Not sure I understand completely. What is Air Drop? None of the speakers in your profile support AirPlay 2. Why did you factory reset your speakers? You’d need to set them up again as if you’d just purchased them, if so, and I’d certainly encourage at least temporarily wiring an Ethernet cable to your PLAYBAR, whether you’re using S1 or S2. Do you have a PLAYBAR, or some other Sonos sound bar?

What router are you using? How is your system supposed to be connected to it? What WiFi signal are you trying to use? Have you tried to submit a system diagnostic within 10 minutes of experiencing this problem, and call Sonos Support to discuss it?

There may be information included in the diagnostic that will help Sonos pinpoint the issue and help you find a solution.

When you speak directly to the Support staff, they have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your network and Sonos system.

Thanks for your answer and all good questions.  I think you’re right.  The only way out is to contact them directly and let them walk me through the process.

the reason I reset the speakers is that they are showng up in my system, but when I tried to add them as speakers for surround sound, that message came up and puzzled me.  I think I understand it, but the only way to redirect the “air drop” is to play something with Apple Music or the podcast app - anything that uses air drop, get back to my splash screen so the forward, pause, buttons etc show...and there is a icon for air drop. I click on that and redirect the sound to the iPhone instead of my ear buds,etc.  

I did that and it seemed to work.  I got the speakers registered in the system, but when I tried to add them to the playbar as surround speakers, the process stalled.

A long reply, but frankly, this kind of nightmare is not what I hoped to get from my Sonos systems.  At times I long for the good old amplifier and wired speakers.  :-)  

I’ll mark this as complete and give them a call, because after all, I’ve nothing better to do than unwind a Sonos nightmare.

The OP is confusing AirDrop with AirPlay2.

AirDrop is Apple Device exclusive or rather a peer-to-peer connection.  Below are condensed definitions for both. I use AirDrop on occasion to share photos with other iPhone users.

1. AirDrop is a feature on Apple devices that lets users share files, photos, videos, and more with other nearby Apple devices:
2. AirPlay 2 is a feature that allows users to wirelessly send content from an Apple device to a compatible wireless speaker or TV *

  * This is what the OP wants to use with Sonos