UPnP is off in the Sonos app

Thaumic Cast finds no speakers, or finds them but a cast never starts. One cause to rule out first: UPnP is turned off in the Sonos app.

Cause

Thaumic Cast talks to your speakers over UPnP, the way Sonos speakers take instructions from other apps on your network. The Sonos app has a setting that turns UPnP off. It is on by default, so this applies only if you, or someone in your house, changed it.

Until it learns to name this setting, Thaumic Cast may suggest a VPN or a firewall instead.

Fix

1. Open the Sonos app on your phone or tablet.
2. Go to Account.
3. Under Legal and Privacy, select Privacy & Security.
4. Under Connection Security, turn UPnP on.

Note

Sonos notes that turning UPnP off also stops the Sonos app for macOS and Windows from controlling your system. Source: Sonos support, Adjust connection security settings.

Verify

In the desktop app, open Rooms and select Ask again. Your rooms should be listed. Cast a tab to one room: its card should say Casting.

Still no speakers?

Thaumic Cast finds speakers with SSDP and mDNS, then asks each one for its details over UPnP. Whether a speaker with UPnP off still shows up has not been tested yet, so check this setting first.

If UPnP is on and the desktop app says “The speakers were found, but nothing is getting back from them”, a VPN or a firewall is the usual cause: pause it, then select Ask again. See Speakers found, but no sound.

If the network does not pass discovery on (speakers on another subnet, for example), you can add a speaker by its IP address in the desktop app: the first-run tour has Enter an IP address instead, and Settings has Add a speaker by IP address. More in No speakers found.