Intermittent playback skipping between Sonos speakers (ref#INB4BV)

What best describes your playback issue?

· Music stops playing unexpectedly

What type of Zone is affected by this problem?

· *Network Zones* are affected.

Is the affected network Zone connected with Ethernet or WiFi?

· WiFi

Does the issue affect all file formats?

· The issue affects *multiple/all* file formats.

Does the issue happen with local library music, streaming service music, or both?

· *Only streaming* music is affected.

Please select the streaming service(s) with which you're encountering playback problems.

· Qobuz

Have you tried logging out and back in again to your streaming service in Roon Settings?

· Logging out and back in had no impact, the issue remains

Do you have an approximate timestamp of when the issue last occurred?

· 15.05 (Rome)

What are the make and model of the affected audio device(s) and the connection type?

· Sonos Era 300, Sonos Arc

Describe the issue

Music playback from my Roon server keeps skipping between my Sonos speakers

Describe your network setup

Eero Mesh Network

Hello @Alessandro_Zizi,

Thank you for reaching out and providing the details of your setup. I completely understand how frustrating it is when playback intermittently skips and drops out, especially across a multi-room Sonos system.

Diagnostic logs from your system around the time of the issue (15:05 Rome time) show that your Roon Server is severely struggling to maintain a connection with Roon’s cloud servers. The system is throwing repeated “timeout” and “SocketError” messages when attempting to reach api.roonlabs.net. Because your Roon Server is running on ROCK—an operating system that does not have a built-in software firewall—this tells us the blockage is happening at the network level, specifically at your Eero router.

When the Core cannot reach the cloud to verify streaming data or fetch the next track in the queue, playback will suddenly halt or skip to the next available track.

Let’s clear this up by addressing the network routing:

1. Update Your DNS Servers Timeouts often happen when your Internet Service Provider’s default DNS servers are too slow to resolve the web addresses Roon needs. We highly recommend changing your router’s DNS to a reliable public option.

Open a web browser on a device connected to the same network as your Nucleus.

  1. Enter the IP address of your ROCK in the address bar.
  • If you don’t know the IP address:
    • Open the Roon app.
    • Go to Settings > Setup > Find Roon OS.
    • Note the IP address shown for the ROCK.
  • Alternatively, use http://nucleus.local/ (on macOS or Windows with Bonjour installed).
  • Log into the Web Interface:
  1. Once the web page loads, you’ll see the ROCK web administration interface.
  • Change the DNS Settings:
  • Scroll down to the Networking section.
  • If the Nucleus is using DHCP:
    • Note that you cannot directly edit DNS settings under DHCP. You will need to switch to a static IP to specify custom DNS servers.
  1. Switch to a Static IP:
  • Click on the Configure or Edit option under networking.
  • Enter the current network settings for your ROCK (IP address, subnet mask, gateway) manually. These can often be found in your router’s settings or your current DHCP lease information.
  • Specify Custom DNS Servers:
    • Add DNS servers in the relevant fields. Common choices:
      • Google DNS: 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4
      • Cloudflare DNS: 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1
      • OpenDNS: 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220
  • Save and Apply Changes:
  • Click Save or Apply to confirm your new settings.

2. Check Eero Secure / Advanced Security Eero routers have a built-in security suite (Eero Secure / Advanced Security / Ad Blocking) that frequently misidentifies Roon’s constant API and streaming communication as a threat, blocking the traffic entirely.

  • In the Eero app, check your Discover tab.
  • If you have Advanced Security or Ad Blocking enabled, please temporarily disable them.
  • Note: If this resolves the issue, you may need to whitelist api.roonlabs.net in the Eero settings.

Please give both your ROCK and your Sonos speakers a quick reboot after making these network changes, and let us know if your Qobuz streaming stabilizes!

Hello @Vadim,

I followed the guide step by step.

Changed the DNS settings, ok, but unfortunately Eero doesn’t have an option for whitelisting…

Now another issues appeared: playlists stops after just one or two tracks.

Last time today at 15.58 (Rome).

Can you give me some suggestions?

Hello @Alessandro_Zizi,

Thank you for the update. I have now had a chance to go through the full set of diagnostic logs across all sessions — from May 26 through June 1 — and the picture is clear. The root cause of your playback stopping after one or two tracks is not a cloud connectivity problem. It is a WiFi instability issue specific to your Sonos ARC, which is being aggravated by how your Eero mesh network handles band steering and device roaming.

1. Your Sonos ARC is on 2.4 GHz while every other device in your home is on 5 GHz.

The diagnostic data embedded in the logs reports the WiFi channel each Sonos device is connected to:

Sonos ARC (Soggiorno)        ChannelFreq="2437"  → 2.4 GHz, channel 6
Bagno                        ChannelFreq="5640"  → 5 GHz
Terrazzo                     ChannelFreq="5640"  → 5 GHz
Camera da letto              ChannelFreq="5640"  → 5 GHz
Camera di Ottavia            ChannelFreq="5640"  → 5 GHz

The 2.4 GHz band has a longer range but far worse signal quality in a multi-room environment, and it is the band that Eero’s roaming algorithm most aggressively hands between nodes. Every time the ARC is handed from one Eero node to another, its WiFi connection momentarily drops — long enough to invalidate all active control subscriptions with Roon.

