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Why doesn't Sonos play music locally when the Internet (WAN connection) is down? Yesterday our Internet connection was down all day. We were surprised to find Sonos was totally useless despite our local LAN and WiFi working fine. To be clear: we play content almost exclusively from local libraries and those devices were working normally the whole time. 

I’d appreciate someone from Sonos answering here. Support just told me via chat that this is expected. I really hope that’s incorrect - it’s pretty unreasonable to require Internet at all times even when playing local content.

Also, since our Internet connection came back I've had to restart all of the Sonos players - some multiple times - to get them work right again. Just more continued instability since the app update.

 

Sadly it is expected and I’m not happy either. Our fiber was down for half a day (As was the whole Quantum Fiber served Phoenix area) and my Sonos gear was useless.

Fortunately I have other devices that can access my local music library without an active Internet connection.

 

The latest version of SONOS firmware and controllers requires an Internet connection. Older versions did not require an Internet connection for NAS play.

As an aside, what happens if you have Autoplay enabled on a speaker and a turntable or (old-tech I know) iPod plugged into it? Can you play from them without internet? 

The latest version of SONOS firmware and controllers requires an Internet connection. Older versions did not require an Internet connection for NAS play.

Interesting - and unacceptable, IMHO.

Luckily I’m still on S1 with the Sonos kit locked off from the internet, and it works fine.

Didn’t I read somewhere this was not expected, even under the new (more internet dependant) app?  

I don’t see any reason why AirPlay wouldn’t work if there’s a network subnet still active? Also these days there’s Bluetooth options and playing from a TV/Peripheral to a connected Sonos Home Theatre. I can’t see the music stopping here if the ISP goes offline. That said, I’d swap-out and use a mobile LTE 4G/5G router - which I have as a backup anyway.

I’d be more concerned (personally speaking) about a power outage, rather than loss of internet. I’m fortunate that these things are a rare event anyway where I live, but I’m still ‘reasonably’ prepared if these things do ever happen.

Didn’t I read somewhere this was not expected, even under the new (more internet dependant) app?  

I recall something about it being unexpected when it was first discovered, and that is an unwanted problem.

Don’t see it on the bug tracker:

https://github.com/amp64/sonosbugtracker/issues?page=2&q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen

Or on Trello:

https://trello.com/b/4T9rbg8t/sonos-app-improvement-bug-tracker

I tested the apps and the Windows PC version (not the web version) does still allow you to control and play music from your Music Library whilst the Internet is unavailable. That is some good news at least. 

I would like to hear direct from Sonos that this capability will be restored on the IOS/Android controllers 

and

I would also like confirmation from Sonos that they will NOT deprecate the windows PC version until this capability is restored to the IOS and Android controllers (obviously it can’t be for the web app) but for the IOS / Android apps that are installed on your phone / tablet and connected to your wi-fi this feature should still be able to work. 

The vast majority of music I listen to is content I own in my Music Library and to find that the devices are useless if I lose my broadband connection would be completely unacceptable. 

I guess a user could always add a mobile network hotspot to their Sonos system - that should keep things playing until the internet connection is back up and running. Just needs a separate mobile device to act as the local WiFi hotspot/internet AP.

 

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