You can use the Sonos Network Matrix by typing this URL in a web browser:

http://<device ip>:1400/support/review and click on the “Network Matrix” link.

Here is a thread on how to read the matrix:

The network matrix is of limited value if running Sonos in WiFi mode.  I assume you are currently running Sonos in WiFi mode, i.e. with no Sonos device wired?  

Also, mesh systems often have features the make life difficult for Sonos in WiFi mode.  So if you don’t have a wired Sonos device at the moment, I think you are going to need one whether or not you get a mesh system.

So I would try wiring a speaker experimentally to your router before you attempt to install a mesh system.  Wiring a Sonos device shifts Sonos data traffic onto SonosNet, which is itself a mesh.  Give the system a couple of minutes to reconfigure and check in About My System that all devices have WM:0 next to them, not WM:1.

Edit: I notice from a previous thread that you are already using SonosNet or have tried it.  I still think it is worth pursuing this.

Hi @JackInBrooklyn, thanks for raising this with the Sonos Community!

While the network matrix suggested above can be a valuable resource when checking the signal health across your system, it’s more relevant in a SonosNet (wired) setup, than when Sonos is on the WiFi.

What you can do though is submit a diagnostic before and after installing the mesh, and post each confirmation number in a reply to this thread, and we’ll be happy to take a look and give some idea on how the signal health & strength compares :)

Edit: as mentioned by John B, I’d also recommend testing in SonosNet again to see if that avoids issues with cutting out. Also useful to note that when grouping, it’s typically best to start the group from either a wired speaker, or a speaker that is comparatively close to the router, and thus has a stronger signal.

I am currently using Sonos Net, with two speakers wired to the router.

Is it possible that my new mesh router works work better than the Sonos Net? I've always been confused as to why I have deep outs when i have a speaker in just about every room. Would that not allow the Sonos Net to be fairly robust?

Here are diags as things stands now.

593371025

Thanks!

SonosNet is essentially a parallel wireless signal, so is subject to all the same issues as covered in the wifi interference FAQ. Particularly the broadcast channels should not overlap, and some mesh networks don’t allow you to lock down the channel they use. 

If you’re interested in more assistance, it may help those with more mesh network experience if you were to mention which one you have, if it’s locked down to a specific channel, and what channel you’re using for SonosNet.

I’d also suggest restricting, if you can, your mesh channel to 20kHz channel width, rather than 40Khz, which would help protect your SonosNet usage from bleed over. Most of this would be covered in that linked FAQ. Finally, I’d also make sure that there’s at least half a meter between the device creating your SonosNet, and any mesh network device in use. 

   Have you checked that every device is on WM:0?

The mesh system i have now is a TP-Link Deco. The channel selection is automatic.  I've done speed tests over the wifi on my phone and i get download speeds ranging from 4.7 to 13.7 depending on where i am in the house.

The new one i got to try is an Eero 6 (not pro). I've not opened it, and am not sure about channel configuration.

All speakers are WM:0

Sonos channel is set to 1

You mentioned that the problem mainly occurs when several rooms are grouped.

When you do so it is best to start the group from a wired speaker,  or one with a strong signal. Is that your normal practice?

Edit sorry I see that this point has previously been made. 

What sources are you playing?

Yes, I do try to pay attention to the speaker I use as the group master.  Normally, I use the Kitchen or the Office.

I play music library from a NAS hard drive or streaming radio like SiriusXM.

Hi @JackInBrooklyn, thanks for posting that diagnostic :)

Looks like the wired Office (R) speaker is being flooded with data over the Ethernet connection - is it connected directly to the router, or via a network switch?

Given that you also have the Office (L) speaker wired, it may be worth disconnecting the Ethernet cable from the (R) speaker, and testing the system on just a single wired component.

I’m also seeing some wireless noise across the system, particularly on the Bathroom speaker - as Sonos is currently using channel 1, I’d recommend checking that your mesh is set to either 6 or 11, as well as making sure there are no other wireless devices too close to the speakers.

Let us know how you get on :)

First, thanks to all for the help so far.  I appreciate your efforts.

My TP-Deco mesh router selects the best channel on its own and it is not manually configurable.  I know….that’s a drag.

I have not connected the Eero, yet...wanted to wait to see what you all had to say about that first.

The WiFi analyzer app on my phone shows the TP-Deco mesh router is using channel 4.  Sonos Net is on channel 1.  That does not seem to show up on my WiFi Analyzer app, as far as I can tell.

There are weak signals on channel 1, 6, & 11.  I presume they are from my neighbors.  I live in Brooklyn in a narrow (18’) detached house that is about 3’ from each of my neighbor’s  homes.

@Xander P , how can you tell there are a flood of data on the Office (R)?

The Office(R) & Office (L) speakers are wired to the router through a Netgear switch as my router has only 1 RJ45 port.

Should I disconnect the Office(R) and run it?  Should I submit more diags after doing that?

Thanks,

John

Hi @JackInBrooklyn, in the diagnostics we can check the Transmission Queue of players, and on the Office (R) speaker, the queue is being flooded with more data than it can send. 

