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I’ve got new home theatre system set up - consisting of an Arc, 2x One SLs and a Sub (gen 3) - and wondering whether to go wired network (i.e Ethernet cable the Arc only) or fully wireless?

My router (Netgear Orbi) is very close all the above devices and has a very strong connection/WiFi throughput - download speeds at approximately 100mbps. All devices are all within a 9 square metre room, with no line-of-sight blockages.

I understand that all three devices can only connect to the router via 2.4GHz, but if the Arc was to be Ethernet-connected, it on-communicates to the rear speakers/sub via its own 5GHz network.

So I’m weighing up two positives:

  1. All three devices are connected wirelessly to the router’s very strong WiFi network, albeit at 2.4Ghz (please correct me if any of this is not correct);
  2. Arc is cabled up via Ethernet (to a router that has strong download speeds/thoroughput) and then transmit that to the rest via its own 5GHz network (which would be subject to less interference?)

Any thoughts on what is theoretically (better yet, practically) better in terms of set-up? I just want to enjoy the best possible experience with Sonos’ ecosystem.

The Sub and Ones will actually be bonded to the Arc and communicate with the Arc via a 5.0 GHZ network the Arc creates...not the router.  That’s the case whether the Arc is wired to the router or using your Orbi Wifi. 

So it’s really a matter of whether your Arc works better wirelessly or wired.  I suspect it won’t really matter much, but I would go ahead an wire it, if it can be done easily.

I’d wire the Arc too, I have Arc and all my easy to wire Beams wired. Tried wiring Surrounds and Subs in a couple rooms, saw no difference in performance here. Had them wired for months, unwired for troubleshooting and never bothered to hook them back up.

The Sub and Ones will actually be bonded to the Arc and communicate with the Arc via a 5.0 GHZ network the Arc creates...not the router.  That’s the case whether the Arc is wired to the router or using your Orbi Wifi. 

Learned something new today - thank you.

I’d wire the Arc too, I have Arc and all my easy to wire Beams wired. Tried wiring Surrounds and Subs in a couple rooms, saw no difference in performance here. Had them wired for months, unwired for troubleshooting and never bothered to hook them back up.

In my short ownership time - I’ve tried wiring the Arc and leaving the remaining devices unwired - as well as using an all-wireless set-up. Granted, a little different to your scenario, however I also noticed no appreciable difference operationally nor in output, though this could change over time and experience.

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