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Unable to add my Amp to the network ...

  • 22 October 2023
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R
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Hello,

Our Sonos system consist of 2 Boosts, 5 Connect Amp compatible with S2, 1 Amp and 1 Arc.  The Connect Amps are distributed in the home while the Arc and Amp are in the living room connected to our television.  Boosts are needed to extend the Sonos network.

I recently realized that a part of our home internet network was not working.  Some ethernet connections needed to be worked on.  I had to make changes in the wiring and the connections.

I suspect that part of my problems were created when adding a TP-Link Deco mesh system on my home network to have a better signal in all our home that is not ethernet wired entirely.

So I played around with all the wires and cables of our internet and Sonos networks.  When reconnecting everything, my Amp was not recognized anymore on my Sonos network and my Arc’s button were not responsive anymore.  I don’t know if the 2 problems are caused by the same problem.

So I tried very hard to have my Amp recognize by the network.  I also tried resetting it to factory settings many times with no success.  Later, it did recognize the Amp by was never able to add it to the Sonos system.  

This morning, I moved the Amp near my main Boost.  I reset it another time to it’s factory setting.  This time the Amp was recognized and added to the system, but Sonos said it was unable to add it to displayed configuration of the Sonos app.  I tried once more with no success.

Over the years, I never had problems configuring or making changes to my Sonos configuration with my older S2 compatible Connect Amp.  I never had any problem.  Everything was a breeze.  I was always surprised how simple the Sonos setup was taken care of.  

Since the newer Amp, configuration has been tricky, quite complicated and not straightforward anymore.  Is it my fault or caused by our more complicated internet network or is the new Amp more flaky, I don’t know.  One thing is sure, I have done a-lot of work and I am at the end of my personal options.

Can anyone help me going further fixing my 2 problems ?

Thanks in advance. 

 

 

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Best answer by rlesperance 27 October 2023, 03:03

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93 replies

Ken_Griffiths

I suspect you might have to outline your network topology to get the issue resolved by anyone here - is the TP-Link deco mesh operating in ‘router’ mode or ‘bridged AP’ mode - if it’s in ‘router mode’ did you bridge your original router, switching off it’s WiFi etc. (or switch it to modem mode)? In that instance, did you also remove the old WiFi SSID from your Sonos App network settings?

Where are your network switches now emanating from? 

Are any Sonos products wired (if using SonosNet?) and what Wireless/SonosNet channels are in use. Where are the Sonos products directly/indirectly wired to and how far away are they from your WiFi AP’s?

If the Amp works when it is connected (wired or wireless) to your current router, then I would personally suggest it’s a network related issue.

R
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Added question:

All my Sonos components are on a wireless network.  When trying to reset the Amp, the Sonos app said that the Amp cannot be ethernet wired since my other components are on a wireless network. 

My understanding is that the Boosts creates a distinct wireless network for my Sonos items.  But I wonder if it is a good idea to connect the Boost or any other component to our home network when a wired connection to the internet network is near or possible or is the Sonos network more reliable if left alone not relying or partly connected to the internet network ?  

 

 

 

 

R
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I am good and patient at trying but not a professional network geek.  I’ll try to answer your question one by one.

Like I said, now, the Sonos network is independent of our internet network.  Before the Boosts were wired to the network but when I realized that Sonos needed a dedicated network, I unplugged the Boosts.

If I get back to your comments, can you help me answer them one by one ?

 

Ken_Griffiths

As a quick test - you could just try this…

Wire one of your Sonos Boosts to whichever device is now your network router - whether that’s your main router (perhaps ISP provided?) or your new TP-Link Deco primary hub - it’s not clear to me at the moment which mode you’re using with the mesh hubs? So you need to resolve which device to connect it to. Set the Boost at least one metre away from the chosen router.

Wait about 10 minutes and then check your Sonos devices show WM:0 next to each device in the hardware list in the Sonos App ‘Settings/System/About My System’ … if any show WM:1 then just, for good measure, reboot them - albeit some devices do not use SonosNet (WM:0) these days.

Now try adding the Amp to your system using a mobile controller device that is connected to the ‘exact’ same routers WiFi access point. Let me know if that then works for you. If it does, then you may have a local network issue ‘perhaps’, but you can then go onto describe your network topology and we can see if there is ‘perhaps’ anything obviously incorrect with your current wired/wireless setup.

