My Sonos Roam is not working as I’ve been expected to work


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Hi everyone 

 I have a Sonos Roam device since April and I feel that it’s not giving me its best performance since the two last months, the audio drops out or cuts off using Airplay and Bluetooth, it gets unresponsive with Alexa and a really bad behavior using Airplay. 
After about 3 months the Airplay issue with my Sonos Roam reappeared, the audio is frequently cutting off or pausing with not reason, very frustrating! I’ve got a replacement and this is the second unit that I have, awful! 
doing so many factory resets, rebooting my router several times,  and reinstalling the controller on my iPhone  didn’t fix my issue, still the error persists, and Alexa sometimes gets unresponsive if I ask for music or some other commands, answering with any error, the audio cuts off or simply stops working, sometimes rebooting my speaker works, but sometimes not. My Wifi signal is pretty good, so, I suspect my unit has a firmware issue, with all other devices I don’t have Wifi issues, so I think it has nothing to do with my Wifi set up, and it also cuts off using Bluetooth, it’s the only and the first Sonos speaker I’ve ever  had. Is it a way to improve its performance or should I get another replacement? it only works fine sometimes playing content with the Sonos app or using  Spotify Connect, neither with Airplay, Alexa  or Bluetooth, I  often get an error when I try to play content with Apple Music from the Sonos app, disappears from the controller, and I can’t play any music at all  using Alexa, it says Playing Xx but nothing happens right after, frustrated is how I am. If anyone has a sollution or something to share please let me know, any help is appreciated. Kind regards       
 


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19 replies

What WiFi band and channel is the Roam presently using? What is the channel-width set to on your routers 2.4Ghz band? Do you have other wireless devices such as a baby monitor or zigbee devices- smart-plugs, Hue lights, or any Bluetooth devices etc?

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Channel 48,  2.4 gigahertz, I’ll need to search my router’s model or find a way to see which channels are available because I’m from Mexico and The internet usually isn’t very good. My Sonos Roam is in my room where I have a smart TV but is usually off when I use the speaker, an Xbox Series X, but my big house is made of concrete.   Anyways, I did a system diagnostic and here is the number 1 5 1 0 9 5 7 8 8 1

The playback seems to be ok for now, in case of a drop out I’ll send an other one    

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I don’t know which channel my router or modem are using, I’m from Mexico and I’m not sure which channel are available, I just have security cameras but I’m not sure how much interference they cause, but here my concern is: none of my other devices are havingissues on my Wifi network so I’m not sure it’s a network related issue 

I don’t know which channel my router or modem are using, I’m from Mexico and I’m not sure which channel are available, I just have security cameras but I’m not sure how much interference they cause, but here my concern is: none of my other devices are havingissues on my Wifi network so I’m not sure it’s a network related issue 

It’s possible it’s your cameras - but it’s difficult to help you resolve that matter without further detail about your network setup.

I would perhaps submit a Sonos diagnostic report from the ‘Settings/Support’ area of the Sonos App

Make a note of the reference generated.

Then, when available, contact/chat to Sonos Support Staff about the matter via this LINK and see what they can suggest to resolve the matter.

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Here is the number 1 2 1 0 3 3 6 2 8

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It’s difficult for me to determine which devices are causing wireless Interference in my environment, or which network set ups Sonos requires, I’ve tried many router reboots, but sooner or later the issue reappears, and I want my Roam being stable and working fine, 0 music cut off, 0 error  messages or unresponsive commands with Alexa, and 0 error messages, I mean, error’s free. I didn’t buy the speaker for studying Wireless signals, I bought it to enjoy my music with a great sound quality, portable usage and use Alexa. Well, it has a great sound but the wifi and Bluetooth conections are not working as I’ve been expected to work   

It’s difficult for me to determine which devices are causing wireless Interference in my environment, or which network set ups Sonos requires, I’ve tried many router reboots, but sooner or later the issue reappears, and I want my Roam being stable and working fine, 0 music cut off, 0 error  messages or unresponsive commands with Alexa, and 0 error messages, I mean, error’s free. I didn’t buy the speaker for studying Wireless signals, I bought it to enjoy my music with a great sound quality, portable usage and use Alexa. Well, it has a great sound but the wifi and Bluetooth conections are not working as I’ve been expected to work   

Well hopefully you submitting the diagnostic and speaking to Sonos Support Staff will get the matter resolved - see the links in my previous post.

