2 Router Home Network Setup

You can configure a bunch of firewall stuff (don't ask me) to pass all the needed Sonos communication. Me, I'd go to Boost mode and get off your home wifi for the Sonos network. That likely wouldn't work well if you have a controller connected to the other wifi since they are likely going to block needed communication there too.

Better to fix your network setup so you only have one, trying to get multiple ones to work will be much harder.

Hmcallister719,

As you have discovered, having two full feature routers on a network does not work well. A "Router" is a take charge sort of guy who's job is to share a connection to the outside world with local network clients and keep intruders out. The two routers will fight each other (both view that "other" router as an intruder that must be neutralized) and the loser of this spat will be the customer. As a first step, turn OFF the DHCP server in the router that does not have the connection to the outside world. On the second router, don't connect anything to the port that usually faces the outside world.

I assume that you are using a second router in an attempt to solve a WiFi coverage issue. Recently a group of "mesh" WiFi products have become available that will enhance WiFi coverage without the hassle that you are facing. By the way, SONOS has been "mesh" since its introduction in 2005, but the SONOS mesh (called "BOOST" mode) is private.

Hmcallister719,

As you have discovered, having two full feature routers on a network does not work well. A "Router" is a take charge sort of guy who's job is to share a connection to the outside world with local network clients and keep intruders out. The two routers will fight each other (both view that "other" router as an intruder that must be neutralized) and the loser of this spat will be the customer. As a first step, turn OFF the DHCP server in the router that does not have the connection to the outside world. On the second router, don't connect anything to the port that usually faces the outside world.

I assume that you are using a second router in an attempt to solve a WiFi coverage issue. Recently a group of "mesh" WiFi products have become available that will enhance WiFi coverage without the hassle that you are facing. By the way, SONOS has been "mesh" since its introduction in 2005, but the SONOS mesh (called "BOOST" mode) is private.

I know what you are talking about and this is already setup this is what I meant by home network

If you are using the second router as buzz suggested you do not have two networks, you only get two networks if you hook the Ethernet between them to the LAN port of the router connected to your ISP to the WAN port of the second router. LAN to LAN Ethernet gives you a single network.

Some routers make this easy by having a router and an Access Point mode, if that is offered use it on the distant router and it will set up a lot of stuff for you automatically.

Now on the WiFi side if you aren't using the same channel, SSID and password on both WiFi setups you have a problem as Sonos does not deal with that well.

I have one network my routers are connected LAN to LAN, and assuming even if I change the SSID and password to be identical of the other router the “channel” will still not be the same rendering this undoable?

The reason for the second router is the internet doesn’t go to the front of my house bc of the material in the walls, so I can't connect two Sonos to one router since the location of one of them will always not be able to receive WiFi.

Maybe just avoid the home WiFi issues entirely and put your Sonos system into Boost mode. If the SonosNet mesh won't reach all your speakers then wire one at the front and another at the back which will allow the SonosNet to use the Ethernet to connect the two locations.

If you can't wire your existing speakers, which is the cheapest option, adding an additional Ethernet connected Boost device is an option, some folks like adding Play 1s instead of Boosts as they are nearly as good as a Boost, give you another speaker and don't cost much more.

Another option for dealing with range issues once you wire one speaker and move to Boost mode is adding another wireless speaker or Boost between the two out-of-range locations so it can expand the range of the SonosNet mesh.

Hmcallister719,

I've done setup's similar to yours many times. It's a bit messy. Here is a step by step:

(1) Shut down everything except the computer that you are using to set up the network and the primary router. It's best if you wire the computer to the router. For many routers the default administration IP address will be 192.168.1.1.

(2): Set the DHCP range of the primary router. There are no hard rules here, but I usually start the range at 192.168.1.40. This allows some conflict free space for the secondary routers and any other devices that should operate from fixed IP addresses. It's a good idea to make sure that your computer is now using an IP address within the new DHCP range. For many computers a few second disconnect of the network cable will accomplish this. You may need to reboot the computer, but verify that the computer is using an IP address within the new range.

