Setting up Sonos with Eero WiFi system

4 years ago
20 July 2019
33 replies
42839 views

Userlevel 1

aph
Contributor I
0 replies

I have had trouble getting my Sonos system to work for the past few months, since installing an Eero WiFi system, and I wanted to share what I learned so that I help others avoid the headaches and hassle.

The problem: After installing a network of Eero WiFi devices (three eero Pro devices and one eero Beacon extender), my Sonos system stopped working reliably (would not connect, drop devices, etc.). I tried restarting, reinstalling units, etc., etc., without success.

The solution: Over the past two weeks, I have read a number of posts on this Sonos support site that helped me get the system working again today. Here is what I did and some comments on my system:

Enabled "Bridge Mode" on our Xfinity Wireless Gateway device -- got instructions on how to do so on the Comcast website (need to log in from your internet browser and follow a few steps)
Connected the eero Pro device that was indicated as the "gateway" (was the only device that my eero app showed as being the "gateway") with the Xfinity Wireless Gateway (Ethernet cord/connection)
Plugged our Ethernet switch to the other Ethernet port (the one not used to connect to the Xfinity Wireless Gateway) in the "gateway" eero Pro
Our other Eero Pros are connected to that same switch (or a second switch connected into the first switch)
Some of our Sonos devices are connected via Ethernet to the second switch
Other Sonos devices are connected to the eero WiFi network
I am able to control the Sonos system from an iMac connected via Ethernet to one of the eero Pros (not the "gateway" Pro, but another one that is wired into the first switch)
And, I am able to control the Sonos system from my iPhone using our eero WiFi network
So, it appears that everything is working again (fingers crossed)

So, that's what worked for me. My impression is that the critical steps were:

Enabling "Bridge Mode" on the Comcast/Xfinity modem
Connecting the "gateway" eero device to the Comcast/Xfinity modem
Then, connecting the switch, from which all other devices on our network stem from, to the other port on the "gateway" eero device

My thanks to all the other people who have posted to this support site. Your comments and ideas helped me figure out the solution above. My hope in posting this is that I can help others who have cable modems (like the Xfinity product) and eero WiFi. I'll check back in a couple times to see if others have questions that I can help answer. And, of course, my guess is that many others can edit and improve on what I've written above.

Thanks, again, to everyone who contributes to this site. I could not have gotten my system back up and working without all the help/support from this community.

controlav 2 years ago

There are some Eero notes on this page:

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Userlevel 7

Hello

24 speakers 6 sonos boxes 3 floors. Was having problems with dropouts and unable to add to the queue messages so I got an eeros system. Now everything works good in bridge mode but I noticed that when I set up the sonos boost it actually made things worse. I installed the boost correctly but it made the music dropout [less than before the eeros]. When I removed the boost no dropouts. But with the boost on the download speed on my playstation went up!

Conclusion: Sonos boost doesnt work so good with eeros but it does relieve pressure on the rest of the network. I listen to music more than play playstation so I removed it.

Cheers

Sonos will only allow 32 units on either home WiFi or SonosNet. Adding the Boost increased the total number of Sonos units to 31 placing you at the threshold for total number of Sonos units allowed. Being that close may have placed a strain on the SonosNet especially with 3 floors.

The playstation experienced faster downloads on home WiFi as the Sonos units were theoretically no longer using substantial bandwidth on your home WiFi 2.4Ghz band.

Physical placement of the BOOST might be an issue. BOOST should be kept about three feet from access points.

Userlevel 7

+22

Stanley_4
Lead Maestro
8974 replies
9 months ago
21 July 2023

Also with the single Boost you have only one connection point for the network to Sonos, with the router you may have had several, some closer to problem clients.

If you unplug the Boost and wire a non-sub/surround to Ethernet you won’t be bumping your Sonos device count which may help. If you wire more you start seeing the gains from the mesh as you do from your router.

I unplugged my Boost and wired every main Sonos speaker that was easy to connect and my system is far more stable. It also allows me to use any WiFi settings I want instead of restricting me to ones Sonos is happy with.

Lamiker
Trending Lyricist I
17 replies
9 months ago
21 July 2023

Sorry

I should have been more clear. All my speakers are hardwired with actual speaker wire. I only have 6 sonos boxes that talk to the amplifiers that are physically wired to the speakers. So seven sonos units total if you include the boost As I mentioned before, the boost was installed correctly and in about my system it said WM=0. Yet my performance is better when I dont use the boost with the eeros for whatever reason...

Which model SONOS unit are you using? There could be various causes for this issue, including a hardware fault in BOOST. As a test, power down BOOST and wire another unit to the network.

Userlevel 7

+22

Stanley_4
Lead Maestro
8974 replies
9 months ago
21 July 2023

Just to confirm, you do mean Boost not Bridge? They are very different.

Lamiker
Trending Lyricist I
17 replies
9 months ago
26 July 2023

Hello!

Me again, the guy who said sonos and eero dont work so good, well that was a few days ago and I look back with nostalgia at what an idiot I was then. I've learnt more and I think the purpose of this forum is to educate so here goes…

Once you buy the eero you have a few choices.

1 plug one sonos device into your eero to make a sonos net that runs over the eero network

2 remove that cable from eero and make your sonos stuff run wirelessly over the eero network instead

3 or plug your boost into eero and make sonos run over it's own boost network

4 finally -and this is what works best for me- you can also plug 1 sonos into your original router (that you are bridging with the eero) to make a sonos net that runs over the eero network.

I have no idea why this works the best for me and I also know that what has worked perfectly for 5 years can stop working tomorrow for a whole bunch of reasons so I think it's good to know all the different methods just in case.

Yahtzee!

Hi folks, glad i found this thread. I have 8 sets of Sonos speakers in pairs or home theatre setups and a Eero Pro 6 mesh with 3 satellites all connected with 1GBb backhauls. SonosNet is active for all except for pairs of Roams, Moves and Era100s. Since I upgraded to the Pro 6 and 2Gb Frontier fiber, my speakers regularly drop, pause or cause general havoc as I tried to recover with manually power on/offs, reseting stereo pairs, etc. I assumed most of the issues were due to various beta programs I participated in or my 10K song library. Sonos Support always commented on the library size and the amount of WiFi interference in my setup which I assumed was due to 40+ zwave and zigbee devices throughout my house.

Thanks to a casual reference above, I turned off IPV6 on the Eero and have had no issues for two days listening to Apple Music 12 hours a day.

Also, I have my Eero direct connected to the Frontier ONT in the garage. I don’t have another router so the Eero is in Automatic (DCP & NAT settings) and not Bridge mode. The Frontier serviceman who upgraded the ONT to support 2Gb confirmed that I could direct connect the Eero without the Frontier supplied router (Actiontec).

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