Hope you get the matter resolved with their help.👍

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Sonos Support from Mexico is not available, I call them, they hang up immediately, I try to chat them and it says that nobody is available to chat, and my Roam now became unresponsive using Spotify Connect and the songs take ages to start and cut off, when it was used to work fine. I think it’s my internet because now since Sunday my phone is having connection issues too, although I don’t know if there is something wrong with my Sonos Roam unit   because using AirPlay2 the audio cuts off after 2 seconds of start playing the song, I’ve recorded a video about this incident how can I send it to Sonos?   Any help is appreciated

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Sonos Support from Mexico is not available, I call them, they hang up immediately, I try to chat them and it says that nobody is available to chat, and my Roam now became unresponsive using Spotify Connect and the songs take ages to start and cut off, when it was used to work fine. I think it’s my internet because now since Sunday my phone is having connection issues too, although I don’t know if there is something wrong with my Sonos Roam unit   because using AirPlay2 the audio cuts off after 2 seconds of start playing the song, I’ve recorded a video about this incident how can I send it to Sonos?   Any help is appreciated

With the Roam showing in the Sonos App, submit a Sonos diagnostic report and make a note it’s reference number and then go onto chat ‘online’ to the Sonos Support Staff via this LINK (when available) and see what they say.

Hope that you get the matter sorted.👍

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I’m a bit upset with the technical support, they keep telling me it’s a network issue, but it’s not. I’ve tried to move my Roam from  other devices, reboot the router multiple times but the errors continue, so annoyed! Airplay audio cuts off, Spotify connect works fine, but takes ages to play a song, to connect and I often get an error message on the Sonos app when I try to resume, pause or skip songs, and I can’t use it anymore with Alexa. It’s not a network issue, all other devices in my home network work just fine, so maybe  it has something to do with my Sonos Roam speaker, my Sonos account or something wrong with my router not allowing my Sonos Roam to work properly, but not with Wireless interference, so that might be the case. Anyways, thanks a lot for your kind help, I appreciate 🤓it  

I’m a bit upset with the technical support, they keep telling me it’s a network issue, but it’s not. I’ve tried to move my Roam from  other devices, reboot the router multiple times but the errors continue, so annoyed! Airplay audio cuts off, Spotify connect works fine, but takes ages to play a song, to connect and I often get an error message on the Sonos app when I try to resume, pause or skip songs, and I can’t use it anymore with Alexa. It’s not a network issue, all other devices in my home network work just fine, so maybe  it has something to do with my Sonos Roam speaker, my Sonos account or something wrong with my router not allowing my Sonos Roam to work properly, but not with Wireless interference, so that might be the case. Anyways, thanks a lot for your kind help, I appreciate 🤓it  

You said earlier that the Roam was using channel 48, which is the 5Ghz Band - maybe switch it to use the 2.4Ghz band instead and try it on a fixed non-overlapping channel, such as channel 1, 6 or 11 and see if that solves the matter.

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Ok, I’ll give it a try, but I’m afraid it won’t work. I’ve seen other posts here in the community and many people keeps having trouble with their Sonos speakers even after doing that, and Yesterday my internet went off all day and I only could use my Roam as a Bluetooth speaker. It only works well with Spotify Connect, neither with AirPlay or Apple Music. Anyways, thanks a lot for your suggestion, I’ll try it. It should work, if not, I’ll have to buy a Sonos Bust device to connect my Roam to a Sonos mesh network  hoping a very rock solid and stable connection and errors free. Do you really recommend it or it’s just fake publicity?    

