Adding Ethernet cable to the 'first-wired product'.

Each new generation of WiFi becomes more capable. WiFi of the 200x era was somewhat crude compared to the current hardware. That said, I still prefer wired when practical. I recently moved and at the moment am 100% wireless. I plan to wire a few things. This is an urban area and quick WiFi scan discovers about 100 access points. I’m amazed that I’m not experiencing issues.

I'd prefer to wire some of my Sonos (Arc, two Beams, 300 Pair) but if I wire the Arc or Beams I get the 2.4 gHz Sonosnet activated that pulls my other Sonos (Play 5 gen2, One SL Pair, Beam, Play 3 Pair) off my wifi. Don't want to have that as my wifi connection to them is better than the Sonosnet connection. I can't wire the Sub and Surrounds on the Arc/Beam Rooms so disabling the radio (aka wifi) on them isn't an option. I could easily wire the 300s but as they are working well I see no reason to.

Still hoping we get the option to leave the radio enabled for Sub and Surround connections and disable creation of the 2.4 gHz Sonosnet that pulls other Sonos off wifi. 

I’ll say this…IMHO the days of the SonosNet are numbered meaning at some point it will be pointless or not even cable of being created. Not to be confused or thought of in the same scenario as wiring an Amp in the basement to drive speakers upstairs or wiring a sub to reach the same amp.

Products that can use the SonosNet will eventually cease to work by attrition or be replaced by Sonos products that ignore it. 

The other side is that you may run into issues as described by ​@Stanley_4 .

The only future proofing solution I can see is to fortify your WiFi network which typically means investing in a WiFi Mesh. Single point access and/or adding non-compatible extenders will not meet the demands of Sonos.

As I said… this is JMHO.

Roam, Move, Era 100/300 and Arc Ultra aren’t capable of creating or joining the SonosNet. I for one still hope there will be a SonosNet 3.0 some day.

The Ray is on the list as well but not the Gen2 Beam. Mix and Match. :)

Below is a typical statement. Note the wired underlined part. Reading that, who wouldn’t want a ‘stable’ connection vs an unstable connection? Ugh! 

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The Sonos Ray does not support SonosNet and can only connect to your existing Wi-Fi network. Newer Sonos products like the Era speakers and portables also do not support the dedicated SonosNet wireless network. 

The Sonos Ray connects to your home network through your Wi-Fi or can be wired directly to your router using its Ethernet port for a stable connection, but it will not broadcast or extend a SonosNet network. 

SonosNet is being phased out: Sonos is moving away from SonosNet with its newer products, as modern routers are generally capable of handling the wireless load for a Sonos system. 

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This tread reveals there is a ‘SonosNet 3’ of sorts with the 5G ‘hidden’ network. Did they get rid of it or just stealth the hidden connection to uncomplicate things?  

Moving away from Sonosnet is good, but for us long time users who have a good collection of older, Sonosnet compatible devices, and intend to keep them many more years, a way to move past the 2.4 gHz Sonosnet creation would be good now.

SonosNet 1.0 was the Bridge, SonosNet 2.0 was / is the Boost. Put simply, these network bridges can be compared to a Hue Bridge, which creates a dedicated ZigBee network, while Bridge and Boost provide a proprietary Sonos wireless mesh network that operates independently of your home WiFi.

Communication between Sonos products

Multiple Sonos devices in a single household are connected to each other wirelessly, through a wired Ethernet network, or a mixture of the two.[95] The Sonos system creates a proprietary AES-encrypted peer-to-peer mesh network,[96] known as SonosNet. This allows for each unit to play any chosen input and if desired share it as synchronized audio with one or more other chosen zones. The first versions of SonosNet required a single ZonePlayer or ZoneBridge to be wired to a network for access to LAN and Internet audio sources[95] or when creating a 3.1/5.1 surround setup.[97] SonosNet 2.0 integrated MIMO on 802.11n hardware, providing a more robust connection. Later, the company added support for connecting to an existing Wi-Fi network for internet connectivity, removing the wired network requirement.[98]

Sonos - Wikiwand

The dedicated 5 GHz network that the soundbar generates (while in SonosNet or WiFi mode) was introduced together with the Playbar in 2013.

If all access points and mesh nodes are set to the same radio channel, an aspect of the SonosNet known as “Direct Routing” transitions into WiFi mode; presumably, the dedicated home theater network works this way (mind you, just a guess).

Please let’s not talk about a SonosNet 3 as it doesn’t exist. Just keep calling yours Bob 😂😂

That’s interesting and a nice Wiki dive on their legacy radios. The Wikiwand site pointed to the ‘Sonos Web Interface’ which is a window into the system. Below link is the how-to. (Secret menu for a Hidden network)

https://doitforme.solutions/blog/sonos-diagnostics-secret-web-menu/ 

Basically, find your Soundbar IP looking in your router’s DHCP list. 

My bar is assigned to the SonosZP IP. The address to put into the Browser would be - http://192.168.0.96:1400/support/review (Sorry I can’t unlink it). Your IP will be different but all else is the same. The IP also changes so you have to recheck it every time. There’s info in the ‘Matrix’ table and other products connected. My setup:

Very cool, we have a Secret menu for a Hidden network with data displayed on the Matrix. It’s view only so you can’t change anything but may identify an issue if troubleshooting. Pretty much an amazing product is what I’ve learned here. Thanks contributors!!  

Oh, and the Bob-Net works flawlessly. :)