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Compatible with Wifi Asus Zenwifi AX XT8

  • 4 August 2023
  • 10 replies
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Q

There were problems earlier this year with Wifi Mesh networks running in parallel with Sonos. Are these solved in general? Does anyone have experience with running Asus ZenWifi AX XT8 and Sonos?

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Best answer by Corry P 7 August 2023, 15:50

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ratty

It depends what you mean by ‘running in parallel’. Just about anything can sit alongside a system in SonosNet mode, since the rest of the network is only used for control traffic (apart from cases where the mobile is in the audio path such as with Airplay).

 

If your query was about running Sonos in ‘station mode’ (‘wireless mode’) on a WiFi mesh, then I don’t have XT8 but I do have a mid-range XD6 mesh, which works very well with Sonos. The system’s a lot more responsive than the original SonosNet was. 

I’ve taken care to put all Sonos devices on the 5GHz SSID, except for the home theatre master players which have to use the 2.4GHz SSID. For non-portable players I also bind them to the nearest mesh node.

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @Quatrecasas 

Welcome to the Sonos Community!

I don’t have any personal experience with Asus routers/meshes, but I was able to find a few steps to take that should improve matters if you are having trouble:

Affected hardware

ASUS RT-AC88U Other ASUS RT or AX routers with Airtime Fairness

Symptoms

  • Wireless controllers cannot associate to Sonos players

  • Sonos players cannot be added to an existing system

Resolution

  1. Log into the ASUS router.

  2. Under Advanced Settings, click Wireless.

  3. Click the Professional tab.

  4. Disable Airtime Fairness and click Apply.

  5. Change the Frequency to 5GHz.

  6. Disable Airtime Fairness and click Apply.

Affected hardware

Most Asus RT and AX series models

  • This does not apply to the following models: DSL-AC88U, DSL-AC88U-B, DSL-AC3100, DSL-AC87VG, DSL-AC68VG and RT-N12 series.

Symptoms

  • Unable to update or register one or more Players/Rooms
  • Unable to stream to one or more Players/Rooms within the system
  • Unable to set up rooms or Players.
  • Unable to connect to Sonos.
  • Missing Sonos Players/Rooms

Within the router's client list, Sonos products will appear as blocked.image.png

 

Note: Confirm that the Sonos Product is shown blocked as seen above in the router's web UI.

image.png

 

Resolution

Using the Router's web interface:

  1. Open a web browser, enter the URL: http://router.asus.com.
  2. On the login page, enter the router's admin username and password.
  3. From the left side menu bar, click on AIProtection > Parental Controls > Time Scheduling.
  4. Turn off "Enable Block All Devices"

Using the Asus app:

  1. Download the Asus app on your mobile device (required to perform these steps).
  2. image.png
  3. Confirm the mobile device is connected to WiFi and launch the Asus router app.
  4. Tap Devices.
  5. Scroll to the blocked Sonos device and tap on it to open a new menu.
  6. Disable Block Internet Access. Blocked Android device example:
  7. image.png

  8. Test the Sonos app feature (connect, update, playback) that you were having trouble with. Note: You may need to reboot the affected Sonos players.

Router app Device navigation screen video:

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
ratty

FWIW neither issue affected my use of ASUS ZenWiFi mesh.

Airtime Fairness defaults to OFF.

J

 

sonos app 15.8.1 (ipad ios 17.0.3)

play1, play3, Move, Roam, Beam, Connect

 

My system consists of three XT8s that are wired between the nodes.

Symptoms: Some devices are not visible in the sonos app

For me, sonos works like this:

Sona's app/(iphone/ipad ) must be on the same node as Play1,Play3, Beam, Connect. If this condition is met and I get an error message in the sonos app, I restart the app and then I get back control of the sonos devices

Move and Roam can be located on different nodes without problems with the sonos app.

My emergency solution is to use the Asus Router app to bind my ipad to the same node that I also bind Play1,Play3, Beam, Connect.
Then I can move around the house with my iPad without it jumping between different nodes and then the sonos app works
In principle, you can bind all sonos units to a node and then bind your control unit (ipad/iphone) to the same node.

J

I recently got an ASUS Zen WiFi AX8 network and was disappointed to find none of my Sonos speakers would connect. Convinced it was the router I attempted all the steps above. The Airtime Fairness setting was already set to Disable and I split the router network into 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. Still to no avail. 
 

What DID work was resetting each Sonos - Amp, Play:3, and Play:5 to their factory settings, deleting and reinstalling the Sonos app.  Hopefully this helps others experiencing issues with connecting existing Sonos systems to a new ASUS Zen WiFi AX8 router system. 

