Need help understanding my Ubiquiti - Sonos network and whether I can get rid of 2 Bridges or replace w/ Boosts

  • 20 February 2020
  • 19 replies
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Hi all!

I’ve got a decent sized Sonos setup and have two problems I’m trying to solve: 1) The bridge being EOL’d and whether or not I still need them and 2) The fact that when I tried to connect a Connect:AMP via ethernet, I had something happen on my network (traffic storm, loops, etc) that crippled it.

 

My network is Unifi gear, a router (USG) connected to a 24 port managed switch running to network drops throughout the house, and two 802.11AC wireless access points connected to that switch, one upstairs and one downstairs.

In my home theater shelf area I’ve got a 5 port unmanaged gigabit switch because there’s only one ethernet drop there.

Right now the Sonos devices and how they’re connected:

Upstairs Bridge - Connected directly to the switch.
Upstairs Playbar - Wirelessly connected, could be hard-wired if I added another 5 port switch there, there are 3 devices (roku tv, xbox one, and playbar) but only 2 ethernet drops.

Downstairs Bridge - In my office closet.
Office Connect - Wirelessly connected on the other side of the office.
Dining Room Play:1 - Wirelessly connected.
Kitchen Play:5 - Wirelessly connected.
Living Room Connect - Connected via ethernet (and that 5 port switch to the 24 port switch to the router)
Patio Connect:Amp - Serves a set of outside speakers, sits next to the LR Connect.

The patio Connect:Amp is the one where I plugged it into that 5 port switch and it immediately crippled my network. My related questions are: Do I need Boosts, if so 1 or 2, and if not, is there a way to utilize more ethernet connected devices (the playbar, the connect in the LR) to serve sonosnet? And is there any way to allow the connect:amp to be connected via ethernet?

Here’s my network matrix:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2phbgt6hlyopwfk/Screenshot%202020-02-20%2011.12.00.png?dl=0

 

Thanks so much for your help!

Phil


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19 replies

A few preliminary observations: 

  • The wired Living Room Connect has its radio disabled, so it’s impossible to see how well this could support wireless nodes.
  • The Upstairs Bridge is doing nothing useful whatsoever. If it has a wired connection then that’s not working correctly.

Re-enable the Living Room Connect’s radio. Remove power from the 2 Bridges. Wait 5 mins then take another matrix snapshot. 

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Took those three steps. Within a minute, Unifi sent me a message “UniFi Alarm: network interface blocking. Switch port 12 blocked by STP protocol”

 

I assume this is the same issue I ran into when I had the connect:amp plugged into ethernet with the wifi radio also enabled?

 

Moderator note: Removed Image

 

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I plugged everything back in and turned off wifi on the connect again, to reset back to the original state. just turning on wifi on the living room connect turns it to red in the matrix:

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The Living Room Connect has a poor noise floor. Is it adjacent to other digital electronics? If so try moving it away. Even a foot or so could make a difference.

What is wired to Unifi port 12?

What switches are in use, and where? It would help to have a clear idea of the wired topology. 

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Hi,

 

The office bridge is wired to port 12.

The living room connect is next to the connect:amp, an old onkyo reciever, a logitech harmony hub, and a roku. I’ll look at where I can move it but it’s a small set of shelves so I don’t have a ton of options.

 

Apologies for the terrible drawing -- hopefully it gives enough context. If you need additional detail, let me know. The USG and switch and upstairs bridge are all up in a sort of attic room, and the 5 port unmanaged switch is in the media shelf along w/ the connect, connect:amp, old receiver, roku, etc.

 

 

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Also the 24 port is a Ubiquiti managed switch. The 5 port is a dumb unmanaged gigabit switch.

Philip F,

You must configure the Ubiquiti managed switches for STP. SONOS does not support RSTP.

The office bridge is wired to port 12.

Yet the Office Bridge was powered off when you witnessed the “Switch port 12 blocked by STP protocol” message? In any event the switch appears to be trying to break a loop that SonosNet ought to be dealing with itself. buzz’s direction could be the answer.

