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connect different products to different SSIDs

  • 2 June 2021
  • 8 replies
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Hi all, hope someone can help here. 
 

I have an Arc and two Ones that I have set up as a TV surround system. To prevent unwanted roaming on my network, I set up a unique SSID broadcast from a single access point, and connected these 3 devices to it, and all’s well. Let’s call this SSID “AUDIO”. 
 

I also have two Moves. I don’t want these connected to the AUDIO, I want these to just connect to my standard housewide SSID, let’s call it GENERAL. 
 

Problem is: when I add GENERAL as a trusted network for the Moves, the Arc starts using it. 
 

Is there any way to force my Arc to AUDIO and my Move to GENERAL and have them see & connect only to their assigned SSID?

 

By the way, AUDIO and GENERAL are just SSIDs. They both connect back to the same network and subnet, so I have no control problems. I’m just trying to manage which device connects to which access point. 

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Best answer by ratty 3 June 2021, 19:57

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8 replies

I think you would need to setup your Arc as two different Sonos systems if you want them to use two different network credentials.  That would mean they would not communicate with each other to play audio and sync.  You could use the same Sonos app to control them but you would have to specifically login/out to the system you want to control.

I don’t actually need them to connect to more than one.

I just want the Arc & two Ones to connect to SSID AUDIO and the Moves to connect to SSID GENERAL only. 

It may not be possible since Sonos shared a single set of networks for all devices. 

I don’t actually need them to connect to more than one.

I just want the Arc & two Ones to connect to SSID AUDIO and the Moves to connect to SSID GENERAL only. 

It may not be possible since Sonos shared a single set of networks for all devices. 

It is possible to do this, but ideally you are perhaps best to create two separate S2 Households/Systems on your LAN using the same Sonos Account and the two different SSID’s  … but to use them with ease you will also be better off using separate mobile controllers with the S2 App installed on each one to control them separately.

It is possible to use just one controller mobile for both, but if you are opting to use the same subnet you may run into problems. You certainly would not want the mobiles auto-switching between the two network SSID’s as you use the systems, as may run into issues of devices dropping from your App.

I personally don’t see an advantage in running things separately in this way, but it is possible, if that’s what you want, but separate Systems/Households and separate mobile controllers are going to be your best setup route IMHO.

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What about putting each Sonoson a dedicated SSID with no networking between the SSIDs and then connecting your controller to the SSID of the device you want to control?

Sounds like a pain to do but so are the other options.

If ‘GENERAL’ was a 5GHz SSID the Arc wouldn’t connect to it. 

Thanks for the responses; let me clarify a couple of things based on them 

My reason for wanting to do this is that I have 5 access points and two repeaters in my house, and I don’t want the Arc/Ones to roam between access points. To prevent this I created SSID ‘AUDIO’ and have it broadcast from a single access point in the house. Thus, the Arc/Ones stay put, which works great. 

My two Moves, however, get moved all over the house, so limiting them to a single AP is a detriment. Therefore, I want them to access SSID ‘GENERAL’, which is broadcast by all 7 WiFi devices in the house, so that they can access any AP they are close to. 

Both AUDIO and GENERAL are set to “both” 5GHZ and 2.4GHZ. I could change AUDIO to 2.4 GHz only since it is only used by the Arc/Ones, but there doesn’t seem to be a reason to. 
 

it appears that the way Sonos works, if I add a trusted network into the system, it is fair game for any Sonos device in that system. So I have no way to tell the Arc/Ones that they should only use AUDIO, and tell the Moves that they should only use GENERAL.  Short of setting up two different systems with two different control devices, which isn’t a great solution for me. 

Have you tried using MAC filtering to keep Arc etc from connecting to the GENERAL APs? It may simply leave the Arc floating unconnected after it’s rejected but it’s worth an experiment.

@ratty That’s a really good idea. I’ll give it a shot!