Losing Rooms on App - Advice Required

A couple of clarifications to my original post:

• The TP-Link wireless router in the cabin is connected to the Sky Max router in the main house via vat 5 or 6 cable to a TP-Link switch then to the Sky router.
• The Port in the cabin (was) connected wirelessly to the TP-Link wireless router
• Case number from for original call is *********

Moderator edit: case number recorded and removed

Thank you for your response ​@Corry P like you say there seems to be a lot going on unfortunately, which is such a shame after it was all working so well.

I will definitely get back in touch with the technical support team, but in the meantime (as a relative Luddite with these things) there seem to be a few things I could check and amend before calling them again - I’d appreciate it if you could check I have picked everything up, if you have time?:

1. Check that the ‘router’ in the cabin is in  Access Point mode.
2. Reduce or eliminate the use of extenders where possible.
3. Disconnect the Ethernet cable from the Play3? (This was a hangover from a solution advised by tech support several years ago when I was advised to get rid of the Boost)
4. Try and hardwire an alternative speaker with Ethernet (this will take some thought as I have solid floors, brick & concrete walls and no voids to run cables to alternative speaker locations unless I ran an extra Ethernet when I installed the TV which I could plug into the Arc - I will double-check).
5. The Arc is simply showing a solid white light. We had flashing orange and green lights etc whilst trying to get it reset but it eventually goes back to solid white.

Hi ​@Simon_89 

Gladly!

1. This is very important to do - it could cause any amount of weird behaviour otherwise, including making your Arc go “missing”.
2. This is less of an issue when SonosNet is in play, but if your phone were to connect to an Extender, it may have trouble communicating with your Sonos system. Certainly during troubleshooting it’s best to keep them off. Once things are working reliably again, by all means experiment with turning them back on; I am all for you not having to purchase new networking gear.
3. Putting a speaker that is performing duties as a surround speaker in charge of all Sonos communications with other devices is not a good move. I confess I do not understand why you were previously instructed to connect a surround speaker to ethernet when you have a Boost to use instead. It is possible that you could get the Boost in service again, but I’d recommend attempting that while on a support call - it may need a “special” staged update process to operate again. It is definitely worth mentioning.
4. The Arc would be good choice of device to wire to ethernet instead of the Play:3 or the Boost (but not necessarily a better choice than the Boost, though it is newer, which can help). It would serve to get the Arc back online though. Wi-Fi is worth trying too (no ethernet to Sonos anywhere), though any Sky TV boxes may become a factor then. Your Sonos system already knows the WiFi credentials, so no need to enter them.
5. That sounds like the reset procedure was not followed correctly - if the Arc were reset, it would not result in an eventual white light. Hold down the button while applying power, and keep holding until you see flashing orange. However, a solid white light implies that it is connected to a network, but I can see now that it is not connected to our cloud server. An Extender nearby, perhaps? Please see our Factory reset your Sonos product help page for the reset instructions.

If the SonosNet channel was changed recently, it is possible that the Arc never got the instruction to change, and that could be why it is missing. If you connect the Arc to the ethernet instead of the Play:3 and it returns to the app, but all the other speakers go offline (do give them a few minutes, though), then that is even more likely to be what happened in the first place. In this case, wiring the Play:3 again and then changing the SonosNet channel back to whatever channel it used to be on would pick up the Arc. Honestly, a factory reset of the Arc is probably easier to do (but get Arc set up and working again before swapping the ethernet cable to it).

I hope this helps.

​@Corry P thanks for the feedback. I will have to review again tomorrow evening.

Tonight I made sure the cabin router was on AP. I also unplugged all extenders. I have coincidentally unplugged the Ethernet and reinstalled the Boost as I don’t have a spare Ethernet to the TV.

when the boost booted up everything appeared momentarily in either unregistered or not assigned with the exception of the couple that have stayed connected.

I couldn’t get the Port or Arc reconnected. Both got to the stage where they are on the system but may not show without being unplugged and plugged back in again. Didn’t help on either of them.

i will probably try Support on Friday night. 
 

thanks again for your help so far.

​@Corry P  PS when doing a factory reset on the arc tonight it alternates flashing white & orange, then went to green. Once component added it went to solid white but then I got the message about it being added but needing to unplug & reply n to show up. But it never did show up.

Hi ​@Simon_89 

Progress!

At this point, I recommend a reboot of the main router, if you have not already done so - please turn if off for at least 30 seconds.

It may also help to reboot devices afterwards - Arc and Port, and the controller, at the least.

I hope this helps.

Thanks ​@Corry P . I will have to try that tonight. I did factory reset the router but did not reboot the components.

