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Jonnydrama32
Avid Contributor I
December 7, 2023

Sonos customer service hung up, never called back, and my Playbar still cuts out

I’ve posted several times about the horrible Sonos CS. Don’t ever buy anything directly from them because they laid off everyone but two people in logistics. 

But today’s issue is that I still can’t get my Playbar to stop cutting out. I called CS and gave them my diagnostics. They made up a number of things that were the “obvious” problem - turns out every time they were wrong. “Must be Apple Music,” “Must be that you haven’t restarted all your devices in 19 days,” etc. After 45 minutes, they had me swap my Playbar - on the top floor of my townhouse - with my Arc on the main floor. The Arc worked fine in the Playbar’s location and the Playbar worked fine in the Arc’s location, which makes no sense. If interference was the root problem, the Arc would also cut out when placed in the Playbar’s old spot.

I went to look at the Matrix to check out the signal of the Arc when placed in the Playbar’s old spot, but there’s no noise data, which I guess is the result of it being a newer device (because it TOTALLY makes sense to have a diagnostic page that doesn’t have the information necessary to diagnose). Before I could get more info, the CS hung up and sent an email saying it was a pleasure helping me. He never called back even though we were obviously in the middle of diagnosing. I absolutely DESPISE that I get some guy in an Indian call center when trying to deal with a complicated technology. I asked for US support and was ignored.

At this point, I’ve just thrown my hands up. I bought a new Eero mesh network to replace my google mesh. That didn’t help the cause. I then plugged in my main floor Arc and created a Sonosnet. That also didn’t fix the cut outs on the upstairs Playbar.

The matrix is worthless. It has boxes in red where the devices work fine, and boxes in yellow or orange where there are tons of cut outs. It shows that my surrounds connected to my Playbar are green, but my Playbar is yellow, despite being only about 8 feet away. I seriously doubt there is a completely different level of interference in such a short distance. But even if there was interference, it’s clearly not a big deal since the Arc worked fine in the spot the Playbar skips.

I’m so close to selling all my Sonos devices. Customer Service is everything and they are offensively bad at it.

 

What is left to do to get my system working properly?


This first matrix is when I moved the Playbar to the main floor and the Arc upstairs. Sucks that I can’t see the Arc color box to compare to the Playbar being in the same location.

 


 

 

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21 replies

John B
December 7, 2023

Why should a CS representative in India be less capable of dealing with complexity than one in the US?

Sonos has never publicised the matrix or encouraged users to use it.  It is just something that some users know about.

The wireless radio on the Arc is probably more powerful than that on the Playbar, so it doesn’t necessarily follow that swapping positions should make no difference.  Please confirm which device(s) you have wired to your network in the setup that produced the matrix shown.  When you swap the positions of Arc and Playbar, what is wired?

Do the dropouts on the Playbar occur only when it is played alone, only when it is grouped with the Arc, or in both scenarios?

    Jamie A
    Jamie A
    Sonos Staff
    December 7, 2023

    Hi @Jonnydrama32, 

    I’ve checked our system and have found your most recent case. From what I can see in the call log itself, you weren’t hung up on but the call was disconnected, this is also what my colleague handling your case has listed in their notes.

    You also have a few duplicate threads on the community, and I would advise against creating more. Duplicate threads make it harder for community users and myself to provide assistance, and we’ll likely end up repeating support steps you’ve already heard and tried. I’ll close your extra threads and leave this one open.

    I’ve flagged your case internally with our team, and a colleague should reach out to you soon, if not today then tomorrow. For now I would wait for a reply from my colleague to continue troubleshooting this issue.

      Jonnydrama32Author
      Avid Contributor I
      December 7, 2023

      Why should a CS representative in India be less capable of dealing with complexity than one in the US?

      Sonos has never publicised the matrix or encouraged users to use it.  It is just something that some users know about.

      The wireless radio on the Arc is probably more powerful than that on the Playbar, so it doesn’t necessarily follow that swapping positions should make no difference.  Please confirm which device(s) you have wired to your network in the setup that produced the matrix shown.  When you swap the positions of Arc and Playbar, what is wired?

      Do the dropouts on the Playbar occur only when it is played alone, only when it is grouped with the Arc, or in both scenarios?

