Multiple Sonos Boosts - Broadcast Storms / Network Loops

My view is to perhaps try the setup without the power-line adapter and see if that helps to resolve the matter, simply because those EoP devices can be intermittent and are shown as unsupported in the Sonos System Requirements. You may perhaps be better off with another Asus WiFi mesh hub in place of the EoP device instead.

Have you ever considered running Sonos on your Asus mesh WiFi instead of using ‘wired’ SonosNet mode?

https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/sonos-system-requirements

You have a very nice looking network matrix.

Not my area but my understanding If the broadcast storms are a result of a rooter reboot it does suggest that the router is not handling stp very well.

You could try the tedious process of turning router off, power down the sonos, router on, turn the sonos back on one at a time and see what happens

If you do go down the road of trying the WiFi option it might be worth checking this page https://support.sonos.com/en-gb/article/asus-rt-and-ax-series-compatibility

Thank you - removing the power-line adapter or expanding the AiMesh to cover the area both need a new cable through a difficult route with very solid wall(s), but I think it’s probably the right long-term solution (and will fix the WiFi in that area too, which also drops-out from time to time). 

I will investigate options to get a new cable to a suitable location to connect up a new AiMesh router and then move the Sonos to use the AiMesh WiFi.

Is there an easier route to run a cable up into the loft and mount the additional mesh router in the loft above the living space or on the ceiling of an upstairs space if upstairs doesn’t have the thick load bearing walls?

Having wifi access points mounted above the living spaces can actually give better coverage. Signal penetration vertically through floors (unless they’re all concrete) is easier and the walls are just thin vertical strips the signal doesn’t need to get through for wider coverage.

Depending on the angles between the higher mounting position and the lower walls, it could still create weak areas where the wall is in the signal path.

Excuse the crude drawing, but hopefully it helps visualise things. The two green locations for example would be more likely to give better coverage across both floors (assuming upstairs is not solid thick walls) than trying to use two combinations of the red locations. Trying to get high locations centralised above the thick lower walls would reduce the amount of interference they cause.

Ideally Wifi access points in difficult to reach places would be much better if they support power over ethernet (PoE) then you don’t need to worry about finding a power point to plug them into. Unplugging the network cable at the house end of the cable to them would also cut the power if you wanted to switch them off while going away or needed to hard reboot them. Stand alone PoE+ injectors to use with ordinary switches or small switches than can provide 4 PoE+ ports are not expensive.

eg

https://www.broadbandbuyer.com/products/50348-tp-link-ls105gp/

https://www.broadbandbuyer.com/products/42960-ubiquiti-u-poe-at/

Ditching Sonosnet is the way forward as then although any wired Sonos units will still forward STP they won’t be actively using it to try and manage anything. Make sure you actively turn off WiFi in the Sonos app for any device that is wired in. After doing that reboot the whole Sonos system and power on the wired boxes first to make sure they are no longer using Sonosnet. 

Whilst the Sonos system is off, it might be worth using Wireshark to see what becomes the STP root bridge in its absence to see if something else is partly responsible for some of the issues. 

How refreshing to see a well documented question, with lots of information for others to help answer, and some good answers, reminds me of the old days.

BTW - Agree with all the above answers.

Is there an easier route to run a cable up into the loft and mount the additional mesh router in the loft above the living space or on the ceiling of an upstairs space if upstairs doesn’t have the thick load bearing walls?

Having wifi access points mounted above the living spaces can actually give better coverage. Signal penetration vertically through floors (unless they’re all concrete) is easier and the walls are just thin vertical strips the signal doesn’t need to get through for wider coverage.

Depending on the angles between the higher mounting position and the lower walls, it could still create weak areas where the wall is in the signal path.

Excuse the crude drawing, but hopefully it helps visualise things. The two green locations for example would be more likely to give better coverage across both floors (assuming upstairs is not solid thick walls) than trying to use two combinations of the red locations. Trying to get high locations centralised above the thick lower walls would reduce the amount of interference they cause.

Ideally Wifi access points in difficult to reach places would be much better if they support power over ethernet (PoE) then you don’t need to worry about finding a power point to plug them into. Unplugging the network cable at the house end of the cable to them would also cut the power if you wanted to switch them off while going away or needed to hard reboot them. Stand alone PoE+ injectors to use with ordinary switches or small switches than can provide 4 PoE+ ports are not expensive.

eg

https://www.broadbandbuyer.com/products/50348-tp-link-ls105gp/

https://www.broadbandbuyer.com/products/42960-ubiquiti-u-poe-at/

Thanks, I really wish there was an easy way to get cables up into the loft / ceiling space, but it would be a challenge, and I’m not sure would solve the connection to one of the Sonos pairs, as the left of the pair sits under a big steel beam, and the other sits under the house electricity distribution/fuse board.  I’ve ordered another Asus router and will put it in the area the other side of the thick wall (which used to be the external wall of the house), that involves drilling one (difficult) hole (away from the power cables) and should (hopefully) resolve all my wireless issues in that area with a single solution.   
The only thing I haven’t decided is whether to use native AiMesh on the routers (they then share common WiFi channels), or to set them up as one router and two APs (allows using different WiFi channels on each device, but loses some centralised management capabilities).  I will probably try both and see which works best for us.

Thanks for your input anyhow.

Thank you - I was worried my original post was too long ;)

I had similar issues with Sonosnet, Asus routers and STP in the past as well. There's an option under LAN / Switch Control to turn STP on, but this seems not to help:

The SSH commands you mentioned could be run on start-up as script, if you use Merlin. You can search for help on snbforums.com under Wireless Networking / ASUS Wireless / Asuswrt-Merlin.

In my case, I connect my Beam to Ethernet and disable wi-fi. Then, my surrounds and other speakers connect to my home Wi-Fi, using different nodes under AiMesh.

I have all my nodes wired to the main router and, instead of EOP, I use MoCA for that. If you have coax running in your house, MoCA could be an excellent option.