Hope that assists.

R
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(My global home network is not simple has I thought it was.  There is so many ifs or possibilities to tamper with, not knowing exactly what I am doing is painful.  Thanks you for helping.)

FYI, my internet home network begins with my ISP’s router (IR) connected to the Deco Primary hub (DPH), itself connected to a TP-LINK Gigabit Ethernet switch (GES).  My first Boost (FB) is connected to the GES.

In my previous post, I said that the FB was not wired to the network.  That’s a recent change because I thought it didn’t need to be.  I am not really sure to understand how Sonos manages it’s own network (Canal 6).  It has always been wired to GES.  I wired it back because disconnecting it seemed to cause me problems.  

You asked to connect the FB to the DPH.  The DPH has only 2 ethernet ports.  The first is used to connect to my IR ans the second, connects to the GES.  Is connecting it to the GES the same has connecting it to the DPH ?   

R
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FYI … My Sonos network has been working perfectly before I began making recent changes to bad ethernet connectors and cables and moving cables around.  

Does this answer your questions regarding the basic IR and the DPH setup … ‘router’ mode or ‘bridged AP’ mode ?

Ken_Griffiths

It’s absolutely fine to leave your FB connected to the GES, but you haven’t mentioned which mode you’re using for the DPH, but I will hazard a guess that it’s now your main router, particularly as it appears in the link between your IR and the GES. It would make sense for that chosen setup configuration, although personally speaking, I tend to prefer a mesh setup in bridged AP mode, but it’s certainly not important when using SonosNet.

Just for clarification, did you disable the WiFi adapters on your IR - if not, then I would recommend you do that, better still… if the IR allows, set it to ‘Bridge’ or ‘Modem’ mode, that’s if it’s not operating in that way already (you haven’t mentioned the detail there).

Anyhow having the FB cabled to the GES is perfect - just ensure that FB is at least one metre away from both your IR and DPH (or anything else nearby that’s using wireless).

Next step… I’m just wondering how many Deco Hubs there are in the setup (I see you mentioned the satellites are not wired back to GES), but do you know what WiFi channels are in use by them and are you able to fix the channel and channel-width for their WiFi bands? - are the Deco using a combined 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz band?

If you can establish the 2.4Ghz WiFi channel(s) in use by your Deco - make sure all the hubs are using either WiFi channel 1, 6 or 11 as they are non-overlapping and my recommendation is to set the 2.4Ghz band channel-width to 20Mhz only. Then go onto select the SonosNet channel in the Sonos App so it is not the same as any of the Deco hubs (if that’s possible). 


Also, (but only) if you are not using any of these Sonos products…

  • Roam/Roam SL
  • Move/Move 2
  • Era100
  • Era 300

…whilst you are in the Sonos App Network Settings, with all your ‘existing’ Sonos products connected to the App, remove your WiFi credentials from the Sonos App. Your Sonos devices (are) will be using the FB SonosNet signal, rather than your Deco WiFi in the current setup described - so you do not need the WiFi credentials stored in your speakers. But just to say again, only do this if you do not have any of the above listed devices.

Once you’ve checked/done the above - ensure that your mobile device is connected to the DPH WiFi and not your IR WiFi (which should be disabled) and see if the Amp will now setup/work for you.

Whatever you do (apart from the FB) do not wire any other Sonos products to the LAN and definitely do not cable a Sonos product to any of your Deco satellite hubs.

R
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Before reading your last reply …  I wanted to share that I just called my ISP.  They confirmed that the IR is still a router and that it’s not a bridge.  They stated that it’s the best way to set things up since their router is required to have some other equipment they provide to us (wifi repeater to a controller for another tv set).

So, in short, I have 2 distinct routers, the IR and the DPH each one having their own network. The DPH basically controls everything and give us access to security and managing modes that the IR does not give us.

Would connecting the FB to the IR be better than to the GES ?

With your next reply, I will take time to read your last generous response.

 

Ken_Griffiths

Having two routers, one embedded inside the other, or linked of the other is often referred to as ‘Double NAT’ it’s not a huge issue, if carefully managed - they each have a different subnet, but firewalls can sometimes get in the way for updates and the such like… rather than data ‘passing through’ the first router when in bridge mode or modem mode. Controllers devices can sometimes also connect to the wrong subnet/network.

