Question

Problems connecting to Sonos - just installed FiOS Network Extenders

  • 23 September 2017
  • 3 replies
  • 3329 views

I have the G1100 Verizon FiOS Gateway router as my main router and just add two Extenders that clone my wireless through coax one in my basement and one on the top floor (the main router is on the main). I'm having trouble with some devices not connecting at times saying there's no Sonos on my Network. I have one ssid for both the 2.4 and 5ghz channels and the router and extenders are all using discreet wireless channels for the 2.4. other devices like my laptop works fine but it seems like the phone apps on both iOS and Android are having issues. Anyone come across rhis?

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3 replies

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Wireless clash.

Sonos runs on 2.4ghz (wireless b). If you have one of your Sons players or a Sonos Boost wired to the router then Sonos will set up its own mesh network. If not, then each box will try to talk to the router directly. By default it uses wireless channel 6.

I don't know specific details of your Verizon router or extenders, but if they're auto channel hopping for best wireless coverage then Sonos might have a hard time tracking the connection.

Try fixing the wireless b network so it sticks with one channel (1, 6 or 11). Next, if you use a boost then set the router to use a different channel to Sonos.If it's a non-boost set up then make sure Sons and the router use the same channel.

The phones would be better off connecting on the 5ghz band (wireless g/n/ac) to move traffic away from the crowded 2.4ghz band. Have a look if there's an option to make them exclusive to 5ghz.
if you use a boost then set the router to use a different channel to Sonos.If it's a non-boost set up then make sure Sons and the router use the same channel.More precisely, if you are in Boost mode, which does not necessarily involve a Boost device. If you are in Standard mode, there is in fact no SonosNet channel to set (as there is no SonosNet).

The phones would be better off connecting on the 5ghz band (wireless g/n/ac) to move traffic away from the crowded 2.4ghz band. Have a look if there's an option to make them exclusive to 5ghz.If you are operating in Standard mode (i.e. no wired component), and your router does not pass traffic between the two bands (this varies by router), allowing phones to connect over 5GHz would actually cause connection problems.

Personally I prefer to have separately identifiable SSIDs for the two bands, but that isn't a "right and wrong" issue.

It would be interesting to know what happens if you constrain your phones to connect only over 2.4GHz, purely as an experiment. (But if you are in Boost mode then it should not matter which band the phones connect over, and might not matter in Standard mode, depending on router behaviour.)
Thsnks for the replies. I'm not using a Boost with this system. What I ended up doing was I reset both extenders to factory defaults and somehow that seems to have correctly the issue for now. I'll continue to look at this and get the suggestions if I find that some of my devices aren't able to connect again.