(3): Setup the SSID, WiFi password, and any other parameters that you need. Make sure that the WiFi channel is 1, 6, or 11, don't use "Auto". Always use 20MHz channels in the 2.4GHz band.

(4): Now, you can bring the other routers (one by one) online. It's usually best to reset each of these routers, connect your computer directly to the reset router, assign a new administration address, and shut down the DHCP server. Some routers make this very easy by offering a one click "Bridge" mode to shut down the DHCP server. Assign a different admin IP address for each router. For example, the first secondary router's admin address would be 192.168.1.2.

Now, you can bring all of the routers online and (simultaneously) open individual admin browser windows for all of the routers. The routers should connect to each other with a LAN (Local Area Network) port, not a WAN (Wide Area Network -- the external Internet) port. It's an esoteric point, but keep track of how many network devices (often called "hops") are in the path back to the main router. Beyond seven, we need to have an advanced discussion. Note that a network switch is only one hop, regardless of the number of ports. A good plan is to have a large network switch attached to the main router and connect all of the LAN clients to that switch.

(5): Set SSID's, WiFi passwords.(remember -- use 20MHz channels) Usually, one will want to use the same SSID and WiFi passwords on all routers. While some older iOS devices don't work well in a mixed WiFi channel environment, it is best to use different channels for routers that have somewhat overlapping coverage areas. Note that I am assuming that you will be using "Boost" mode (SonosNet) for the SONOS system. If you will be using "Standard" mode (WiFi), all of the routers should use the same channel, SSID, and password. I like to assign different SSID's for the 2.4 and 5GHz segments because it is easier for me to determine which network a wireless device is using. SONOS will use the 2.4 GHz network. If you have a network scanner, you may notice that SONOS is using 5GHz for wireless surround players and wireless SUB, but SONOS will manage this on its own.

(6): Walk around with a portable device and verify that coverage is good. I like to use a WiFi scanner application, but this is not mandatory.

(7): Now bring the SONOS system online. I strongly recommend wiring a player and using SonosNet, at least for this stage. If you want to attempt to use "Standard" (WiFi) mode for SONOS, enter the WiFi SSID and password. If you want to use SonosNet (recommended), make sure to remove the WiFi credentials from your SONOS system. SonosNet and WiFi are separate networks and they will ignore each other, but you should integrate the SONOS system in your RF channel management scheme that minimizes same channel overlapping coverage areas. Note that you'll need to use a pad/phone to setup the SONOS system because this capability has recently been removed from desktop controllers. If you have enough SONOS players distributed around the space, they'll work out their own coverage. It's best to wire as many players as possible. Use BOOST in an area where you want to use a wired connection, but don't need audio. If you have a "dark" area, you can use a wired or wireless BOOST to fill-in. If you must use a wireless BOOST, place it about midway between a good SonosNet coverage area and the "dark" area.

Best practice keeps SONOS units and the access points at least a couple feet apart. Before factory resetting any SONOS units, consult with someone because factory reset rarely resolves fundamental issues and it will cause a lot of extra work for you.

(8): Startup the remaining devices. Start up everything, even the seldom used and portable devices. We want to make sure that they pick up an IP address.

(9): Go to the main router admin and reserve IP addresses for all known devices. (discovered in step 8)

---

This is a big mess, but worth the effort because most users will have a problem free system from this point on. Unfortunately, wireless technology is constantly evolving and you may want to revisit things in a few years. Another grumble is the neighbor who is using 40MHz wide channels or "Auto" channel assignment with mega power access points. This may require some channel adjustments on your system. "Auto" can be a major issue because these access points can change their channel, usually landing on a channel in between 1, 6, and 11. These units think that they are being smart, but they cause interference issues for themselves and anyone nearby. For example, an access point on channel 4 will interfere with well behaved access points using channel 1 or 6. A WiFi scanner App can be helpful when working through these issues. You may discover that a problem access point is online only during certain hours.

---

Some of the new "mesh" wireless systems will work through all of this without your supervision.

---

Edit: About an hour ago I went through this drill with a friend.