2. The ARC has reconnected to the network ~84,000 more times than any other device.

Each Sonos device records a BootSeq counter that increments every time its network connection is re-established. From the same log data:

Sonos ARC (Soggiorno)        BootSeq="84489"
Bagno                        BootSeq="8"
Camera da letto              BootSeq="9"
Camera di Ottavia            BootSeq="9"
Terrazzo                     BootSeq="66"
Era 300 rear satellites      BootSeq="31" / "38"

The ARC has re-established its network connection 84,489 times. Every other device is in single or double digits. This is the clearest possible evidence that the ARC is experiencing chronic WiFi instability — not a one-off event, but a permanent ongoing problem.

3. One of the Era 300 satellites changed its IP address between sessions.

On May 28, the rear-left Era 300 satellite (RINCON_F0F6C1C2A69601400) was at IP 192.168.4.26. By June 1, the same device was at IP 192.168.4.63. An IP address change on a device that should have a stable lease is further evidence that devices in the Soggiorno zone are dropping and re-acquiring network connections — consistent with Eero node handoffs.

4. Every playback failure follows the same chain of events.

The logs show this pattern occurring at least 21 times between May 26 and May 31:

Step 1 — ARC reconnects after a brief WiFi drop
         → broadcasts a topology update to the entire Sonos mesh
         → all other devices immediately echo the update (seen in logs as a
           simultaneous zone update on all 5+ devices within the same second)

Step 2 — Roon's periodic UPnP subscription renewal fires
         → ARC rejects it: "PreconditionFailed"
           (its internal subscription IDs were wiped when WiFi dropped)
         → Roon must tear down and rebuild the control channel

Step 3 — If a track boundary happens while the control channel is being rebuilt:
         → Sonos reports state: STOPPED
         → Roon's zone player enters state: Disconnected
         → Roon cannot issue the "play next track" command
         → After 5 seconds of silence, Roon automatically suspends the zone
         → Playback stops

The actual log entries for the May 27, 15:57 Rome session:

13:52:14  [client/sonos] try renew after renew: AVTransport, failed: True,
          code: PreconditionFailed
13:52:15  [client/sonos] try renew after renew: RenderingControl, failed: True,
          code: PreconditionFailed
13:52:15  [client/sonos] try renew after renew: ZoneGroupTopology, failed: True,
          code: PreconditionFailed

13:57:47  [zoneplayer/sonos] state from device: STOPPED
13:57:47  [zoneplayer/sonos] zoneplayer state: Disconnected
13:57:47  [zoneplayer] BufferingTrack == NextTrack during ClearQueuedMedia,
          setting _stop_on_next_track_transition
13:57:52  [zone Soggiorno] no playback for 5s, suspending to release audio device
13:57:52  [zone Soggiorno] Stop

What to do

The underlying cause is the ARC staying on 2.4 GHz and roaming between Eero nodes. There are two ways to fix this:

Option A — Connect the Sonos ARC to Ethernet (strongly recommended)

The Sonos ARC has a built-in Ethernet port. A single cable from the ARC to your nearest Eero node will immediately eliminate all WiFi roaming, stabilise the BootSeq counter, and prevent every UPnP subscription failure in the logs above. The Era 300 rear satellites will continue to use SonosNet (Sonos’s own mesh protocol, which they already use — the logs confirm WirelessMode="3" for both rear satellites) and do not need separate cables. This is the most reliable solution.

Option B — Force the ARC onto the 5 GHz band

If cabling is not possible, open the Eero app and try the following:

  1. Go to Devices, find your Sonos ARC by its MAC address, and check which Eero node it is currently associated with.
  2. Under Network Settings, if your Eero has Band Steering enabled, try disabling it. This prevents Eero from automatically moving the ARC between bands.
  3. Some Eero models also allow you to create a separate 5 GHz-only SSID — connecting the ARC to that SSID would keep it off 2.4 GHz permanently.

After making either change, please power-cycle the ARC (unplug from the wall for 30 seconds) so it re-establishes a fresh connection on the new band or cable. You should see playback become completely stable across playlist transitions.

Hi @Alessandro_Zizi,

If you’ve had a chance to try the steps Vadim suggested in the post above, we’re very curious to see if you’ve experienced more instability.

Please share the names of any tracks that dropped out or skipped and we’ll pinpoint the events in logs.

Thank you!

I tried to disable band steering but it wouldn’t work. Then, my Eero devices (last series) are not able to separate WiFi frequencies.

At the moment I’m stuck.

No way to use my Roon account with both Sonos and Eero. Everything goes well while using Sonos native app, instead.

I’m a bit frustrated because I own last gen devices so I would expect to go listening flawlessly…