Honestly...and you probably won’t like this response….it’s your network.

What do you mean you finally got Sonos to connect to the “main” network. Typically, there should be only one network in your home. Running dual networks is possible but only under some very extreme circumstances. Please advise on how your network is setup.

Is the it the TP-Link or the Xfinity unit that is now set to Bridge Mode?

The TP-Link is set to Access Point (there is no “Bridge Mode” for TP-Link according to documentation).

There’s the ssid that is associated with our Xfinity router - that’s what I consider the “main” network.  There’s another ssid that’s associated with the TP-Link.

I know that it’s my network - I don’t have a problem with my network with any other device that connects with it or with the TP-Link.  Just the Sonos speakers require constantly having to reconnect, spend hours and days and weeks not being able to use the speakers because I have to 1) restart router (as mentioned above, this is not possible to do for many hours of the day due to it being used by workers) and 2) run around the house unplugging and replugging in speakers, and 3) spending approximately 10-20 minutes running through reconnect protocol (2-3 minutes my arse), only to have it not work.

If there are known issues with networks not working with Sonos speakers, why doesn’t the company provide steps for how to troubleshoot them?  Especially if they’re not going to provide customer support outside of m-f 10-6.  

The problem is that your network is configured improperly. I know of what I speak as I have an Xfinity Gateway (router/modem combo) and my own 3rd party router.

The Xfinity Gateway needs to be placed in Bridge Mode to eliminate it’s SSID and allow only the SSID for your TP-Link to be seen by Sonos and your other devices. By doing so you are CORRECTLY shutting down the router (Wi-Fi) functionality of the Xfinity Gateway and only using its’ modem. 

At present Sonos is being split between the Xfinity Gateway and the TP-Link (and probably hopping between both). Depending upon which SSID your phone is connecting to will determine which Sonos devices you can see when they are also connected to the same SSID as your phone.

Your phone is a “Single Point” connection device and can move between SSID’s with no noticeable interruption. Sonos is a “Multiple Point” connection system; especially so when more than one Sonos product is involved. All Sonos need to connect via the same SSID (network).

Placing the Xfinity Gateway in Bridge Mode can be accomplished via the Xfinity app (on your phone) or you can call Xfinity Customer Service and allow them to do it remotely. Given the long explanations you’ve posted regarding time spent trying to resolve your network issues I strongly suggest calling Xfinity Customer Service and have them do it remotely. 

Note: The terms “Single Point” and “Multiple Point” are not official terms for networking; but are used in my explanation for simplicity of understanding.

luvlilyn

If the XFINITY Gateway is in BRIDGE mode and the TP-Link M5 is in Access Mode, the network will be unusable.

Refrain from factory resetting anything without further consult.

Flipping things into and out of Bridge/Access point mode during the work day will be like changing socks while running -- not recommended.

Which SSID is the SONOS system using (TP-Link or XFINITY)? A potential relatively easy ‘make do’ during a work day would be to remove the ‘other’ SSID from the phone that you are using to control the SONOS system. This will not disrupt the system for work functions and will allow the SONOS system to function -- unless it is using two different SSID’s because of your previous gyrations. 

Since we don’t know exactly how your SONOS system is setup, if the above suggestion does not work, wire both ONE’s to the XFINITY or a network switch wired to the XFINITY and force the SONOS controller phone to use the XFINITY SSID. You may be asked to update one or both of the ONE’s at this point. Go ahead and update. Next get the SONOS network setting straightened out. This can be done at Settings → System → Network → Manage Networks. Make sure that the ONE’s are set to use ONLY the XFINITY SSID. MOVE may or may not be part of the system or MOVE may be shown as “offline” at this point. If this is the case, go to Settings → Find Missing Products.

Our goal at this point is to simply have a stable SONOS system. In my opinion this is not the optimum setup, but we can move forward from this stable point. One potential disadvantage at this point is that MOVE must be within WiFi range of the XFINITY and if you want to use the ONE’s wirelessly they must be within this range too.

Hi @luvlilyn 

I strongly recommend you follow my directions regarding your network. However, given that your current network is in disarray you will still have to deal with Sonos speakers to remove improper network credentials.

Therefore much to your angst I suggest you:

1. Unplug all Sonos speakers 
2. Correct your network as I have suggested
3. Make sure there are no issues with your TP-Link Deco M5 (only the main TP-Link node should be broadcasting IP Addresses)
4. Plug-in Sonos
5. Follow instructions here to clean out old network credentials form Sonos prior to bringing everything back on-line. 

Everything should connect properly to your Wi-Fi. 

Note: Mesh networks can be problematic for Sonos in some instances. The remedy is to wire a speaker to the main node to create the SonosNet; which isolates Sonos from your home wifi, or use a Sonos Boost module ($99-USD) to create the SonosNet. I personally use a Sonos Boost.

Good Luck to get your Sonos up and running 

Cheers!

First, I really appreciate your responses @AjTrek1 and @buzz - the time you took to both read my diatribe and respond is truly above and beyond.  I thank you and your friends and family that let you spend your time helping sorry-a** folks like I.

That said, you contradicted yourselves.

However, I think I can piece out some stuff to do.  @AjTrek1, the TP-Link is actually the secondary “point” on the network.  There’s one spot on the 3rd floor that Xfinity (ssid Lynne) doesn’t do well, so I got the TP-LINK - the node is in that room.  Everyone and everything else, including the speakers all connect to “Lynne”.  And while I believe you that devices can jump from “Lynne” to “Lynne32 (the TP-link ssid)” - when I’ve been troubleshooting these issues, I have always checked and confirmed that my phone (or laptop when I tried that) were connected to “Lynne.”  I have also gone in and “forgot” the the “Lynne32” ssid.

