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AirPlay and Bluetooth Temperamental

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I have a number of Sonos devices, Play5 Gen2, Play 1s, Roam and have seen various issues with connectivity across all of these.

Currently when trying to play from Apple Music on my iPad via AirPlay to the Play5, as the song is playing there is no sound, then after around 3-4 minutes of leaving it alone playing the sound randomly starts to come out of the Play5. Sound drops in and out, sometimes corrupts and crackles etc.

The Sonos Roam has intermittent connectivity issues over Bluetooth.

The Play1s have issues where they drop in and out, when paired with other devices, one speaker will drop out whilst the other works and vice versa. 

All devices are up to date, they sit on desks or on a kitchen counter top.

Why are Sonos devices so frustrating and fit for purpose? I log a support request or ask for help and the same script comes back.

Check you for interference, reboot your router, reboot your device, update your Sonos devices, update your other devices, make sure you’re connected to WiFi, make sure the devices are all near each other. I get asked to submit a diagnostic report and they usually come back telling me there’s interference. There will always be interference with so many WiFi devices around but Sonos products should be design to cope with this just as other brands seem to manage.

I cannot stress how painful Sonos devices are to use and live with. I’ve used them for years and also have a cheap sound bar from Majority and this works every time without any issue, I have Bose and Anker devices again these always work fine without any connectivity issues or drop ours. So why is it only my Sonos devices that have issues? Can Sonos not make their devices less susceptible to interference or very poor connectivity? For such expensive kit they behave like cheap Bluetooth junk!

I think Sonos need to learn from other brands and perhaps fix their issues before trying to make new kit and pushing out updates that don’t work etc.

Best answer by Sotiris C.

Hello @Andyrcurren, welcome back!

First, I’d like to thank you for taking time to write this post, I understand your frustration and I appreciate your feedback. All have been noted.

I looked deeper into this and there is some information I am missing such as a diagnostic report and a case number, for this I’ll contact you on a private message shortly.

As you mentioned wireless interference, please have a look on the following very helpful Support Article, in case you haven’t: Reduce wireless interference

Currently when trying to play from Apple Music on my iPad via AirPlay to the Play5, as the song is playing there is no sound, then after around 3-4 minutes of leaving it alone playing the sound randomly starts to come out of the Play5. Sound drops in and out, sometimes corrupts and crackles etc.

Is the Apple Music issue still occurring if you initiate playback from within the Sonos App, instead of AirPlay? What happens if you use a different service such as Sonos Radio?

 

The Sonos Roam has intermittent connectivity issues over Bluetooth.

In regards to Bluetooth connectivity issues, a reboot to the device that emits the signal should help.

It is worth mentioning that your Sonos Roam has been set to a different household (Sonos System) than the rest of your Sonos Products which would explain your other thread(1). I would recommend a factory reset, then add as new product to your existing system.

 

The Play1s have issues where they drop in and out, when paired with other devices, one speaker will drop out whilst the other works and vice versa.

Are there any Sonos products in your system wired with an Ethernet cable? It is really important when it comes to grouping that the connection between the affected speakers is solid. The speaker that you use first to create a group is called Group Coordinator and it is through that speaker that playback is sent to the other members. The one speaker with the best connection (the Ethernet-wired one) is often recommended to be used as the GC.

If you don’t have any wired speakers, best connection will likely be the speaker nearest the router.

 In general, we recommend positioning Sonos products at least 18” (0.5m) away from any other electronic devices.

 

I will repeat the recommendation from both threads(2) to submit diagnostics within 10 minutes of any issue occurring and then reach out to our Sonos Support for live troubleshooting.

They have more tools at their disposal and can provide you with advice and information specific to your system and what it reports.

I hope this helps.

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9 replies

Sotiris C.
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  • Sotiris C.
  • Sonos Staff
  • 769 replies
  • Answer
  • August 10, 2023

Hello @Andyrcurren, welcome back!

First, I’d like to thank you for taking time to write this post, I understand your frustration and I appreciate your feedback. All have been noted.

I looked deeper into this and there is some information I am missing such as a diagnostic report and a case number, for this I’ll contact you on a private message shortly.

As you mentioned wireless interference, please have a look on the following very helpful Support Article, in case you haven’t: Reduce wireless interference

Currently when trying to play from Apple Music on my iPad via AirPlay to the Play5, as the song is playing there is no sound, then after around 3-4 minutes of leaving it alone playing the sound randomly starts to come out of the Play5. Sound drops in and out, sometimes corrupts and crackles etc.

Is the Apple Music issue still occurring if you initiate playback from within the Sonos App, instead of AirPlay? What happens if you use a different service such as Sonos Radio?

 

The Sonos Roam has intermittent connectivity issues over Bluetooth.

In regards to Bluetooth connectivity issues, a reboot to the device that emits the signal should help.

