Hi.  What routers are you using please?

Hi.  Do your bridge mode routers all have the same SSID and password as the main router?  Do they all use the same wireless channel?  In your desired mode of operation, do you have a Sonos device wired so as to use SonosNet?

The router itself is from my provider (its the 24*8 DOC 3 WIRELESS(DOCSIS))

The wireless routers (set in bridge mode) are the ASUS ZenWifi AX (Wifi6). not set as Mesh system, since I have too much concrete in the house), but individually set up with exactly the same settings)

There is another Linksys wifi router (EA6700 also in bridge mode) with the same settings

If you connect one of the ‘troublesome’ speakers by ethernet to your ISP router, will the other speaker connect wirelessly?  You may need to power cycle the wireless speaker.

Yes, all routers have the same SSID and password. 

They are all set to use the most optimal channel.

I do not have a sonos device wired as that has never been required in the past.

John, what does ‘ power cycle the wireless speaker’ mean?

Unplug it, wait 30 seconds, plug it in again.

I am hoping that the experiment I have suggested will tell us something useful.

Just for the record it was impossible to run Sonos without a wired device until a few years back.

What @John B is suggesting is to wire one speaker to your main ISP router to act as the ‘root bridge’ to a SonosNet network instead of using your WiFi.

To get the other (wireless) speakers to take part, you may need to switch them off and back on again, but can I also suggest you remove all the stored WiFi credentials in your Sonos App ‘Settings/System/Network’ settings and set your SonosNet channel so it’s 5 channels away from your chosen router channel which presumably is set to 1, 6 or 11 on all your router devices.

I would also ensure that not only are they using the same Wifi channels, but that they’re also using the same channel-width of 20MHz only for their 2.4Ghz band.

One other important thing js to position the wired device one metre, or more away from your ISP router.

Edit: Ah I see John has replied and beat me to it.. I’ll step out.

Ken - you have added useful further detail and explanation.  You never need to ‘step out’ as far as i am concerned!

Ah Thanks @John B - I was thinking you may not be about (perhaps) and so was just trying to help the OP to carry on with the reboot. Oh and Seasons Greetings too.

tried that a gazillion times already. what happens is… nothing. 

Ok, this is what I tried just now (for the 20th time).

1. removed the network from my S2 app
2. plugged an ethernet cable in my working Play1
3. searched for missing devices…
   1. Sonos app says: ‘missing play3 and play1… do you wish to connect them?”
   2. YES PLEASE 
   3. pressed the mute button and - button as indicated
   4. Sonos app says: ‘we will now connect wirelessly to your play3 do you want to connect’?
   5. YES please.
   6. Connecting to wireless network SONOS…..
   7. Connection failed…
   8. Please press the mute button and - button untill a sound is heared and orange light is flashing (this starts to look a lot like the “JVC the light is bwinking” youtube video)
   9. Searching for your device…
   10. Connecting to wireless network SONOS…..
   11. Do you wish to connect to your local wireless network?
   12. YES Please
   13. Enter Wifi password
   14. Updating wireless network
   15. Do you want to update the wireless network settings on your other devices as well? (missing Play1 and working ethernet connected play1 are showing)
   16. Yes….
   17. Select your device.
   18. selected play1
   19. Please press the mute button and - button untill a sound is heared and orange light is flashing
   20. Sonos app says: ‘we will now connect wirelessly to your play1 do you want to connect’?
   21. YES please.
   22. Connecting to wireless network SONOS…..
   23. Updating wireless network settings
   24. Do you want to update the wireless network settings on your other devices as well? (working ethernet connected play1 are showing)
   25. Yes….
   26. Select your device.
   27. selected play1
   28. Please remove network cable to update wireless settings.
   29. Please press the mute button and - button untill a sound is heared and orange light is flashing
   30. Sonos app says: ‘we will now connect wirelessly to your play1 do you want to connect’?
   31. YES please.
   32. Connecting to wireless network SONOS…..
   33. Updating wireless network settings

So now you think YEAH… it’s all fine now…

Nope. Now even the working play1 was gone…

Unplugged all devices for 30 seconds.

Opened the S2 app again… Guess what?

Only my working Play1 is available in My system.

You mention for the record: “it was impossible to run Sonos without a wired device until a few years back.”

True, but when S2 was introduced, they introduced it with all whistles and bells that this central controller was not required anymore but it would used your wifi system in house. So I threw out my old controller and updated everything to S2.

It was working for some time and now since a couple of months it is not working at all anymore.