Disconnecting the Office (R) speaker would be a good place to start, however the issue may just jump over to the Office (L) speaker if it’s the only wired unit - lets give it a try, and if you can send a further diagnostic after that would be great.

If the issue does just jump over, we may need to look in to the settings of the switch - is it a managed, or unmanaged switch? Do you have the model number of the switch available?

@Xander P  - Sorry for the slow response.

I disconnected the Ethernet cable from Office (R) while streaming SiriusXM in the K, DR, & LR.

I ran diagnostics.  387228641.

I was upstairs, but I thought I heard the radio drop out for a bit, so I ran diagnostics again.  51776024

The switch is unmanaged.  It’s a Netgear ProSafe 8 port gigabit switch model  GS108.

As a note, I did switch over to the Eero mesh network for the home network.  I am getting MUCH higher speedtest results all over the house.  I noticed it has selected channel 1, so I switch the SonosNet to channel 11, which seems to be less crowded signal-wise.

Let me know what you think.

Thank you again,

John

Some versions of Netgear GS108 are incompatible with Sonos:

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/41?language=en_US

Nice catch, @Clausn. My switch is a v3, which is not on the incompatible list.

@Xander PJust for fun, I configured Sonos to use the Eero mesh WiFi. 

Here is a diag from when it was set up that way, in case that is helpful: 788605658

I don’t think I am going to keep the Eero because it does not allow me to configure the local IP addresses nor does it allow for channel selection.  But trying it has shown me that my TP-LINK Deco is not performing very well.  If I am using SonosNet, I guess that doesn’t really matter to the Sonos.

I still don’t get why the SonosNet doesn’t create a very robust network when I have a speaker in just about every room in the house.  It’s never far from one speaker to another.

Since SonosNet is just another radio signal, it has all the same potential issues as a ‘normal’ WiFi signal, including the issues described in the wifi interference FAQ. It isn’t a magic bullet. As a random guess, it could be clashing with your own WiFi signal, if they’re both using the same channel. Or, for that matter, as has happened to me, my neighbor’s new router stomped all over the channel I had been using until they moved in, I had to adjust my SonosNet channel. 

Thanks, @Airgetlam .  That makes total sense.  What I do not completely  understand is why the new Eero mesh wifi router with its 2 satellite units (one on each floor of my narrow, 3-story house) gives great speedtest results all around the housebut the SonosNet does not create a robust mesh network with LOTS more speakers to serve as nodes in the mesh network.

Because in order for the Eero to work the way they designed it to, it breaks your network into separate ‘segments’, or subnets, all with the same SSID and password. Since Sonos was designed to be on a single subnet, the speakers are unable to ‘reach’ each other across multiple subnets, and as a result, fail to connect. 

I’m slightly oversimplifying things, I suspect, but that’s the gist of the issue. Euro was designed for device to internet connections, Sonos was designed for device to device, to controller, to internet. Eero doesn’t support that kind of ‘mesh’ connections. 

Speedtest measures the speed from your device to the Eero, to the internet. It doesn’t measure the connection speed in between nodes in your local system, such as Sonos uses. It’s a great measure of how fast your system reaches an outside server, but a poor measure of how one device on the network connects to another device on the network.

Your current setup, with each speaker plugged in to a separate puck on a separate subnet,  sets up the Sonos to fail, since they are blocked from seeing each other. If you remove all but one speaker’s cable, and leave that one connected to the base eero unit, it will force your Sonos system to work off of SonosNet, the original mesh network Sonos came up with all those years ago. 

Hi @JackInBrooklyn, apologies for the late reply, I’ve been out of the “office" for a little bit :)

From the diagnostic while set up on the Eero WiFi (788605658), there is a little bit of increased interference, likely just as a result of more devices using the same wireless channel compared to the SonosNet setup.

Regarding the SonosNet diagnostic (51776024), it looks like the Office (R) speaker that we removed the Ethernet cable from is taking a wireless root bridge role which is not ideal, though the transmission queues have since disappeared.

It might be worth rebooting each Sonos device, starting with the wired unit, and working your way out from there, to re-establish the mesh and properly assign Root Bridge to the wired speaker. As mentioned by Airgetlam as well, we’d recommend only wiring a single unit to the main node of the Eero, rather than any of the secondary nodes :)

Just to be clear, you are suggesting that I

• Use SonosNet
• Wire only 1 Office speaker to the router (does it matter which one?)
• Unplug all Sonos speakers and then power on the one connected to the router followed by each other speaker starting with the one closest to the office.

That’s exactly correct, yes :)

Let us know if you have any issues after taking those steps, and feel free to send a further diagnostic for comparison!

Best to use the left speaker in a pair for network and line in connections, as it acts as the co-ordinator for the pair.

I (finally) unplugged all speakers and plugged them in one at a time from Office on down. Router is wired to Office(L). All speakers are now on SonosNet.

Here are diags: 423693921

Thank you,

John