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Troubleshooting Sonos on WiFi

Troubleshooting Sonos on WiFi

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I know the PC is not very cool these days but it might deserve a mention here: a common issue with the PC app not finding any players is if the WiFi network is not marked as Private. Windows will block all inter-device traffic if a Wifi network is marked Public.

The official instructions for switching the type of a network are here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/make-a-wi-fi-network-public-or-private-in-windows-0460117d-8d3e-a7ac-f003-7a0da607448d

hi @Corry P my UniFi system was configured with your suggested settings, except for the IGMP Snooping since that needs an UniFi switch. However, I have now ‘Point to Point‘ and ‘P2P Cross Connect’ enabled in the wireless network settings and my perception is that this has improved the behaviour of the SONOS devices.

 

after some months experience I can confirm that my UniFi system and Sonos devices still behave well and AirPlay is stable - moreover, I have observed that none of my Sonos wireless connected speakers are ‘visible’ in the UniFi Network clients list, except for the Sonos Roam - I believe this is related to the SonosNet (on channel 6) connectivity - all Sonos wire connected device are visible though - all Sonos devices (wired and wireless) have an IP Address with WM:0 except for the Sonos Roam (using 11ac (5GHz) - channel 40) that has WM:1

 

Thanks @Ken_Griffiths 

I’m glad you find it helpful!

@Corry P maybe time to write a dedicated FAQ for meshed wifi networks only and list the do’s and don’ts - I notice more users are getting meshed networks in their premise 

 
 

Might be helpful if you were to also list the source of the music, as the streaming companies that have authorized Sonos to stream in Singapore may not have authorized Sonos to do streaming in the Philippines yet. Also, I’d suggest you submit a system diagnostic , and call Sonos Support to discuss it.

There may be information included in the diagnostic that will help Sonos pinpoint the issue and help you find a solution.

When you speak directly to the phone folks, they have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your Sonos system and network.

Hi I'm Lanz,

 

Recently I went back to my country the Philippines and have my Sonos Ikea symfonisk speaker transported also to Philippines from Singapore from where I used to work.

In Singapore I have been using the symfonisk speaker very well and it was really great! But when I set it up at home in the Philippines, I have changed/set up to the new router even connected the device there and plugged but when all is connected there is an error that keeps me from playing music and the error message shows like this.."unable to play music"...."error occurred while adding your music to the queue, error(701)".…

Please acknowledge my inquiry, i don't want to end up keeping my Sonos away in box for being useless.

I also went in and out of my phone's settings and app permissions and yet it still not resolved.

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Thanks @Ken_Griffiths 

I’m glad you find it helpful!

This, for me, is one of the most helpful posts/threads, on this particular topic, that I’ve seen in the community in quite a while. Great stuff @Corry P. Thanks for the time & effort in researching and pulling all this information together. It explains everything in ‘easy to follow’ terms and is very much appreciated.👍

I will certainly be referring users in the community with such WiFi mesh systems and devices, that are encountering any related Sonos issues, to read through this entire thread and to take onboard the considered advice suggested here.

 

 

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Hi @el rubio 

Good to hear, and thanks for sharing!

hi @Corry P my UniFi system was configured with your suggested settings, except for the IGMP Snooping since that needs an UniFi switch. However, I have now ‘Point to Point‘ and ‘P2P Cross Connect’ enabled in the wireless network settings and my perception is that this has improved the behaviour of the SONOS devices.

 

thanks @Corry P I wiil have a look at the settings and observe the impact

 
Userlevel 7
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Hi @el rubio 

With a UniFi system in place, you can try the following:

  • Log into the UniFi controller.
  • In the Settings tab, click Wireless Networks.
  • Click Edit next to the network SSID.
  • Expand Advanced Options.
  • Uncheck Block LAN to WLAN Multicast and Broadcast Data.
  • In the Settings tab, click Sites.
  • Disable Auto-Optimize Network.

Please also enable IGMP Snooping (which is in the Networks settings page).

I hope this helps.

I use UniFi®️ AP AC LR Access Points for my meshed network although most of my SONOS gear (six ONEs and one Port) are wired connected and wifi disabled. The remaining ONEs, Play5 and two Symfonisk devices are (5GHz) wifi connected. The connections are stable and we switch several times a day from radio stations between the different rooms. The only issues we have is when we start using Airplay and devices disappear or do not sync. Any suggestions?

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Hi @AJL10 

I see you’ve got a thread on the subject:

We’ll assist you there.

Hello,

I have a Eero mesh network and have tried the troubleshooting steps above, putting the mesh network into bridge mode but my living room setup (beam, sub and 2x one SL) still disappears from the sonos app everyday! At least once A day I have to search for missing products or update the network on my living room surround setup so that it returns to the app. 
This has been ongoing for about a month now, nothing has changed on my network. As a worst case scenario, yesterday I factory restored the whole living room and still the living room disappears from my app. 
 

please help!!

Just to be clear:

  • Dual DHCP -- on the same subnet -- of course creates mayhem.
  • Double NAT per se is not a problem in the slightest, so long as the user recognises there are two subnets and acts accordingly. 