       

      Why should a CS representative in India be less capable of dealing with complexity than one in the US?

      Sonos has never publicised the matrix or encouraged users to use it.  It is just something that some users know about.

      The wireless radio on the Arc is probably more powerful than that on the Playbar, so it doesn’t necessarily follow that swapping positions should make no difference.  Please confirm which device(s) you have wired to your network in the setup that produced the matrix shown.  When you swap the positions of Arc and Playbar, what is wired?

      Do the dropouts on the Playbar occur only when it is played alone, only when it is grouped with the Arc, or in both scenarios?

      I can tell you with certainty that CS in India is not as capable. For one, when I tried to return two defective arcs they sent me, I was sent around to half a dozen different call center reps who couldn’t figure out the basic task of returning an item. They insisted the items weren’t defective, until I proved it was a bad batch of Arcs. I proved that by having to buy an Arc from Best Buy that didn’t have the issue that both Arcs Sonos sent had. When they finally agreed to let me return it, I spent something like 25 hours trying to get a shipping label for both arcs and my money back. You wouldn’t be believe how infuriating it was. 

      I posted the incorrect matrix in the last post. The one below is when I swapped the Arc and Bedroom. Bedroom used to be in my upstairs bedroom; Arc used to be in my main room. When I switched positions and hard-wired the Bedroom into my Eero on my main floor, this is the matrix that I got. The bedroom satellites show a poor signal here because they were still upstairs when I moved the bedroom downstairs. Note that they still played fine despite being red and orange.

       

       

      Jonnydrama32Author
      Avid Contributor I
      December 7, 2023

      Hi @Jonnydrama32, 

      I’ve checked our system and have found your most recent case. From what I can see in the call log itself, you weren’t hung up on but the call was disconnected, this is also what my colleague handling your case has listed in their notes.

      You also have a few duplicate threads on the community, and I would advise against creating more. Duplicate threads make it harder for community users and myself to provide assistance, and we’ll likely end up repeating support steps you’ve already heard and tried. I’ll close your extra threads and leave this one open.

      I’ve flagged your case internally with our team, and a colleague should reach out to you soon, if not today then tomorrow. For now I would wait for a reply from my colleague to continue troubleshooting this issue.

      So if a call is disconnected in the middle of a 45 minute conversation, and you’re in the middle of asking a customer to move around equipment, which takes time and some unraveling, do you think it makes sense to NOT  immediately call them back to find out why the call dropped? They asked for my number at the beginning, so he could’ve easily called back. Instead I got a generic email a minute later. Furthermore, I had no way of getting him back on the line because it was after 8pm PT. Good customer service would’ve tried me back when it was clear it got disconnected in the middle of a conversation. Bad customer service leaves a customer hanging.

      If they reach out, it needs to be after 730pm PT. I work until then. But honestly, I don’t think they have any clue what’s wrong. They just generically say it’s interference. I can’t move the Playbar anywhere else in the room since it needs to be below the TV. I’ve spend hundreds on new equipment (the Eero) to fix the issue, but to no avail. I’ve tried every channel on Sonosnet without a resolution. I can already tell you I’m going to be told to shell out for a newer model since the Arc clearly worked and the Playbar can’t in that spot. So I will spend these hours on the phone with Sonos to likely get an answer that just costs me more money rather than them taking responsibility for making a product that can’t do the very thing it was designed to do. Nobody can turn off every piece of interference in their house. And while Play:1s can be moved around, soundbars are usually placed right below a tv. If there’s a signal issue, nothing can be done.

       

      buzz
      buzz
      Grand Maestro
      December 7, 2023

      The Network Matrix was never documented and it’s usefulness in displaying troubleshooting data is waning. The latest S2 only units do not report any data for the Network Matrix. In my own system the Network Matrix is mostly blank. Only an ancient SUB reports interference levels. 

      When Community members seem to have technical curiosity, mostly older units, and post about issues that are likely caused by wireless interference, I’ll reply with instructions on how to display the Network Matrix. If the Network Matrix is sufficiently populated, it is useful for pointing out units that are experiencing interference or very low signal strength. The user can then move SONOS or other nearby units and immediately see if there is any improvement.

