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Sonos Matrix Bunches of Red

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I have 30 Sonos components hooked up in this house. Two Playbars, Five Subs, One new Amp, Two Play 3, the rest mainly Sono Ones G1 with one Sono One G2, and a handful of Play 1s. Two boosts.

Main problem is when I switch from Pandora to Apple Music. The devices cut in and out for one to two minutes. Also I’ve noticed that on my downstairs Playbar surround sound when playing music it gets a half second lag after a few songs. This is the only room that has ever played out of sync. Only way to correct is by powering off the room and then bringing it back into the fold.

I looked at my Sonos Matrix and so much of it is RED RED RED.

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Ken_GriffithsAnswer

'Red’ is obviously WiFi interference that's either surrounding the device, or between connections.

Some things you can perhaps consider are...

Run your system on Sonosnet with one device wired to the main router.
Set the routers fixed 2.4 GHz non-overlapping WiFi channel to at least 5 channels away from the Sonosnet channel, ensuring both are least-used by neighbours.
Keep wireless devices at least 3 feet away from each other and objects that might interfere with signals.
Set all WiFi access points, hubs, extenders etc; to use the same SSID, credentials and channels as the main router.
Consider wiring Sonos devices to the local network where interference remains high after exhausting all other options.
Add all Sonos IP addresses to the main routers DHCP Reservation Table.
Ensure that the 2.4ghz WiFi credentials are not stored in the Sonos App network settings and if using the Sonos Move speaker consider using that connected to the 5ghz band.
Place other wireless network devices around the home onto the 5ghz band where it's practicable to do so.
Review the network WiFi channels in use from time to time in case neighbours alter their WiFi settings, which may then introduce interference.

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S

Short_Market_PaulAuthor

Trending Lyricist I

Am I safe to assume that even though the column header shows mainly RED, some Orange and a few GREENS, that I am getting good signal between the two devices that converge in the matrix.

Signal strengths are okay/good. Everywhere is being slammed with interference though. It’s sufficiently widespread that something very noisy must be active. It’s likely to be a non-WiFi actor in the 2.4GHz band. Proprietary wireless or high strength Bluetooth perhaps.

Only thing I can think of is some of our Direct TV boxes are “wireless” I do know that we have a special DTV router that sends the signal to them. I’m pretty surprised at the coverage that it provides.

buzz

Grand Maestro

Short_Market_Paul,

Noise floors in the -1xx range are very good. I personally have never seen any lower than -116, Your “Den Play 3” is lower than any that I’ve seen. It is unlikely that you’ll see any noise floors higher than about -70, because SonosNet falls apart at these high levels.

ODFM ANI level is an indication of how hard the unit is working to overcome interference. ‘9’ is maximum effort. I live a difficult area and will see ‘9’ at times on some units, but the system usually works fine. Your matrix is worse than anything that I’ve seen at my location. Next door to me is a medical facility. I assume that they have something in that building that is a bad neighbor. I’m also suspecting that there is something traveling on the power line that runs by the house. My interference varies from minute to minute. Note that the matrix is a static snapshot. You must reload the page to view the results after a change. Be sure to track this issue at different times of day because this might give you a hint about locating the interfering device.

Make sure that your 2.4GHz WiFi channels are 20MHz wide. Wider channels will increase interference.

If you can wire more SONOS units to your network, this will help.

In System Settings what is the Audio Compression setting? While I don’t expect this will be an issue, fuss with this setting as an experiment.

S

Short_Market_PaulAuthor

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Yes, I do refresh the webpage before each test of the matrix. I’m sure the interference is cause by something in my household. Not sure what, the speakers with interference span the entire home. I see that almost ALL my speakers are working very hard to overcome the interference. Interesting how the backyard beam and it’s associated sub/surronds have no interference.

I don’t have any line-in devices so Audio Compression was set to auto, I did not notice a difference with switching it to on/off/auto.

ratty

Interesting how the backyard beam and it’s associated sub/surronds have no interference.

Beam contains the latest radio module, which doesn’t offer ambient noise data in a form compatible with the matrix. (The same is true of models released since Beam debuted, such as One/gen2.)

Sub and surrounds are on 5GHz, hence unaffected by 2.4GHz interference.

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Short_Market_PaulAuthor

Trending Lyricist I

I sure am learning quite a bit from you all. I appreciate ALL your responses. So safe to say, Beams, New Amps, One SL and One 2nd Gen are not going to be of any help with this ambient noise matrix data. Subs and surrounds are only going to be as weak as whatever speakers or soundbars they are connected to.

ratty

Subs and surrounds are only going to be as weak as whatever speakers or soundbars they are connected to.

It depends what you mean by “weak”. Their 5GHz connection to the main home theatre speaker should be strong and unaffected by any 2.4GHz interference. The ensemble as a whole will perform -- or not -- depending on the main speaker’s network connection. TV audio of course arrives at the main HT player directly.

buzz

Grand Maestro

Baby monitors and microwave ovens are suspects in this sort of drama as are wireless security cameras. I can also imagine that some security systems might cause issues. There was a generation of PANASONIC cordless phones that were bad neighbors. DECT cordless phones are not usually an issue.

Another possibility is a device that has gone rogue and is emitting spurious radiation. These will be harder to find because you’ll need to selectively power down potential suspects, then check the matrix. Rogue Bluetooth devices are candidates for this, but their power levels are usually relatively low and they are not likely to uniformly blanket the house.

It is a very interesting hint that the interference source is inside the house, due to the low interference levels observed outdoors.

You could use a ONE S1 as a probe because they are easy to move around. Move the unit to various locations in an attempt to develop a gradient.

Here’s a wild idea (I have an active imagination): Try to create a very directional ONE by placing it inside a metal pail. The ONE will be limited to receiving radiation mostly from the open end of the pail. Rotate the “antenna” and attempt to determine a “vector” for the interference. If this works, then you can triangulate from several locations to locate the source. While in college I noticed a rogue broadcast station. A roommate and I drove around town with a dipole antenna (they are somewhat directional) and developed a few vectors vaguely triangulating to a potential area. We then used raw signal strength to zero in on the exact location.

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