Contributor I

Setting up Sonos with Eero WiFi system

33 replies
46034 views

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.

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Pinned Reply By controlav

There are some Eero notes on this page:

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controlav

Lead Maestro

It sure would be nice if Sonos could come up with a better solution to this problem when on Eero or other wifi mesh networks. But for now I am happy again. I can’t begin to describe how annoying it is to have a delay of about 0.75 seconds between the left and the right speaker in a room, but if you are reading this, you probably know what I’m talking about!

This is Eero’s problem to fix. Sonos just require a working local network, and Eero don’t supply that after devices choose to switch frequencies.

Author of the leading independent Sonos apps for Android, MacOS, iOS, Windows and Xbox.

J

JkEw

Avid Contributor I

I live in a large home 6,000 sq ft+with 10 Zones and a Sonos Boost. I’ve had nothing but issues with music dropping, resuming, dropping etc… The only thing I could play through my entire system without the music dropping was Sirius. My Spotify would drop constantly, same with Tidal. My internet goes through a Telus Actiontec dual band router into a Eero Mesh system.

I’ve tried pretty much everything, disabled smart-steering on the Actiontec modem and setup the Sonos boost up on the 2.4ghz portion of the modem-That was a fail

Plugged the boost into Eero in bridge mode- That was a fail

Tried changing wireless channels- That was a fail

I’ve rebooted, unplugged and factory reset everything like three times lol

So, what has finally worked for me is ditching the Sonos boost altogether, keeping my Eero mesh system in bridge mode and connecting the whole Sonos system minus the boost to my Eero wireless network and so far (knocks on wood) no music dropouts at all on Tidal.

Thank you to everyone who has posted their solutions and what has worked for them and I hope my posting may help someone out too! :-)

A

Andy84

Lyricist I

Thank you. This has been driving me insane and is now solved thanks to bridging !

C

Coolre

Lyricist I

I was having same problem with EERO’s system; my iOS controller for SONOS was being intermittent. Putting the EERO into bridge mode seems to have solved the problem. Very wierd because the SONOS was “connected” via wifi only and I could determine it was up and stable on the mesh network but the iOS controller did not work. It seems to NOW work in the BRIDGE mode on EERO’s. Simple fix via settings and reboot.

Thanks, I’ve been through hours trying to solved this and you’ve helped in 2 minutes

L

Lamiker

Trending Lyricist I

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

AjTrek1

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.

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.

buzz

Grand Maestro

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

Stanley_4

Grand Maestro

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.

L

Lamiker

Trending Lyricist I

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...

buzz

Grand Maestro

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.

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