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Sonos App super slow - Because I have all old devices, or is it likely Network?

  • 26 April 2024
  • 22 replies
  • 4676 views

Over time the Sonos App on my devices has gotten slower, and slower.  Response time is horrendous.  I figure it’s gotta be from one of two things:

  1. All my devices are OLD Play: 1s and a SoundBar.  Perhaps they’re just getting too old for the current capabilities?
  2. I have found several threads discussing app performance and Network issues.  I’ve done a bit of superficial digging and I don’t **think** I have any network issues going on.  I’ve got a pretty solid and stable network. Several of my devices are wired rather than using wirelss, I’m using SonosNet still on the rest.   I COULD switch them to using regular wifi, though I’m a bit hesitant because I’ve been using SonosNet successfully since before Wifi was an option.

Thoughts on where I should focus my energies?

22 replies

Airgetlam

Actually, I’d focus on 2. There’s a very slight aspect that 1 is impacting your system, but that would be, IMHO, minimal. 
 

One thing I’d try is unplugging all the Sonos devices from power, then rebooting your router. No need to remove the Ethernet cables, but you want your router to reload its firmware, and associated DHCP table. Give the router a couple of minutes to reboot, and then plug the power back in to your Sonos devices. This forces the Sonos to also reload their firmware, and request new IP addresses from the router. 

Bruce
buzz

I’m a speed demon. I think that controller startup lags a little, compared to the old days. Some functions attempt cloud access and this can introduce a startup lag. Local functions, such as Mute, Play/Pause, Volume adjustments, etc. continue to be prompt.

SONOS does require robust local networks. Routers and access points that were very viable years ago may be struggling today.

My network is a mixture of wired and wireless. Not typical, there are two WiFi networks and the SONOS units can choose which one they want to use. Most of my units are newer. The older units are not as agile on the network, but I don’t have issues.

If you don’t already have one, find a PING application and PING your SONOS units. You can find SONOS IP addresses in About My System. Lots of dropped packets or long PING times indicate some sort of issue on the local network.

Stanley_4
Userlevel 7
Badge +22

#2. I looked at everything here I had access to and all my networking looked nearly perfect. Sonos was still slow to respond to remote commands.

Sent in a diagnostic and requested Sonos look into my problem. They were quite nice in explaining I had made a mess for myself by placing two different sets of speakers too close to each other. A simple move of a couple feet, of both problem sets, and my response time returned to quite acceptable levels.

I too feel it may be a bit slower than it used to be, but then my RF environment is a worse and I have added a few more Sonos to my collection.

P
Userlevel 1
Badge +2

Actually, I’d focus on 2. There’s a very slight aspect that 1 is impacting your system, but that would be, IMHO, minimal. 
 

One thing I’d try is unplugging all the Sonos devices from power, then rebooting your router. No need to remove the Ethernet cables, but you want your router to reload its firmware, and associated DHCP table. Give the router a couple of minutes to reboot, and then plug the power back in to your Sonos devices. This forces the Sonos to also reload their firmware, and request new IP addresses from the router. 

I should probably clarify - my router isn’t a typical router, it’s a UniFi gateway, and I have dhcp disabled on it as I run a dedicated redundant pair of dhcp servers in an HA config.  Also my Sonos devices all have assigned IPs.  The dhcp server does assign them to the speakers, but if I reboot they’ll get exactly the same IPs back.  
 

That being said, I’ll try doing what you suggest just to see if a firmware recycle on all the devices makes a difference.   

buzz

Make sure that any Ubiquiti switches are set for STP.

Check PING times. Are they all reasonable?

Airgetlam

There’s also a frequently referenced Unifi document at: https://github.com/IngmarStein/unifi-sonos-doc

Bruce
C
Userlevel 6
Badge +12

IIRC, the associated Sonos device with a controller can be random, and could be a tertiary node, ie 2 hops on SonosNet, which will introduce more latency.

When I got my ERA-100 I was hesitant about unplugging the Ethernet on the older Sonos devices, but turned out to be a non issue. The system is a lot snappier now, and I have freed up a 2.4GHz channel for my WiFi.

The UniFi Network App will also give you some nice stats on the Sonos WiFi connections.

 

P
Userlevel 1

Having the same problem here.

Sorry to say, but I do have the feeling it’s the app.

Controlling for example the volume via the Sonos App, mostly doesn’t do anything.

Mostly the app says no Products found.

 

However, I do also have HomeAssistant. Controlling the volume via home Assistent is INSTANTLY, so I don’t think its related to wifi…
The same for controlling the volume, or selecting songs via the Spotify app. Works a little bit slower than Home assistant, but still very fast. 
 

Sonos app is mostly unusable.; 

(here also using Ubiqity router and accesspoints)

T

Just confirming it’s nor a network issue. I have Sonos products on 2 locations. One is all wired the other all Wifi. Exact same issues. Both locations use Unify network equipment.

P
Userlevel 1
Badge +2

I think part of the thing here is that these problems **can** be caused by network issues.  But as identified by others in this thread, (and by myself), we believe there’s evidence that it is not **only** caused by network issues.  People need to not assume that when these issues crop up, that it’s gotta be network.

T

If it’s any consolation, the App “running” on MacOs doesn’t even work at all. It does not find the existing system and simply crashes. When is Sonos going to take responsibility and fix essential stuff ???

L

Same problem here..  It’s the new app 100%.  My system worked perfect before the latest app load.  What a disaster.  Bring back the previous version.  It worked fine!

D

Yeah, it’s the new app. So for instance, 4 second minimum to search for ‘Dire Straits’ even though that was searched last night. And that’s If it doesn’t fail completely and say ‘something went wrong. Try again’ which it’s been doing about 75% of the time. 
my house has gone quiet. It’s not worth the frustration of trying to play something.  

