If you’re getting a “password incorrect” error when you’re trying to connect your SONOS product to your WIFI, below is what is likely wrong (*Spoiler alert, it is likely NOT that you entered the wrong password, accidentally copied and pasted a space into your password, or used a “tricky” special character).
The culprit is most likely that your SONOS component (or app if you are a S1 user) is a model that cannot connect to your router’s current setting...BUT...you can probably do a quick setting change to your router to fix the issue. For example, my old Connect Amp running S1 needs my router to be set to 2.4 ghz and 802.11g. My new router broadcasts in both 2.4 and 5 ghz (so no issue there), but it defaults to 802.11n only. I had to access the router’s settings and switch it from 802.11n only to 802.11 n+b+g to finally get passed the dreaded “password incorrect” error.
If you’re curious what WIFI mode your SONOS component is compatible with, see the following link:
https://support.sonos.com/en/article/supported-wifi-modes-and-security-standards-for-sonos-products
For those not super computer savvy who do not know how to check and change your router’s WIFI mode, my advice is to search for an online video for your particular router that walks you through it.
I’m posting this because after 2 years of using a few older SONOS components, I changed my router and suddenly I was unable to connect to WIFI because my password “was incorrect,” despite every other device in my house having no issue. I troubleshot the issue for three days before figuring out the problem. I read numerous old community posts on this topic where the majority of feedback accused the poster of entering their password wrong or confusing a ‘5’ with an ‘S’ in their password etc. A few users had tried SONOS tech support and the service rep could not figure it out either--which is surprising considering SONOS has an article (see link above) that addresses the various WIFI capabilities of their different products. Even more frustrating is this has been a recurring issue for at least 5 years based on past posts, and yet the SONOS article above makes no mention that an incompatible WIFI mode will trigger a “password incorrect” error, and the SONOS app is not sophisticated enough to decipher the difference between an incorrect WIFI password and an incompatible WIFI mode setup. So hopefully this helps some folks out there.
P.S. if you are trying to set up a SONOS product and get to the part where it says your product has created a WIFI network named “SONOS” but no network is appearing, make sure you do not have an ethernet cable plugged into your unit. I can’t speak for all components, but with a connect amp, even if the ethernet cable is not plugged into anything else, it somehow blocks the component from transmitting the temporary SONOS network. That’s an hour of my life I won’t get back...