Hardwire 2 Sonos speakers into home network. Loop?

  • 24 December 2020
  • 8 replies
  • 238 views
fuksi85
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I hardwired two Sonos speakers to my home Network powered by 3 Google Nest WiFi pucks and 3 Google WiFi pucks. They're almost all hardwired to eachother like below:

Modem - Main Puck - Unmanaged 8-ports switch - remaining pucks. 

 

For two of the remaining pucks, I also connected a Sonos speaker to the respective LAN ports. 

 

Sonos is in "wired mode" so creating its own network. 

 

I started having problems with the WiFi  network repeatedly loosing internet access. Google looked at diagnostics and detected a loop, rogue DHCP, and other issues. 

 

I was thinking... Could this be caused by having Two Sonos speakers wired to the network? 

I now disconnected one as a test and the issues seem to be gone. 

 

Thanks for any insights. 

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8 replies

ratty

I hardwired two Sonos speakers to my home Network powered by 3 Google Nest WiFi pucks and 3 Google WiFi pucks. They're almost all hardwired to eachother like below:

Modem - Main Puck - Unmanaged 8-ports switch - remaining pucks. 

 

For two of the remaining pucks, I also connected a Sonos speaker to the respective LAN ports. 

 

Sonos is in "wired mode" so creating its own network.

 

You say almost all the pucks are wired. Are either of the two wired Sonos devices connected to wireless Google pucks? If so you’d be asking for problems. Sonos would be dependent on the Google wireless backhauls, including detecting and resolving a potential loop through the two wired devices.

If you’re going to wire any Sonos devices (which is recommended, especially with Google WiFi) then wire them to the main puck, or at least something which has a direct wired connection to it such as the switch.

fuksi85
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They are not. 

They're connected to Wired Pucks. 

I disconnected one of the two wired Sonos and the loop seems to have disappeared. Which might make sense if the unmanageable switch is potential not forwarding BPDUs even if I don't understand why it shouldn't.

ratty

I disconnected one of the two wired Sonos and the loop seems to have disappeared. Which might make sense if the unmanageable switch is potential not forwarding BPDUs even if I don't understand why it shouldn't.

The Google logs could well have seen BPDUs as the two wired Sonos would have been exchanging them. 

Which switch do you have?

fuksi85
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It's a Netgear GS208. 

Google says the loop is still there. Hum…

Wish I could look at the logs myself. 

ratty

GS208 should be okay. 

Google is seeing BPDUs because that’s how STP works. If there was an actual unblocked loop your network would have collapsed under a broadcast storm.

fuksi85
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That's exactly my thought. 

I have the impression the Google tech support agents have no clue about networks. 

I suspected that when they said the loop is caused by the static IP addresses I have for some devices... 🤣

ratty

I have the impression the Google tech support agents have no clue about networks. 

I suspected that when they said the loop is caused by the static IP addresses I have for some devices... 🤣

Oh dear. A pretty fundamental illiteracy there. IPs are at layer 3 (network). Bridging, topology resolution and loop avoidance are at layer 2 (data link). 

fuksi85
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Indeed. 🤣

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