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I have read extensively on the Sonos Forum and elsewhere and am struggling for clarity on a fairly basic question: can a Sonos Sub be connected to a Sonos Amp via standard home WiFi or can it only be connected via the network that the Sonos Amp creates (unclear whether that is called Sonosnet or something else when it is 2.4GHZ or 5 GHZ but neither work for me as signals don’t reach far enough). 

 

My use case is pretty simple:  I have an AV closet with multiple Sonos Amps are that are connected to ceiling speakers in multiple parts of the house.  The subs for the rooms are too far away from the amps to connect via the proprietary Sonos network.  I know this because if I put the subs next to the amps near the AV closet they connect and work fine.  But when I move them to the relevant rooms they show up as Sub Not Connected.  I do not have Ethernet ports to hardwire the subs in these rooms.

 

So, is there a way to connect the Subs to the amps via WiFi?  Is so, what settings do I need to modify to enable this. I have an extensive Ubiquiti Unifi network that has strong coverage in all the relevant rooms.

 

Thanks for any help that can be offered on this. Given Sonos Amps are designed for this purpose in AV racks I’m hoping there is a solution here.

If you have a UBQUITI INWALL near the SUB, try wiring to an INWALL port. Maybe a wireless INWALL will work. (I haven’t tried this and I’m not optimistic that a very old INWALL would work)

I don’t think you’re going to have much luck getting the sub to connect to Amps in an AV closet over 10-15 feet away. ​@buzz is pretty knowledgeable regarding what Sonos can and can’t do. 

However, there is a work-around of sorts; although it will cost you.

  1. Purchase an Era 100 and place it in the same room where you want to connect a sub.
  2. The Era 100 although in the same space would have a different room name. 
  3. Bond the sub to the Era 100
  4. Group the Era 100 to the Amp powering the in-ceiling speakers when playing music.
  5. The low-end will blend for all speakers in the space.
  6. You may have to move the sub to different positions n the space until you find the ideal location.

Note 1: The above is contingent upon having a strong wifi signal to the room(s) in question.

Note 2: The SonosNet is established via a Bridge, Boost or by wiring a Sonos speaker to a router. The first two options are discontinued products. In any case the SonosNet is global for all Sonos speakers that are capable of seeing the 2.4Ghz proprietary band.

Note 3: The connection between a sub and a Sonos speaker/component is also proprietary but limited to the speaker/component making the peer-to-peer connection over the Sonos 5GHZ band.

BOOST (I should have thought of that!) sounds like a good idea. They are cheap on the used market.

BOOST (I should have thought of that!) sounds like a good idea. They are cheap on the used market.

Yeah it’s an idea….but Sub 4 won’t see the SonosNet assuming that’s the sub the OP wants to use (according to their profile of products). I’d also hesitate to introduce the SonosNet to a stable wireless network; as it appears that’s what the OP is using. 🤔 Although, I do realize they can co-exist.

If any of the AMP’s are wired to the network, SonosNet is active. BOOST can act as a SonosNet mesh point and share its network connection. Back in the 200x era, before consumer grade mesh networks were generally available, I used this scheme to support computers, printers, and miscellaneous control devices. SonosNet is not very fast. Now that Gigabit home networks are cheap, SonosNet is a pokey slow giggle, but you don’t need Gigabit speeds to support a few SUB’s. BTW SONOS network ports are 10/100.

I haven’t tried a BRIDGE-SUB wired connection. Back in the day I did notice an occasional quirk if I wired a SONOS player to a wireless BOOST. It would be many weeks between quirks.

Thanks for your replies and the creativity.  I do have strong wifi in the relevant rooms. Is the reason for an ERA that it can connect via WiFi and then I can bond to it?  

I guess implicit in your answer is that there is no way to connect a SUB to an amp via WiFi, even by turning off settings on the amp, etc.  Some of my reading suggested there might be but it was unclear.  It’s just so surprising to me that an AMP, which I had understood to be designed in part for AV installers to put in AV racks would be required to hook up to a SUB only via a proprietary network that it creates.  Sort of defeats the purpose of a wireless sub and dramatically limits the usability for creating whole home A/V.  Had I known this I guess I would have wired for the wireless SUB.  

If someone could confirm this is the case I’ll at least stop trying to figure out how to make it work.

​@Rocklyn 

Below are three (3) links pertaining to setting up a Sub with an Amp or any parent speaker. These should answer your question and provide an alternative method that is Ethernet wiring. However, I feel Ethernet is not practical in your case.

 

Setup Your Sonos Sub

https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/set-up-your-sonos-sub

 

Product Not Found

https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/product-not-found-during-setup

 

This thread has answer by Retired Sonos Staff Member Jean C., that is still valid today

https://en.community.sonos.com/components-and-architectural-228996/sonos-sub-too-far-from-amp-6838553

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