Sonos Music System not on WiFi

29 Dec 2017 12:13:21

Roy Rainford

I have the Sonos music system on my iMac to play through a speaker in the lounge via WiFi. It has worked before but now says, "cannot connect to server" when I select a tune from my library. However it will play music etc from radio stations.
Have run Sonos diagnostics which shows all OK. The WiFi signal is strong. My Mail and Safari are working. Any helpful comments appreciated.

Re: Sonos Music System not on WiFi

29 Dec 2017 14:35:43

Mick Burrell

Just to clarify Roy, it will play radio in the lounge (by selecting a radio station in iTunes) but not music from your iTunes library?

Re: Sonos Music System not on WiFi

29 Dec 2017 15:55:53

Roy Rainford

The radio stations were listed in the Sonos app so I don't know if they came from my iTunes library. However, I have just been speaking to Sonos support who got me to remove the music library from the Sonos app and then reinstall it. Now all my music plays! Also, I can control the volume in the lounge on my iPhone. Thanks for your response Mick and a Happy New Year!

Re: Sonos Music System not on WiFi

5 Jan 2018 17:44:51

Tony Still

My understanding is that Sonos does not support Airplay. That means that music needs to be played via the Sonos app so the Sonos app needs to be told about the music. I don't think it can directly access the iTunes library.

This page should help.

The new Sonos kit (the Sonos One, for example) is supposed to get an update to make it compatible with Airplay 2018. However, the Sonos protocols are significantly more robust than Airplay so you're probably better sticking with the Sonos app.

Re: Sonos Music System not on WiFi

5 Jan 2018 18:49:13

Roy Rainford

Thanks for your comments Tony and for the useful link.

Re: Sonos Music System not on WiFi

6 Jan 2018 09:11:41

Trevor Hewson

At the risk of getting a bit off-topic, we just replaced our aged hifi with a Yamaha CRX-N470D (sorry, just got distracted by auto-correct deciding that our hifi was in fact 'outraged'!).

This is a mini CD receiver with extensive networking features. As well as Yamaha's own MusicCast system, which I haven't tried, it does support Airplay, which I have tried and is fuss-free. It also is supposed to stream from a music server but I haven't tried that either. Streaming in (and out) via Bluetooth is also available but again is yet to be explored.

We picked this unit after relatively little research since the old setup had become rather temperamental, so there may well be better options out there but this one seems to meet our needs very well. Price £250 from Richer Sounds.