A Sonos soundbar that won't play your TV's sound is almost never a Wi-Fi problem — the bar talks to your phone over Wi-Fi, but it gets TV audio over the HDMI (ARC/eARC) cable. So when there's no TV sound, the fix is on the cable and the TV's audio settings, not your network. Work it in this order.
Fix it
- Use the right port. The HDMI cable from the bar has to go into the TV's HDMI ARC or eARC-labeled port — not a plain HDMI input. It's only one specific port on the TV, and plugging into the wrong one is the most common cause of silence. (Sonos Beam, Arc, and Ray that use optical instead must go to the TV's optical-out with the supplied adapter.)
- Turn on HDMI-CEC and ARC on the TV. The bar needs the TV's control channel on. Enable HDMI-CEC — it's branded Anynet+ on Samsung, SiMPLINK on LG, and Bravia Sync on Sony — and set the TV's audio output to the external speaker / receiver (ARC) option, not the TV speakers.
- Re-seat and power-cycle in order. Unplug the cable, then power the TV and bar off for at least 30 seconds. Power the TV up first, then the soundbar, so the HDMI handshake negotiates cleanly.
- Swap the cable for eARC. If you have an Arc or newer Beam and want lossless Atmos, the cable must be a certified Ultra High Speed one in the TV's eARC port. A marginal cable drops the handshake and you get silence or only stereo. (If you're unsure which your TV supports, see ARC vs eARC and the cables you need.)
- Run the Sonos app's audio setup. In the Sonos app, open the soundbar's settings and re-run the TV audio / "Remote Control Setup" so the bar re-learns the TV's audio output.
Two different "not connecting" problems
Don't confuse them:
- No TV sound from the bar → HDMI ARC/eARC, CEC, and TV audio-output settings (everything above, and in more depth in Sonos soundbar no audio from TV over ARC).
- The bar is missing from the Sonos app → that's the Wi-Fi/network problem covered in Sonos not finding speakers (reboot the speaker, same 2.4 GHz network, check VPN/ad-blockers). It has nothing to do with TV audio.
A reality check on what carries Atmos
Lossless Dolby Atmos only comes over eARC with a certified cable. Plain ARC carries compressed audio, and optical cannot carry Atmos at all — only Dolby Digital 5.1. So a Ray or an optical-only setup will play TV sound fine but won't do true Atmos no matter the settings.
FAQ
Why won't my Sonos play TV sound? It's almost always the HDMI cable in the wrong port or HDMI-CEC turned off — not Wi-Fi. The bar gets TV audio over HDMI ARC/eARC, and the network only matters for the app.
Which TV port does the Sonos go into? The one labeled HDMI ARC or eARC — just one specific port. A plain HDMI input won't pass TV audio back to the bar.
The bar shows in the app but there's no TV sound. That confirms Wi-Fi is fine and the problem is the HDMI/ARC side — check the port, enable CEC, and set the TV's audio output to the soundbar.
Do I need a special cable? For an Arc or newer Beam doing Atmos over eARC, yes — a certified Ultra High Speed cable in the eARC port. Plain ARC works on any working HDMI cable but only carries compressed audio.