Scenario 1: it might, the BOOST would act as an extender for the SonosNet radio signal, and not for your normal Wi-Fi signal.

Scenario 2: I like this option better. 

How certain are you that this is a wireless distance issue with SonosNet? I’d be awfully tempted to recreate a dropout, and then submit a system diagnostic within 10 minutes, and contact Sonos Support to discuss it, on the offhand chance it isn’t a SonosNet distance issue, but something else, like more simple wifi interference, or even perhaps a duplicate IP address issue.

I usually suggest the phone folks, they have more tools available, and are available Monday through Friday during business hours. Twitter support folks are available 24/7.

There may be information included in the diagnostic that will help Sonos pinpoint the issue and help you find a solution.  

Thanks, for the input.

Figured I can get a Boost from Crutchfield and return it within 60 days if it does not fix the issue.

Yeah, I’ll see if my wife is willing to submit a diagnostic, or at least tell me when she has a dropout, so I can submit one.  

There are intermittent reports of trouble with Spotify. See if the problem recurs with Radio Paradise, which streams at the same raw bitrate. If that’s okay, then it suggests a local problem. If not, an issue with Spotify.

As another data point, go to http://IP_address_of_Connect:1400/support/review (get the IP from About My System) and screenshot the Network Matrix.

Here is the screenshot.

FYI, my wife reported a Spotify skip on the Play5, I submitted a diagnostic, then called Sonos a few minutes ago.

The rep said the Play5 was getting a weak signal and that we need a Boost or to install a whole new mesh network (I chuckled at that).

The Play 5 worked without issues for years in the same spot on Sonosnet, so not sure why it’s getting a weak signal recently.

Also, I have no idea how to read the matrix numbers above...good, bad, ugly?

Nothing amiss in the matrix. Pretty decent signal strength. A Boost introduced between the Connect and Play:5 would do nothing. It would be ignored. 

The matrix is however a snapshot, and wireless conditions -- especially interference --  can of course vary. 

I would suspect an external problem with Spotify. As suggested, try an alternative source.

I can try another source for diagnostic purposes, but Spotify is the only source my wife uses, so if Spotify is the problem, the problem would remain.

Is the Spotify problem specific to Sonos integration over Sonosnet wifi?

I don’t have Spotify issues using the Connect.

I wonder if it would be better to connect the Play5 directly to my router wi-fi.

Not to step on ratty’s advice, since he knows close to infinitely more than I do about networking, for sure, but I would lean in on his suggestion that it might be wifi interference, particularly externally based to your home. And since that report is a snapshot, it may not be occurring at the moment. Could be something as innocuous as a refrigerator motor, or a neighbor doing something on their network.

But his suggestion of a Spotify issue isn’t amiss, there’s a constant level of complaints here about connections to Spotify. Although if your other devices aren’t having it that same issue, it may not lay at their feet at all.

Not if the problem is external, no. 

Interesting. What happens if you bring the Play:5 into the same room as the Connect?

It might be worth experimenting. Go to Settings/System/Network and enter your WiFi details. Once that’s done, simply power off the Connect or remove its Ethernet cable. Wait a few minutes for the system to sort itself out (you’ll see LEDs flashing) and then see how the Play:5 performs.

If you continue to struggle, submit another system diagnostic within 10 minutes or so of a dropout. The players do retain a history of wireless conditions, but their memory is relatively short.

Ratty, thanks for the continued suggestions.

I can try moving the Play5 into the same room as the Connect.  If the Play5 does not have dropouts, then Sonosnet strength would seem to be the issue, right?

If I were to use my router wifi for the Play5, I can continue to use the Connect on ethernet cable, if I disable its wifi, right?  I believe this would block Sonosnet creation.

The other thing I’m considering is determining how much of a pain it would be to run ethernet cable to the Play5.  I can easily run cable to the general location from my basement, but then would need to fish the cable up about 4 feet in an external wall cavity with insulation I’m sure (this could be the biggest challenge), and cut a hole for an old work box in the drywall...all stuff I’ve done before for various AV projects over the years.  If the Play5 were near an interior wall, I would have already done this, as I have hard-wired every other AV component throughout the basement and first floor of our house.

Well, it would suggest that something is affecting the Play:5 signal in its normal location. It could be related to signal strength owing to distance, attenuation, reflections, slow fade, etc. It could be interference, from local or more distant sources, continuous or intermittent. 

A quick thought: does your wife make use of Bluetooth when she’s listening to the Play:5? This can sometimes be aggressive towards SonosNet/WiFi.

Yes, you can do that. It’s ‘forced mixed mode’. The Connect would show WM:0 in About My System; and the Play:1 would be WM:1. 

Ratty, I’ll check with my wife regarding Bluetooth.  I know that she would not be actively using it for anything, but it’s possible that it is always enabled on her phone (if that matters).