I’ve never seen Ken give ‘fake publicity’, but then again, as a community member himself, I don’t think he gives any ‘publicity’. He does have a pretty good understanding of the way that Sonos works, and from what I can tell, has a pretty darn good track record. He wouldn’t steer you wrong. 

Ok, I’ll give it a try, but I’m afraid it won’t work. I’ve seen other posts here in the community and many people keeps having trouble with their Sonos speakers even after doing that, and Yesterday my internet went off all day and I only could use my Roam as a Bluetooth speaker. It only works well with Spotify Connect, neither with AirPlay or Apple Music. Anyways, thanks a lot for your suggestion, I’ll try it. It should work, if not, I’ll have to buy a Sonos Bust device to connect my Roam to a Sonos mesh network  hoping a very rock solid and stable connection and errors free. Do you really recommend it or it’s just fake publicity?    

I assume the ‘Sonos Bust’ mentioned in your post is a typo for a ‘Sonos Boost’ - If so, do not get that Sonos product in the hope of connecting your Roam to it, as the Roam will not work with the Boost.

As a portable device, the ‘Roam’ is expected to move around your Home environment and so it does not use the SonosNet mesh wireless network, otherwise it’s (moving) wireless connection would just ‘make and break’ the mesh connections as you carry it from room to room. Sonos saw fit to not allow it, or the ‘Move’, to use that type of mesh connection. So a Sonos Boost will not resolve your Roam issue.

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Hi, thanks a lot for your reply. Well, I don’t move too much the device, it’s always in my bedroom, in my office or in the bathroom, and today I tested  on my bathroom and it’s very unstable with Apple Music, the music is being paused or skipped, also paused using Airplay too. It worked fine a day before my internet went off but today is so buggy, so yes, I think it might be a network issue, but I don’t know how to fix it. I have an internet provider called TotalPlay, but I can’t find a way to change my router’s channel, I’m a blinded person and I don’t know how to manage my internet, so the only thing I’m able to do is reboot my router. I’ve tried to chat to Sonos Support today  but nobody answers. What else can I try to get my Sonos Roam errors free?  Kind regards   

@Manu84 

Your best bet is to perhaps keep trying Sonos Support, or maybe get a friend or relative to assist you with changing the Roams WiFi band connection and/or the router channel settings, as mentioned earlier.

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Nobody on my family has Sonos speakers, neither friends, so I’ll keep try to solve this matter with the Sonos Support, as soon as my roam starts to cut off or skip music again. The only source that works well is using Spotify Connect, neither using Apple Music, Airplay or YouTube. Hopefully I’ve got to find any efective solution to this problem, I don’t want to return my Roam, it’s a really great sounding  speaker and I love the design, but its connections are  not reliable, so I don’t feel free to recommend it to anyone     

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Hi. I forgot to tell you that on Wednesday I’ve updated the firmware of my Roam and also the app on my iPhone, both to the latest version, before the issue with Apple Music and Airplay appeared, so, I’m very confused if it’s either a network issue or a firmware issue. I understand about being a network issue as in Mexico we have issues with the internet very often, and my house is made of concrete, but there are not excuses for my Roam to stop and skip the music, and I’ll explain you why- 
Firstly, none of my other devices have network issues, I can use my iPad with Spotify and YouTube and it works well and my iPhone works fine too, even my computer, and my brother’s Xbox too. 
Seckond: If I ask Alexa to play Apple Music, or using AirPlay, the music loads and starts to play on my Roam  without any delay, although it sooner or later stops, skips, as well as Alexa being unresponsive. 
Therd: Using Spotify Connect almost always works pretty fine, the music never stops or skips, it happens more often with AirPlay or with Apple Music. 
I’ll try to do my best to solve these disastrous issues, as Sonos Support is being so unresponsive here in Mexico, either via  chat or phone, or sadly, return or sale my Sonos Roam speaker and look at better options out there, like Ultimate Ears, Bose, Denon ETC, being the worse case… Sonos Roam is a great sounding speaker, but deal with its Wifi issues are Getting me stressed