S

1/2024 - Resoling connectivity issues after introduction of Asus XT8.

(Adding my notes here for any other people seeking)

My system:

Room1: playbar + 2x Play1

Room2: Play5

This stuff is all old so I think all v1/S1 (app says it’s S2, but I recall starting out with S1 or maybe even prior to that)

None are wired and they used my 2.5ghz network SSID I had setup for just them.

Enter the XT8 in 1/2024 (hw v1).

I updated to the latest f/w at that time, and set it up with a wireless backhaul. All devices in the network, wired and wireless connected without any issue as I used the same SSID.

Except the Sonos gear….

Rebooted the router, rebooted the Sonos devices → no dice.

Since the Sonos app didn’t connect I hooked up my playbar to the XT8 using an Ethernet cable → all rooms/devices worked normally. So this was an issue not of the SonosNet network to connect devices, but an issue to connect to my own network, wirelessly. The XT8 was able to see all 4 NICs/IPs.

Used the Android app to change network settings (you need to login first ??) and saw that I had it connected to the different 2.4Ghz SSID that now no longer was in my network.. oops.

Deleted that network and used Bluetooth (OK, I get that) to connect to a Sonos device. The app forced me to turn on the GPS as well (why???). Using Bluetooth, it found all 4 devices, and I connected to the playbar, but then could not set a wireless connection since it already was wired (huh? that was just a temporary wire anyways).

 

Thinking that it didn’t matter, I connected to the play5 instead and hooked that up to my wireless. The app saw all the rooms/devices. I disconnected the playbar from the Ethernet, and it’s all good to go! I am now thinking that my play5 is the ‘bridge’ between your own network and the SONOS in-between-devices network. The XT8 only sees the playbar and play5 though (playbar is paired with the 2x Play1)

Note: I suppose I could have let the playbar hooked up to the router… the playbar has a 2 port switch and I could have looped that back to the computer which the cable is supposed to go to, but the Sonos ports are only 10/100 and not 1Gb as the rest of network is.

Good luck everyone!

ratty

I recently switched from XD6 to an XT9 mesh. Same SSIDs, same password. Sonos just reconnected automatically. 

D
Userlevel 2
Badge +3

I recently switched from XD6 to an XT9 mesh. Same SSIDs, same password. Sonos just reconnected automatically. 

 Are you running your Sonos devices purely on wifi (i.e. non are using the Sonosnet?)

ratty

I recently switched from XD6 to an XT9 mesh. Same SSIDs, same password. Sonos just reconnected automatically. 

 Are you running your Sonos devices purely on wifi (i.e. non are using the Sonosnet?)

Correct.

M

In case this helps anyone struggling to get a Sonos system working stably with a XT9 mesh system:

Upgraded to a two-node XT9 system when full-fibre was installed this year.  Sonos system inc a Move, stereo Ones, Roam, single One, Beam and surround Play:1 with mini Sub.


Kept same SSID as old eero system and initially all Sonos units joined without issue.  Then the problems…

 

Sonos app couldn’t find units and would have to go through reconnecting process often without success.  The surrounds and/or Sub would disconnect from Beam.  Often even when Sonos app could see the units and they were visible in Airplay lists, trying to actually stream to them would fail with an Airplay error.  System would be fine for a time after rebooting the router but then inevitably fall apart.  Frustratingly the units were reported as connected in the ASUS app but not visible to Sonos.

Tried various remedies in this forum and elsewhere:

Disabled QoS

Turned off Airtime fairness 

Bound each Sonos to nearest node

Limited all Sonos to the 2.4Ghz band

Limited my phone to 2.4Ghz band to see if an issue with 5Ghz

 

None of these worked and was still having same problems.  Then looked through the acronym-heavy advanced wireless settings only available via the router web-GUI (not the app).  Decided to disable ‘WMM APSD’ - a feature managing traffic for devices that are often in standby/power saving mode - and problems all solved!

 

Sonos system has now been rock solid and AirPlay works without issue.

I don’t know whether not having WMM APSD will have any adverse effects - it’s supposed to help devices such as phones and tablets to save battery - but nothing obvious at the moment.

 

What I haven’t tried yet is allowing Sonos back on the 5GHz network or unbinding from nodes.  QoS remains disabled.  
 

If I do notice device phone battery life is not as good I might try leaving APSD disabled for the 2.4Ghz band, keep the Sonos on there, but re-enable APSD on the 5Ghz which phones and tablets are using.

Hope this helps!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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