Adding Bridge to system to help Play 5 (Gen 1) connectivity

Hello again!

While the £2 bridge has improved connectivity, it is still dropping out at times. The bridge is currently hardwired and near my router. As I’m using it to extend the signal to one speaker, I think I should I try and move it closer to that speaker? That’s going to be tricky while still having the ethernet cable plugged in. Can the bridge work without it? I just read the info about the Boost (which I’m really trying to avoid buying...) which indicates to me that it CAN work as a booster without being hardwired.

Sorry for all the questions again!

Brucie

How close is the Bridge to the router? If it’s within 1 metre or less it could be experiencing interference. (Boost is more resilient in this regard.)

Have you tried changing your SonosNet wireless channel? It should be spaced at least 5 away from whatever channel the router’s WiFi is using at 2.4GHz. Also the router should use a 20MHz bandwidth at 2.4GHz, not 40MHz, to avoid overlaps.

As to your other question, a Bridge -- or a Boost -- can operate as a wireless relay, but only if there’s already some other Sonos component wired to the network.

However in many cases an unwired Bridge/Boost will be completely ignored, as SonosNet will optimise for ‘cheaper’ wireless paths by minimising the number of wireless hops.

While its diagnostic capability is diminishing for S2 systems you can go to http://x.x.x.x:1400/support/review and open the Network Matrix at the bottom. x.x.x.x is the IP address of a player that you can find at Settings → System → About My System. Red cells highlight potential issues. Note that this is a static view. If you change something, wait a couple minutes, then refresh the page to view current conditions. Unfortunately, the latest crew of players does not post much data to the Network Matrix.

Hi there

Thanks for the quick reply! Yes the bridge is less than 1 meter from the router - I’ll see if I can move it a bit, but somewhat constrained by socket outlets/length of power cable and need to not have stuff trailing over the floor! 

I did change the wireless channels - it seemed to work a bit better on 1 out of the 3, but still not perfect. The location of the router isn’t really a good spot for another product (other than the bridge). 

I’ve checked and changed my router to be channel 11 and bridge on channel 1. Router is at 2.4Ghz but I’m not sure how to make sure its on 20Mhz bandwidth, is it default?

thanks 

It depends, but probably. What router is it? 

its a BT Smart Hub Type A

Fine. BT hubs default to 20MHz at 2.4GHz. 

Thank you - I’m very impressed that you know when I failed to find out anywhere else!

I’ve moved bridge as much as possible from the router and changed the channels. Will check out over the next few days and see if it’s liveable with. Otherwise I guess I’ll get the boost in the hope that it’s better spec will make the difference. Looks like I can get a discount, but still £85!!!

Thanks again for all your help - I would never have got this far without it and have learnt lots about my system

BW

Brucie

Sorry I missed your post earlier. Thanks for this. I have some orange cells - but what is written in them might as well be greek to me! Can you take a look and advise? This is with all products on the sonosnet system. The one labelled Big One is the Play 5 which is given me problems…. I’m using S1

Thank you in advance

Noise Floor in the other rooms is very good, Big One is reasonable, not great. Bridge to Bedroom connection is a little weak.

Note again that this is static view. Refresh it from time to time because you may see some changes. If there are changes, take notes because you may find correlations with time of day or activities in or near your home.

Moving Bridge a few inches may make a difference.