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Impossible to connect my SONOS ROAM in Bluetooth


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Hello,

 

as I just received my SONOS ROAM I have tried many times today to get it connected in Bluetooth by following the procedure as described in that link.

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/4989?language=fr

So I kept pressing the button at the back but the blue light never went on and as a consequence the product had been left undiscovered for my mobile phone.

Is there anyone who encountered the same issue & what should I do to get it solve.

Thanks for your help

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Best answer by shfawaz 22 April 2021, 23:07

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114 replies

I was having the same issues. Pressing the power button for 2 secs did not bring up the flashing blue light/chime that signals pairing. Had first setup the Roam via my S2 app, as instructed, and it connected on my home Sonos system via wifi without issue… but would not connect to my device via bluetooth. Power was at 45% out of the box.

Then I tried plugging the Roam into a power source, retried the bluetooth sequence and… success! I was able to pair the Roam to my MS Surface.

Hope this works for others.

Userlevel 7
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The real problem does seem to be you not being able to install the Sonos app (Sonos is clear the computer app is not built for setting up a speaker) on your iPhone. What problem did you run into?

Sonos Staff:

I tried that too. No success either. Sonos also plainly states one cannot use their app with a computer. Huh?! I was also unable to load it into my iPhone from the Apple store. And I find this whole app & Bluetooth relationship utterly puzzling. No audio device today should be this complicated to hook up. Life is too short. It goes in the mail today!

 

Took me 2 minutes to set mine up and it has been running flawlessly ever since.  No “journalist” who is this inept at setting up electronics should be giving reviews. 

 

Attention Sonos Staff: I flag this comment for removal. The poster is rude and casting personal aspersions.

 

Sonos Staff:

I tried that too. No success either. Sonos also plainly states one cannot use their app with a computer. Huh?! I was also unable to load it into my iPhone from the Apple store. And I find this whole app & Bluetooth relationship utterly puzzling. No audio device today should be this complicated to hook up. Life is too short. It goes in the mail today!

 

Took me 2 minutes to set mine up and it has been running flawlessly ever since.  No “journalist” who is this inept at setting up electronics should be giving reviews. 

Angkor123 - if you still have your Roam and haven’t returned it quite yet, a flashing green light means the product hasn’t been set up via the Sonos app yet.

Please use the Sonos app to first set up Roam on your network, then you will be able to switch to Bluetooth by holding the power button down for 2 seconds.

 

Sonos Staff:

I tried that too. No success either. Sonos also plainly states one cannot use their app with a computer. Huh?! I was also unable to load it into my iPhone from the Apple store. And I find this whole app & Bluetooth relationship utterly puzzling. No audio device today should be this complicated to hook up. Life is too short. It goes in the mail today!

see below

Badge +17

Just got the roam and same issue here.  App was a mess, wouldn’t connect, didn’t like the wifi.  Uninstalled and reinstalled it.  Didn’t help.   I can turn it on but it goes from flashing white directly to flashing green.  I want to just connect via bluetooth but it won’t go into pairing mode.  Holding the power button at any point of the process just seems to turn it off with no sound whatsoever.  Really very frustrating and not very, well modern.  Feels like a decade ago in regard to ease of set-up.   


I’m having the exact same problem. I was impressed with the very positive reviews. I found a great deal. Bought it. Never in my wildest nightmares could I have imagined finding it impossible to pair an audio device with my PC via Bluetooth. Till now it’s been like falling off a log. I’ve spent hours trying to figure it out - unsuccessfully. The “instructions” that come with the Roam are a joke. Sonos’ website is a bundle of utter confusion. Reading the tech manual for the Mars Perseverance rover is more comprehensible. Go online and folks offer a hundred different suggestions - but none work in my case. Blinking green light - no blue. No pairing. I’ll try one more day - then will send the worthless thing back for a refund. Sonos: please get your act together. Why is it that every other audio device maker in the world makes their products easy to set up and all you offer is confusion and frustration?

Angkor123 - if you still have your Roam and haven’t returned it quite yet, a flashing green light means the product hasn’t been set up via the Sonos app yet.

Please use the Sonos app to first set up Roam on your network, then you will be able to switch to Bluetooth by holding the power button down for 2 seconds.

I’m a journalist. I take time to write honest customer reviews. I posted the following on Amazon, Best Buy and Ebay today:

“Set-up's a Nightmare. Software's Buggy. Stay Away!