A Bluetooth that was simply on but not busy shouldn’t have that much effect. It might be worth asking her to turn off the BT as an experiment some time. 

Just checked - her BT is always off.

I tried the Play5 connected to the router wifi yesterday (no Sonosnet) and we still had some skips with Spotify.  I submitted 2 diagnostics and then called Sonos support.  The rep said the Play5 had experienced wifi signal issues and that Spotify was not the problem.  He recommended going back to Sonosnet and getting a Boost.

He made a couple other recommendations that I thought were a bit ludicrous.  He said that the distance between my router and Play5 or Connect and Play5 (Sonosnet) should be 15 feet.  My router works fine streaming HD video to devices on the second story of our house, through the floor/walls to devices that are father away and have more barriers vs. the Play5. 

When I check the router wifi strength with the WIFI Analyzer app on my phone, the signal strength at the Play5 is pegged at the highest signal signal strength on the meter (-40 dB), which is the same reading I get when my phone is near the router.

Anyway, I went ahead and ordered a Boost and will go back to Sonosnet.  I have nothing to lose giving it a try.  I’ll simply return it if it does not fix the Spotify skipping issue on the Play5.  If the Boost does not help, I’ll contemplate hard-wiring the Play5.

To put it politely, a 15 foot range is not a figure I’d remotely recognise. 

The rep could be suggesting a Boost with a view to wiring that, and running the Connect wirelessly. Boost has rather better wireless performance.

If you choose to site the Boost between the wired Connect and the Play:5 I strongly suspect it will be ignored. We can take another look at the network matrix once it’s in place. There is a trick which will force a wireless Boost to be involved as a relay. It can have some undesirable side-effects in larger systems, but these are not relevant for a two-player system. Let’s see how things go. 

Actually, in the context of the Play5 on my router wifi (which is how I had it set up yesterday when I submitted diagnostics), the rep said to move my router to within 15 feet (not happening).

Then later in the call, he said to go back to Sonosnet and get a Boost and use it as a repeater with no ethernet cable connection.  He also said that without a Boost, my Connect and Play5 should be within 15 feet (also not happening).  I told him that if I add a Boost midway between the Connect and Play5, the distance to each will still be about 25 feet (obviously over 15 feet).  He did not have a reply to that.

I don’t have much faith that a midway Boost will fix the issue, but it’s painless to try.  I’ll report back next week, after I give it a try.

Just set up the Boost (no ethernet cable, roughly midway) and here are the matrix numbers.  The Boost to Kitchen Play5 numbers are higher than the original numbers I posted above, but not sure how significant.

I’ll next have my wife listen for and report Spotify skips over the next couple weeks (hopefully none or very infrequent.

Well, we’re still getting Spotify dropouts on the Play5, so the Boost in its current configuration did not fix the issue.

We stream Spotify to several devices over wifi to multiple non-Sonos devices throughout the house, at opposite ends of the house from the router, so Spotify on the Play5 is the only problematic situation.

Not sure where to go from here besides testing ethernet cable to Boost or the Play5, or ditching it altogether for another speaker.  I have a Riva Festival I can try with Spotify over wifi in the same location in the kitchen.

I’ll send you a PM.

Ratty has been graciously helping with Boost configuration testing, but I am still having Spotify dropouts on the Play5.

Here are the 2 most recent diagnostics numbers from earlier today.

2018983548

1960744902

Reporting back after some Spotify testing on the Play5 yesterday.

I went ahead and hardwired the Boost with ethernet cable and located it around 4 feet from the Play 5 (on a joist in the basement directly below where the Play5 is located in the kitchen).

Also, I had my wife use Spotify within the Sonos app, rather than using the native Spotify app with the Spotify Connect feature, as she had been doing in the past.

With these 2 changes implemented, she said that she had no Spotify dropouts over the course of about 2 hours of playback yesterday.

Because we made the 2 changes above, I’m not sure if one vs. the other had an effect.

In general, is Spotify more stable using the Sonos app rather than the native Spotify app?

Also, there were known Spotify issues on Sonos the past couple days (resolved now), so not sure if this issue resolution helped too.

Still getting Spotify dropouts with a hardwired Boost within 4 feet of the Play5.

Now we are testing with Qobuz, which is FLAC at probably 3X the bitrate of Spotify.

No dropouts so far after about an hour.

If Qobuz does not result in dropouts, seems like this might have been a Spotify (not wireless) issue the whole time.

Well, said the heck with Sonosnet and wifi, and ran ethernet cable to the Play5 today.

A bit of a pain to run the cable through insulation and vapor barrier, but got it done.

I also disabled wifi on both the Connect and Play5.

I’ll return the Boost.

We may still have Spotify issues (due to Spotify), but we will at least know that the wireless signal is not the issue.  

Still getting Spotify skips with the Play5 hardwired with ethernet cable.  Unbelievable!

I guess there are some real Spotify issues on Sonos.