Question

Question about internet speed/sonos

  • 2 November 2016
  • 8 replies
  • 4801 views

Dear Sonos community,

2 days ago I bought a new sound system for my living room. I wanted to get rid of all the wires that came with my old surround sound system so I made the switch to Sonos.

I got the Sonos playbar, Sub and 2 Play 1 speakers. The playbar is the only one connected to my router via cable, the other 3 are connected wireless.

The night after installing everything I noticed that Netflix had to load during movies and series on my TV (never had this before). Wireless internet feels slower as well.
Since it happened just after installing the Sonos system I think that has to be the thing that slows it down. I have allready changed the channel of my wireless internet to channel 1 (read that in another topic) but haven't notived any improvement so far. I would love to keep the system as is and get the old internet speed back (or at least an improvement so Netflix doesn't have to reload the movie every few minutes.

My internet connection:

150 Mbit download/s 15Mbit upload/s

Connected to this are:

A PC (wired)
TV
Sonos (playbar, sub, 2 Play 1)
normally 2 phones, sometimes more
Thermostat

My questions:

- Am I right in assuming it's the sonos system that slows down my internet connection
- Can anybody give a indication in how much bandwith my current sonos setup requires
- Should switching the channel help at all
- Would it make a difference if I connected the sub via a cable? (I don't want to connect both Play 1's via cable because then the whole 'wireless' part is gone)

I hope somebody can help me with this problem. If you need any other information or have any other tips next to the questions I answered let me know and I'll provide it as soon as possible.

Thanks in advance!

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8 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +21
Since you have your Playbar wired to your home network, Sonos is using its own wireless network. You should make sure that your WiFi network and Sonos' wireless network are not sharing the same channel, as they could be interfering with each other. You'll want to log into your router and find what wireless channel it is using. Then you can change the wireless channel that Sonos uses and make sure it's not the same.

Make sure your router is only using channels 1, 6, or 11 as these three channels don't overlap with each other.

Additionally, you may want to submit a diagnostic report through your Sonos controller and post the confirmation number here. Then a Sonos employee can review that and provide additional help.
Hello MikeV,

Thanks for the quick reply, just one question. Should i change the channel my router is using or the channel sonos is using? I can only find a option to change the router channel I think. I added a screenshot just in case!

http://imgur.com/a/GtbFf
Your router is on ch 1, so to get SonosNet right out of the way move it to ch 11. See under Advanced Settings.

But actually, since your PLAYBAR is wired, there'd be very little if any activity on the SonosNet channel. I'm not sure that explains your TV's behaviour.

How is the TV connected? 2.4GHz or 5GHz?
2.4, everything that uses the wifi is on 2.4 because I never knew there were 2 options 🙂
Userlevel 5
Badge +11
If Netflix is via an app on your TV can you hardwire the TV? Using the second ethernet port on the Playbar.
It's a sony tv, netflix is an app, i guess i could hardwire it. I can also just link it to my router, which is standing right next to it. Never had the cable for that but i got an ethernet cable with the play 1's so now i can. Would that make a difference?
Badge +1
Hey there Nexuss, welcome to the community. MikeV and ratty are correct, try separating your router's 2.4ghz wireless channel from the channel Sonos is using. You find out how to change the SonosNet channel using this link. If you're still having slow speeds, try powering off your Sonos products to confirm they're what's slowing down your wireless network. Wiring the TV to the router would make a difference if wireless interference is what's causing your Netflix app to buffer before playing but wouldn't change the wireless issues for any other devices.
It's a sony tv, netflix is an app, i guess i could hardwire it. I can also just link it to my router,

Hardworking IS linking it to your router, that's the same thing.

which is standing right next to it. Never had the cable for that but i got an ethernet cable with the play 1's so now i can. Would that make a difference?


Yes of course, it would mean your TV won't be relying on your wireless network, so it can't suffer from interference. That's the problem here, it's not your download speed.