I purchased the Sonos Roam based on the highly positive reviews attesting to the speaker's superior sound qualities. Well, I never got to hear them. I found it impossible to set up a connection with my PC or iPhone, having wasted hours fultilely going through the designated steps and researching online for tips and guidance. What I did find in my research was scores of complaints attesting to the same issue, including on Sonos' own website - which, by the way, is an incomprehensible jumble of confusion. The "instructions" that come with the device are a joke. Connecting to Bluetooth these days is like falling off a log. 1-2-3. Done. But somehow Sonos has managed to invent a product that makes the Mars Perseverence rover seem like a grade school science project by comparison. I wish the tech reviewers delved into the horrific frustration of setting this audio device up. Do your own googling and you'll find many dissatisfied customers bitterly calling the Roam a useless paperweight. Sonos' software furthermore draws criticism for being excessively buggy.  I'm returning mine for a full refund after one day of frustration and anger. Caveat emptor.”

Just got the roam and same issue here.  App was a mess, wouldn’t connect, didn’t like the wifi.  Uninstalled and reinstalled it.  Didn’t help.   I can turn it on but it goes from flashing white directly to flashing green.  I want to just connect via bluetooth but it won’t go into pairing mode.  Holding the power button at any point of the process just seems to turn it off with no sound whatsoever.  Really very frustrating and not very, well modern.  Feels like a decade ago in regard to ease of set-up.   


I’m having the exact same problem. I was impressed with the very positive reviews. I found a great deal. Bought it. Never in my wildest nightmares could I have imagined finding it impossible to pair an audio device with my PC via Bluetooth. Till now it’s been like falling off a log. I’ve spent hours trying to figure it out - unsuccessfully. The “instructions” that come with the Roam are a joke. Sonos’ website is a bundle of utter confusion. Reading the tech manual for the Mars Perseverance rover is more comprehensible. Go online and folks offer a hundred different suggestions - but none work in my case. Blinking green light - no blue. No pairing. I’ll try one more day - then will send the worthless thing back for a refund. Sonos: please get your act together. Why is it that every other audio device maker in the world makes their products easy to set up and all you offer is confusion and frustration?

I plan on returning mine - the Bluetooth setup is not intuitive. Roam is for roaming - why do they insist on WiFi connection. Every time I pair - next time I come in it will not connect. I try to forget the device and then have to try 5 time to connect it again - ridiculous.

Tried everything listed above but no luck.  Bluetooth pairing just doesn’t work on this product.  Really terrible for a supposedly high end product.  Every cheap Bluetooth speaker I own works easily but not Sonos Roam.  Wow how embarrassing for Sonos!

Userlevel 2

We have been struggling with this for a few weeks, off and on. 

Husband stumbled on what might work for others…

We have the Roam added to Sonos and updated. It will play using Sonos app. Of course problem was Bluetooth. So the issue was, we would do as directed; get the flashing white light and when you had a steady white light, press and hold and the blue light would supposedly illuminate and a tone would sound initializing  pairing. But what actually happened was that when you hold the power button the speaker eventually makes two little sounds and powers off. Never a blue light. The solution is to let go of the power button when you hear the small tones BEFORE power shut off. 

We have three of these beasts and it worked on each one of them. 

Also - conflicting Bluetooth connectivity can be confusing so use one device to control. We were not able to achieve individual pairing of a speaker on his phone and a speaker on my phone. Maybe if we are out of range from one another. 

Thank you!!! This worked for me - I wasn't letting go of the power button quickly enough. Very helpful tip.

Indeed the Move works like that and it’s about the only Sonos product I still use regularly. It’s too big to carry with me on travel.

Just adding my frustration to this thread.

Out the box sonos roam WILL NOT connect to Bluetooth filling instructions from Sonos website.

I have about a dozen Sonos devices which are all in some partial stranded state due to the mix of Sonos 1 and Sonos 2. I am so incredibly frustrated that thousands of dollars of equipment are unusable due to this situation.

I bought a ROAM bc I wanted to completely bypass the app and registration due to that level of frustration. I just want the SONOS audio quality without any of the SONOS app crap. I just want to AirPlay or BT to THIS ONE ROAM. That’s it.

