Answered

Can I run Sonos on two different wifi routers? HELP!

  • 16 April 2018
  • 8 replies
  • 643 views

Hi,

I have a playbar, 2 x play 1's and a connect/ turntable set up in my house which works fine. I have recently built a gym at the bottom of the garden and would like to set up a new Play 1 but I'm getting nowhere. The gym has it's own router which is hardwired to the house broadband via an underground Ethernet cable. It therefore runs off the same TalkTalk connection but via a different router so I have one network in the house and a separate one in the gym.

I first tried to set up the Play 1 in the gym but it wouldn't get past the pressing the play/ volume up buttons together. The light flashes green and then after pressing goes orange and nothing happened. I then resorted to connecting it to the house network but when I plug it back into the gym it is lost from the rooms on my sonos controller. What is confusing me is that whilst in the gym (and connected to the gym wifi) I can still control the Sonos in the house (which are connected to the house network). If this is possible, I don't understand why the new speaker is not being recognised in the gym.

I've tried plugging the new speaker via Ethernet into the gym router but it's not finding the network. I don't need the gym speaker to be part of the house set up, but I can't see how to set up a new system without deleting the old one. Can anybody provide me with any info on what I'm doing wrong and how I can resolve the problem?

Many thanks!

Chris
icon

Best answer by ratty 16 April 2018, 14:40

View original

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

8 replies

Do you really want to split your network into two separate subnets? This is what a second router -- acting as a router -- will do. Sonos won't work between subnets.

You should set the second router up as an access point. Some have an explicit bridge mode in their settings. If not, google 'router as access point'.
Thanks Ratty. I don't need two subnets, I'm just completely ignorant when it comes to IT so this was how it was set up out of the box. Presumably I need to go into the router settings and set up as a bridge rather than a router? Would that network then have the same access/ password as the house router and therefore alleviate the problem? Sorry for the basics...!
What router is it? Setting the SSID/key the same as the house router is a simple task, separate from changing the router's operating mode.
It's this one - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001FWYGJS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It has an access point mode. See https://static.tp-link.com/1910012221_TL-WR841N(EU)(US)_V13_UG.pdf, page 11.

I would hard reset it (the button on the back), and set it up afresh as an AP.
So... I’ve reset the router and set it up again as an access point and it regrettably hasn’t solved the problem. The new play 1 sets up fine on the home network but as soon as I move it into the gym it isn’t found. If I reset the speaker and try and set it up from the gym then as before, it doesn’t link to the speaker (finds it but doesn’t get past the simultaneous button pressing/ Amber light stage). The only thing I’ve yet to try is to change the network names so that they are identical - currently the passwords are the same but the network names are different. I’ve set both routers to the same channel (11) and it hasn’t made a difference. I just can’t understand how I can always still have access to the home system whilst in the gym, yet it won’t recognise a new speaker within the gym. That seems to make no sense at all.

I don’t need the speaker to work on the same system as the original home system but the Sonos controller app doesn’t give me the option to set up a new system, only add to the existing system, which I can’t do. it’s so frustrating! I know there must be a way to do this as when I go to my in-laws my controller picks up their system and I have some access to it (although Spotify never seems to work). If this is the easiest option then that’s fine, but I still don’t know how to do it.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated!
The network name is the "SSID" mentioned by ratty. Both it and the password must be the same as the main router.
SSID and passwords are now both the same and it still won’t find the speaker in the gym. How can I set this up as a new system?