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SiriusXM Connection Drops

  • 22 September 2021
  • 20 replies
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I see this is a recurring and persistent issue here, so joining the chorus of users who are having issues streaming SiriusXM radio via my Sonos system. I can usually connect and SiriusXM will play for an hour (if I’m lucky; it often cuts out much sooner) before the stream drops. Once the stream dies I get the “song not encoded correctly” error which makes no sense. I can usually restart the stream after waiting for 5–10 minutes.

I listen via various Sonos speakers that I own, primarily a Play:1 in my office, or a group of speakers that includes a Sonos One, Play:3, Move, and Play:1. This ONLY happens with Sirius. None of my other streaming radio services (Apple Music, Amazon Music, Sonos Radio, TuneIn, Bandcamp) experience this issue. My 1gb internet connection is stable and strong. There is no obvious wireless interference from a cordless phone, TV remotes, etc.

I’m confident that this isn’t a hardware or connectivity issue on my end. Is this a Sonos problem? A SiriusXM problem?

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Best answer by Airgetlam 22 September 2021, 18:28

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20 replies

Userlevel 1

I have the exact same problem as listed here.  I’ve also found that calls to Sonos support are unproductive and a waste of my time.  

This is a very disappointing compatibility issue for Sonos.  to alienate nearly 35 million sirius XM subscribers seems like a death wish and to ignore the pleas from their customers Sonos is making a huge mistake.  

I have had the same problem for months. I have been in contact with Sonos many many times. They tell me the same thing over and over. I have done everything they have asked me to do with the same results over and over. I’m about to give up on Sonos. I love their speakers. They sound awesome but I pay for Sirius every month and I should be able to use my Sonos system. The problem is Sonos not Sirius. I never have this problem when I use my Altec Bluetooth speakers. If they cannot figure this problem out I will have to find another speaker system. It will be a sad day when this happens 

Userlevel 2
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I am having the same experience. SiriusXM is the only music service that drops. Have now done two service calls. On both calls, the tech encouraged me to reset (unplug electrical and then plug back in after 10 seconds). On of the techs observed "high latency" on one of my Sonos rooms, which suggested to him that considerable bandwidth was being consumed. He set up a test in which a new room would be added to the group after not losing the SiriusXM signal for a period of time. He encouraged me to work my way around the house until I found the room the room that seemed to cause the drop. As promising as this test seemed, I  soon confirmed that SiriusXM drops after an hour if only one room is on. The most vexing part of this issue is that SiriusXM On Demand does not drop, even after 4 hours. I frequently use Tunein and that never drops. I frequently use Hearts of Space with no difficulty. I frequently use Pocket Casts with no drops. I have changed settings on my Asus RT-AC 5300 reflecting Community discussions of Sonos Asus conflicts. I agree that this must be occurring often enough to be noticed by either SiriusXM or Sonos.

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Doesn't matter what the server endpoints are, nor which TCP ports Sirius XM use for various streaming clients. I bought a product from Sonos that claims to support  Sirius XM. If the Sonos App is the one having the problem,  then Sonos should be working with Sirius  to resolve it. This apparently is not the case because Sonos continues to push the issue back  on to customers  and their home WiFi networks.  If they are not going fix the problem,  drop support for Sirius XM so those of us who bought Sonos for this use case can move onto to another product.

I’ve had my sono’s system for 4 years.  Until the last 3 mos i’ve never had an issue with Sirius.  Now it won’t get thru one song without getting “unable to play ‘63 - The message’ It is encoded using an unsupported digital rights management system”.      

 

Anyone get theirs resolved with sonos?  I’m very frustrated.  

Userlevel 1
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I have the exact same problem, it occurs way to frequently for Sonos or SiriusXM to not know  about.  About ready to give up on SiriusXM streams.

Same issues for me… It’s VERY annoying as Sirius is my main music source (DMB and PHISH).

 

I did find a PITA workaround… Play the channel on my Samsung Smart TV Sirius app, which is connected to my ARC… Then I add the other rooms from the Sonos app

 

Spent over a couple hours over the last few days trying to resolve this problem. Sonos claims it is my network interference even though I have a high speed stable mesh network and no other services drop out. I have given up listening to Sirius channels at this point.

