Unable to control my Sonos system and Echos from the apps

[Naffin]

I’ve been using Bell Fibe internet for several months now without issue. But recently I’ve been unable to control my Sonos system and Echos from the apps on my phone. The apps can’t see them in the network. I can use the devices directly so they’re definitely connected. I’ve tried resetting the devices as well as the GigaHub router but no luck. Any suggestions on how I can fix this?

[Vanadiel]

If the Sonos and Echos are on 2.4 Ghz bands, your phone also needs to be on that band in order to control them with the apps on your phone.

[WelshTerrier · Accepted solution]

Good Day & Welcome to the Bell Community Forum.

Sonos is a high end finicky system. I have the Sonos Beam, Move, Sonos One x 2, Sonos SL x 2, Sub & 2 Echo speakers. Their support service is excellent.  Up until recently, I was experiencing issues with one or two of the speakers on a continual basis.

Sonos redesigned the app approximately 2 months ago. The inital release caused me nothing but grief. It is only recently that they have finally got their act together. There have been 9 app updates since the original release on 5/7/2024.

My issues were finally resolved at the end of May with a Sonos update. I can only offer up the following for your consideration:

1. Have you verified that all of your devices that you are using to access Sonos are up to date with the most current app?
2. Have you verified that the firmware for each of your speakers has also been updated? If not, then you need to check this.
3. I would  start out fresh with a complete new set up. It took me 4 hrs. to rebuild my system. It was well worth the time I spent starting over. I have not experienced any issues since then. My network & Bell Modem are very stable.

All of my Sonos equipment, with the exception of the Sonos Beam Soundbar, SUB & portable Move, are running on 5GHz. My 2 iPhones & 2 iPads are also on 5GHz. I am using the Bell Giga HUB.

Help and Support | Sonos

Release notes for Sonos software updates | Sonos

Connect Sonos to a new router or Wi-Fi network | Sonos

Take care.

[Naffin]

Thanks! How do I find out which band each one is using and how can I manage them?

[Vanadiel · Accepted solution]

What home hub do you have with your internet service?

Most end up splitting their WiFi in separate bands to avoid this issue. You can look at your WiFi settings from the same location as you split the bands up.

IOT device split bands 

When you split them up you can give each band it's own SSID, so you can see which one you are on by looking at the SSID name.

If you have not split them up yet, they will all use the same SSID and you will look in the actual connection status of your phone or other WiFi device to determine which actual band they are on.

[WelshTerrier]

Login to your Bell Home Hub or Giga Hub with any web browser. type http://192.168.2.1/ in the address bar. Enter your password. Select > My Devices. > Select > advanced. If you scroll down will see all of your devices that are connected. You will also beable to view their MAC & IP addresses address

If you wish to view devices that were previously connected , Select > Show button. If you to delete devices that are no longer connected to the modem, Select > Forget.

You can manage bandwith by logging in to your modem. Select > Manage my Wi-fi. Select > Whole Home Wi-Fi. & Turn off.  Agree to the Alert. Select  > Save. 

You may need to close your modem browser window window and log back in to your modem. Select > Manage my Wi-fi. Select >  Advanced settings. At the top of the next page, you can choose to give your bandwidths different names by Unchecking > "Keep common network name". I would suggest keeping the SSID names the same.

You can now choose to make further changes . Just remember to Select > Save & log out.

If you wish to revert back to you original configuration, log back in to your modem, Select > Manage my Wi-fi. Go to > Whole Home Wi-Fi  & Turn on. Select  > Save. Log out of your modem.

Take care.

[Cap0wn]

Hey @WelshTerrier 

I just found your post doing a search for Sonos on the Bell community forums.  Your message gives me a little hope for my Sonos system.  I was actually here to see if I can replace (or add) another router as I suspect my Sonos problems are related to my unstable network.

I upgraded from Home Hub 3000 to Giga Hub not too long ago.  This introduced new problems to my wifi but my Sonos system was somewhat stable.  The new app made things a little slower to manageable.  I still had to restart my system from scratch once or twice and like you, this took me 4-6 hours every time.  I have about 12 Sonos speakers and playing all of them at the same time makes the system very laggy. I have Sonos Sub Gen3, 3x Fives, 2 Era 100s, Arc, One, Play One and Move2.

Last time I was on the phone with support, they had me connect only my Arc and nothing else.  All my Sonos speakers except for my Arc which is cabled and my Era 100s (on 5Ghz) are all connected using a 2.4Ghz network.  I have my Giga router configured with 2 seperate SSID (one for 5Ghz and another for 2.4Ghz). I disabled the WIFI 6 since it doesn't seem to be working for most of my devices.

Questions for you : 

Can you tell me what are your advanced settings in the Giga Hub router for your setup? 

Do you have 2 separate SSID for 2.4 and 5?

What type of security are you using (WPA2 or 3)?

Channel and Channel Bandwitch options?

UPNP and or DLNA activated?

Thanks!

[WelshTerrier · Accepted solution]

Good Day & more than glad to help you.

Sonos is a great system. You have a very large & very expensive investment.

I have zero problems today! I did have mega unsolved problems prior to the Sonos app update. The Giga Hub also presented new challenges! So what changed?

1. My settings for the most part are t to default on the Giga Hub.
2. My Beam bar has a static IP.
3. My Giga Hub  settinga are set to - Auto
4. Verify your firmware versions for all of Sonos equipment is up to date.
5. My Beam, which is equivalent to your Arc is set to static ip. Everything else is dyanamic IP.
6. Sonos Channel - 1
7. One SSID.
8. Everything else - default. Automatically set.

So what changed you ask? I started over from the very beginning!

I verified my Giga Hub was up to date.

1. I remove everything related to Sonos from "All devices" including yor computer if your using one!
2. I blew away anything & everything that  could affect Sonos.
3. Bottom line... I started over as if was a new system off of the shelf.

When I mean start over, I mean just that! Clear out any remnants of Sonos in your computer, cache, cookies, devices, network settings & begin again. (FYI. There is a computer version update that just came out.)

Make sure you have the most current version of Sonos App.

Start with the Arc & build upon that with the rear speakers & then the SUB. Set up your Trueplay, then move on.

Do not try to do everything at once!  A word to the wise.....take your time. One small step at a time!

Take care.