SonsoNet “Hack” for new devices Era, Arc Ultra

Hi ​@Justin_21, welcome to the Sonos Community!

While this solution may allow for SonosNet to work with newer devices, this isn’t something we’d recommend doing. Modern routers are much more capable now versus back when SonosNet was introduced, hence its depreciation. SonosNet operates on 2.4GHz, so by connecting a Sub to the Arc Ultra, you’re preventing the Arc Ultra from using the 5GHz connection, which is often faster and less congested. If you were looking to stream Atmos or Lossless audio for example, it may struggle on 2.4GHz. You’ll also have the data being transmitted from the Router > Sub > Arc > Sub.

This isn’t to say it’s impossible and it wont work, just that it’s unsupported and could cause problems down the line. If there are any issues with this type of setup then our first troubleshooting step would be to remove the cable between the devices.

I hope this information helps!

At the time SONOS was introduced, home WiFi mesh systems were not available and home WiFi could not reliably support the chatter required to run a large SONOS system. SONOS developed SonosNet to support multiple players. As competing systems entered the market they struggled to support three or four players while SONOS has always supported 32. While SonosNet is very stable, flexible, and reliable, it is not very fast compared to modern mesh networks. Realistically, one should not expect throughput greater than 10-20Mbps. (Maybe somewhat higher in ideal situations) This is sufficient for playing music. SonosNet will share its connectivity with devices wired to a SonosNet device. In the past I’ve used this capability for printers, control devices such as lamp dimmers, and even video players, but when taken to extreme music will be overwhelmed.

Modern, generic, 3rd party WiFi mesh systems will coast along at several times the typical SonosNet speed and SONOS cannot justify spending their development resources or the additional unit costs required to modernize SonosNet. In my opinion there are still some advantages to SonosNet. SonosNet is an independent WiFi network that does not need any configuration. 3rd party mesh systems may require some router configuration adjustments in order to support a wireless SONOS system. This has caused heartburn for users and SONOS support.

Actually, this “trick” is not unique to SUB. Any combination of SonosNet capable units could be wired to the network and any wireless SonosNet units will be supported. (Although BRIDGE and BOOST are approaching end of life, we’re never required, and should be retired). 

I’ve not yet retired my BOOST ;)

Hey Jamie,

      Thanks for the response. I definitely appreciate the perspective. I can say with complete confidence that adding era 300s to our system simply did not work where we wanted them to be. In areas that were wifi dead spot SonosNet ensured the speakers stay connected. Our system spans 2 building over 5000 sq ft. The bathrooms are consistently a wifi dead spot so the eras would not connect. Going back to ones, things were fine. Having to hardwire the bathroom or buy addition mesh nodes (just to be told mesh systems and Sonos dome play nice) was an additional expense I was not willing to make especially consider it works fine. My experience with a mesh router system and sonos has been brutal and this new generation of “support’ have been even more brutal. To simply blame my complex home/business network instead of helping find a solution is unacceptable. Not to say I have not had issues with SonosNet in the past but at least in complex issues I’d have a team member focus in finding a solution. 100% of the time they did and lessons were learned and life was improved on both sides. My system has gone from over 20 devices down to just 11 now. As customer support started to slip and the focus became home theatre I’ve moved to competitors. I’ve been a loyal user for over 14 years but my loyalty has been smashed in recent years. 

Hey Buzz,

     Thanks for the response, mesh systems have been around for quite a while now amd for many years the default response from Sonos was that the system didn’t not play nice with Sonos. I know because I have a museum of networking devices in the tech shed and trying to be “bleeding edge’ by moving from SonosNet to wifi. In the beta community I was so keen to be part of that evolution. I’ve been running a Sonos system for over 14 years in my house and studio. I’ve been around for the up and downs but without a doubt SonosNet has still been the most reliable. Especially when it came to problem solving complex solutions. Understand that we use to separate network one for the studio and one for the home.  The so is system covers an area over 9000 sq ft. There is a separate network in each of the main building. But SonosNet runs perfectly between all 3 buildings, I will ad it took some serious dedication initially to get SonosNet running well over that area. 10-20mbs is more then enough for a mostly Tidal system. The only system I’m running DSD or wav files is hardwired and ROON works well at converting for Sonos on hi res files that would ever get close to the bandwidth.
 

On a side note I’m also a investor in Sonos. The comment of using RD dollars on SonosNet ruffles my feathers a bit because I’ve see what the new use of those dollars has done. SonosNet was a flagship feature that set the business apart. The beta community was a staple of success. Now the dollars go to gimmicks and tricks. While other “music first” brands and surpassing Sonos in sound quality and reliability, Sonos is doggy paddling trying to decide how little they can do to stay cool with the basic home theatre user. I’ve said it in many conversations before give us a wireless theatres hub and let us use all our existing systems to make a truly awesome home theatre set up that will catch the ears of all types of home theatre users. I love my amps for tv compared to a sound bar. It’s night and day better. How about a new amp that controls a 9.2 system of existing Sonos speakers  and a truplay that works as well as Sony’s new spatial system. That’s the real innovation Sonos need especially with brands like WIIM innovating quickly and loving their customers through the process. A Dolby Atmos system with real speakers vs reflective sound isn’t even comparable. Where are the innovative solutions for easy to install ceiling speakers? Give us a magnetic mount with a battery power speakers for movie night if people don’t have the ability to hardwires them.  I used to be so excited for the future of this company and instead they stagnated and refocused on lower quality internal components and gimmicks.  Man, they even deleted all the cool old YouTube videos from their channel. Used to be some really cool interviews and development stories.