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Sonos Play 5 second generation wifi card failure

  • January 13, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 10 views
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Hi All,

 

I have a Sonos play bar, sub,  2 play 5 second gen for surrounds stereo setup for my entertainment area. In the last month one of the 2 play 5s (out of warranty sadly) stopped connecting to the system. When I plug it into Ethernet it works but unfortunately that is not an option for my space.

I sent customer service a diagnostic and was told it’s a failed WiFi card. They basically said I was SoL and my options are to get a 30 percent discount on one new 5 and buy an additional new 5 because that’s the only way I could have two surrounds. Kind of a hard answer to hear if I have two very expensive play 5 speakers, one of which works fine and the other of which only the WiFi is malfunctioning (apparently a problem that has been experienced by quite a few play 5 second gen owners).


Does anyone have other ideas of solutions? Has anyone ever effectively replaced the WiFi card on one of these? Does anyone know a good source of refurbished play 5 gen 2s?

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Sincerely,

 

Ben

1 reply

Airgetlam
  • Airgetlam
  • January 13, 2026

Since Sonos doesn’t ‘allow’ breaking open their speakers without breaking the 30% replacement, there isn’t a large community in these Sonos sponsored forums, but if you search, you may find a thread or two…although perhaps not about replacing the WiFi card on that model. At least, I don’t remember it, but I don’t really follow those threads very closely. I can say that both my PLAY:5 gen 2s continue to function properly on WiFi, but I use them for music, not surrounds. 

Before you crack them open, you may want to consider using the offer for replacements from Sonos. 30% is nothing to sneeze at, and I think you’d be happy with Era 100s, Era 300s, or Fives. But for a single replacement, you may want to look at the standard ‘resale’ websites and see what is available. It’s been a while, but I used to look at both Sonos refurbished, as well as eBay, but you may want to look further. Occasionally, you might be able to find ‘new’ stock in random stores, even though they haven’t been made by Sonos in years. Although I don’t recall the last time I saw a PLAY:5 gen 2. 

Bruce
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