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Contributor I
February 18, 2017

PLAY 5 Not connecting over wireless

Hey folks,

Pretty sure I've tried everything here but thought I'd give it a whirl.

I've owned a Play 5 and Playbar (both in separate rooms) for about 6 weeks. They've worked perfectly wirelessly and been great.

Yesterday my Play 5 stopped showing up on the network and isn't working on the wireless network.

These are the things I've tried:

- Moving closer to the router - Nothing
- Setting up again through different controllers - Nothing
- Resetting the Play 5 and set up wirelessly - Nothing
- Resetting the Play 5 and setting up using the Ethernet - works, but when you try to set it up on the wireless (1 ft from the router - Nothing)
- Tried resetting my router - nothing


It's also worth noting that the entire time my playbar works across the wireless with no problem at all.

Is it just that my Play 5 wireless needs to be returned?

Thanks,

Alf
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67 replies

Lyricist III
February 18, 2017
Hi Alf I have the same problem here,

Play 5 gen 2 been working fine for a month. Then last week it disappeared and will only reconnect when wired. It won't connect wirelessly anymore even when sitting right next to the Bridge.
I also have two Play 1s that work fine in rooms further away from the router.
I've tried everything I've read on this forum but think now I'll have to return the Play 5 if it's wireless function is broken.
There seem to be quite a few cases like this with the new Play 5s.

Steve
Lyricist I
February 18, 2017
Exact same problem here! My Play 5 quit working on Friday and we have tried all the same things with the same results.
I'm hoping someone has a solution!

Lisa
CapnLes
Virtuoso
February 19, 2017
Hello and welcome to the Sonos community


Connection problems which appear suddenly are often caused by network problems, not Sonos problems. The typical cause is duplicate IP addresses. These often show up after an update or power outage because a reboot requires the device to request a new IP, and the router, having lost track of current IP assignments, issues a new IP that is in use by another device. Rebooting the router may correct this temporarily, but it actually exacerbates the problem because as soon as another IP lease expires, it starts handing out duplicates again. To cure this, do the following:

Reboot/power cycle your devices in the following order:

Modem
Router
Switches or hubs
Wired Sonos units
Wireless Sonos units
Computers/printers
Wireless devices - phones/tablets etc.

Allow each device to come back up before proceeding to the next. Note that you can permanently prevent duplicate IP addresses by assigning an IP to each device's MAC address in the router setup. See your router manual for details.

Make sure your SonosNet and router are on different channels

Keep what ever Sonos product you have wired at least a meter from the router

If all fails run a diagnostic and post the number here

Go to help and submit diagnostic
My Sonos system is rock solid 100% of the time and your system should be too!
Contributor I
February 19, 2017
Hello and welcome to the Sonos community


Connection problems which appear suddenly are often caused by network problems, not Sonos problems. The typical cause is duplicate IP addresses. These often show up after an update or power outage because a reboot requires the device to request a new IP, and the router, having lost track of current IP assignments, issues a new IP that is in use by another device. Rebooting the router may correct this temporarily, but it actually exacerbates the problem because as soon as another IP lease expires, it starts handing out duplicates again. To cure this, do the following:

Reboot/power cycle your devices in the following order:

Modem
Router
Switches or hubs
Wired Sonos units
Wireless Sonos units
Computers/printers
Wireless devices - phones/tablets etc.

Allow each device to come back up before proceeding to the next. Note that you can permanently prevent duplicate IP addresses by assigning an IP to each device's MAC address in the router setup. See your router manual for details.

Make sure your SonosNet and router are on different channels

Keep what ever Sonos product you have wired at least a meter from the router

If all fails run a diagnostic and post the number here

Go to help and submit diagnostic


I saw this on some of the other posts and I've tried this several times now and it's not worked. I've tried rebooting the router to factory settings. All of it.

It does feel like this is a Sonos problem. Based on the fact that so many people are having the same problem, with the same product and I have several other products that are connected to the WIFI with absolutely not problem (In cluding a playbar).

Even in the setup where it says that the Sonos is going to create a temporary WIFI network. It doesn't do that.

I really like my play 5 but if I get a replacement one, will this happen again? It's a big rubbish that a products unique selling point is basically crapping out on people!

Any other ideas folks?
Contributor I
February 19, 2017
Forgot to mention. I checked and as I'm with Virgin Media I can't assign static IP addresses either which obviously isn't a Sonos issue but worth noting that isn't possible for everyone sadly.
Lyricist III
February 19, 2017
CapnLes - I also tried this several times after reading it on another thread and it made no difference.

My question is this:

If it is a network problem and not a Sonos problem, why does it only affect the Play 5 and not the other players??
Lyricist III
February 19, 2017
Also, when the Play 5 is wired it is given it's own unique IP address - I checked in 'About my Sonos system' and with all the other devices connect to my wifi - and it works fine.

So how can this be an issue with IP addresses? If I unplug the ethernet cable in the Play 5 shouldn't it continue using the same IP address wirelessly?
CapnLes
Virtuoso
February 19, 2017
While Sonos will work on WiFi it does work best on Sonosnet. Meaning having one of you Sonos products hard wired all the time to your router allowing Sonos to set up it own network and taking the load off your WiFi.

SonosNet


I again suggest you submit a diagnostic and post the number here. A Sonos rep will be a able to pull a report and tell you far more about your system than we can. You could also call them if you do not want to wait.
My Sonos system is rock solid 100% of the time and your system should be too!
CapnLes
Virtuoso
February 19, 2017
My Sonos system is rock solid 100% of the time and your system should be too!
Lyricist I
February 19, 2017
I have the exact same problem. It started about 2 hours ago despite having worked perfectly for the last month. Steve F.