My question is do you ‘really’ need the IR WiFi enabled for your TV? - the fact you have a repeater might also be problematic - can’t you just switch off the repeater and have the TV use your Deco mesh WiFi instead? - I suspect it’s these things : IR WiFi and Repeater, that has been causing the problems you were seeing with the Amp.

Anything that connects to the IR, or repeater WiFi signal, will have problems communicating with your Sonos products on SonosNet, linked back to the DPH.

Ken_Griffiths

The purpose of a mesh system is to really help do away with WiFi repeaters/extenders etc. which in fact are listed as ‘unsupported’ by Sonos in their system requirements. 

R
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I will call my ISP but the response time is quite long.  So I am not sure actually about that answer.

My actual problem is more about having the Amp recognize but the Sonos network.  All my other Connect Amp are up and running perfectly like they always have.  The last culprit is the newer Amp.  It worked before and I am not sure what is the add-on that broke that setup.

I will try, disconnecting temporarily the IR wifi repeater to see if that allows me to connect the Amp and, if reconnecting it later could be a possible solution.

The other problem is the unresponsive sound control buttons on the Arc, but, my guess, is that this problem is probably related to the tv set cables.

 

Ken_Griffiths

I need to perhaps mention one other thing to you at this stage …and that is you could choose to set the IR as your main router and put the Deco mesh hubs to operate in ‘Bridged AP’ mode instead, rather than ‘router mode’… effectively the Deco Hubs take over from your routers WiFi adapters and just handle the WiFi network around your home - again you would disable the router WiFi and all the deco hubs will become wireless access points.

In that type of setup your IR would be wired direct to the GES and you would hang a wired deco hub off that switch, but it would first need to be switched to ‘bridge mode’. All the deco hubs will then operate in the same way as wireless access points. They can be wired (preferably) back to GES, or left unwired, just leaving the one hub cabled.

Anyhow that’s a matter for you to think about - it means though that everything operates on one subnet only and all get their IP addresses from your IR DHCP server rather than the DOH acting as the router gateway for an embedded local network subnet.

As I say, it’s a matter for you to think about and consider.

Ken_Griffiths

I will call my ISP but the response time is quite long.  So I am not sure actually about that answer.

My actual problem is more about having the Amp recognize but the Sonos network.  All my other Connect Amp are up and running perfectly like they always have.  The last culprit is the newer Amp.  It worked before and I am not sure what is the add-on that broke that setup.

I will try, disconnecting temporarily the IR wifi repeater to see if that allows me to connect the Amp and, if reconnecting it later could be a possible solution.

The other problem is the unresponsive sound control buttons on the Arc, but, my guess, is that this problem is probably related to the tv set cables.

If your DPH is acting as a router, as I suspect - you’ve certainly wired it in that way between your IR and GES - then just ensure your mobile controller device is connected to the DPH WiFi and not your IR or Repeater WiFi - as that’s probably where the issue lies. (I suspect).

In fact in your mobile device network settings, it might be best to ‘forget’ the IR WiFi for the time being and just connect to the DPH WiFi only. Then try setting up the Amp from its factory state (flashing green  status LED).

R
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FYI … I have 3 Deco unit.  The first one (FB) is wired to the second passing through 2 GES.  The 3rd is connected to the 2nd through wifi.  The Deco network has been very easy to setup and has been working has intended since day 1 without any problem ..  that’s what I have experienced.

The second Boost is connected to the second Deco.

SonosNet seems to be using canal 6.  That’s what I see in the Network item of the Sonos app on my iPhone.  I understand that the Decos should not use canal 6 but only 1 or 11.  I don’t know how to do that, but I will give it a try.

 

 

R
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I moved the FB at least 1 meter away, disconnected the IP Wifi Repeater and rebooted all routers to reset the entire network.  

I then tried to add the Amp another time.  The Sonos app requested the code under the unit as it always does … but was eventually not able to add it.  I tried 3 times with no success.  I get this message:

“ A problem has occurred when trying to connect the Sonos Amp to your LespeReeves network. “ 

LespeReeves is our home network. Why didn’t it ask me to connect to Sonos’s network, the Canal 6 network ?

Ken_Griffiths

So we have…

IR —> DPH —> GES —> FB

…and the second Boost is also ’directly’ wired back to the same GES switch aswell. Is that correct? If so, that’s okay - but do you know which device is acting as the Sonos root bridge?