 

looks like it’s not possible and I’ll return it. JBL can likely help me at half the price?

I don’t understand why you didn’t just use your ‘Sonos Move’ as shown in your community profile to achieve the outcome you were looking for, as that will play both Bluetooth and Airplay audio too without ever having to goto the Sonos App?

Just adding my frustration to this thread.

Out the box sonos roam WILL NOT connect to Bluetooth filling instructions from Sonos website.

I have about a dozen Sonos devices which are all in some partial stranded state due to the mix of Sonos 1 and Sonos 2. I am so incredibly frustrated that thousands of dollars of equipment are unusable due to this situation.

I bought a ROAM bc I wanted to completely bypass the app and registration due to that level of frustration. I just want the SONOS audio quality without any of the SONOS app crap. I just want to AirPlay or BT to THIS ONE ROAM. That’s it.

 

looks like it’s not possible and I’ll return it. JBL can likely help me at half the price?

@George de Oregon 

i have two Roams and currently out and about  travelling with one of them for a few days and my experience is what is seen explained in this YT video.

So I find it easy to switch the Roam between WiFi (or MiFi in my case) and Bluetooth and back again. It works exactly as shown in the video…

 

Dear Sonos Team,

Egads...it came up!!!!

What happened?  I was reading about how to do a factory reset and it said to hold down the power button for five seconds when powering off.  So I did it but then of all things, the blue light start flashing, a chime was emitted and it appeared on my phone.

This is insane.  I’m burned out on Sonos.  It should never be so fraught with sensitivities based on how long you hold down a button (please note that the end of my finger is sore since there is no tactile feedback as to whether or not you have pressed the button - that is silly - they could provide some sort of click or something since they are insisting on holding down the power button for a certain time amount).

Basically, I can’t recommend Sonos, my guess is that they have out-sourced a lot of their design...don’t really know but wish I would have brought Bose for my complete home system and for remote.  Not inspired by Sonos’es attitude of “strict adherance” or you will suffer mightily…

Logging out,

Burned out with Sonos,

George

Dear Sonos Gurus,

Brought Roam and learned the hardway while on vacation that one must first connect to your Sonos wifi system first (which was in Munich, Germany and I was working in Portland, OR).  Okay - all fair in love and reading all the fine print prior to buying something.

Got back to Munich, connected Roam, played music, worked great.  Read your very nice forum, read Sonos instructions, watch youtube video, got blue flashing light (no chime), my iphone 11 can’t see the Sonos Roam.

Okay

  • Did factory reboot (hold play button while holding power button)
  • Reconnected to my Sonos system
  • Played music
  • iphone App on S2 (went to Apple App Store and checked - latest)
  • Could not find any special information on how to update Roam’s software…
  • Went back, got blue flashing light (no chime) and once again, nothing on iphone bluetooth connection list
  • After the blue light flashes for about 5 seconds, it stays a steady blue. 
  • I have not connected it to anything and yes -- I have already done a factory reset (today - prior).

I find this amazing.  Sonos is such a quality product and this bluetooth setup is something.  If I would have known, I would have gone back to Bose….  I understand what Sonos is trying to do - no problem with the WiFi first setup and then everything -- but getting this bluetooth working is beyond difficult.

Depressing the amount of time I have spent and once again, I have read and re-read and re-read everything I can find yet all I get is the blue flashing light (no sound, no chime, no nothing).

 

Wow --

George Oregon

We have been struggling with this for a few weeks, off and on. 

Husband stumbled on what might work for others…

We have the Roam added to Sonos and updated. It will play using Sonos app. Of course problem was Bluetooth. So the issue was, we would do as directed; get the flashing white light and when you had a steady white light, press and hold and the blue light would supposedly illuminate and a tone would sound initializing  pairing. But what actually happened was that when you hold the power button the speaker eventually makes two little sounds and powers off. Never a blue light. The solution is to let go of the power button when you hear the small tones BEFORE power shut off. 

We have three of these beasts and it worked on each one of them. 

Also - conflicting Bluetooth connectivity can be confusing so use one device to control. We were not able to achieve individual pairing of a speaker on his phone and a speaker on my phone. Maybe if we are out of range from one another. 

I'm in the same boat. I don't understand why the operation has to be a 5 min process every time I want to play music.