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Same problem as everyone else has experienced.  And I agree the tech support is useless for this issue. I know for certain it is Sonos because I can use the Sirius XM app with my home wifi and a Google Chromecast  Audio  connected to an amp with speakers.  No problems at all.

I would never buy another  Sonos product  after  this experience. 

Has this actually been answered? I see so many complaints — and all sorts of solutions. I’ve tried many and still can’t listen to Sirius without drops 

Still not fixed?  So glad I “upgraded” from my gen 1 (where Sirius worked flawlessly for 10 years straight)  Clearly Sonos is more interested in pushing their HD radio service than ensuring a competing service works.  Oh well, the Move will go back and I’ll return to the gen 1 Five.  Thanks for nothing Sonos.  

All Sonos does is point their player to a SiriusXM server, and then play the music that it accesses there. That server is actually a different server than other apps, including theSiriusXM app and website uses, so expecting the two servers to be the same should be true, but in instances like this, they can deviate.
 

Since Sonos doesn’t own or operate the server, if the issue isn’t in the Sonos software (and if it was, you’d likely see it affecting all streams, not just one), it’s up to the streamer (SiriusXM) to fix the issue. Posting your concerns here is fine, I would expect the forum moderators to collect them sometime Monday, package them up, and send them to SiriusXM, but dealing directly with SiriusXM might be able to get a quicker response. 

Badge +1

Having the same issue and have for months.   It happens across various SiriusXM channels.   Can someone at Sonos get on the telephone with Sirius and figure this out?   It’s almost unusuable for some channels.

 

“Unable to play ‘<ChannelName>’ - it is encoded using an unsupported digital rights management system.”

 

Thank you

 

 

I am extremely frustrated with this issue!  I have had numerous support calls dealing with this and it just never gets fixed.  Sending diagnostics, unplugging, rebooting, etc has done nothing. Sonos, if the “Unable to play ‘<ChannelName>’ - it is encoded using an unsupported digital rights management system” is not on your end, I would seriously hope that you’re working with Sirius to get this fixed. It’s been going on way too long!!!

It does seem to be continuing, based on the number of threads. Hopefully the input from Sonos engineers will help the SiriusXM engineers track down the issue. 

The trouble with your position is SiriusXM uses different server endpoints for their own app and the Sonos app. And, frankly, with most other ‘streaming’ clients. Each has their own ‘ports’ on the SiriusXM server farm. 

Userlevel 2
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Since my original post several months ago, I have had more good days than bad with Siriusxm drops. By good,  I mean listening to a music channel continuously for 5 hours without a drop. As soon as I think "problem solved" I get a drop.  To be fair,  it is happening less. I had the good fortune to receive some feedback on this thread from @Corry P.  He offered to review several of my Diagnostic Reports and made some suggestions. Eg., I had some things connected by ethernet that simply did not need to be. My attitude has shifted a bit. I am pleasantly surprised when it works, which is often, and not upset when it doesn't. Best of all, everything else works well without failures of any kind in a complicated arrangement distributed throughout 4 floors (including basement and attic). Over the years of owning Sonos products I have gone through a steep trial and error learning process for my setup, but I continue to be blown away by the tech skills of folks in the Sonos community. I  honestly believe that Sonos is actually aware of this issue and has been quietly working on it, hopefully before every one tears their hair out.

It could be either, frankly. Although since it is only occurring on a single stream and not all streams, it’s much more likely to be outside of your influence/network. If it was a Sonos issue, it would occur across all streams, not just SiriusXM.

But in order to be certain, I would recommend that you submit a system diagnostic within 10 minutes of experiencing this problem, 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.

 

 

Related to this, I experience the drops occasionally, but not enough to drive me crazy. What is driving me crazy lately though is that one channel, specifically SiriusXM Love, Channel 708, seems to have completely disappeared, but from Sonos only. I can only access it through the SiriusXM app. Can't get it through Sonos, so unable to play it. Ideas? Haven't called Sonos support yet, and given the above comments, not sure it will do any good.

Thanks Bruce, I am certainly not knowledgeable regarding the technical aspects. I did call SiriusXM a couple of days ago. Aside from the usual, "try uninstalling and re-installing", they really weren't helpful.