Sonos control (and use) very unstable


Components / setup:

  • 1x Playbar
  • 1x Sub (Gen 1)
  • 2x Play:3
  • 1x Play:1
  • 4x: Play:5 (Sonos S1 Controller app required)

The situation:

I currently have a Sonos system that includes the above components. For your information, two Play 3s together form a stereo pair just as two Play 5s form a stereo pair.

The problem is as follows. It is possible to use the Sonos S1 controller app to create a room in which all the Sonos equipment simultaneously plays the same music. Thereby it is possible to change the volume per speaker individually.

It's also possible to create separate rooms in which one or more Sonos speakers (so not all at the same time) can play music and from there you can control things like the volume.

The problem is that one time everything works flawlessly and a few minutes later it doesn't, only to work flawlessly again some time later. As an example, it is sometimes possible to click on all rooms and everything starts playing immediately while a few minutes later it is possible that 1 or more speakers do not start playing music.

Or that it is possible to adjust the volume of 1 device whereby this goes flawlessly while a few seconds later it does not work again.

In short. It is very unstable.

Because of the Play 5 models it is not possible to switch to the S2 controller from Sonos.

I ran a test with a new access point where no adjustments were made (no things like client isolation etc on). That it can work successfully is evident because every now and then it works flawlessly, but also regularly it does not.

Any tips? I have a feeling this problem is not on the network side but on the Sonos side. Tests have been conducted with several access points with different (including factory) settings.


7 replies

Are the access points wired and are their WiFi beacons using the same SSID/credentials, WiFi channels and channel-width as your main router?

My understanding is in Sonos Networking packets can be sent as follows:

  • A single host – Unicast - (TCP and UDP)
  • All hosts - Broadcast – (UDP only)
  • A group of hosts – Multicast - (UDP only)

Broadcast messages are not sent through routers, but multicast messages are.  I reckon in your case the router SSDP Multicast used to discover your Sonos speakers is ‘perhaps’ sometimes not working as it should be, perhaps the packets are not getting through on the LAN subnet due to the various access points and the way they are setup.

Perhaps try removing/powering off the access points temporarily and switch both the S1/S2 systems over to SonosNet by wiring one standalone device from each system to your main router.

Set your router on WiFi channel 6 and your S1/S2 SonosNet channels to 1 and 11 respectively and see if that resolves your issues.

Are the access points wired and are their WiFi beacons using the same SSID/credentials, WiFi channels and channel-width as your main router?

My understanding is in Sonos Networking packets can be sent as follows:

  • A single host – Unicast - (TCP and UDP)
  • All hosts - Broadcast – (UDP only)
  • A group of hosts – Multicast - (UDP only)

Broadcast messages are not sent through routers, but multicast messages are.  I reckon in your case the router SSDP Multicast used to discover your Sonos speakers is ‘perhaps’ sometimes not working as it should be, perhaps the packets are not getting through on the LAN subnet due to the various access points and the way they are setup.

Perhaps try removing/powering off the access points temporarily and switch both the S1/S2 systems over to SonosNet by wiring one standalone device from each system to your main router.

Set your router on WiFi channel 6 and your S1/S2 SonosNet channels to 1 and 11 respectively and see if that resolves your issues.

 

For the test I've used 1 AP; connected straight to the modem. So one SSID.

 

For the test I've used 1 AP; connected straight to the modem. So one SSID.

Do you mean one access point connected to your router? Or is your router ‘bridged’ or set to modem mode?

edit: Perhaps describe the network hardware (make/models) and what is actually wired or wireless.

 @RobCoenen96 

This all sounds like wireless network congestion, at the point where a new track starts. There’s typically a heavy burst of traffic while the players buffer as much of the track data as they can. With some services a player will even attempt to buffer the entire track. If local bandwidth is constrained by signal/interference issues then packets can get dropped. 

The first room in any group contains the Group Coordinator node, responsible for fetching the stream and distributing it to the other members. For group play it will usually help to choose the room with the best connection for the GC, then add the others. Where a player is wired to the network this is an obvious candidate. Where all players are wireless choose one with a strong signal. This approach generally results in less overall wireless network load.

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Just to use the right terms:, where you state “It is possible to use the Sonos S1 controller app to create a room in which all the Sonos equipment simultaneously plays the same music” you actually mean a “group” in Sonos speak.

 

For the test I've used 1 AP; connected straight to the modem. So one SSID.

Do you mean one access point connected to your router? Or is your router ‘bridged’ or set to modem mode?

edit: Perhaps describe the network hardware (make/models) and what is actually wired or wireless.

The access point is connected straight to the modem from the provider. It isn't in bridge mode.

 

Just to use the right terms:, where you state “It is possible to use the Sonos S1 controller app to create a room in which all the Sonos equipment simultaneously plays the same music” you actually mean a “group” in Sonos speak.

Yes. A group indeed.

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