Sometimes users want the mesh routers’ security or parental control features, so may have no alternative but to double-NAT. In the case of Google’s WiFi mesh it has to run in router mode.

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Like I said, if it works it works - I have no problem with you guys suggesting to reserve IP addresses, especially if it works. It’s just that I never found the need, so I left it out of the article (or should say it’s not part of my standard “toolkit" so I didn’t really think of it).

Regarding mesh routers, I have an Orbi and I think I have it in a slightly different setup than you’re recommending.  My modem router has the WiFi turned off, and I think al DHCP functions are turned off.  It’s then wired to the Orbi base, with WiFi and DHCP functions turned on.  I am using Sonosnet, so it likely isn’t an issue either way, but curious if this is an acceptable setup for those who aren’t using Sonosnet.

Absolutely. Sometimes routers are just terrible at what they do, and if you’re stuck with it (need it to get online with your ISP) disabling WiFi and DHCP and getting another device (like a mesh) to do the job instead is the best option. For the average user, however, it’s easier (and safer?) to put the mesh into Bridge mode. 

Having Dual DHCP/NAT is a huge problem whether you’re on Sonosnet or not, and Sonosnet won’t protect you from the effects (though it may mitigate some).

I realise that this is just one data point, but in my case Sonos uptime showed a marked improvement  (Apple Time Capsule as a router) after IP address reservation. On S1 now, so I don’t see frequent upgrades, thank heavens, but as I recall IP address reservation helped in making frequent upgrades in the past a pain free process.

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I’ve spent a lot of time chasing system instabilities with my Sonos, starting back in 2006. Several different routers, the last one commercial grade. Different switches too. No matter the connection, router WiFi, AP WiFi, wired speaker and with a Boost and I was never able to get my setup to just work. Issues when powering individual units down and back up, Issues after power failures and the worst issues after updates.

Much DHCP v4 log reading on the last router never showed a duplicate v4 IP being issued and nothing in any of the logs showed a problem or conflict. Older lower end routers had no meaningful logging to look at. Still I had the issues and as I added Sonos gear they got worse.

Giving up on finding the issue, due to spousal input, I gave in to the suggestions here to assign static/reserved DHCP v4 IP addresses. After a system-wide reboot I have never had an issue again. Very frustrating to not be able to see why the v4 IP reservation made a difference but the result convinced me that something beyond my abilities to find was wrong.

I started recommending it to others years ago and have had several folks report back that it solved their issues too. Since it is just a couple minute task, and has no downside I see no reason not to keep recommending it.

 

I have seen no similar issues with IP v6 and apparently my Sonos gear is not using my DHCP_6 server to obtain addresses. It happily survives v6 PD changes with no problems too.

 

The simple fact is that whole ‘process’ used to reset duplicate IP addresses covers quite a few other potential issues as well. While the chances of duplicate IP addresses can be low, going through those actions indicated in many of my posts can assist many, many users, without needing access to diagnostics, or a lengthy back and forth to pinpoint exactly where their issue lies. 

Your argument seems to be ‘I’ve never had or seen an accident, so wearing a safety belt doesn’t make sense’, which seems odd to me. As long as the customer resolves whatever issue was plaguing their LAN, whether or not it actually was a duplicate IP address or not is moot.

And duplicate IPs have happened...at least on my system, years ago before I set up reserved IP addresses. Perhaps newer routers have better firmware than what I used to use, so the chances of duplicate IPs are reduced, but I will continue to offer that as a potential solution, as long as the occasional poster comes back with a ‘that resolved it, thanks!’.

 

Thanks for this Corey.  Good information.

 

Regarding mesh routers, I have an Orbi and I think I have it in a slightly different setup than you’re recommending.  My modem router has the WiFi turned off, and I think al DHCP functions are turned off.  It’s then wired to the Orbi base, with WiFi and DHCP functions turned on.  I am using Sonosnet, so it likely isn’t an issue either way, but curious if this is an acceptable setup for those who aren’t using Sonosnet.

 

Too be clear, I have not looked at the modem/router settings in years and not 100% DHCP is turned off or if that’s even possible.  In fact, I am having issues with remote access to plex, not really related to Sonos, that hints that a double NAT might be the problem.  Probably need to dig into my settings for both devices and see what’s going on.

 

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 @Kumar - A fair point, but not once in 2 years of technical support did I need to reserve IP addresses for Sonos devices to resolve problems. If your DHCP is in order, it’s not necessary. If your DHCP is not in order, as in if you have Dual DHCP/NAT, it probably wouldn’t help anyway.

A regular router reboot is likely to clear these issues up, and others - I recommend 6 times a year for cheaper, ISP provided routers. As I like to say, you’d know about it if you paid for a router that doesn’t need regular reboots.

To be honest, I’m a little puzzled over the current proclivity of community members to suggest static IP reservation. If it works, it works, but I never found a need. I actually have static IPs on my home network (for pihole, PC (back when I used VNC) and NAS), but not for Sonos or phones/tablets.

Userlevel 5
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Any chance of the option to use the 5ghz band for Sonosnet - might be able to play Flacs again without running out of bandwidth? 2.4ghz band hopeless in my urban area.

What about IP address conflicts? Another common cause of problems, that is easily resolved with address reservation.

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