Enthusiast I

Answered

WiFi vs Hardwired on S2 with two Connects

19 replies
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So I have one Connect (Theater) hardwired to the network. My second Connect (Bedroom) is not hardwired. I had a few drop outs of the second Connect so I added my WiFi to the Networks section under "Manage Networks". It now seems to be working ok now so I guess the built in Sonos wifi network is not strong enough for the distance between the two Connects and the WiFi signal is stronger where the second Connect is located in the master bedroom.

Does this sound correct?

Sonos Connect

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rattyAnswer

So the Bedroom is indeed on a Weak signal but at least it is Yellow and not Red like the Theater was at.

A complete misinterpretation. Signal levels are displayed in the body of the matrix. The left column denotes the ambient RF noise levels and the amount of active rejection by the chipset.

The red cell for the Theater Connect was because of a poor noise floor, possibly because of its proximity to other electronics.

The full picture -- including the actual signal strength at the Bedroom Connect -- will remain unclear unless you re-enable ‘WiFi’ (i.e. SonosNet) in the Theater Connect, wait a couple of minutes, screenshot the matrix, and post it. Alternatively submit a diagnostic and post the reference number so someone official can take a look.

Or maybe you just want to leave it as it is. You’ve disabled SonosNet, so the Bedroom Connect has no alternative but to connect to the WiFi (WM:1). Your call.

J

John B

In About My System, does the bedroom Connect have WM:0 or WM:1 next to it?

SirDigitalKnightAuthor

Enthusiast I

WM:0

J

John B

Then it is still connected to SonosNet, not your WiFi.

SirDigitalKnightAuthor

Enthusiast I

Ok, so when the app had me go through the whole process of adding in a Network by selecting the SSID and putting in the password and pressing the two buttons on the front of the Connect and now has said Network listed under the Manage Networks section, what was the purpose of it? 🤔

J

John B

Don't ask me, it was your decision to try it.

If you have a wired device SonosNet will operate. The bedroom Connect is evidently happier sticking with SonosNet.

SirDigitalKnightAuthor

Enthusiast I

Thanks for the fast reply’s on here John, I do appreciate it. Yes, does seem very strange that it had me do all that just to stick with SonosNet. I know there is a web interface to check what kind of signal the SonosNet has between devices so I will investigate more and check into that and see how it looks.

SirDigitalKnightAuthor

Enthusiast I

So l looked at my http://192.168.#.#:1400/support/review Sonos Support Info:

Theater
Secondary Node
Noise Floor: -77, -81, -83
OFDM Weak signal level: 4

It was in a Red box, so turned off Wifi on the Theater Connect which gave me:

Theater
Secondary Node
undefined
undefined

Bedroom
Noise Floor: -90, -94, -88
OFDM Weak signal level: 7

So the Bedroom is indeed on a Weak signal but at least it is Yellow and not Red like the Theater was at.

rattyAnswer

So the Bedroom is indeed on a Weak signal but at least it is Yellow and not Red like the Theater was at.

A complete misinterpretation. Signal levels are displayed in the body of the matrix. The left column denotes the ambient RF noise levels and the amount of active rejection by the chipset.

The red cell for the Theater Connect was because of a poor noise floor, possibly because of its proximity to other electronics.

The full picture -- including the actual signal strength at the Bedroom Connect -- will remain unclear unless you re-enable ‘WiFi’ (i.e. SonosNet) in the Theater Connect, wait a couple of minutes, screenshot the matrix, and post it. Alternatively submit a diagnostic and post the reference number so someone official can take a look.

Or maybe you just want to leave it as it is. You’ve disabled SonosNet, so the Bedroom Connect has no alternative but to connect to the WiFi (WM:1). Your call.

SirDigitalKnightAuthor

Enthusiast I

Thank you Ratty. Yes after a bit more investigating and making some changes to my WiFi channels on both the Secondary router, which is close to the Theater Sonos, and on the SonosNet channel, I was able to get things more stable:

ratty

Thank you Ratty. Yes after a bit more investigating and making some changes to my WiFi channels on both the Secondary router, which is close to the Theater Sonos, and on the SonosNet channel, I was able to get things more stable:

The signal strength (30/32) is not great but should work okay in the absence of heavy interference.

The noise floors look rather better (larger negative nunbers), perhaps from changing the SonosNet channel.

Proximity to a router is a concern. These are old Connects, with less resilient radios. Space the Theater Connect away by at least 50cm, ideally more. Also make sure the router’s 2.4GHz WiFi is separated by least 5 channels from SonosNet, ideally 10 channels. And set it to use 20MHz width only.

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