play 3 keeps dropping out

  • 28 September 2023
  • 38 replies
  • 1205 views
D
  • dk23
  • Contributor I
  • 3 replies

usually reliable sound and playback on my play:3 speaker until recently. now its a daily event and multiple times making the system unusable in the main.

nothing has changed in terms of location of the speaker or router; have done a router reboot, power off/on of play3 as per previous comments on similar issues.

 

what is the underlying issue here, what has changed & what is the resolution to return to the good user experience previous?

 

have submitted diagnostics : 706080232

 

Moderator edit: changed “raised support case” to “submitted diagnostics”

38 replies

T

S2 on all of them, nothing and no one is still running S1 that uses the system.

The network is fine, which is why I can ping the Play:3 even when it’s not behaving, it’s something in the Play:3’s own streaming firmware, the network stack part of it is behaving as I would expect. The Play:1 devices never miss a beat, if I have the system set as Everywhere only the Play:3 is interrupted. I think that rules out my network and the BBC Sounds streams (when the Beeb is having trouble the symptoms are completely different, the PC controller displays odd images and the data stream with the presenter/track info disappears or freezes). I can also stream the Beeb to my Google Home speaker in the same room as the Play:3 and it keeps going when the Play:3 stutters and stops (the different decoding delays make listening to both devices simultaneously for other than diagnostic purposes unpleasant).

 

Failing memory is possible but I think that a power cycle would not fix the problem for a few days or a couple of weeks, that’s the sort of thing memory leaks in software do in many systems.

 

If I can get it to fall over and collect a diagnostic then I will see if support can help, as I said before this was a problem when I tried it before but maybe that has changed more recently. The Android controller app simply refused to see the Play:3 no matter what I did.

A
Userlevel 4
Badge +1

It’s quite simple. S2 is broken for older S2 compatible devices and the only solution (until Sonos fixes it) is to revert back to S1. 
 

Over on the architectural forum there has been a gathering momentum around the fact that Sonos broke S2 for older devices back in the summer of 2023. 

This has taken a long time to come to light because each reporting of ‘my system is dropping out and my devices can’t be found or won’t connect’ is met with derision by forum members and the insistence that it’s an environment issue.

The stock diagnostic response is that the device is running out of memory. Sonos has finally admitted that there is a problem affecting Gen2 Connect and Connect amps. And now it seems that Play 3 is also badly affected as the problem is affecting older speakers too.

So if you have this problem, revert back to S1 until Sonos fixes S2 for older devices.

T

Thanks for posting this, it appears to confirm much of what I have said in my 2 recent posts.

I don’t expect to never have to upgrade my hardware, but if the choice is between supporting old hardware by limiting changes to firmware needed for new features and adding features that break fundamental expectations (being able to stream without a power cycle every 2 weeks or less) then I know which I prefer.

J
Userlevel 1
Badge +2

This is a problem occurring to lots of hardware
See this thread:

 

A
Userlevel 4
Badge +1

I’ve been running the S1 rollback on my system for 4 weeks now and it’s rock solid stable. 
 

I sure don’t miss S2 and all its associated performance problems with older kit. In fact, it’s not at all clear to me what enhancements S2 brought over S1 (for the older gear).

M

I have exactly the same issue.

Have  a pair of Play 1 in one room, one  Play 1 in another room and play 3 in another. Play 1 are all ok, but one of the the play 3 has the intermittent behaviour as described. And it make the app unresponsive too. Starting stopping streaming, volume all unresponsive. Rebooting for a bit helps.

Francesco

N
Userlevel 1
Badge +1

I have had the same problem with my Play 3 for approx 5 months. I just resorted to switching it on and off and then it worked for another few hours. In a days listening (its in my workshop) I’d have to do it a couple of times. Back then I didn't look at the community board to see if others were having the same problem, I just assumed eventually I’d have to buy a replacement. Then yesterday, after dropping out again, it required a software update. Guess what, it's working, no drop outs (so far). I then read this message board as I was curious. Now its great that its fixed, but I think rather disappointing its taken what looks like over 5 months for Sonos to accept members feedback, recognise the problem and then fix it. Come on guys, some of us have been with you a very long time and bought a lot of kit!

C

Same issues for months now with my Play 3s. The only thing that works reliably is to switch them off and on every night - I’ve scheduled a couple of WiFi switches to do this. They then work for at least the following day. I’m hoping this will squeeze out the final bit of life in them for a few more months. 

buzz

I recommend submitting a diagnostic after an event, then follow up with SONOS phone support. If enough of these events are reported, fixing the fundamental problem will move up the to-do list.

