New Sonos Roam - Wifi Connection Issues

  • 19 December 2021
  • 34 replies
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I recently purchased a new roam this week after much anticipation. I am however very disappointed with the purchase. I am unable to keep the roam connected to WiFi. It works for a few hours but eventually disconnects and then the status like blinks from white to orange. I can hear the music skipping if I listen to the speak against my ear. The speaker itself makes a popping sound as it connects and disconnects from WiFi. 

The room works through bluetooth. The Sonos app shows the roam connected to the system despite the blinking light. The Sonos system is up to date, the roam is up to date and I am using the latest Sonos iOS app as well. 
 

I’ve gone through the forum’s posts on this subject and did hard resets, rebooted my WiFi. Nothing seems to work. My current system has five other speaks connected without issue, throughout the house. I’ve tried moving the roam closer to the router. Nothing seems to work and I am afraid that I’ve received a lemon…

 

Edit as of this afternoon: Bluetooth does not work either. The status light will blink from blue to orange. When I try to play music, the status light blinks blue to orange and a pink color. No idea what is going on and very frustrating. My Other Sonos speakers were far easier to setup and play without issue. 

 

 


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34 replies

For the last part of your post with the flashing colours, that sounds like you have simultaneously pressed the play/pause and volume-down button for a period and put it into diagnostic dump mode.

I would simply press and hold the rear power button for 5+ seconds until you hear the descending tones as it powers off.

Wait for 10+ seconds and then power it on again or simply return it to its charger and the lights should clear and the normal operation should return.

To resolve the wireless connection issues, you will perhaps need to describe your local network setup in a little more detail, for example…

  • What router are you using?
  • Any other WiFi access points besides the main router?
  • Are the router bands named separately?
  • What WiFi channels & channel-width are in use?
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For the last part of your post with the flashing colours, that sounds like you have simultaneously pressed the play/pause and volume-down button for a period and put it into diagnostic dump mode.

I would simply press and hold the rear power button for 5+ seconds until you hear the descending tones as it powers off.

Wait for 10+ seconds and then power it on again or simply return it to its charger and the lights should clear and the normal operation should return.

I tried your recommendation and restarted the roam. The status light continues to flash white to orange. 

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To resolve the wireless connection issues, you will perhaps need to describe your local network setup in a little more detail, for example…

  • What router are you using?
  • Any other WiFi access points besides the main router?
  • Are the router bands named separately?
  • What WiFi channels & channel-width are in use?

WiFi network is an ASUS AI mesh.

Main router: ASUS RT-AX88U

Mesh node: ASUS AC-68U

Roam is connected to the main router. 
5ghz and 2.4ghz bands are names differently. Connected to the 2.4ghz network.

 

Routers are set to select the optimal channel to operate on with the least amount of interference with neighbors. 
I have 37 devices connected and the Roam is located about ten feet from a Play One so I don’t understand why there would be an issue with the WiFi network to cause problems with the Roam.
 

Is there anything in specific you were thinking I should check? 

I’m not sure if it’s relevant, but there have been a number of threads in regards to your main router over the past 12 months… perhaps see the three ‘sample’ links below:

I’m not sure why your Roam after fully power-recycling it is flashing, but this link tends to suggest a possible fault condition, or it possibly requires an update (if you can just get it connected to your network to do that):

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/226

I suspect you may have a combination of things here. My suggestion is to get your setup working first without the Roam and then look at the Roam to see if you can get it to add to your router’s WiFi network based on the suggestions in the threads I’ve linked above.I hope that assists.

If problems are not resolved, then I think you might be best to discuss the issue with Sonos Support via this LINK

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I’m not sure if it’s relevant, but there have been a number of threads in regards to your main router over the past 12 months… perhaps see the three ‘sample’ links below:

I’m not sure why your Roam after fully power-recycling it is flashing, but this link tends to suggest a possible fault condition, or it possibly requires an update (if you can just get it connected to your network to do that):

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/226

I suspect you may have a combination of things here. My suggestion is to get your setup working first without the Roam and then look at the Roam to see if you can get it to add to your router’s WiFi network based on the suggestions in the threads I’ve linked above.I hope that assists.