Just to also clarify …are the other two Deco ‘satellite’ Hubs wireless and am I correct to assume that nothing (Sonos) is wired to their Ethernet ports (hopefully) ?

Ken_Griffiths

I moved the FB at least 1 meter away, disconnected the IP Wifi Repeater and rebooted all routers to reset the entire network.  

I then tried to add the Amp another time.  The Sonos app requested the code under the unit as it always does … but was eventually not able to add it.  I tried 3 times with no success.  I get this message:

“ A problem has occurred when trying to connect the Sonos Amp to your LespeReeves network. “ 

LespeReeves is our home network. Why didn’t it ask me to connect to Sonos’s network, the Canal 6 network ?

Are your Sonos devices showing WM:0 (SonosNet) in your Sonos App ‘About My Sonos System’ - Also did you remove the WiFi credentials from the Sonos App network settings, as mentioned earlier? - only do that whilst all players are showing in your App.

R
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I will get back …  

 

LespeReeves is our home network. Why didn’t it ask me to connect to Sonos’s network, the Canal 6 network ?

Ken_Griffiths

Let me know if you are unable to do the things I mention to you, as each step maybe important to get the Amp up and running - I need feedback on the steps you take, (or skip) …or we might possibly be here a while,

Can you perhaps (at some stage) also double check that the Deco system is operating in router mode rather than ‘bridged AP’ mode, because if it’s the latter, then you have the PDH incorrectly wired to the network too.

Ken_Griffiths

I will get back …  

 

LespeReeves is our home network. Why didn’t it ask me to connect to Sonos’s network, the Canal 6 network ?

I suspect it cannot see the SonosNet network - it might be on a different subnet,  or perhaps more likely you might be running the setup in ‘mixed mode’ - That’s why I suggested earlier that you remove the WiFi credentials from your Sonos App network settings (whilst all devices were showing in the App) but only do this if all are WM:0 in the ‘About My Sonos System’, as discussed.

Ken_Griffiths

Note too that SonosNet is a ‘hidden’ WiFi/Wired mesh network, exclusive to Sonos  - you should not see it yourself nor need to worry about it. You will certainly not need to connect your mobile to it, or be asked to connect the Amp to it during setup - it’s looking for your WiFi probably because it’s not finding the existing system.

Can you just clarify if LespeReeves originates from the IR WiFi adapters, or from DPH?

R
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Yes … all Sonos devices show up as WM:0.

 

So we have…

IR —> DPH —> GES —> FB

…and the second Boost is also ’directly’ wired back to the same GES switch aswell. Is that correct? If so, that’s okay - but do you know which device is acting as the Sonos root bridge?

Just to also clarify …are the other two Deco ‘satellite’ Hubs wireless and am I correct to assume that nothing (Sonos) is wired to their Ethernet ports (hopefully) ?

 

IR —> Deco1 (D1) —> GES1 —> FB or Boost1 (B1)

                                     GES1 —> GES2 —> D2 —> B2

                                   

The wiring from GES1 goes to a second another TP-Link gigabit ethernet (GES2) before connecting to a second Deco device and then to the B2.

 

How do I know which device is acting as the Sonos root bridge ?

How do I remove the WiFi credentials from the Sonos App network settings ?

R
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Can you just clarify if LespeReeves originates from the IR WiFi adapters, or from DPH?

 

In my iMac’s wifi settings , I see that the LespeReeves IP address begins with 192.168 ….  That would tell me that LespeReeves is connected to the DPH or D1 router.  It cannot be connected to the IR Wifi adapter/repeater.

 

Ken_Griffiths

Yes … all Sonos devices show up as WM:0.

 

 

IR —> Deco1 (D1) —> GES1 —> FB or Boost1 (B1)

                                     GES1 —> GES2 —> D2 —> B2

                                   

The wiring from GES1 goes to a second another TP-Link gigabit ethernet (GES2) before connecting to a second Deco device and then to the B2.

 

How do I know which device is acting as the Sonos root bridge ?

How do I remove the WiFi credentials from the Sonos App network settings ?

Plug the Boost (B2) into GES2 and don’t wire anything (Sonos) to the Deco Satellite (D2)

R
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Plugging the B2 to GES2 would distance B2 from the Sonos devices it is suppose to extend the network.  Do I do that ? What am I suppose to experience ?

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