It is worth mentioning that your Sonos Roam has been set to a different household (Sonos System) than the rest of your Sonos Products which would explain your other thread(1). I would recommend a factory reset, then add as new product to your existing system.

 

The Play1s have issues where they drop in and out, when paired with other devices, one speaker will drop out whilst the other works and vice versa.

Are there any Sonos products in your system wired with an Ethernet cable? It is really important when it comes to grouping that the connection between the affected speakers is solid. The speaker that you use first to create a group is called Group Coordinator and it is through that speaker that playback is sent to the other members. The one speaker with the best connection (the Ethernet-wired one) is often recommended to be used as the GC.

If you don’t have any wired speakers, best connection will likely be the speaker nearest the router.

 In general, we recommend positioning Sonos products at least 18” (0.5m) away from any other electronic devices.

 

I will repeat the recommendation from both threads(2) to submit diagnostics within 10 minutes of any issue occurring and then reach out to our Sonos Support for live troubleshooting.

They have more tools at their disposal and can provide you with advice and information specific to your system and what it reports.

I hope this helps.

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Airgetlam
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  • Airgetlam
    Airgetlam
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  • Andyrcurren
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  • Contributor II
  • 7 replies
  • October 27, 2023

Hi so I have come to using my Sonos Play5 Gen2 again and yet again, no sound from any Mac device over AirPlay. 

I just want these devices to work, not every single time I come to use them I have to go through a diagnostic process to try and resolve them. I have a £30 bluetooth soundbar that works perfectly and never have a problem with it. The Play 5 is about 5 feet from the wifi booster, all my devices connect in the same room to the wifi without a problem at all. I have tried turning off and back on, tried different devices, and yet AriPlay does not work with these Sonos devices, using the Sonos app and it plays fine. I’ve submitted a diagnostic report and have a number but don’t want to post that on here so how do I send this privately?  

Yet again I want to use Sonos and can’t properly, it’s painful and to be honest, I’m at the point now where I’ve had enough with Sonos products being so poor and incapable of working reliably over wifi that I am looking to sell them all and switch to Bose or Anker as these products seem to work without problem. Sonos seems to be overcomplicated junk, yes they sound good when you can get them to work but it seems they are good speakers but hopelessly bad wireless devices. I cannot recommend the products either to any friends or family and have since advised other brands due to this. 

Keep having to contact support every time I need to use a speaker is not the solution, and is unacceptable. I hope Sonos read these posts and take into consideration so many consumers who seem to have similar frustrations and one day produce a speaker that actually works for more than 5 minutes.

Airgetlam
  • Airgetlam
  • 42976 replies
  • October 27, 2023

It’s strange to read this comment. You’re having a very different experience than I am. Each time I use AirPlay 2 or Bluetooth on my Sonos devices, it just works, with no fiddling around necessary. I wonder what is different between our two systems. 

Bruce
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  • Andyrcurren
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  • Contributor II
  • 7 replies
  • October 27, 2023

Hi Bruce,

if I’m being honest for years I’ve had trouble with Sonos equipment. Various WiFi routers, phones, android and Mac devices, over the years it seems the equipment has gotten worse and worse. Even with newer speakers it just seems worse. Wired connections are better but still not 100% even on a wired connection I experience the odd small glitch and drop out for a millisecond or so. It seems that wireless capabilities with Play 1s and Play 5 Gen 2s are just terrible. Each time I come to use one of these speakers something doesn’t work, and I’m told the same things, reset the router, restart all the devices, reset device network settings etc. it just gets tiresome. 

Airgetlam
  • Airgetlam
  • 42976 replies
  • October 27, 2023

I hear you. But I’ve also had Sonos equipment for over 10 years, at least. And I have gone from a single PLAY:5 gen 1 with a BRIDGE to well over 20 devices, and use both Bluetooth and AirPlay 2 frequently, both from various Macs and from various iOS devices. Once I cleared up some oddities in my local network, early on, I’ve just not had any difficulties with the Sonos software that runs on any of my devices,  and of course on the speakers themselves. So my personal experience suggests that there’s something different about our two local networks, but there just isn’t enough information provided to identify what it is. 
 

Fixing my network was, at the time, extremely painful, as I wasn’t nearly as comfortable with network knowledge then as I should have been, and was also in a situation where some of my troubles were from outside my home. Who knew that WiFi could be affected by external influences like microwaves, or neighbor’s WiFi? But I got there, following a lot of suggestions from this community, and shedding some of my bad assumptions along the way. I got to where I just don’t have any more issues with my Sonos, and happily it helped all other devices on my network in small ways, too. 