If problems are not resolved, then I think you might be best to discuss the issue with Sonos Support via this LINK

Thanks! I’ll look into the threads.

I have no issues with the other five Sonos speakers connected to my system and the same router. There may be a problem with the roam itself. 

Have you perhaps tried a factory reset of the Roam? It maybe worth a try…

  1. Power off the Roam (5+ second press) on rear power button until you hear the 4 descending shutdown tones.
  2. Wait 10 seconds.
  3. Hold down Play/Pause - and power ‘on’ with rear power button - keep Play/Pause button pressed until you see LED flash Amber. Then let go the button.
  4. Status LED will switch to flashing Green, at which point open the S2 Sonos App and setup the device on your existing system.

@RBuchetto,
If no luck setting up the Roam post factory reset, maybe try a reboot of the router and check that you have the latest router firmware update too. HTH

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Have you perhaps tried a factory reset of the Roam? It maybe worth a try…

  1. Power off the Roam (5+ second press) on rear power button until you hear the 4 descending shutdown tones.
  2. Wait 10 seconds.
  3. Hold down Play/Pause and power ‘on’ with rear power button - keep Play/Pause button pressed until you see it flash Amber. Then let go the button.
  4. Status LED will switch to flashing Green, at which point open the S2 Sonos App and setup the device on your existing system.

Thanks! I tried this, setup the roam into the system again. Tried playing music VIA Bluetooth and I hear a brief 1second fragment of the song and the audio goes off again. Still does not work on WiFi, either. 
 

I’ll try Sonos support tomorrow, but from the other threads online it seems a lot of people share the same issues and end up returning their roam. 

Have you perhaps tried a factory reset of the Roam? It maybe worth a try…

  1. Power off the Roam (5+ second press) on rear power button until you hear the 4 descending shutdown tones.
  2. Wait 10 seconds.
  3. Hold down Play/Pause and power ‘on’ with rear power button - keep Play/Pause button pressed until you see it flash Amber. Then let go the button.
  4. Status LED will switch to flashing Green, at which point open the S2 Sonos App and setup the device on your existing system.

Thanks! I tried this, setup the roam into the system again. Tried playing music VIA Bluetooth and I hear a brief 1second fragment of the song and the audio goes off again. Still does not work on WiFi, either. 
 

I’ll try Sonos support tomorrow, but from the other threads online it seems a lot of people share the same issues and end up returning their roam. 

Having Factory reset the Roam, did you first of all remove the ‘existing’ pairing of the Roam in your Bluetooth list on your mobile device? - you will definitely need to delete/remove it and setup the Bluetooth pairing again. This is required so the sharing token can be setup again between your mobile Bluetooth link and the ‘reset’ device.

Userlevel 1
Badge +1

Have you perhaps tried a factory reset of the Roam? It maybe worth a try…

  1. Power off the Roam (5+ second press) on rear power button until you hear the 4 descending shutdown tones.
  2. Wait 10 seconds.
  3. Hold down Play/Pause and power ‘on’ with rear power button - keep Play/Pause button pressed until you see it flash Amber. Then let go the button.
  4. Status LED will switch to flashing Green, at which point open the S2 Sonos App and setup the device on your existing system.

Thanks! I tried this, setup the roam into the system again. Tried playing music VIA Bluetooth and I hear a brief 1second fragment of the song and the audio goes off again. Still does not work on WiFi, either. 
 

I’ll try Sonos support tomorrow, but from the other threads online it seems a lot of people share the same issues and end up returning their roam. 

