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Sonos Dropout only if using internet

  • 18 February 2021
  • 6 replies
  • 131 views
F

I have two Sonos-One speakers, each in a separate room. When streaming music stored on our NAS device, over our Orbi WiFi, it works flawlessly. When streaming music from Spotify, one speaker (always the same one) drops out every couple of minutes or so. I cannot understand why an internet buffering issue would only affect one speaker. Can anyone suggest a reason and a fix? thanks.

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Best answer by Xander P 10 March 2021, 13:21

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6 replies

Xander P
Userlevel 6
Badge +15

Hi @Frankafloat, welcome to the Sonos Community!

Certainly strange that this only affects one speaker, and only with music streamed from the internet. If you play to just the speaker that drops out, rather than both speakers at once, do you still experience dropouts?

Are either of the speakers connected via Ethernet, or is it a fully wireless setup? Is the Orbi mesh connected to a different ISP provided router?

F

Hi XanderP,

Thanks for your reply and questions. I have done a bit more testing and here is the result.

Playing music only to the problem speaker still results in dropouts if streaming from Spotify but again not from my own music server (so again it seems to be an internet issue, but only with that one speaker). 

Both speakers are WiFi connected, Both have a fixed IP address 

The Orbi router and the single Orbi Satellite are configured as a mesh network and connected to the BT Broadband ADSL line via a BT Home Hub 4 Router.  The Home Hub 4 has Wireless switched OFF and DHCP switched OFF so really just acting as an ADSL modem. The Orbi acts as the DHCP server for everything except the Sonos One’s which have fixed IPs. 

I’ve tried rebooting the Modem, the Orbi and the Sonos but this frustrating issue remains. Any suggestion will be gratefully received.

Many Thanks

Frank

Xander P
Userlevel 6
Badge +15

Hi @Frankafloat, apologies for the delayed response.

Would it be possible to test the problem speaker directly to the Orbi router via Ethernet cable? Do you still experience the same issues?

If so then we can rule out the wireless environment as a culprit here, and my next suggestion would be to test the speaker on a completely different network - if you have two mobile devices available, you could perform a Factory Reset on the speaker, and then set it up on a mobile Hotspot connection;

Mobile device A would host the Hotspot

Mobile device B would connect to the Hotspot WiFi, and use the Sonos app to set up the speaker using the Hotspot WiFi credentials

If you’re able to test this, does the speaker still have the same issues when streaming from Spotify?

F

Hi XanderP,
Thanks for getting back to me again. Here are the results of your suggested tests plus a few others. 

  1. Plugging the drop-out speaker directly into the router via Ethernet - No dropouts at all. 
  2. Swapping the two speakers over and reconnecting via WiFi - Dropouts occur again, but are location specific and do not follow the speaker. However ONLY when streaming form Spotify. 
  3. Streaming from Sonos Radio,  Amazon music out my own media server - No dropouts at all. 

This leads me to think that it is a buffering issue between Spotify and Orbi. Strange that it is always the main Orbi router/Sonos link which is the problem and not the Orbi Satellite/Sonos link. 

Xander P
Userlevel 6
Badge +15

Got it @Frankafloat, certainly sounds like there’s some local WiFI interference, especially as the issue is location-specific.

Very odd that this only affects Spotify however… at this point I’d recommend reaching out to our Support Team via either live chat or phone call, as they will be able to perform some more in-depth, and live troubleshooting with you.

I did notice that you mentioned you’re using a BT HomeHub 4 as your connection to the internet, with an Orbi mesh serving as your router - while you’ve disabled DHCP and the Wireless radio on the BT HomeHub 4, I don’t believe these routers can be set to Bridge Mode, so it’s possible that this is a very strange effect of Double NAT - this may be worth considering if there are no signs of interference when getting in touch with the support team.

In this case I would recommend reaching out to BT directly, as they should be able to assist you in getting the Orbi connected directly to the internet - bypassing the HomeHub 4 entirely.

 

 

F

Thanks for all your help. I’ll follow your suggestions and if I ever get it resolved I'll l let you know. 
 Kind Regards

Frank

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