MOVE not visible on the app via a wifi extender

What powerline adapter make/model?

If your controlling device is also attached to the extender’s WiFi at the same time as the Move, which rooms do you see in the Sonos controller? 

Hi Ratty, thanks for responding.

Powerlines are all TP-Link, the wifi’s are a PA4220 and a PA281. The non-wifi extenders are all PA4010’s.

If I understand your question correctly, when the Move and controller are both connected to the same extender, I see all rooms but not the Move.  This the same as when the Move is in its normal position next to the router and the controller is connected to the extender’s wifi.

Ratty,

I may have misled you.  Given the time it sometimes takes for Sonos to respond to network changes, when I moved the Move to run off the wifi extender, the portable controllers running off the same extender eventually reported it as being Offline.

I suspect the problem is with the WiFi put out by the PLE(s). Some such devices don’t correctly forward all types of network traffic.

As I understand it, from your original post a controller on the PLE can’t see the Move on the router. If the Move is on the PLE is it visible from anywhere at all? (BTW “offline” in the controller means it’s not seen.)

Correct, any iOS controller linked via the PLE can’t see the Move, regardless of where that device is connected.  Similarly, when the Move is on the PLE, the iOS controller cannot see it at all.  However, the Move is clearly visible at all times in the Network Matrix and looks normal.

Just to complete the picture, wherever the Move is located, both my CR200’s and MacOS controllers can see it and all works normally.  Presumably this is because the iOS devices use my router’s wifi to connect to Sonos, as distinct from my old Android phone, which used to connect direct to SonosNet.

Part of wanting to make this work on iOS is that the CR200’s are the only thing keeping me on the Sonos 1 Controller.  They are getting a bit long in the tooth and I will have to get used to living without them in due course.  But, right now they are the only devices that I can use to run Sonos  away from the router, where my desktops are located.  Buying an Android device just for that purpose is, of course, an option, but not a great solution.

Do you have any idea what elements of the PLE’s wifi signal might be missing and/or any others that do a better job?  The 2 PLE’s I use seem to work perfectly well for all our other wifi devices, even if they can be a bit spotty in terms of dropping out for no apparent reason.

Sorry to labour this but I’m trying to build a picture of what works and what doesn’t. So the only time you can reliably see the Move is when the iOS controller and Move are both connected to the router WiFi?

If the Move is on the PLE WiFi, you’re unable to see it from a controller on the router’s WiFi? 

How do the Macs connect to the network? (CR200s obviously talk direct to the Sonos units.)

By the way, the Network Matrix has no relevance here as the Move isn’t on SonosNet.

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The background to all this is that the controller needs to have uninterrupted multicast/broadcast access to the players to be able to locate them when it starts. It uses SSDP. Some powerline devices may not pass such traffic, and some WiFi devices may not forward such packets between their different network segments (WiFi 2.4, WiFi 5, wired, powerline, etc). 

I understand completely and apologise for not being more precise on this matter.

Before my last post, I checked what I could and could not do, but the situation does not seem to be entirely consistent.  This isn’t helped by the fact that when the controller and the Move are side by side in our Kitchen, the iPhone can only connect via the PLE, whereas it seems that the better antennae in the Move sometimes allow it to connect direct with the router.  Add into the mix that the PLE Manager app, which lists the wifi connections on each PLE, takes an age to reflect any changes, even if I do a refresh.

I thought I was reaching a revised conclusion that things work only when Move and controller are connected via the same method, i.e. both on the router or both on the PLE, but I am not sure I can say that with any certainty right now.  So, what I suggest I do is back off and take a step-by-step approach, in order to give you a definitive statement as to exactly what works when and where.  I will be in touch again as soon as I think I can present you with this info.

Re the Mac’s, both were originally connected via Ethernet, one direct to the router and one using a non-wifi PLE.  At the request of the Sonos support, I removed the PLE device and used the router Ethernet socket occupied by the other Mac to directly connect a second Sonos device.  This hasn’t made any discernible difference to the situation, but that is how the setup remains today, i.e. a Boost and a Play:3 directly connected to the router with both MACs communicating exclusively via wifi.

It sounds like Sonos Support set you off chasing the odd red herring. You don’t have a problem with the rest of the system, so wiring another device (the Play:3) was not relevant. Assuming it’s close to the Boost they’re both doing much the same job in terms of bridging into SonosNet. Boost has a somewhat better radio so between the two I’d choose to wire that.

The Macs have either been wired to the router, or using the WiFi to the router, or using a non-WiFi PLE. From the perspective of the WiFi PLE they’ve always been approaching from the same direction, i.e. the router. 

Anyway, I’ll leave you to map out what works and what doesn’t. To my eyes the key issue is whether the Move and its controlling device are ‘upstream’ (the router side) or ‘downstream’ (the WiFi side) of the PLE.

Another possible solution?  I am not clear whether you have several of the PLEs about the place so that you can move the Move within your home, or if it has a reasonably fixed place when connected to your home network.  If the latter, maybe an access point in bridge mode connected to the Ethernet port of the closest other speaker might work?

I think I’d like @ratty ‘s view on whether that could possibly work before you went out and bought anything.

I was happy to wire the Play:3 to the router, with the intention of using the Boost further into the house as a “bridge” to improve the connection to the most remote players, but then Sonos asked me to wire it back to the router.

I will change it back, once I decide whether improving the situation with the Move requires any other network changes.  Irritating thing is, the SonosNet side of everything appears great - all green/yellow on the Network Matrix, which has not always been the case, although the Sonos techie says there are underlying issues not visible in the matrix.

Will get back to you with some definitive results asa p.  There are only 4 permutations to test, how hard can it be……..