      I wish that the Network Matrix could be restored to its original glory -- and improved to incorporate WiFi improvements..

      buzz
      buzz
      Grand Maestro
      December 7, 2023

      @Jonnydrama32,

      For the snip of Network Matrix recently shown, Bedroom surrounds are experiencing some interference. Probably it is not practical to move these units, but you could explore the nearby area for equipment causing the interference and move the interfering hardware.

      I once had a neighbor’s cordless phone system causing major issues for my SONOS system. Fortunately, I could wire the SONOS unit closest to the phone base station and eliminate the issue.

      John B
      December 7, 2023

      Hi.  If it is Bedroom (ie 9ie the Playbar) that is wired in the above setup then it is odd that it is shown as “undefined” in the matrix, when acting as the root bridge for SonosNet.

      I would try the following experiment (but cannot guarantee it will help)

      (i) Remove the surrounds  and sub from the Sonos soundbars (this step may be unnecessary, it’s up to you whether you do it, but I think it is best to keep everything simple to start with)

      (ii) Power off all your Sonos and Eero devices

      (iii) Wire the Arc to your Master Eero device.  Do not wire any other Sonos devices.

      (iv) Power the Eero back on and let it come up fully

      (v) Then power on the Arc and let it power on fully.

      (vi) Power on Playbar and any other Sonos devices except for surrounds and sub

      Leave any satellite Eero devices powered off and see if the system is stable at this point.  Post back with the results.

       

      Jonnydrama32Author
      Avid Contributor I
      December 7, 2023

      @Jonnydrama32,

      For the snip of Network Matrix recently shown, Bedroom surrounds are experiencing some interference. Probably it is not practical to move these units, but you could explore the nearby area for equipment causing the interference and move the interfering hardware.

      I once had a neighbor’s cordless phone system causing major issues for my SONOS system. Fortunately, I could wire the SONOS unit closest to the phone base station and eliminate the issue.

      Does wiring it to the mesh hub in the room do anything, or is that pointless unless it’s a direct ethernet cable from the router?

      Jonnydrama32Author
      Avid Contributor I
      December 7, 2023

      Hi.  If it is Bedroom (ie 9ie the Playbar) that is wired in the above setup then it is odd that it is shown as “undefined” in the matrix, when acting as the root bridge for SonosNet.

      I would try the following experiment (but cannot guarantee it will help)

      (i) Remove the surrounds  and sub from the Sonos soundbars (this step may be unnecessary, it’s up to you whether you do it, but I think it is best to keep everything simple to start with)

      (ii) Power off all your Sonos and Eero devices

      (iii) Wire the Arc to your Master Eero device.  Do not wire any other Sonos devices.

      (iv) Power the Eero back on and let it come up fully

      (v) Then power on the Arc and let it power on fully.

      (vi) Power on Playbar and any other Sonos devices except for surrounds and sub

      Leave any satellite Eero devices powered off and see if the system is stable at this point.  Post back with the results.

       

      I did this when I first got the devices. It didn’t make a difference.

      Jonnydrama32Author
      Avid Contributor I
      December 7, 2023

      The Network Matrix was never documented and it’s usefulness in displaying troubleshooting data is waning. The latest S2 only units do not report any data for the Network Matrix. In my own system the Network Matrix is mostly blank. Only an ancient SUB reports interference levels. 

      When Community members seem to have technical curiosity, mostly older units, and post about issues that are likely caused by wireless interference, I’ll reply with instructions on how to display the Network Matrix. If the Network Matrix is sufficiently populated, it is useful for pointing out units that are experiencing interference or very low signal strength. The user can then move SONOS or other nearby units and immediately see if there is any improvement.

      I wish that the Network Matrix could be restored to its original glory -- and improved to incorporate WiFi improvements..

      The problem is there’s little to be done about interference. The soundbar is going to go under the tv. The TV can’t be moved. There’s nothing else in the area that can be moved, and I’m not even sure what could be causing it. The fact that the Arc works fine tells me the Playbar has some technical issues that the Arc improved upon, but as someone who’s invested a lot in the Sonos ecosystem, I’m not sure how to proceed. Do I really need to spend another $900 on a second Arc?

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