5 minutes? …Do you mean 5 seconds - it doesn’t take 5 minutes at all to play music

Here is a tip Sonos. Instead of your engineer team designing the logic on the on/sleep/off/Bluetooth/wifi button,  simply turn off her wifi, hand your mom this speaker, and ask to get music to play... 

It should be something like this:

 long press = on 

 Long press= off 

 X duration no music played= sleep

 Bluetooth pair = long press to turn on, then up+down volume.

These things that you mention above, are exactly, how the Roam works? 
Quick press:  (first tone on power button)… device sleeps/wakes

2 sec. press: (second tone on power button)… toggles between Bluetooth/Wifi

5+ sec. press: (third tone on power button) …device powers off, press again to power on

*Then device remembers whatever method it receives data. I shouldn't have to need to Google how to setup Sonos roam everytime I move it or find that the battery is dead because I put device in sleep mode instead of actually turning it off.

The playing queue stays in place till you shutdown the device - in standby the speaker keeps it’s playlist.

Disclaimer, I am an IT Consultant. Which means I am very technically savvy. The Roam is NOT easy to use. Maybe I have a lemon, but I attempted to set up the Roam while on vacation and it timed out when connecting to the wifi I was on. Unfortunately, this was after I had completed the initial setup of the speaker. I tried a factory reset, hold down the play/pause button, press the power button, and continue to hold the play/pause button. This did absolutely nothing the light never changes. No factory reset. I tried to just then connect via Bluetooth since the speaker was “set up,” it would not go to a discoverable mode. Back on my home wifi and the speaker will still not factory reset and is not discoverable when I search. 

I had no problems connecting my Play 5 or One Sl. Why is the Roam such an issue? 

I'm in the same boat. I don't understand why the operation has to be a 5 min process every time I want to play music. Here is a tip Sonos. Instead of your engineer team designing the logic on the on/sleep/off/Bluetooth/wifi button,  simply turn off her wifi, hand your mom this speaker, and ask to get music to play... 

It should be something like this:

 long press = on 

 Long press= off 

 X duration no music played= sleep

 Bluetooth pair = long press to turn on, then up+down volume.

*Then device remembers whatever method it receives data. I shouldn't have to need to Google how to setup Sonos roam everytime I move it or find that the battery is dead because I put device in sleep mode instead of actually turning it off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a couple of trys the update did it, as soon as i want back to the app it recognized it and folded right in. Bluetooth came right up and played like a champ.

Sonos should put out instructions to look for the update in ever box they sell.

Thank you for your help 

I have tried everything and now have it plugged into my router to see if it needs an update.

Intriguing and really quite amazing, all things considered 🤔?

I have tried everything and now have it plugged into my router to see if it needs an update. I cant even add it to my system, when i try it knocks off my amp in the other room and the music stops. for two days i have tried to BT the speaker to to different iphones. No joy. or even add it to the system, no joy. Broken, defective? not sure but not happy with Mr. Sonos

Hi - I know this is an older thread….quick update on my end...I went through Sonos chat to figure out how to connect my Roam to my mobile via Bluetooth.  Couple of learnings…

  1.  you have to connect your Roam to wifi and the Sonos app before you can connect to Bluetooth. 
  2. If you have S1 app, you have to unplug all the S1 devices on your system and launch the S2 app.   Once you do that, the S2 app will start the connection process to the Roam device.  
  3. Once you have the Roam connected to through the S2 app, you can connect via Bluetooth to your device.  
  4. Plug back in the S1 devices and good to go…

Would be a lot easier if Sonos would publish this and also make the transition from S1 to S2 a little more gradual but the individual via chat was ver helpful. 

Just to add to these instructions here, which are really more about splitting and creating an S2 Household from an existing S1 system. The majority of Roam users will not need these instructions as they will normally be adding their Roam to an ‘existing’ or ‘new’ S2 HH.

Many will have (hopefully) seen on the Sonos.com website that the Roam is designed for an S2 setup only. 

The only reason that the Roam needs to initially be connected to WiFi is to add it to the S2 system and register the device in the users online account/profile.  The Bluetooth audio will work after that registration has taken place, whether the user is connected to WiFi or not.

So the instructions posted are likely only for the very few users who wish to split their HH before installing Roam. The details are also mentioned in these Sonos Support documents, which also highlight the limitations of using a ‘Split’ S1/S2 System…

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/4845

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/4824

HTH