I’m sorry, but having to wire one of the devices to have SonosNet goes against everything that Sonos is about… wireless speakers… that’s why I bought them many moons ago

I would:

• wire one device
• ensure the controller can see it
• factory reset each of the others in turn and add them back
• when all are visible go into Settings/System/Network and set the WiFI details

You can then detach the wired device.

It’s temporary. 

Hi Ratty,

Ok, did exactly what you proposed but first removed the WiFi settings as well.

That seemed to have done the trick… 

Now the 3 devices are shown. I was able to place them back to their original location without any wires. 

up to now they remain visible!

Thanks for your suggestions

(and for removing the comment about the high horse ;))

You don’t know how much time I have already spent on the infinite possible solutions to get it working again. 

I am pleased that your issue has been resolved, but nothing you have written here is correct.  To set the record straight:

1. The wired device is not in any meaningful sense a ‘controller’
2. The OPTION to run without any device wired was introduced some years before the S1 / S2 split.  It has nothing to do with S1 / S2; either operating system can be run in SonosNet or wireless mode. (Note: although Sonos call it ‘wireless mode’ it would be better termed ‘WiFi mode’)
3. Having one device wired - where that device may be a Boost or speaker / player does not “go against everything Sonos is about”.  Sonos invented multiroom wireless systems and they did so with one device having to be wired so as to allow wireless Sonos traffic to flow over a dedicated mesh, SonosNet.  This is still, for many people, the optimal way to set up their system. The only way to operate with SonosNet is to wire a device.

i hope that clears up the misconceptions.

Ok John, some words may have been incorrectly used. 

I had a Sonos bridge when I initially bought it. That was ‘my wired’ device (which I referred to as ‘controller’) and it was located at a place where no speaker could be placed, but where a network cable was available.

When the S2 app was introduced, it was mentioned that it did not require the bridge anymore to have the dedicated mesh network (and the bridge was not S2 compatible anyhow). So you remove the bridge and do everything wireless. 

I was referring to that change. With S1 app you always required  a wired device (which will make your Sonos mesh network). With the S2 app you do not as it should be able to use your home network settings. (Or I misunderstood the entire time) 

You did misunderstand, as John B already pointed out. 

The introduction of WiFi mode -- initially called ‘standard setup’ (as opposed to ‘Boost setup’), and now ‘wireless mode’ (vs ‘wired mode’) -- long pre-dated the S1/S2 split. 

You’re mistakenly conflating the two because the move to S2 forced the abandonment of Bridge. 

You misunderstood the entire time. Operating without a Bridge (or any other Sonos device) wired had been possible for years.

S2 was necessary because the oldest kit was holding back development. Certain devices could only be used on S1 and the Bridge was one of them.  So users with Bridges wired had the following options on S2

1. Get a Boost, the successor device to the Bridge
2. Wire another Sonos device, if convenient
3. Try without any device wired (which they could already have done for some years)

For the avoidance of doubt, you cannot use the Bridge for this purpose on S2 because the Bridge is not compatible with S2.  But no wired device = no dedicated mesh.  And in many cases the dedicated mesh is still optimal.

aaaah…. another day…. the problem is back. 

Where yesterday Sonos saw my system and all my speakers, today… Sonos cannot connect to you system… let’s try to resolve this.

and that’s what I’ve been experiencing constantly..

Plugged in the network on the Play1 in my office…. guess what?

that Play1 is found (like before) but the other Play1 and Play3 are not found

so we’re back to square 1

I’d check the routers that are being used as APs. Make sure they really are in bridge mode. 

If the failure to find the system correlates with the phone being attached to a specific AP then suspect it could be blocking multicasts/broadcasts.

hi Ratty, 

I was already 100% certain as I had spent a lot of time configuring my Wifi6 system.

Just to confirm, I double checked the settings and they are all set to AP.

Also, since I have ASUS ZenWifi AX system and there seem to be issues with Sonos, I even checked if the Airtime Fairness option was disabled (and it was)

So, I’m open to all suggestions. You can imagine that it’s really frustrating….

They wouldn’t be, at least not immediately. It can take a minute or three to switch between WiFi and SonosNet modes. If they’re still not visible after 5 minutes try powering them off for 30 seconds then on again.

Since the system worked fine in SonosNet mode before it should work again. Unless, of course, there are periodic bursts of interference which are spoiling the party. A system diagnostic and a consultation with Sonos Support would be needed to dig deeper on that.

I have the Asus Zen WiFi AX system (XT8) and never had an issue with my Sonos players not being found, albeit I’m using SonosNet rather than wireless. Easiest solution is keeping one of your speakers wired or buying a Boost. You should be able to use your Bridge upgrade credit to get a discount on the Boost.

This ^^^.

Far more predictable.