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Sonos and Plex issues...

  • 22 January 2022
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I’ve recently invested in a Sonos system and am about to send it all back. I bought Sonos specifically because it CLAIMS to work with Plex. I don’t subscribe to streaming music services because I have spent a lifetime accumulating my own collection/library.

 

I can view, browse, and begin playback of my music but then Sonos often skips tracks all together saying they cannot be accessed. When this behavior happens it will skip multiple tracks. Sometimes half way through a track it’ll skip to the next one without finishing the one I was just listening to.

 

I have tested that all the tracks work. I can play all of them directly from my computer, any of the plex apps on my network or remotely. I use Plex in my car all the time with no issues. This happens whether I’m trying to play from the Sonos app OR if I try casting from Plex to Sonos within my home network. This problem is most certainly a Sonos problem.

 

Additionally, when I am playing music from my Plex server on my own network, the plex dashboard shows a remote connection to the Sonos servers in Ashburn, VA whether using plex to cast to Sonos OR from the Sonos app. Is it really streaming my music from my home, to Virginia and back to my home?

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Best answer by GuitarSuperstar 22 January 2022, 20:58

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It sounds like network problems. Are you able to directly connect any of your Sonos speakers (not a Sub or surround) to your router with an ethernet cable?

You can also try changing the wireless channel on your router. Read more here:

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/4769?language=en_US

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Thanks @GuitarSuperstar. My wireless channel was on auto and so far that seems to have fixed the problem with music stopping, skipping, etc.

 

Still my music from my LAN is being bounced across the country rather than playing locally. I’ll call Sonos tomorrow on that issue and see if there’s any way to keep it on the LAN.

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Still my music from my LAN is being bounced across the country rather than playing locally. I’ll call Sonos tomorrow on that issue and see if there’s any way to keep it on the LAN.

There isn’t a way to “keep it on the LAN” is you are using the Plex service.

If you really want to keep it on the LAN, use a file share and the Local Library option instead of Plex.

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The reason I have to use plex is Sonos’ library size limitation so that’s not an option. Keeping it on the LAN isn’t necessary it just seems silly for it to travel to VA and back. Once the other problem got resolved with the channels, however, it’s all running much more smoothly. 
 

thanks for the reply…. 

The reason I have to use plex is Sonos’ library size limitation so that’s not an option. Keeping it on the LAN isn’t necessary it just seems silly for it to travel to VA and back. Once the other problem got resolved with the channels, however, it’s all running much more smoothly. 
 

thanks for the reply…. 

 

I don’t think there’s going to be anyway around your audio routing through the cloud.  Although your files are local, Sonos does not have a way to access streaming services locally, it’s all  coming from cloud sources.  There would need to be a special exception and configuration for Sonos to know the location of your plex server on the LAN.  Even then, the client side of plex for Sonos would have to be run locally, rather than cloud.  I’m all for it, just don’t see it happening anytime soon.

Are you sure that the VA servers are Sonos and not Plex?  I have no idea where Sonos servers are located, but I would guess they are the West coast, since that’s where Sonos is headquartered.  As well, I wouldn’t see why this would go through Sonos cloud, as it’s Plex that needs to do the routing, just as it does when you play Plex in your car.

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@melvimbe, what you’re saying makes perfect sense. And running off my LAN isn’t as important now that I’ve got the symptoms resolved. I was thinking that routing my local music around the interwebs could be part of the problem. Now that it’s working I really don’t care.

 

I’m not sure if you’re familiar with Plex, but on the administrators dashboard it tells you the IP address streams are going to and the platform that’s it’s using; i.e., iOS, Android, Tizen, Sonos, etc. It clearly says Sonos and when I look up the IP it’s Ashburn, VA. The Plex server is in my house. Yes, Ples also has their own servers that are necessary for the whole system to operate but the streams are direct from your local server to the Plex client. Only if your home router is incorrectly setup for Plex will the streams run through their servers (the way I understand it, anyway).

 

I used to live in Ashburn and I know there are several huge data centers there. One is AWS. I’ve been told that Sonos runs off AWS (as does Netflix). And I would even assume there are multiple servers used. I just happen to get routed to VA (every time).

 

At least this is how it’s been explained to me…

@melvimbe, what you’re saying makes perfect sense. And running off my LAN isn’t as important now that I’ve got the symptoms resolved. I was thinking that routing my local music around the interwebs could be part of the problem. Now that it’s working I really don’t care.

 

 

Well, it would be nice to have.

 

 

I’m not sure if you’re familiar with Plex, but on the administrators dashboard it tells you the IP address streams are going to and the platform that’s it’s using; i.e., iOS, Android, Tizen, Sonos, etc. It clearly says Sonos and when I look up the IP it’s Ashburn, VA. The Plex server is in my house. Yes, Ples also has their own servers that are necessary for the whole system to operate but the streams are direct from your local server to the Plex client. Only if your home router is incorrectly setup for Plex will the streams run through their servers (the way I understand it, anyway).

 

 

I have Plex, but use if for movies more than music.  I’ve run into local network causing issues (router setup)  that causes issues with accessing outside of the network...Sonos included.  My plex server is on my Shield, and it seems to work just fine after a reboot, for awhile anyway.  I just haven’t bothered to put too much effort into troubleshooting, as I can use the music library feature instead.

As far as where the bits actually go, I don’t fully know.  The plex servers are clearly needed to make the connection between your plex server and Sonos, but perhaps not after that.  After that though, I still don’t think the connection is purely within the LAN.   Same goes for a lot of smart home controls.  Even though the controlling device and smart device are both on the LAN, the command often goes through a cloud.

 

 

I used to live in Ashburn and I know there are several huge data centers there. One is AWS. I’ve been told that Sonos runs off AWS (as does Netflix). And I would even assume there are multiple servers used. I just happen to get routed to VA (every time).

 

At least this is how it’s been explained to me…

 

That makes sense.

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It would be really nice to have. But just as your local Plex servers relies upon Plex’s servers to work and for remote access, Sonos appears that everything needs to somehow run through their servers too.

 

I’ve built quite the Plex server and have a huge media library. That’s why it’s important to me to be able to use it with a wireless speaker system. I’m part of the generation that grew up buying music so I have my own library. I would also prefer to not have to maintain two separate sets of playlists. Even if I had a library that fit within Sonos’ limits I like to be able to use the same in my car, phone when I’m out and about and so on. That’s where a separate media system outside of Plex is great to have.

 

Did you open the appropriate ports on  your router for Plex?

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I ran into the same thing in my setup.  It ended up being the remote bandwidth settings.  Plex “sees” all Sonos traffic as remote (Its not but the connection is setup through their servers).  I fixed it in my setup by clearing the outbound limit settings in Plex.  Now Plex will not attempt to throttle remote clients and Sonos works great together.  I use it this way daily.  I do not have anyone else using my Plex so the absence of remote throttle is no issue for me.

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That’s not my problem… I don’t have any outbound limits set and I have Gigabit internet speeds.