 

The living room connect is next to the connect:amp, an old onkyo reciever, a logitech harmony hub, and a roku. I’ll look at where I can move it but it’s a small set of shelves so I don’t have a ton of options.

The Harmony hub and possibly the Roku could have their own RF emissions and may be responsible for the noise.

 

Apologies for the terrible drawing

I don’t see one. Did you attempt to paste one into a post?

 

the 5 port unmanaged switch is in the media shelf

What make/model is it? 

 

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I have same network, and have had it stormed when using Sonos items, i have had to Hard wire all SONOS items i have 11 Sonos devices on the network which covers my office and house.

I have disabled wifi on the SONOS devices also.

I have no Boosts and no Bridges, 

I have 4 Ubiquiti WiFi points from 2 managed switches (2 buildings)  they create one network.

I have the Sonos devices plugged into the wired network. When i use Wireless, it gets stormed and am unable to use anything attached to the network wired or wireless !

Years of trial and error !

 

Following for future information and help with my system.

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Hub is a trendnet green 5 port gigabit hub.

 

Here’s the drawing again. It didn’t upload. 

 

 

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@brianthesnail Unfortunately the placement of my devices means that realistically I can’t hard wire all the sonos equipment.

Also the living room switch is actually a tp-link tl-sg105 -- the trendnet there had kicked the bucket. i forgot i had replaced it.

I can add another small switch and move the Playbar to be wired, and wire the Connect:Amp, but that’s it. I’ll do a couple of tests below:

 

Here’s the matrix with RTSP->STP and Priority set to 4096. I turned wifi back on on the living room connect.

Here I’ve unplugged the upstairs Bridge

Here I’ve plugged the playbar into another trendnet 5 port green gigabit switch, so it has both ethernet and wireless:

And then i connected the connect:amp via ethernet and turned off the wifi on the connect, leaving wifi on on the connect:amp (they sit next to each other but the connect is closer to the other gear:

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While I’m not using Ubiquiti as I type, I used their access points and managed switches for years with no issues.

It’s not required, but if you add a CloudKey the CloudKey will keep a very handy log of events.

And then i connected the connect:amp via ethernet and turned off the wifi on the connect, leaving wifi on on the connect:amp (they sit next to each other but the connect is closer to the other gear:

*Moderator Note: Removed Image per author request.

This looks fairly respectable. Is it stable?

The presence of the Bridge would prevent the system from being classed as ‘Modern’ post May 2020, but depending on their age the Connect and/or Connect:Amp may also be ‘Legacy’ units.

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and finally, back to where ratty suggested: both bridges disconnected and wifi turned on on one of the connects (the connect:amp) in the living room. With the spanning tree stuff turned to STP, I don’t seem to be seeing any network degredation / port blocking

Moderator Note: Removed Image

 

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I guess based on the # of yellows, I’d be better off w/ the bridge on (and therefore replacing a bridge w/ a boost)? Why does the office bridge show up as orange when it’s hard wired in?

Patio and Office are a bit noisy, but given the strength of their wireless connections the audio performance may be adequate.

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@ratty @buzz thanks for all your help! this seem fine and i’ve removed both bridges from the equation and hard wired everything that can be. i actually turned wifi off on both connects in the LR and it seems fine.

My two connects are both legacy, the amp is not. So i’m stuck w/ legacy gear no matter what, unless I replace them both with ports :(

i actually turned wifi off on both connects in the LR and it seems fine.

What’s the other one called? I see two wired devices in the last matrix snapshot, apart from ‘Living Room’, and I’m not sure I’d disable the radio in either as they’re supporting the mesh. Only if they were prone to interference would it really make sense to turn off their radio. As a general rule, the more radio-enabled wired units the better, assuming there are no STP issues.

 

. As a general rule, the more radio-enabled wired units the better, assuming there are no STP issues.

 

I agree. Except in situations where there is a pile of SONOS units in a rack system or there is a wired unit that is buried in interference, one is better off keeping the radios enabled.