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beaumonthome
Contributor I
Jun 17, 2026 1:06 PM UTC

DHCP poorly implemented

So I changed by gateway router which wants to run a different 192.168.x.x. subnet from the previous one. New gateway router is also the DHCP server. Every device on my network picked up a new IP address within 5 minutes except every one of my Sonos devices, The Sonos app simply told me I had nothing configured, and suggested having to go through a very laborious process to reconfigure each Sonos speaker again. No way. As it turns out, a simple power-cycle of each speaker solved the problem immediately but this is not how a DHCP client is supposed to behave. Problem solved but maybe this is useful for somebody else. 

4 replies

craigski
Local Superstar
Jun 17, 2026 1:31 PM UTC

Are your Sonos devices connected using WiFi? A restart of the AP(s) would have also forced the network devices to obtain a new IP. Some APs allow you to ‘reconnect’ specific devices through the management interface, avoiding a restart of the AP.

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    Stanley_4
    Stanley_4
    Grand Maestro
    Jun 17, 2026 2:33 PM UTC

    What is your DHCP lease lifetime set to?

    I set mine to an hour the day before any planned change, then to a few minutes an hour before the change. That has all active clients renewing quickly so when the LAN address changes the clients pick it up quickly. I then change the lifetime back to the default.

    Can't try this as my ISC DHCP server doesn't support it, if yours does it might be an option.

    https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3203.txt

    This document defines extensions to DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration

       Protocol) to allow dynamic reconfiguration of a single host triggered

       by the DHCP server (e.g., a new IP address and/or local configuration

       parameters). This is achieved by introducing a unicast FORCERENEW

       message which forces the client to the RENEW state.  

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      MauricioARG
      Contributor I
      Aug 17, 2026 2:51 PM UTC

      Same here the only devices in my network that don’t take new IPs are SONOS. Make whole system useless, worst the soundbar. I have more than 100 devices in home, only Sonos dont take IP from DHCP

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      craigski
      Local Superstar
      Aug 18, 2026 9:04 AM UTC

      Same here the only devices in my network that don’t take new IPs are SONOS. Make whole system useless, worst the soundbar. I have more than 100 devices in home, only Sonos dont take IP from DHCP

      Your Sonos was working fine:

      What have you changed/modified on your network since it was “working fine”?

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