Arc showing a solid green light this morning but not showing in the App. 
 

Im hoping if I can finish early on Friday support might be able to get this lot back on line.

thanks for your continued help & advice.

Hi ​@Simon_89 

A solid green light just means that it is muted - that should not have anything to do with why it is not showing in the app.

Your Arc is still showing as offline (not connected to our cloud), so it seems that it not showing in the app is just one of it’s problems.

Hopefully, the router reboot will help.

I am off all day tomorrow, but am working till 7pm UK time tonight - you may be able to catch me later this evening. If not, I hope the support team can solve this for you.

You are very welcome!

Hi ​@Corry P I was wondering if you could just confirm something for me please.

I am having a few challenges with Sky in getting the 2.4GHz changed to B/G/N as the support team needs to push a request through to their Network team and I never get to actually speak to them myself.

the base support team do not appear to have the knowledge to help me either.

On the past two occasions that I have requested the 2.4GHz is changed to 802.11B/G/N I have ended up receiving a text to say that they have either resolved the issue of that they have checked the issue and ruled out any issue outside of my home.

However, these are the settings I see when I log in which seem to show it staying on G/N/AX. 
 

I fear that I don’t understand what they have done (if anything) or that G/N/AX is the equivalent of what you have suggested I do…?

can you shed any light for me or advise further?

Thanks.

Hi ​@Simon_89 

Judging by the screenshot you have provided, you will need the “My Sky” app to alter those settings (I am not familiar with the My Sky app, to be clear, so I might be wrong).

Please remember that Sky’s responsibility to you is to provide internet to your home - when it comes to getting individual devices online, it is not their priority, and I would not expect their agents to be familiar with our requirements either. The may simply not quite “get” what you are trying to achieve.

I confess I also do not quite understand why you are trying to make this change, however - you have wired the Boost back up to ethernet, so the properties of your WiFi network - at least in the B/G/N/AX regard - are irrelevant to your Sonos system.

I did take a look at your most recent diagnostic - it reports 4 disconnects on the Boost’s ethernet port in the space of 1 minute. If you were not doing this yourself (unplugging and re-plugging), then I recommend that you replace the ethernet cable there.

I hope this helps.

Edit: Also, I did not suggest you alter your router settings in this manner - I think that was suggested while you were on a call with us.

Thanks ​@Corry P . No you didn’t make that suggestion. Sonos support next level keep suggesting that this setting is changed. I cannot change it myself via the App or by going in to the router. 

No I did not unplug the boost and the cable has already been replaced following the original diagnosis.

I guess I will just have to try another call with Sonos support but it’s not helped so far.

Thanks.

Hi ​@Simon_89 

I looked at your case and can indeed see an agent recommend that you alter your WiFi modes despite the fact that you using a Boost - there really is no need for you to do this. I can only apologise for the time wasted on this so far.

I have put a note on the case stating as much - perhaps now they will not be distracted by this line of reasoning. They will get some feedback too. I will also see if I can get your case escalated to a higher level of support - this has been going on a bit too long now!

I can also see that it was suggested to replace the cable already - it’s good that that is now out of the way.

Hi ​@Simon_89 

A quick update for you - I have escalated your case to level 3 support and you will hear from them some time later this week.

I hope this helps.

​@Corry P You are a star. Thank you for your continued support. I will await a call from the next level support.

thanks for your intervention.

​@Corry P After an extensive period of missed appointments and Sky engineers that were not familiar with the issue I was having, the issue was finally resolved today (over 1-month later). I don’t profess to understand how or why but I thought I gave be an update in case it helps anyone in the future.

Following further, weekly, if not daily calls with Sonos Support (after Corey P’s escalation), I was advised to try connecting one of my OneSL’s to the router as well as the boost, however whenever I tried to reinstall any missing products, it would end be up with a message to have to unplug and repower equipment to complete the reinstallation - none of this worked.

In addition my WiFi would get jammed and prevent TV Apps, iPads etc from connecting.

Sonos Support (Andreea L) noted that there seemed to be significant interference or jamming from the router whenever the OneSL was plugged in.

Speaking to my ISP they detected high latency.

Despite repeated attempts to determine the issue through a process of elimination, using either the boost, either the wired OneSL nothing worked.

in the end we disconnected both the boost and the OneSL Ethernet. 

Hey presto! Each piece of equipment slowly re-added, updated with new firmware and back working again.

Even the Sky Pod/Extenders seem to be working and not interfering.

Thanks for your help through this painful process.
 

Hi ​@Simon_89 

Thanks for coming back and updating the thread - I am glad to hear a solution was found!

You are very welcome!