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TP Link - Speaker dropping out

  • 15 February 2021
  • 3 replies
  • 371 views

Hi all. New to Sonos systems and am running into some problems. I can see a bunch of posts here about TP Link WiFi extenders, but nothing that describes the exact problem I’m having. I’m also not that familiar with the technology behind all of this, so am struggling to keep up on some of the threads!

I have two Sonos One SL speakers, one in my living room and another in my office. Because the WiFi signal does not reach the office, I have used a TP Link AV1300 powerline adaptor to get signal back there.

Most of the time the two speakers will play together without issue, but every now and again one speaker will stop working. I have experienced the issue with both speakers, but it seems the speaker I lose is usually the one I add to whichever is already playing music (i.e. If I begin playing from the living room speaker and then add the office speaker, the office is the one causing problems; and visa versa.)

It seems the system suddenly stops recognising that there are two speakers connected, and only displays one of them. There are no power issues with either speaker, so I can only assume it is some interaction between the speakers and the extender that is causing the issues.

Any help you can offer would be much appreciated. Thanks!

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Best answer by Chris9891 16 February 2021, 15:02

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3 replies

Userlevel 6
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Hi @Chris9891, welcome to the Sonos Community!

Due to how powerline adaptors work, they can be very inconsistent in how stable a connection they provide - typically the mains electric wires that they use to transmit network data are not adequately shielded against interference, and this can lead to players not playing together, or playing out of sync.

One option to potentially get around the range issue, would be by connecting the Living Room speaker to the router via Ethernet cable - this would cause that speaker to start broadcasting SonosNet, which the Office speaker, if it’s in range, will preferentially connect to.

Let us know if this helps :)

Hi Xander. Thanks for the advice! Since my initial post I have reconfigured my TP Link to share network settings with my router, which seems to have helped to stabilize the connection (I haven’t had a drop-out since, but it has only been a day so difficult to tell if it’s a permanent fix).

If the problem reoccurs then I will try wiring the Living Room speaker to the router as you suggest, and see if it helps further.

Out of interest: The TP Link extender in the living room is connected to the router using an ethernet cable, and has its own ports for cables to be connected to. Would your advice still apply if I connected the speaker into the extender, or does it have to be directly into the router? 

Thanks

Userlevel 6
Badge +15

Hi @Chris9891, apologies for the late response.

Glad you’ve managed to get the system stable! 

In general I’d recommend wiring directly to the router - you can always try wiring to the extender, however depending on how that’s connecting to the router (i.e. via WiFi, Ethernet, or powerline) it’s not always going to provide a stable connection to the speaker :)