Having Factory reset the Roam, did you first of all remove the ‘existing’ pairing of the Roam in your Bluetooth list on your mobile device? - you will definitely need to delete/remove it and setup the Bluetooth pairing again. This is required so the sharing token can be setup again between your mobile Bluetooth link and the ‘reset’ device.

Yes, I “forgot” the prior token and reconnected the roam to my iPhone. When I try to play music, the Blue status light be dings to flash orange and pink/purple. I can’t find an orange to pink/purple status light color in the Sonos manual to understand what it might mean.

I’m not sure you’re pairing it correctly - if you first delete the existing pairing with the speaker on your mobile, then do this:

  • From WiFi mode (constant white status LED light) normal power on state, press and hold rear power button for 3 seconds and let go - you will hear a ‘ding’ and the Status LED will now flash blue.
  • Goto Mobile’s Bluetooth list and you should see the speaker ready to pair.. select it to pair it and you will hear the ‘success’ tone and the status LED switches to a constant steady Blue light.

You can then play music to your speaker from the mobile source Apps like Spotify, Deezer etc.

To stop the pairing/playback and return the speaker to WiFi only, just disconnect, (not remove) it using the mobile device Bluetooth list. (NB: You can also reconnect to it from this list).

Note when the Roam is connected to Bluetooth, it will remain connected to your local WiFi too and so it can be grouped with any other Sonos device(s) to play the playing Bluetooth audio to those other Sonos device(s) aswell.

HTH

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I’m not sure your pairing it correctly - if you first delete the existing pairing with the speaker on your mobile, then do this:

  • From WiFi mode (constant white status LED light) normal power on state, press and hold rear power button for 3 seconds and let go - you will hear a ‘ding’ and the Status LED will now flash blue.
  • Goto Mobile’s Bluetooth list and you should see the speaker ready to pair.. select it to pair it and you will hear the ‘success’ tone and the status LED switches to a constant steady Blue light.

You can then play music to your speaker from the mobile source Apps like Spotify, Deezer etc.

To stop the pairing/playback and return the speaker to WiFi only, just disconnect, (not remove) it using the mobile device Bluetooth list. (NB: You can also reconnect to it from this list).

Note when the Roam is connected to Bluetooth, it will remain connected to your local WiFi too and so it can be grouped with any other Sonos device(s) to play the playing Bluetooth audio to those other Sonos device(s) aswell.

HTH

I’ve tried again, using the same steps outlined above. I have connected, but then the stays light flashes from Blue to Orange. I try to send music using the IOS music app, no audio plays. 
 

Tired with my wife’s phone and get the same flashing status light result. The phones says they are connected, but the light never stays a static blue color. 
 

 

Can you perhaps just try this… Off it’s charger, press/hold the rear power button for 20+ seconds, don’t let go until you see the status LED light reappear and then see if that sorts your issue. Note: the device will power off during this process, but just keep the power button pressed till you see the light return and then let go and it will boot up. Then try the Bluetooth pairing again.🤞

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Can you perhaps just try this… Off it’s charger, press/hold the rear power button for 20+ seconds, don’t let go until you see the status LED light reappear and then see if that sorts your issue. Note: the device will power off during this process, but just keep the power button pressed till you see the light return and then let go and it will boot up. Then try the Bluetooth pairing again.🤞

Still not working. 
 

Thank you for all of your kind help! I’ll try with tech support tomorrow. But, I have a feeling they this will be going back to the store soon. Seems to be broken out of the box! 

Yes, I’m out of ideas too. Hope Sonos Support are able to assist you tomorrow. You should be able to contact them via this LINK.

