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rstall
Contributor I
April 22, 2019

Ethernet to Router or Boost?

Question: I'm adding a Sonos Amp to my house. I have many sonos speakers wireless connected through a Sonos Boost. Should I, a. have sonos amp stay on wireless set up, b. connect amp (it will be right next to router and boost) with ethernet to router, or c, connect amp with ethernet to boost?
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    4 replies

    buzz
    buzz
    Grand Maestro
    April 22, 2019
    Wired is faster and more reliable than wireless. The best plan would be to wire everything possible to the router or to a network switch connected to the router. "Daisy Chain" wiring (router --> [optional network switch] --> SONOS unit --> SONOS unit --> etc.) will work as long as the connection "path" is seven or less "hops". As long as the hop count is respected, any combination of wired and wireless will work. However, wiring two isolated SONOS units together is discouraged.

    My strategy has been to wire everything when practical and allow that difficult to wire unit to remain wireless. If you have a remote wireless unit in a poor signal area, you can improve performance by placing a wired or wireless BOOST (or another player) about midway between a good coverage area and the difficult area. All of the SONOS units use the same radio and network strategy, BOOST simply has the audio parts removed in order to keep costs lower.
    rstallAuthor
    Contributor I
    April 22, 2019
    Thank You. I should clarify that none of my existing speakers are able to be wired to router with the exception of the new amp that will control in-ceiling speakers in kitchen. Initially, I was thinking 'well of course I'll wire them to either router or boost' but I'm now not sure how that might impact the integrity of the other wireless system.
    buzz
    buzz
    Grand Maestro
    April 22, 2019
    If your router, BOOST, and AMP will basically be piled together, they will interfere with each other to some extent. You can minimize this interference by eliminating BOOST, then separate AMP and the router as much as practical.
    Stanley_4
    Stanley_4
    Grand Maestro
    April 22, 2019
    You can play with your gear to see what works best but in my setup I found having the Boost about 3 feet from my ZP-80 and a bit over 4 feet from my WiFi gave me a nicer looking network matrix.
    I'm in the wire what you can group, gives the wireless stuff more places to connect to.
    Unless you put your SonosNet on the same channel as your home WiFi you shouldn't have issues between the two as long as you keep them a few feet apart. The idea behind SonosNet is to get your Sonos off your home WiFi.
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