Will Sonos work plugging the Sonos Bridge into a Google WiFi Designated Router and mesh?

Hi there, JonGNewman. Thanks for posting! In most cases where users change their router to a Google WiFi mesh system, we recommend plugging one of your Sonos players to the main Google routing unit. This will ensure that Sonos can work on a separate mesh network outside of the Google WiFi mesh. To read more about switching from the standard wireless set up to a BOOST setup check out this article.

If you have any questions, I'm happy to clear anything up. Thanks!

Hi there, JonGNewman. Thanks for posting! In most cases where users change their router to a Google WiFi mesh system, we recommend plugging one of your Sonos players to the main Google routing unit. This will ensure that Sonos can work on a separate mesh network outside of the Google WiFi mesh. To read more about switching from the standard wireless set up to a BOOST setup check out this article.

If you have any questions, I'm happy to clear anything up. Thanks!

Hi Keith N

Just curious...you specifically state the recommended Boost component is a Sonos Speaker plugged into the main mesh unit. Is that to say that a the old Bridge and/or the new Boost components would be less reliable in a WiFi mesh setup or not work at all? Thanks in advance for your response ;)

Cheers

It could just as easily be your Bridge. There is no difference just because it is a mesh. (The Bridge is slightly older SonosNet technology than the Boost or recent players, but that is not significant.)

I'lll also mention that if you are still using your original router to connect to your ISP, it should be in modem mode if that option is available. If not, then you should turn WiFi off on the original router, and you should not connect anything by Ethernet to the original router except the 'main Google routing unit'.

Glad to add some detail!

With mesh networks (Google WiFi, Velop, etc) becoming more and more common in the household, this changes "default network layout" of most homes. That being said, some basic Sonos features like grouping, function with the help of something called direct routing. This means that any wireless extenders or nodes need to be broadcasting on the same wireless channel in order to send audio content to the entire group. Most mesh networks set their satellites on different channels to give each node a clean channel to communicate with and have the largest wireless footprint. As you can imagine, having a wireless network that tries to dominate the wireless spectrum in your house will certainly cause problems with a wireless home sound system.

Last I was aware, mesh networks like Google WiFi do not allow you to change internal settings such as the channel of each node. Instead of having to "dig into the weeds" of your new mesh network, we've found it easier to simply plug any one of your Sonos devices into the main routing unit. This allows for SonosNet to run separately and ideally on a "clean" wireless channel that the mesh network is not affecting.

Keep in mind, when adding a wireless mesh network, you are adding more wireless traffic in your household. This means that wireless communication will, in turn, become more difficult as more radios are broadcasting. In this case, you may want to evaluate what devices you want to be wireless and what devices can be wired into the network through something like an unmanaged network switch.

I switched to a Velop network because of WiFi issues.

As I'm sure most are aware there are really only three main Wifi Channels, 1, 6, and 11. If you live in a congested WiFi area, then it doesn't take much to hit interference issues.

Unfortunately I found that most ISP provided routers default to moving their channel depending on what they think is the best one to use. Sonosnet doesn't seem to support this as far as I can tell and so I was constantly getting problems when a router changed channel and then conflicted with Sonosnet.

So, I took the plunge and bought Velop, and changed my Sonos to use Wifi instead of Ethernet mode. Unless you live outside of any other Wifi network range, then I would not use a Mesh Wifi *AND* Sonosnet as you are just going to increase the chance of getting random congestion.

I found this helped as (mostly) Sonos moves with the Mesh network to the best channel. Occasionally Sonos components attach to the wrong mesh node and get a weak signal, but a quick off/on then fixes that. (Future Sonos Wifi enhancement? Periodically check for a stronger signal for the wireless SSID?)

What I didn't bank on was that Sky Q (If you're in the UK) also uses Mesh technology and as a result grabs control of the STP network, either main Q or mini boxes both have STP priority numbers below the defaults and Sonos. My network switches allow me to fix that and they are the STP root, and I can also make sure that Sonos devices are passed the old rather than newer STP cost numbers.

I'm not sure if that is needed when Sonos is in non-Sonosnet mode or not, I would hope not, but don't know. IF Sonos doesn't use STP in WiFi mode, then with a Mesh system it's another reason to not use Sonosnet. Although I still wouldn't want Sky Q controlling STP as it was giving weird behaviour with the Velops. Having Cisco switches controlling STP seems more stable, but is not an option for many.

When Sonos first started, they were probably the only Mesh game in town, but now it seems even TV systems are trying to do it and to many Mesh's is IMO not a great idea,