Understanding my Matrix

  • 5 December 2020
  • 9 replies
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Userlevel 7
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One of my speakers was missing last night and only a reboot would make it come back (lost my queue :tired_face: ).

I checked my matrix today and see lots of red on the left.

I’ve not made any changes recently that I can recall.

Everything is connected on Sonosnet and it is the Connect that is hard wired.

Anything obvious from the above where it could be breaking down?

Sonos is on Channel 6 and home WiFi is on Channel 1

Diagnostics:1534865620

EDIT: Sorry for typo in title.


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9 replies

Could be wifi interference https://support.sonos.com/s/article/3286?language=en_US

However, I see that you have made a lot of replies to the forum helping others, so maybe you already know the linked article 😊

Try moving the CONNECT a foot this way or that in order to improve it’s Noise Floor. Changing the channel may help. OFDM levels are bad or worse. Use a WiFi snooper tool, such as WiFi Analyzer for Android, to find a clearer channel.

Your matrix looks better than mine sometimes looks. In my area there are a few homes that are using Auto channel assignment and they’ll be off the 1, 6, 11 grid and move from day to day. In the last couple days I’ve seen people using channels 3, 4, 5, and 9. There’s sometimes a guy on channel 9 who is using 40MHz channels.

In my case, if I wait long enough, a problem room will come back online. Usually I don’t have any trouble.

And, we cannot rule out a hardware issue.

Is Adams Room having issues? Swapping the PLAY:5 G1 with another might help because the newer units have better radios.

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Yes, I certainly suspect some interference but I don’t know from where (including neighbours).

Not sure how it relates to my Root Bridge being orange and the relevance of the secondary/tertiary nodes etc. though. Or how close the Noise Floors are to being a problem and how they relate to the greens across to the right.

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Sorry buzz, hadn’t noticed your reply as I posted.

Moving the Connect isn’t that easy, even by just foot.

I completely disabled my 2.4 network and it had minimal effect unfortunately.  Strange as I’m ‘lucky’ in that very little shows up locally.

I dug out an old copy of Inssider and scanned on the PC (WiFi Analyzer on phone only picked up my own SSID’s) and it’s what I would say is quite ‘clean’.  There is a strange one that seems to just be in the format of a MAC address - but a lookup of it suggests ‘IEE Registration Authority’.  Not a clue what that device is - it also shows as Channels 1+5.?

 

Anyway, I moved Sonos to 11 and it’s made three of the reds go straight to green which is great - no surprise I guess, looking at how empty the spectrum is there?

Strangely, the one remaining red is the Play:3 that is in the Living Room and about 6ft, clear path, from the Connect.

Green is one thing, but how do the ‘numbers’ look?  In the dim and distant past I seem to remember putting a cable into the Play 3 and having network issues instantly.  If I were to try to have that cabled instead, should I just removed the cable from the Connect and put one in the Play 3 and it should adjust automaitcally - or manually change the Root Bridge?

This is a big improvement in most areas. CONNECT as the only wired unit is the worst choice because of the relatively high noise floor.

I’m anal about wiring. Your experience with the network crashing when there are multiple wired SONOS units suggests that there is an STP issue. If you are using managed switches make sure that they are set for STP, not RSTP. Wiring two otherwise wireless SONOS units together might create issues.

SONOS is usually able to work through configuration issues on its own. I’ve done some really mean things, such moving the only wired connection to another player while music is playing. The music continued uninterrupted. Naturally, I can’t expect that this will always be the case.

Your area is much cleaner than mine. Not shown here is an intermittent channel 9 40MHz neighbor.

 

Don’t overlook the possibility of local interferers such as Bluetooth. A strong BT signal from a long-range audio transmitter will drive ANI up to 9 all through my home. Sonos deals with it. 

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A speaker dropping off network could un unrelated to the ‘red’ on the left column, eg  could be another network issue, duplicate IP etc.

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Duplicate IP’s shouldn’t be an issue as they’re all reserved on the router..

Anyway, moving Sonos channels was a red herring and the apparent improvement wasn’t related.  I was surprised to see the improvement when I moved Sonos to CH11 as the channel it was on (6) was pretty clear anyway.  I checked a bit later and it was red again.

I’ve found the culprit though - PS4 Dualshock controllers (maybe it won’t surprise ratty?).  The improvement coincided with my son powering off his PS4.  However, when I then powered it back on I didn’t see the return of the interference.  Initially confused, I then turned the controller on and sure enough, seconds later a refresh of the matrix had 4 or 5 in the red.  Turned them off and it was fine again shortly after.  So it’s not the PS4 unit but the controllers themselves, which are bluetooth.

I also moved the network cable from the Connect to the Play:3 and it did become the Root Bridge too.  Will see how it goes but I was most surprised to see the effect that BT was having on the matrix - especially as there isn’t even a Sonos unit in the room it’s in...

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Anyway, moving Sonos channels was a red herring

Ahh, I see now, the red in the Matrix is actually a red herring, all makes sense now :grinning: