month.

I’m not sure why people are so passionate about defending the fact that a speaker heavily marketed as Bluetooth-capable isn’t actually usable without wifi, self-righteously pointing at FAQ’s and footnotes. As it happens I’m a pretty avid tech-geek, airline pilot by profession, and actually do tend to read specs and handbooks. But whatever, I missed this one. Probably because it would never dawn on anyone except perhaps previous Sonos owners that this would be an issue. 

To them this way of doing things probably seems normal, but what a terrible impression for new users. First Sonos product for me, was thinking of the Beam as well but forget it - the Roam is going back today. No point keeping something that can’t be used out of the box in what is the definition of a “roaming” location.

But it looks nice, so there’s that.

A
Userlevel 3
Badge +2

..

Assumptions were made, and they were wrong.  Sonos can perhaps do more to anticipate assumptions, but that isn’t going to fully stop people from making assumptions that are incorrect.

..

 

While it is impossible to know what people are going to assume, there is also the concept of “reasonable expectation”.  If a small percentage assume incorrectly one might argue it is the problem of the small percentage.  But if a large percentage assume incorrectly then I would say that it is the product advertising that is misleading and requires clarification.   

I notice that the Roam product web page now explicitly says that a charger outputting 7.5W or better is required.  It used to not say that.  That clarification was obviously deemed important enough to put up front.  I think a large number of people assumed that their old 5W phone chargers would work.

I believe that the assumptions about the Bluetooth functionality are made by a sufficiently large percentage of the potential consumers that it should be highlighted somewhere.

melvimbe

If a customer is not going to read the FAQ before buying the product, I doubt they are going to bother looking at asterisks and footnotes.  I get that there is going to be customers who don’t consider the possibility that a WiFi speaker with Bluetooth might operate differently than a speaker with Bluetooth alone...but this twisting of promotional language to claim it implies setup as a Sonos speaker is not required for bluetooth operation is very much a stretch.  Do you really think Sonos should say...

  • “Roam is ready, after setup on your home WiFi, to soundtrack your day, whether you want to unwind in the backyard or escape to the backwoods.”
  • “everywhere, after setup on your home WiFi,” and
  • “stream directly from your smartphone, tablet, or computer using Bluetooth, after setup on your home WiFi, .”

Assumptions were made, and they were wrong.  Sonos can perhaps do more to anticipate assumptions, but that isn’t going to fully stop people from making assumptions that are incorrect.

I’ve noticed that Amazon puts a “We want you to know” section near the top of the page for some of their products, and it’s usually about assumptions like this. Here’s the page for the Echo Flex as an example. Perhaps Sonos could do something similar.  However, this still requires people to go to the product page to get details.  I have no doubt that people ignore that section of the Amazon page.  Nor can Sonos control all the information on all retailer’s sites.  Indeed, if you were to get an Echo Flex at Best Buy, you aren’t going to see any such warnings.

Danny
Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @Pwestdubs 

Welcome to the Sonos Community!

Thank you all for your feedback - both on Roam setup and the guides/FAQs online. I’ll pass this on to our development team for consideration.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
A
Userlevel 3
Badge +2

Roam is a Sonos speaker that also does Bluetooth, not a Bluetooth speaker that also does Sonos. 

All Sonos devices need to be set up on a system and registered to an account before they can be used. In part this is because units often ship with out of date firmware, so require an internet connection and an account in order to update to the latest version. 

Sorry,  but looking at the Sonos Roam product page I don’t think the average consumer will get this impression.   

Fortunately for me I already had a Sonos 2 set up when I bought my Roams so I had relatively little difficulty setting up. 

 

But I have been looking at Bluetooth speakers since last year, and I was comparing the Roams with the Bose Revolve and other Bluetooth speakers.  I think other average consumers will likely be doing the same. 

The average will not assume that a Sonos 2 controller Wi-Fi account setup will be required to use Bluetooth.  A non-Sonos user has no idea what a Sonos 2 controller is.  Even some Sonos 1 users had no idea that they needed to set up a Sonos 2 controller just to set up their Roams. 

The Roam product page has statements like 

  • “Roam is ready to soundtrack your day, whether you want to unwind in the backyard or escape to the backwoods.”
  • “everywhere” and
  • “stream directly from your smartphone, tablet, or computer using Bluetooth.”

And the average user will quite naturally assume that it works similar to other Bluetooth devices.

Saying that the average user should have read some FAQ page is not reasonable in my opinion.

Perhaps the product pages should at least have an asterisk with footnotes indicating the Roams need to be registered on a Sonos 2 WiFi controller network before use.

V
Userlevel 2

I completely agreed with Pwestdubs - I just acquired ROAM during an overseas trip to use for the next few weeks that I will be in the road, only to find out I need a private WIFI connection (hotel/coffee shops/etc networks that required user/pass doesn't work) to set it up and start using it via BT  … it’s just ridiculous - this type of product should come ready to use - I own multiples Sonos products for home use so big fan of the brand … this is just not right. “Bluetooth is seamless with Roam” says Sonos IG post …. not that seamless after all.

 

ratty

are you lost?

No. You initiated the thread here, which incidentally is a section for feedback about the community itself, not the products.

P

I’m not arguing that point, and I never was arguing that it doesn’t require that setup. I was arguing it SHOULD be changed so it works out of the box. That was my feedback.

 

This post was left in the feedback section, are you lost?

ratty

None of your quotes detract from the fact that the unit first needs to be set up on -- or as -- a Sonos system in order to operate.

 

The FAQ on the product/store page are quite explicit:

Will Roam work with Bluetooth out of the box?

Like all Sonos speakers, Roam must be set up with the Sonos app whilst on WiFi before you can connect a device directly via Bluetooth.

P

Roam is a Sonos speaker that also does Bluetooth, not a Bluetooth speaker that also does Sonos. 

All Sonos devices need to be setup on a system and registered to an account before they can be used,

 

Good point, why did I expect a product branded “Roam” and with the following marketing headlines (on the sonos product page) to actually work well away from home? Silly silly me.

  • “Supreme Versatility”
  • “Take incredible sound everywhere with Roam”
  • “”The portable smart speaker for all your listening adventures.”

What an absurd request I made, for the product with “Supreme Versatility” to work out of the box, I’ve learned my lesson.

 

 

Sonos Roam:

“The portable smart speaker for all your listening adventures… as long as they start at your house, if not, you’re out of luck”

ratty

Roam is a Sonos speaker that also does Bluetooth, not a Bluetooth speaker that also does Sonos. 

All Sonos devices need to be set up on a system and registered to an account before they can be used. In part this is because units often ship with out of date firmware, so require an internet connection and an account in order to update to the latest version. 

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