F
Userlevel 1

Yup the app is terrible. Very slow responses if any at all. Sonos better go fix or it is time to say goodbye and look for something else. 

N

After spending 2 weeks hitting my head trying to figure out if my network is the issue (there were some loop issues that did resolve and all devices working fine now, other than sonos app), have found that Its definitely the app, downloaded Clic and Sonophone apps on my iphone just to see if they work, turns out they work and work fast compared to the Sonos app that sometimes sits there for minutes waiting to discover, or waiting to change the volume or waiting to play the song.

I have one speaker connected to router and most speakers other than roam, move and era 100, running on sonosnet.  I am not sure why the Era 100s are using wifi network whereas the sub mini connected to them is on sonosnet, at least that is what my router tells me.

S
Userlevel 7
Badge +16

@njaffer

You're not alone in finding the likes of Sonophone works much better and quicker than Sonos’ own App.

Funnily enough I saw this item this morning.

Regarding your Era100s using WiFi and not Sonosnet, that's because they don't support Sonosnet on the ‘newer’ devices (Eras, Roams and Moves) and they need to be within a reasonable distance of your router/access points and connect via WiFi (Eras can connect with a network cable using an adaptor (but still not Sonosnet)) - they can't ‘mesh’ with other speakers.

N

@sjw 

Thanks. Had not realized about Eras that they did not join the sonos wifi, I think would have just continued with the play-1s I had.

W

I’m starting a new post after this but my experience over the last three or more years with Sonos is so f’ing frustrating I’m here to vent - even creating an account here is ridiculous, if your chosen username is taken it’s a restart from scratch - not where you left off. 
 

anyway, Sonos was amazing. Instantaneous control from my iPhone buttons, easy to change songs etc. now with the app it’s literally a minute or two to change songs. Or trying to change the volume? A good 10 seconds. More if the app needs to be reopened - then about a minute. I have super strong fibre wifi and no issues with anything else. Ever. Just Sonos - every time. 

rosswells127
Userlevel 7
Badge +8

Are any of you who are experiencing latency issues with the new app from the Asia Pacific region?
Just FYI I have been dealing directly with Sonos on latency issues with the new app and here is their latest response…

Since the launch of the new Sonos app, we’ve seen customers in Australia, New Zealand and other parts of the APAC region having latency or delay while navigating the app. This behaviour you’ve encountered while navigating Plex in the Sonos app seems to be related to this issue and we’d like to let you know that we are actively investigating this and do not have an ETA to share.

Ross.

C

Adding one more data point to “it’s the app”. The app has turned to trash. I downloaded a $4 app off the app store and its fast, instant, responsive. So it is not my over-provisioned and well managed Unifi network causing the issue. The desktop client is fairly responsive, and my home automation devices that can start/stop music are also super fast. As a bonus, the $4 app doesn’t feel the need to change the interface every few months leaving me hunting and pecking to find the stuff that used to be muscle memory. 

Don’t you hate it when products that you love and recommend actually become worse?

V
Userlevel 1
Badge +1

Here’s my setup

Unifi UDM-Pro, 1 x U6 LR, 1 x U6 Mesh, 1 x AC Pro. Dedicated Sonos SSID. Flat VLAN (images of my SSID configuration below).

mDNS and IGMP Snooping enabled on the LAN interface.

All the Unifi devices are running the latest early access firmware available.

2.4 GHz at 20 MHz (never put any 2.4 GHz to 40 MHz even if it sounds faster). Transmit power 12 dbm. Minimum RSSI 72 dBm with Interference Blocker enabled.

5 GHz at 80 MHz, Transmit power 18 dbm, Minimum RSSI 72 dBm with Interference Blocker enabled.

 

So, if it’s not capable of maintaining a signal of at leat 72 dBm, it’s being kicked out. That guarantees me a good ground base for a solid connection. If it can’t connect, I need to take proper action.

 

11 Speakers split in a few: Move, Play:1, Play:3, One, Sub, Roam

Recently, I started having some issues on 2.4 GHz so I switched to 5 GHz (I don’t have a home theater setup).

That fixed my problem (major 2.4 GHz interference in my building).

Also, for those of you using Unifi gear and a UDM-Pro (or the same router family), remember that it does not support STP, only RSTP. So if you have Sonos gear connected to the UDM using Ethernet without disabling the WiFi interface on that gear? You will have loops and network problems.

 

Also, lately I got fed up with all the publicity online so I installed Pi-hole at home as a Network-wide Ad Blocking. I love it but it also blocks msmetrics.ws.sonos.com out of the box. That played havoc with the mobile app. Slow app, slow control, speakers starting song seconds after I pressed “play”, stopping songs seconds after I press “pause”. Bottom line? If some of you are using Internet filtering software, have a second look at it. Once I whitelisted everything in regards to Sonos, everything started responding quickly again. Sonos needs fast and responsible DNS to work good. I learned the hard way.

All my mobile apps are now running smooth.

Hope it helps, espacially those with Unifi gear.

 

 

 

 


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S

So here's my guess on this issue.

My suspicion is that Sonos are doing more monitoring of control actions on devices from actuated from the new app. Worst case would be a volume up/down action making a blocking remote call to report in at HQ. *If* they are doing something like that - with millions app instances running they'd need a lot of servers to handle the calls.

Could be app debug logging - something like sentry.

Pure speculation on my part.

At an observational level, when I move a volume slider what I see is the slider move back to the old state, pause (a few seconds) and then jump back to the new state and the volume the actually change.

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