Given various network problems in recent months (not specific to Sonos) I've recently moved to a Velop system, only to realise that there are apparent problems between Sonos and Velop. Whilst I'd love to spend weeks going back and forth with both companies to help improve their products, I'm resigned to finding a quicker resolution for myself.
For info, I have the following Sonos products:
Lounge: Playbar, 2 Play:1's as surround, 1 Sub
Hall: 1 Play:3
Guest Room: 1 Play:1
Bedroom: 1 Play:5
Prior to the Velop being installed, I had non-stop problems with using the Sonos in a purely wireless configuration. There's simply too many wireless networks in my building and despite constantly changing channels, it just wasn't reliable.
I eventually connected the Playbar into one of the wireless nodes (still before Velop) and for a time this worked 'ok' - not perfect. Having now installed the Velop and again plugged the Playbar into one of the Velop nodes (not the 'main' Velop node, a secondary node) I'm having constant issues.
Appreciate the above may be confusing. There has been a lot of change/trial-and-error trying to get Sonos to play nicely in my environment. Now that everything else wireless seems to be happy with the Velop, I'm trying to find another way to address the Sonos issues without dumping the Velop.
SO... I'm wondering if getting a Boost and connecting it directly into the Velop 'main' node would help. Is there any real difference between the Boost itself and a single speaker in a Boost configuration? Or is it simply that having a Sonos device acting as Boost plugged into a secondary mesh node is a bad thing? (For info, I can't plug a Sonos speaker into my main Velop node as my broadband, and therefore the main node, are in a cupboard.)
I'd rather not buy a Boost if it's not going to help. :)
Thanks all,
Tom
Answered
Boost or speaker in Boost mode - which is better?
Best answer by shoturtle
From my understanding Mesh wifi and sonosnet. Sonos should be plug into the main node to work best. So if you can not get a speaker to the main node location. The boost device will be a quicker option. But I would also make sure you are not using the same channels for the boost and velop. Sonos uses channel 1, 6 or 11. But before going out and getting the boost. I would move guest room play1 and connect it to the main node to see if it actually helps your network situation first. If you have that much interference. It might not help. And moving the play1 there will let you see if you should spend the 100 buck on the boost.
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From my understanding Mesh wifi and sonosnet. Sonos should be plug into the main node to work best. So if you can not get a speaker to the main node location. The boost device will be a quicker option. But I would also make sure you are not using the same channels for the boost and velop. Sonos uses channel 1, 6 or 11. But before going out and getting the boost. I would move guest room play1 and connect it to the main node to see if it actually helps your network situation first. If you have that much interference. It might not help. And moving the play1 there will let you see if you should spend the 100 buck on the boost.
+22Plugging a boost direct into router (hard wired direct to router no wireless jumps) is the same thing as wiring a Sonos speaker direct into router. They do the same thing (become primary node and transmit out first step of Sonosnet).
The boost will do better at rejecting wireless interference directly around it (if you have router too close to it) but that is about it. If you can get the Sonos speaker more than about 3 ft. from the router wired to it then I would say its about exactly the same as a boost (as isnt' getting that direct close to interference boost is good at ignoring).
The boost will do better at rejecting wireless interference directly around it (if you have router too close to it) but that is about it. If you can get the Sonos speaker more than about 3 ft. from the router wired to it then I would say its about exactly the same as a boost (as isnt' getting that direct close to interference boost is good at ignoring).
Respect the Queue (2)Move (3)Beam (1) Era100 (2)ARC (1)SonosOne (1)Playbar (4)Play5 (4)Play1 (3)Play3 (1)Port (2)Connect (1) Roam (2) Ace (1)Connect:Amp (4)Sonos Amp (1)Sub + (9) Echo + Smartthings
Take a look at your Network Matrix before you spend any money. It will show you what is connecting to what and how well.
http://sonos-ip:1400/support/review
A Play 1 at $150 is tempting compared to a Boost at $100 and like said the differences may be minor.
http://sonos-ip:1400/support/review
A Play 1 at $150 is tempting compared to a Boost at $100 and like said the differences may be minor.
Thanks everyone. I did realise we could 'try' this configuration with a speaker (ie. repurpose the guest room Play:1 for example) but it seems a huge waste to stick a speaker in a closet. As such we've decided to pick up a Boost and see how it goes. We've used a retailer with a liberal return policy in case it doesn't help.
Looking at our network matrix now, (and must admit I've always struggled - even as a techie - understanding the network matrix!) our Playbar which is plugged directly into a secondary Velop node is showing as red. It's also showing as a 'secondary node' - shouldn't it be primary if it's configured in Boost mode?
Looking at our network matrix now, (and must admit I've always struggled - even as a techie - understanding the network matrix!) our Playbar which is plugged directly into a secondary Velop node is showing as red. It's also showing as a 'secondary node' - shouldn't it be primary if it's configured in Boost mode?
Quick update... after MUCH pain getting everything switched over to the new Boost, things seem much more stable now. I'm still slightly worried that we've only succeeded in moving a bunch of 2.4ghz traffic from one location to another, but no dropouts experienced as yet.
The nearest players are now 'yellow' on the network matrix with a lower noise level than before. The worst is, as expected, the furthest player showing ANI level of 6.
Will continue to monitor over the coming week.
The nearest players are now 'yellow' on the network matrix with a lower noise level than before. The worst is, as expected, the furthest player showing ANI level of 6.
Will continue to monitor over the coming week.
If the player is showing an ANI of 6 then
(a) that doesn't really matter. It just means it is working a bit harder to fend off interference
(b) It indicates a local source of interference, not a network connection issue. Any candidates for that?
(a) that doesn't really matter. It just means it is working a bit harder to fend off interference
(b) It indicates a local source of interference, not a network connection issue. Any candidates for that?
It's within proximity of a node for a mesh network, but I can't really move either the mesh node or the player.
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