Cannot connect Gen2 Sub to Amp since updating to S2

Thanks, John. Then in your opinion, what are my options moving forward?

(I am not saying these are necessarily appealing or practical, just possible)

Please also bear in mind that I am just making an intelligent(?) guess at what the problem is, so one option is to explore further with Sonos Support.  It does seem the most plausible explanation to me, though, and much more plausible than S2 being the cause.

You could just try again - you never know.

You could go back to a C:A, if it is a gen 2 (I am assuming you don’t want to go back to S1).  That would be a shame though.

You could drill holes and wire the Sub to the router.  If you do, you should also wire the Amp to the router, and disable the wireless radios on both devices (misleadingly described as ‘Disable WiFi’ in the product settings).  Before you drill holes, you might want to temporarily run Ethernet to both devices ‘overground’ to check that it works.

I hope that helps.  And remember, I could be wrong!

Thanks, John. 

How do we get Sonos Support to opine here? Happy to submit a diagnostics. My previous chats have not been fruitful.

Hi @jzm, thanks for reaching out to the Sonos Community!

I’d have to agree with John B here - it seems most likely that the issue is one of range. As he has mentioned, the Sub will be connecting to the Amp via a 5GHz connection, while with the Connect:Amp it would have been using 2.4GHz (with a longer effective range).

From the sound of things, either reducing the distance between the two, or wiring both the Amp and the Sub to the network would be the answer here - of course you are more than welcome to submit a diagnostic and let us know the confirmation number, and we’ll be happy to take a look :)

Hello Xander,

The diagnostics number is 2063670972.

Thanks much and let me know if you need any other info. 

I am surprised that Sonos would not have made more clear the risk of something like this happening with the Amp upgrade.

I would be amazed if Sonos did mention this.  The Amp has to be marketed for what it is - a new product that stands or falls on its own merits, not as an upgrade to the Connect:Amp.  Highlighting the issue that you have encountered would be a baffling, irrelevant technical point that might put off many potential purchasers for whom it would be completely irrelevant.  No company is going to do this (if they want to stay in business).

I realise that that is no comfort to you, for whom it is a 100% real, practical issue.  I hope you manage to find a solution that works for you.

Thanks for sending that over @jzm, not seeing the Sub listed in the diagnostic at all I’m afraid.

As the Amp is a home theater device, it relies on a 5GHz connection for any surrounds/sub connected to it - I can certainly see your point regarding the difference not being made clear, and I’ll be happy to pass that on.

For a solution, it does look like you would need to either wire the Sub & Amp to the network, or move them physically closer.

Another option, if you had a standalone speaker, would be to bond the Sub to that standalone speaker (placed in the desired room), and leave that standalone speaker grouped to the Amp.

Hope this helps :)

One other possibility would be a powerline adapter with an Ethernet connection and wifi disabled, to connect to the Sub.  Powerline adapters are not supported by Sonos, but do sometimes work fine.  It would be a long shot, at your own risk, but might just work.  As mentioned previously, you would have to wire the Amp too, and ‘disable WiFi’ on Amp and Sub.

Thank you both. 

To clarify: 

1. When you say wire the Sub & Amp to the network, you mean to wire them both to the router (not to each other). 
2. Moving the Amp closer to the Sub would work, but adding a Boost wired to router and closer to the Sub would not work.
3. If #2 is correct, I will try the powerline adapter next.

Hi again. Yes I meant wire them both to the router. However, wiring the Amp to the router and the Sub to the Amp might also work. It seems it should but I'm not totally sure.  (Again,  "Disable WiFi" on both devices.)

2. Correct. 

3. OK. Please let us know how things go.