P

It’s quite simple. S2 is broken for older S2 compatible devices and the only solution (until Sonos fixes it) is to revert back to S1. 
 

Over on the architectural forum there has been a gathering momentum around the fact that Sonos broke S2 for older devices back in the summer of 2023. 

This has taken a long time to come to light because each reporting of ‘my system is dropping out and my devices can’t be found or won’t connect’ is met with derision by forum members and the insistence that it’s an environment issue.

The stock diagnostic response is that the device is running out of memory. Sonos has finally admitted that there is a problem affecting Gen2 Connect and Connect amps. And now it seems that Play 3 is also badly affected as the problem is affecting older speakers too.

So if you have this problem, revert back to S1 until Sonos fixes S2 for older devices.

My system consists of 3 x Play:3, 1 x One SL & 1 x Port all connected wirelessly to a Boost that is cabled to my Ubiquiti UDM router.

The Port is a recent substitution for a Connect and prior to that swap the system had run flawlessly on S1 for more than a decade. Since swapping out the Connect for the Port and “upgrading” to S2 any one of the Play:3’s will at some point become “offline” as far as the Sonos controller is concerned, but will reconnect once power-cycled and the system will then work again for an indeterminate number of days before that or one of the other Play:3’s will go “offline”.

As the controller can’t connect to the device, running diagnostics is pretty futile and after power-cycling completely worthless, but today I did a bit of digging from the network side using Ubiquiti’s WIFIman app and found something interesting.

Firstly, while the Sonos controller thinks the device is disconnected, it’s still visible on the network and can be pinged with a quick response. The interesting bit is that the WIFIman app reports which UPNP services the device is advertising. Here’s an example from one of the Play:3’s that the Sonos controller could see and communicate with:

And here’s what it reported for the Play:3 that the Sonos controller couldn’t see:

Note the absence of the “sonos” and “spotify-connect” services at the end of the list.

The interesting thing is that while I was checking this, the “sonos” service briefly sparked into life on the “disconnected” Play:3 and it became visible in the controller again. Shortly after it disappeared from the controller again and sure enough, WIFIman showed the "sonos” service to be missing. After power-cycling it, both  the “sonos” and “spotify-connect” services are being advertised and the speaker responds to the controller once again.

Why the Play:3 stops advertising  the “sonos” and “spotify-connect” services I don’t know, but that definitely seems to be the critical bit of the jigsaw.

A
Userlevel 3
Badge +1

Now *all* my prior generation gear has drop-outs.  This includes 3 Connect:Amps and now my Connect.  All of these were working without issue prior to v16 firmware.  
 

so this is not a network issue (everything is IP bound by MAC address at the router).  I’m not even going to telephone support to have someone try to convince me that my network is at fault.  All devices work, for a time, after a reboot.  So I don’t see this as a failing menory issue, unless Sonos’s firmware has memory leaks that manifest over time.  
 

I’’m seriously p*ssed now.  Am I supposed to live with this as ‘one of those’ things?  To replace these useless bricks now will be approx £2500, unless I have some 15% credits - I may have.
 

This is too much of a coincidence to not believe that firmware is not the issue here.  Even if it is not buggy it has been pushed to devices that can’t handle it.  Apple pull this crap all the time, so they can sit back and what the upgrade money roll in.  
 

If you broke it Sonos, I want remedy.  This stuff costs too much for me to take it on the chin.  Fix your *

 

*Moderator Note: Modified in accordance with the Community Code of Conduct.*

 

Andrew S 

V

Ok, after some months of troubleshooting, trying lot's of things with my unifi network setup and things and can only conclude that there is a real problem with S2 and the Play 3
I also have Play 1's here and they don't show any issue.
With the play 3 I had “unable to connect to spotify” errors, slow volume changes, hickups, all that stuff.
I now downgraded to S1 and the Play 3's are super fast again, no problems at all anymore and I can enjoy my music in full.
Only issue, the “annoying” bar in the S1 controller app saying “S2 is now available”
It's a real shame Sonos that you cannot update your own products in a solid way (don't care about testing I guess) and are forcing people onto new hardware like this.  

A
Userlevel 4
Badge +1

Today is the 100 day anniversary of my rollback to S1. The system has been continuously powered up for those 100 days and the hardware and controller apps have been super stable, fast and reliable throughout this time. 
 

For anyone with the ability to roll back to S1, I’d say that it’s worth the hassle. There is zero loss of functionality if all you’re doing is listening to stereo audio and the system stability and responsiveness will remind you why you bought Sonos in the first place. 

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