Bruce
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  • Andyrcurren
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  • Contributor II
  • 7 replies
  • October 27, 2023

Sounds like you had a lot of pain but also had a lot of patience to get there. I just find that if the devices are so sensitive to wifi interference then something should be done about that, I have multiple WiFi devices and don’t have any other issues with any of them. I’ve had the Sonos devices on 4 different WiFi networks and each one has presented me with the same issues. I just think that for speakers a painful task such as having to trawl through network settings and various different factors is not acceptable really considering the average end user cannot be expected to do so. I am clued up and have years of networking experience and this is still a problem for me. Perhaps Sonos equipment should be sold not the provision that if users wish to use this on WiFi that they would need to have a certain level of network knowledge.  Also just to add that if I use the Sonos app on one of my iPads then there is less of an issue, but airplay simply does not work from any of my Apple devices anymore. Months ago it was an issue where I would hit play and cast to airplay, no sound would be played but it was playing on the device and after 10-15 minutes of being left, the music intermittently night just start playing. The Sonos app today played for about 5 minutes and then simply stopped working, the song paused and then would not play again. 

Ken_Griffiths
Andyrcurren wrote:

Sounds like you had a lot of pain but also had a lot of patience to get there. I just find that if the devices are so sensitive to wifi interference then something should be done about that, I have multiple WiFi devices and don’t have any other issues with any of them. I’ve had the Sonos devices on 4 different WiFi networks and each one has presented me with the same issues. I just think that for speakers a painful task such as having to trawl through network settings and various different factors is not acceptable really considering the average end user cannot be expected to do so. I am clued up and have years of networking experience and this is still a problem for me. Perhaps Sonos equipment should be sold not the provision that if users wish to use this on WiFi that they would need to have a certain level of network knowledge.  Also just to add that if I use the Sonos app on one of my iPads then there is less of an issue, but airplay simply does not work from any of my Apple devices anymore. Months ago it was an issue where I would hit play and cast to airplay, no sound would be played but it was playing on the device and after 10-15 minutes of being left, the music intermittently night just start playing. The Sonos app today played for about 5 minutes and then simply stopped working, the song paused and then would not play again. 

Why don’t you perhaps get back in touch with Sonos Support - they might be able to put you on the right track.

Just to say aswell, I have used Sonos on multiple networks over a good many years and not seen any of the issues you mention and all my Airplay-compatible Sonos devices connect and play with no issues. So perhaps the Sonos Staff can get to the root cause of your network woes. Here is their link:

https://support.sonos.com/s/contact

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Airgetlam
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  • Mr.Magoo
  • Lyricist I
  • 2 replies
  • October 29, 2023

Hi there,

I’m having the similar problem, sonos via airplay, won’t connect ! (That’s on my wife Iphone)

If I use the sonos App, there is no problem, but if I go directly from apple music to Airplays, I always receive the same error message “impossible to connect to Sonos ….”

The thing is, with my iPhone there’s no problems with airplays, everything works fine.

we are on the same network, we’re having the same software version, everything is the same in configuration.

I tried deleting and reinstalling Sonos app on her phone, I tried erasing all the network setting on her phone, but there is nothing that work so far, every time I’m trying to connect on our Sonos system from Apple Music directly to AirPlay. I’m always receiving the same error message.

But with our cheap Anker sound bar, there’s no problem connecting to it.

Is there a solution to this problem?

 

thanks !

 

 

Ken_Griffiths

@Mr.Magoo 

Maybe contact Sonos Support and see if they can perhaps assist… 

https://support.sonos.com/s/contact

Alternatively here too are some other things to consider…

  1. Open the Sonos app - Go to Settings » System » About my System
  2. Find the IP address of your Sonos device
  3. Open a browser on a device connected to your local network
  4. In the address bar, type http://[IP address of Sonos device]:1400/tools.htm (the whole thing should look something like “http://192.168.0.125:1400/tools.htm”, but the four numbers will/may vary). You may want to bookmark this page
  5. Click the “mDNS Announce” button at the bottom of the page.
  6. You should see a simple page with nothing but “Success”. You can now close the browser
  7. You should now see the Sonos device appear in the AirPlay list of devices to connect to

If the issues persist then go onto perhaps try these things…

  • Restart all devices including the router and try to AirPlay again
  • Remove and reinstall the App being used for Airplay on the sending device
  • Toggle off Bluetooth, or if already off, try turning it ‘on’ on the sending device
  • Turn off Cellular Data
  • Disconnect from any other Bluetooth devices (like speakers)
  • Connect the sending device to the same WiFi network access point as the speaker
  • Reset your network settings on your iDevice in Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings
  • Disable ‘Private Address’ MAC Spoofing in the iOS Network connection 
  • Disable WiFi calling on the mobile device
  • Update iOS, and speaker firmware/software
  • Move your devices away from other electronics and closer to the main router
  • Renew your devices DHCP lease via the router configuration pages or better still, reboot the router as mentioned above
  • Switch off any Security/VPN software installed on the sending (mobile) device
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