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davida1992
Contributor I
June 24, 2017
Answered

Do I need my Sonos Bridge?

  • June 24, 2017
  • 4 replies
  • 24205 views
I purchased a Sonos Playbar and Sub with a Bridge a couple of years ago and they have been amazing ever since! In the near future I intent to purchase another playbar, some Play 5s, some Amps to drive ceiling speakers etc... We have very good wireless coverage throughout the house using Ubiquiti APs, but all Sonos devices are hard wired using CAT6, and I intend to keep this the same as I expand.

With this in mind I was always under the impression that the Sonos Bridge was essentially the hub of the system, I thought it was what controlled the full system, kept the settings, organised the rooms, kept the login details for Spotify and other music solutions, pulled updated etc. From what I have been reading though, it is basically just an access point, is this correct? If this is the case then I don't need the bridge I don't think... Can someone confirm?

If this is the case, then where are all the settings stored? Spotify is linked to Sonos so what device organises that ? How am I always signed in and how are all the settings kept? Or do I need the bridge?

Thanks.
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    Best answer by ratty
    Any Sonos devices operating wirelessly will usually connect with the nearest wired Sonos device, via the SonosNet dedicated wireless mesh. The only reason for keeping the BRIDGE is if a wireless unit has difficulty making contact with any other wired device (very unlikely in your case).

    A couple of points:

    You do not need to enter your Ubiquiti WiFi details into the Sonos system. In fact to do so can confuse it in a situation such as yours.

    Ensure that SonosNet and your Ubiquiti WiFi don't fight over 2.4GHz wireless channels. SonosNet can only use channels 1, 6 or 11. Make sure the WiFi is also set to 1, 6 or 11 -- choose one that Sonos isn't on -- and doesn't use a 40MHz width channel.

    4 replies

    ratty
    ratty
    June 24, 2017
    Discard the BRIDGE. You've never needed it with all your players wired. It is, as you surmise, just a 'bridge' between the wired network and SonosNet wireless. Any Sonos unit functions as a 'bridge'.

    Sonos is a distributed system. All the settings are replicated in each and every player.
      davida1992Author
      Contributor I
      June 24, 2017
      That is very clever 🙂 Thanks for the clarification on that... In the future, there may just be one or two devices that are not running over wired, can these just connect to my standard wireless network, or does it have to be connected to the bridge specifically?

      Thanks again.
        ratty
        rattyAnswer
        June 24, 2017
        Any Sonos devices operating wirelessly will usually connect with the nearest wired Sonos device, via the SonosNet dedicated wireless mesh. The only reason for keeping the BRIDGE is if a wireless unit has difficulty making contact with any other wired device (very unlikely in your case).

        A couple of points:

        You do not need to enter your Ubiquiti WiFi details into the Sonos system. In fact to do so can confuse it in a situation such as yours.

        Ensure that SonosNet and your Ubiquiti WiFi don't fight over 2.4GHz wireless channels. SonosNet can only use channels 1, 6 or 11. Make sure the WiFi is also set to 1, 6 or 11 -- choose one that Sonos isn't on -- and doesn't use a 40MHz width channel.
          davida1992Author
          Contributor I
          June 24, 2017
          Thanks very much, marked your answer as best, much appreciated 🙂
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