All the best.👍 

Really interested in a fix for this. We got a new Roam, connecting to wifi fine, but it has all the other issues you list here for your Roam: says it is playing, you can control the volume and skip tracks with it, but it sounds like an old school record or CD skipping. Happens in wifi and Bluetooth, and no factory reset works. If I push the play/pause button quickly I can get it to play about 1 second just fine and then it goes back to skipping. We too have 5 other Sonos devices, all working just fine.
Here’s the rub: tech support did all the official reboots and troubleshooting, couldn’t fix it. said the first one was a lemon. So they shipped us a new one. Opened today, and it’s doing the exact same things- same exact issues as the first new Roam. Before I call Tech support to do the same things, I’m suspicious of  whether this might be a software glitch. I don’t know when the new software rolled out since this is our first Roam, but when you get a new one in the last 2 weeks during setup is says there is a required software update that I couldn’t figure out a way to bypass and continue through setup process. Any chance when your Roam was working with Bluetooth and playing it was before a software update rolled out?  

Really interested in a fix for this. We got a new Roam, connecting to wifi fine, but it has all the other issues you list here for your Roam: says it is playing, you can control the volume and skip tracks with it, but it sounds like an old school record or CD skipping. Happens in wifi and Bluetooth, and no factory reset works. If I push the play/pause button quickly I can get it to play about 1 second just fine and then it goes back to skipping. We too have 5 other Sonos devices, all working just fine.
Here’s the rub: tech support did all the official reboots and troubleshooting, couldn’t fix it. said the first one was a lemon. So they shipped us a new one. Opened today, and it’s doing the exact same things- same exact issues as the first new Roam. Before I call Tech support to do the same things, I’m suspicious of  whether this might be a software glitch. I don’t know when the new software rolled out since this is our first Roam, but when you get a new one in the last 2 weeks during setup is says there is a required software update that I couldn’t figure out a way to bypass and continue through setup process. Any chance when your Roam was working with Bluetooth and playing it was before a software update rolled out?  

It’s quite unusual, in that both of your Roams seem to have the exact same issue - anyhow, have you perhaps tried changing the WiFi band that’s being used for the Roams connection to the router? So if it’s currently connected to the 5Ghz band, then maybe try switching it to use the routers 2.4Ghz band. I would set the 2.4Ghz band to use either channel 1, 6 or 11 (as any of those are non-overlapping) and set it’s channel-width to 20MHz in your router configuration pages. Just see if that makes a difference.

Thanks, Ken. We could do that, but both brand new Roams do the same thing on Bluetooth connection or Wi-Fi so I don’t think the fix is the wi-fi

Thanks, Ken. We could do that, but both brand new Roams do the same thing on Bluetooth connection or Wi-Fi so I don’t think the fix is the wi-fi

Both your local WiFi and Bluetooth use the 2.4Ghz band, so it’s still worth trying the routers WiFi channel switch to a non-overlapping channel and possibly change the band that the Roams are connected to too, to see if that helps …and switching the channel-width to 20MHz will certainly reduce interference.

If you ‘could’ do that, why not try?  At the very least, it eliminates one of the potential variables. 

Apologies, Airgetlam, we aren’t technically savvy and since it’s a brand new Roam, we wanted it fully fixed to use in all modes, not just wi-fi. Thanks, Kengriffiths, for that clarification that it could impact the Bluetooth mode as well. We’ll try this fix today!

All- Sonos support ran a diagnostic and confirmed this new Roam had the same issue as the last new Roam they shipped, so it too is being sent back and they are sending another new one. They said this is a known issue with a batch of new Roams, and the diagnostic they run remotely can easily identify the issue and there is nothing to be done to fix it. It needs to be replaced. Thanks again for the help from this community to try different things!

Thanks all for your work!!!  Mine has been failing like you describe for a month now and I was convinced that if I found the exact order of button-pressing I could get it to work.


I finally found this thread and am happy to learn my next step of calling Sonos support was the right call.

Lucky us to receive the “broken” Roams :-(

For what it’s worth, I’ve had the exact same experience. Two Roams that had the connection issues, orange flashing light, skipping, etc. 

Have tried all the troubleshooting steps to no avail. Will be returning the speaker and waiting for the next gen. All my other Sonos products work flawlessly… seems to be some spotty hardware.