So, for ease of everyone else’s computers and phones and notepads, etc. (especially my 90 yo mother who lives with us) that are connected to “Lynne,” I am not going to disable it.  I hope that you agree with me now that you have this additional information.

@buzz , I had planned to follow your directions, but something caught my eye, so I checked it out and found, as I remembered, that “Manage Networks” is grayed out in my Sonos app because “System Update Needed;” hence one of the circles of hell that I’m in that some of the usual troubleshooting steps or methods do not work because of the pending update.

So, it seems that I need to resolve that before being able to do anything, and when I tried to plug the speaker (it’s showing just one that hasn’t updated) directly to the Xfinity network, it would not update and gave me error “1002 - this error is most commonly seen if you are using a Sonos Bridge.”  And the steps include removing the Sonos Bridge, but since I don’t have one, that didn’t help.

I will try it again, hopefully I will have time tonight, and update this thread with the results.  When I did it before, I unplugged the TP-Link because the other two Ethernet ports are hardwired into my son and daughter’s computers, so I cannot unplug them without prior coordination.  Plus, I figured it would be good if I disconnected the TP-Link from the Xfinity router anyway.

Thank you,

Lynne

Note that there are often two different “system updates” involved. One is for the speaker, one is for the controller. Both have to be using the same version of the software in able to get to many of those “greyed out” items. 

If you do want to look, you could go to Settings → System → About My System and see what the Sonos app is on your controller device, and which version is running on the speakers...look for Version, underneath Sonos OS for each speaker in the list. 

@luvlilyn 

Good luck executing your network plan(s). Enjoy your Sonos.

Cheers!

Given the network details you’ve supplied so far, I felt that my approach minimizes disruption to your current network setup and family work habits. 

As Airgetlam mentions, the grayed items will populate after the system is fully updated. It would be a good idea to check for updates again after the players update because the controller might not update with the players. Be sure to update all of the controllers.

In tonight’s episode, Lynne tries to connect her Sonos One speaker directly to the router.  Her Sonos app recognizes that the speaker needs to be re-added to the app.  It has to be factory reset.  Lynne knows how to do this, she has done this many times before throughout her odyssey.  After the reboot, Lynne goes to add her speaker, and - wait, what’s this?  Your Sonos App is out of date?  But she just checked it, and everything except for the one speaker has been updated.  Oh well, let’s push the button.  Hmm, it takes Lynne to the Google Play where it shows the Sonos App with a choice to uninstall or open - no update.  Lynne checks the documentation and the system info again - 14.0 is the latest, and that’s what Lynne has.  Lynne would laugh, but it’s just not funny anymore.

Lynne opens a Sonos support chat and gives the case number.  After some back and forth, the tech advises Lynne to restart her phone.  Which she does.  No change.  So she does it again because she is insane.  She opens another chat to let them know that restarting her phone did not work.  This time when stepping through the options, Lynne is directed to Google Play again, and this time it has an update.  Wow, a problem . . . solved?

Now we just have the issue of the speaker not updating.  The tech thinks Lynne should remove the speaker from the ethernet.  But Lynne tells him that we’ve tried everything else, so we try it, but it fails with Error 30.  The tech tells Lynne that she has to call and talk to a rep who will walk her through what she has to do in order to fix this.  Lynne is unhappy.  Lynne wants the 20+ hours of her life back that she’s spent on this.  Lynne will not be able to call the tech line for several days due to work and her son’s work -  probably Friday night when he is done at 5:45 PM.   The tech says that we can try one more time with the speaker unplugged from ethernet and back in the living room.  It takes the usual 30 minutes to go through all the steps of getting the app to recognize the speaker, and once it is done, it immediately recognizes that it needs and update, so we try one more time - error 30.

Lynne asks about bridges, the tech writes, “The issue you are experiencing relates to a network issue: unable to reach update server. A Boost (newer version of Bridge) will not fix this, but we are confident we can navigate your router with you and resolve this when we next speak.”

Lynne hopes so.

If you indeed have a BRIDGE in your system, remove it for now. There’s no mention of a BRIDGE in your previous posts, otherwise any of us would be able to have told you that sometimes, as their power supplies fail, they can cause all sorts of issues that are hard to track. As the rep suggested, the BOOST is the current replacement device, but would not be very likely to assist in your situation, since directly wiring one of your speakers to your router is still the best way to make connection. But that Ethernet connection must be to the root device of your TP-Link mesh.

There are a few items we don’t know about your setup.

What specific device are you running your controller on, and what version of the OS is it running? I think we’re all assuming it’s an Android device, since you mention the Google App Store, but it would be helpful to know for sure.

Similarly, I think we all assume you’re using the Sonos S2 OS, since you’ve mentioned version 14.0, but additional confirmation would be helpful, since none of us non employees have access to any of the diagnostic reports you have provided to Sonos for investigation. 

It would be helpful to know if you have any VPN, virus protection, or work related profiles in use on your controller device, or on either of your routers. It would also be helpful to know if you’ve done either of the suggestions that were made by @buzz or @AjTrek1 , since running two different router DHCP tables could be an issue.

It might also be helpful if you were to post a screen capture of the page in the Sonos controller that I pointed you to in my last post, so that we can be sure we know what is running where. 

Do you have any SONOS Playlists or music service registrations that you would like to preserve? Do you have a local music library stored on an external hard drive or computer?

Power down BRIDGE because it is not is not compatible with your S2 system. and the likely cause of the Error 30.