I don't see SONOS in my wireless network when I try to set up my Sonos!


When I try to set up my Sonos, it says to connect to a wireless network called SONOS. I do not see this appear in the list of available networks.

I've set up this Sonos before and it worked fine, all of a sudden it stopped working so I reset everything and tried to re-install and am running into this issue. Not sure what happened to make the Sonos stop working but now I can't re-install.

Any information would be great.

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22 replies

Hi Jennifer.  When you say reset everything, do you mean factory reset?  If so this was almost certainly a mistake.  If so, you are effectively setting up a new Sonos system. Don't panic, you will get your Sonos back.  Depending on what you have done, you may have lost settings and playlists.

If you have not factory reset but merely rebooted, it may be that you just need to select to add your controller to existing Sonos system, rather than set up a new Sonos system.

I think you may also be confusing the controller asking to be added to your Sonos system with connecting to your wifi network.  You won't see "Sonos" as an available wireless network during set up.

Please clarify exactly what you have done, what components you have and whether a Sonos component is wired to your router.  Then we can get you sorted out.  
Thanks John. I'm afraid I did a factory reset because it wasn't working and I didn't know what to do. I'm using my iPhone 6 with an old model of sonos. I can't set it up as new and it won't let me add my controller. I'm so confused and lost as to what to do. The white light is on which indicates to me that this is set up but the instructions to link my controller dont work at all. I tried connecting my sonos to my router with an Ethernet cord but nothing is working. Help!
Hi Jennifer.  It will be fine.  I suggest you do the following.  First make sure your phone is connected to your home wifi network.  Then I would uninstall the Sonos controller app from your iPhone and reinstall it from the App Store.  If all speakers have been factory reset then Ethernet one of these factory reset speakers to your router.  (Or use a Bridge if you have one.)

When you open the Sonos controller on your iPhone, choose to set up Sonos, and set up a new system, rather than add to existing system (because of the factory reset).

The controller should then take you through the whole new set up process, asking you to add speakers in the usual way.  You may have to re-register your system.  I'm not sure if it will let you use the same email address as before.

I hope that will see you OK.  We can deal with adding back any music services once you are set up.  If no luck then I or someone else or Sonos Support will help you further.

Please post back how it goes.  Good luck!

John
Hi John,

I followed these instructions and still not working. I get the same set of instructions (requiring me to find SONOS in my wireless network and I still don't see it.) Is this a hopeless cause?

Any other way we can solve this?

Thanks,
Jen
Hi John,

I followed these instructions and still not working. I get the same set of instructions (requiring me to find SONOS in my wireless network and I still don't see it.) Is this a hopeless cause?

Any other way we can solve this?

Thanks,
Jen

Definitely not a hopeless cause but I think you should contact Sonos Support by phone so that they can look at your system over the internet.  I'd be grateful, though, if you would post back the exact, word-for-word message you get, and at what point in the process it appears.
Hi John,

I followed these instructions and still not working. I get the same set of instructions (requiring me to find SONOS in my wireless network and I still don't see it.) Is this a hopeless cause?

Any other way we can solve this?

Thanks,
Jen

One other possible cause is a firewall issue.  The link below may help.

https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/692/~/firewall-and-internet-security-software
Hi,

I'm having the exact same problem, could anyone offer the solution please?

Thanks
Gurdeep
I'm having the exact same problem, could anyone offer the solution please?
You've latched onto the end of an old thread. Care to tell us about your system/network and what problems you've actually experienced?
I have a Play 1 and its worked fine for over a year, however recently it was unable to connect to my iPhone so I reset the controller and went through setup again. However when asked to find sonos in my wifi list it does not show, so I can not compete setup and connect my system again
Wire the PLAY:1 to your router temporarily. If necessary reset the controller again, then tell it to add itself to an existing system.
Thank you, all is working fine now
Wire the PLAY:1 to your router temporarily. If necessary reset the controller again, then tell it to add itself to an existing system.I have the same problem. What does "wire the Play:1 to your router" mean? Sorry if this is a very basic question.
What does "wire the Play:1 to your router" mean?
Take an Ethernet cable. (There's one supplied with every PLAY:1.) Insert one end in the port on the rear of the PLAY:1. Insert the other end into an appropriate port on the router, quite possibly marked 'LAN'.
What if hard wiring is not an option? I have a Play 1 at my desk at work. Sonos wifi won't come up. It was working fine...now it keeps picking up the wrong songs...from what I tell it to play on my phone...weird. So I unplugged it. I removed the app. Reinstalled the app, and trying to redo it all...but the Sono's wifi doesn't come up...and I have to hard wiring at my desk.
Factory reset the PLAY:1 and reset the controller. Set it all up afresh. Note the network types which aren't supported for WiFi operation.
Same issue.
Second Sonos.
The First was replaced but according to customer support the second one isn't eligible. I've reset this unit multiple times and it still won't emit a signal. I've tried this at home and my office. Still my sonos play 5 generation 2 will not emit it's SONOS network.

It's now a giant paperweight.
Help would be nice. I'm really tired of being walked through the process of doing a hard reset. The result are always the same.

Thanks guys. :8
I would factory reset again, connect the P5 by Ethernet and follow the instructions for setting up in Boost mode rather than Standard mode.

If you can get it working like that then go into Advanced Settings, Wireless Setup and follow the instructions.
I'm having issues. I had a working setup with my Play3. Then one day it stopped working.

I tried everything, including factory reset. Neither the wireless nor the ethernet install works.

I get all the way to the point where I join the unsecured SONOS ssid and enter my home wifi ssid+password. The SONOS ssid disappears, and when I check my wifi gateway, I see that the Sonos device is showing up online there. So it looks like it connected to that network. However, my app can't find it.
I am having the same issue with my Play 5 gen 2. Had it for five months and it’s been working perfectly. However yesterday the app got progressively slower and kept jamming up, I checked and saw there was an update which I duly installed and since then I simply cannot connect. I have now been trying to fix it for about ten hours. I have tried abosolutely everything from the troubleshooting menu and these forums. I had to concede and did a factory reset. I can go all the way through the setup process but similar to above, I get to the last stage where I need to select “SONOS“ from the network menu...but Sonos isn’t there! I can get it going when connected to the router via Ethernet, and have tried to set up the wireless network through the advanced settings but I always get an error as per the attached picture - I don’t understand this as I have not changed my router or ANY of the settings, my WiFi is working perfectly when connected on my PC/phone/iPad; it has just suddenly stopped working.

I am in the UK on Sky fibre broadband, all of my devices have the most up-to-date.

PLEASE someone help as currently I have a £500 paperweight!

Thanks
Scott





I have the same problem.
I sent the diagnostic report to Sonos and they confirmed the wireless card in the unit was defective and they gave me a brand new Play:5 under warranty. I used Twitter to do all of this - they are very attentive and respond quickly.
I sent the diagnostic report to Sonos and they confirmed the wireless card in the unit was defective and they gave me a brand new Play:5 under warranty. I used Twitter to do all of this - they are very attentive and respond quickly.

Thank you, will try.