Does Sonos take advantage of the full mesh-wifi capabilities?

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I've recently installed a Eero based mesh network in my house to reach all the awkward little corners that my previous setup could not. I have to say I'm impressed with it.

One thing has been bothering me. When I try to connect the Sonos set up I have, distributed around the house, it seems that the Sonos system is only binding to a single AP MAC address. The support url shows pretty much all my sonos elements with "red" status for bad wifi signal quality.

Is that how it works with Sonos, you only bind the whole system to a single base station? if so, I would like to urge you to support the full functionality of the mesh systems that can steer the devices to the nearest base station.

Appreciate the clarification so I can decide what do with those speakers that keep dropping their connection.

Thanks.

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melvimbeAnswer

Is your system setup as a 'wired' or 'wireless'?

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/3235?language=en_US.

If wired, then no, as Sonos is going to use it's own mesh network. If wireless, then I would think it would use the full mesh network. I am not familiar with Eero though, and if there are configurations and such you'd need to set to optimze usage.

Danny

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A

AhmedAuthor

Contributor I

thanks for the pointers but I'll work with the neighbor to see if I can find a more wifi friendly way to set up their radio power. It must be affecting their wifi as much as mine. Wiring the sonos system is not an option its in places where power is the only thing available and rewiring the house just fills me with horror.

Once we get the source of interference under control, I'll try the different options and see what works best,.

Thanks everyone.

Legnum Nick

Prodigy III

You only need to wire one bit of Sonos kit - if you have a Boost, that will do the job. With just one bit of Sonos kit wired, Sonos creates its own mesh network. Would that not be a better way of going about it?

J

John B

As @Legnum Nick says, you only have to wire one Sonos device, and can do that experimentally with virtually zero effort. Why would you not try? I was not suggesting wiring the whole system.

melvimbe

Since you already own a Boost, I'd presume you had Sonosnet (also called 'wired' these days) going at one point. Was there a reason you abandoned that setup?

Danny

A

AhmedAuthor

Contributor I

I was testing if the performance of Eero network is better than the Sonos one. until the interference is gone, the results will not be clear.

My limited testing so far, is that Eero is better mesh with zero drop outs vs sonos net.

One issue does remain is that the sonos systems don't seem to connect or steer to the strongest beacon of the mesh. Results are still preliminary though.

J

John B

One issue does remain is that the sonos systems don't seem to connect or steer to the strongest beacon of the mesh. Results are still preliminary though.That is not necessarily an issue. Sonos uses STP to determine the 'best', i.e. 'lowest path cost' configuration for the data flows for the whole Sonos mesh, and will tend to prefer one 'hop' to two 'hops', all other things being equal. A nearby 'beacon' may be giving off a powerful radio signal, but if it is receiving data that is badly affected by interference (for example) it may not be the 'best' option.

Having said that, Eero may do something similar, or something that works better in your environment - I am agnostic on that.

E

ErebusBat

Lyricist I

Your sonos' are probably not connecting to "the strongest" beacon because Eero like systems are not ideal/supported. See the "" at https://support.sonos.com/s/article/3235?language=en_US:

* Networks with wireless range extenders I was testing if the performance of Eero network is better than the Sonos one

However Eero and Sonos have competing goals. The upmost importance to sonos is _latency_ or how fast data can make it from one point to the other. Eero's goal is to provide distance / speed. You are not going to notice a 500ms delay when doing a speed test on your new eero network, or when streaming that Netflix movie. You _will_ notice it on speakers that are attempting to keep the audio in sync. Delays greater than 20-50ms between sonos can cause serious issues.

"Performance" in this context is misleading. The Sonos' do not need raw speed like you want from your eeros/laptops/phones.

Sonos has tuned their mesh network for exactly their purpose. I am still amazed at how they are able to do correct clocking and syncing in a whole house setup.

I am a "professional geek" and have installed a home network that is better than most small businesses. I still use wired/sonosnet and haven't had a single issue with my system. Sonos knows what they are doing and it works great. Even with sonos net it will avoid multi hops and prefer a direct connection to a wired speaker when it can.

That being said.... Using Eero AND sonosnet you might still run into interference issues. Eero extends by using additional channels. That being said I would recommend you try with your boost again.... I would bet $20 that you will have a better experience. If you can disable 2.5Ghz on your eero and go only 5Ghz it will be even better (I doubt you can though).

I assume you chose sonos partly because of the attention they pay to user experience? By forcing your sonos to use your eeros you are throwing away part of the product you paid for. Trust me... forcing your sonos onto your existing network shouldn't be done (in my opinion) unless 1) everything is wired, or 2) you have a _really_ good reason AND a deep understanding of wifi/networking.

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