One week later, not only has my entire Sonos system been rock-solid, but I’m absolutely blown away by how much faster everything is. After researching both - insert shameless plug for Digital Trends’ best mesh Wi-Fi systems roundup - and verifying that other reviewers agreed, I made the painful decision to spend more than the price of a new Sonos Era 300 on a two-node Netgear Orbi RBK852, and … The pricey but high-performance Netgear Orbi, and the more reasonable TP-Link Deco. Magical meshĪnnoyed and desperate, I just asked my Escalation Team member straight-up: which mesh Wi-Fi system has proven to be the most compatible with Sonos? They offered me two suggestions. But as is fairly typical, as long as my modem and mesh system looked good on Rogers’ end, I was always told to work with my device manufacturer. See, I had mentioned my Sonos woes to Rogers before. If something didn’t work as it was supposed to, it would be Rogers’ problem, not mine. Never again would I call up my ISP’s support line, only to have my problems blamed on my third-party Wi-Fi system. I was no stranger to mesh systems, having tested several over the years, including Bell’s version of Wi-Fi pods, and I was kind of loving the idea that Rogers would not only provide the system for free, but that the company would also take full responsibility for its operation. A Rogers Wi-Fi Pod plugged into a wall outlet. When I switched from my previous ISP (Bell Canada) to my current ISP (Rogers), I was offered a free bonus: three Wi-Fi pods that would work in tandem with the modem/router to create a mesh network that would easily cover my whole home. The Technicolor router mentioned above is my ISP’s modem, which is also a mesh-capable Wi-Fi router. Sidebar: When I initially pitched the idea for this article to my editor, Phil Nickinson, he suggested we call it, “Why no one should be using their ISP’s Wi-Fi,” and I’m about to explain why that wasn’t a joke. After asking me to submit a diagnostic report (you can do this in the Sonos app, in Settings > Support), they took a look into my system’s performance and came back with this oddity: “I see your system connected to a Technicolor router and Wi-Fi, but the entire system is connected to the same access point, so we’re not benefitting from any load balancing that mesh systems can usually provide.” Now we’re getting somewhere. Shortly after, I was connected with a member of the Sonos Escalations Team via email. A grumpy tech reviewer? As I said, I’m not proud. Let’s face it, the worst a grumpy customer can do is leave a critical review on Amazon, post their grievances on social media, and tell their friends and family. I described the problems I was having, and the steps I had tried to fix them, and then (politely) demanded that someone help me. I played the journalism card and reached out to my Sonos PR contact. Drastic measuresĮventually, I became so fed up with my ongoing Sonos problems that I did something I’m not proud of. Miraculously, three of my missing Sonos speakers reappeared in the app immediately - and then disappeared again the following day. On one particular occasion, I was even advised by a Sonos support rep to call my ISP and have them reset my cable modem remotely because “that can sometimes help.” I scoffed at this, but nonetheless followed their instructions (bizarrely, my ISP didn’t question it at all). The perverse part about these troubleshooting steps is that, initially, they seem to solve the problem. Never mind that it’s the exact same track that Sonos had no problem playing yesterday - clearly Apple Music decided to re-encode the song overnight, rendering it unplayable. When a song suddenly stops playing, or the next track in your queue gets skipped entirely, the Sonos app cheerfully informs you that song you’re trying to play hasn’t been encoded correctly. And what you see as the end user isn’t always helpful. There are a million variables here, from the network itself to the APIs that allow Sonos to work with the various streaming music services. The worst part about Sonos problems when they occur is that the causes always seem murky. Sonos One (left) and Sonos Era 100 Simon Cohen / Digital Trends No easy fix But for every time you marvel at the godlike power it bestows upon you as you instantly flood your entire house with the new Metallica album, there can be just as many occasions when the word Sonos hisses from your mouth like an angry snake. Sound familiar? Sonos might be the best thing to happen to home audio since the invention of the CD.
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