Contributor I

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Sonos 5 sometimes plays the previous song in its buffer using AirPlay

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Hi folks,

So I recently got 2 Sonos 5s (3rd gen) and I am using them as stereo pair, both are updated to the latest software version (15.10 (build 76247142)). I mainly AirPlay from my iPhone and Apple Music into them and am also using the Apple Music app for playing music, volume control etc.

The problem is when I am playing a playlist of songs, sometimes when I hit next to play the next song, my Sonos system plays a few seconds of the previously playing song (probably from its internal buffer) instead of the next song. If I wait a few seconds it starts playing the correct song though. This is a random behavior and it’s not happening every single time but I can easily reproduce it. I am not really sure if this is an AirPlay bug or it’s just Sonos but I am leaning towards Sonos. Any ideas why it’s happening and how to fix it maybe?

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A

AringtoneAnswer

Contributor I

@Ken_Griffiths,

Thanks for all the tests and help I really appreciate it. So I was able to reproduce the issue with my LG TV that supports AirPlay! Same thing happened there too and as you said Apple devices get special treatment! So at the very least now I know that my Sonos speakers don’t have any problems and the problem is definitely somewhere in my network! It could also be my router maybe! I will dig further and report back with my findings.

All the best and thanks again for the help.

Show previous replies

Airgetlam

Apologies, but the network is not the same. The two devices may reside on the same network, but there is no guaranty that packet delivery is the same between them both. It’s entirely possible that one is affected by wifi interference , and the other not, even when relatively close, or for that matter, a duplicate IP address issue might be affecting one, and not the other.

Bruce

Ken_Griffiths

The other difference here too @Aringtone is when you AirPlay from your phone to another Apple device like an Apple TV or a HomePod speaker, a cloud based source, such as Apple Music, is not sent via the phone on that occasion - because it’s another Apple product it bypasses the phone and goes direct from the cloud to your Apple TV - Apple only do that though when the receiving device is another Apple product. So in that instance it works like the Sonos App and Sonos products. I hope that helps and makes sense.

It’s also why I ‘think’ the issue lies somewhere between your iPhone and your Sonos Speaker including the connection in-between. The first thing here though is to definitely look at the mobile device. No matter what, I think it’s perhaps worth starting there, but that’s after rebooting the router, speakers and the mobile itself.

Ken_Griffiths

Just to say I haven’t done any further testing here yet as I got side-tracked by the Wife to do some jobs, but when I get a chance I’ll give things another try here too.

Ken_Griffiths

@Aringtone

Well I’ve tried/tested things here with iPad, iPhone XR and just very briefly with my Wife’s iPhone SE and not seeing any issues whilst AirPlaying to the Five stereo pair here called Fireplace - the tracks in a playlist always skip quickly on each of our devices without any noticeable delay.

I did a quick video taken from the iPhone XR which is attached - again for the video, it shows me skipping the tracks forward after approx. 4/5 seconds of playback - that was done just as a demonstration of the responsiveness.

The music always changes fine on the Fives. It’s almost instant. The streaming playlist I used is called "Pop in Spatial Audio” for the video demo attached - I picked that as it shows as lossless in the AM native App.

All I can say is it seems to be working okay - so my thoughts are that the issue is perhaps something local. I would maybe try with a different iOS device (if you have one available)… I’m hoping though that a reboot of your router, speakers and mobile device might resolve the issue for you.🤞

buzz

Grand Maestro

@Aringtone Install a network snooper on your phone and check PING times, especially to the SONOS players.

Ken_Griffiths

@Aringtone
The Wife and I have popped over to our Daughters Home at the moment and using Airplay/Apple Music on their WiFi network, I grouped together their Sonos Five with an Era 300 and a stereo pair of Sonos Ones and they are working okay too for skipping tracks on a randomly chosen Christmas Playlist.

The tracks skip fine, even across the Sonos ‘group’ …and their ISP is perhaps not the best I’ve seen.

Their download/upload speed over WiFi according to Ookla’s Speedtest App is 66MB/s and 20MB/s so it’s clear the WAN link is likely not the issue in this instance, but my thoughts are that it’s something on the Home network, or mobile device, so I would perhaps concentrate on those things.

A

AringtoneAuthorAnswer

Contributor I

@Ken_Griffiths,

Thanks for all the tests and help I really appreciate it. So I was able to reproduce the issue with my LG TV that supports AirPlay! Same thing happened there too and as you said Apple devices get special treatment! So at the very least now I know that my Sonos speakers don’t have any problems and the problem is definitely somewhere in my network! It could also be my router maybe! I will dig further and report back with my findings.

All the best and thanks again for the help.

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