Answered

Sub will not pair wirelessly, only using ethernet. Any suggestions?

  • 7 December 2022
  • 7 replies
  • 211 views
P

I could use some help here. I have two Sonos fives connected in studio pair, and to Sonos one SL’s connected in studio pair in the same room. All connected wirelessly to my router, which has a 2.4 and 5.0 ghz connection (Cox Panoramic modem/router). In a close by room are all of the speakers, router in a different room. Here’s the problem, I can get all speakers to connect using the S2 app, however I cannot get my sub to connect to anything using Wi-Fi. I keep getting an error. Here’s the kick, if I plug my sub into my modem/router, I can pair it with my fives. But only when connect via Ethernet cable, not wirelessly in another room. Any suggestions? Do I need to alter my modem/router settings? Would purchasing a port fix my issue if then I could plug in my sub to the back of the port? 
i’ve tried pretty much, everything under the sun, in terms of resetting, reinstalling, restarting, etc..

icon

Best answer by John B 7 December 2022, 13:44

View original
This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

7 replies

N
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

I’ll ask the obvious question: have you disabled wifi on the Sub? It’s worth toggling it off/on too, just to force a change. 
 

What room is the Sun in when you Ethernet-connect it? If the “router room”, what happens when you disconnect the cable? What happens about 5 minutes after you power it up in the “speaker room”?
 

Otherwise, this may be a time for submitting a Diagnostics report and take it up with Sonos. Generate the report when you have the Sub Ethernet-cabled and paired to the Fives is prob the best time. 

P

Nik9669a-

 

I have toggled the Wi-Fi switch on the sub a few times when it’s connected via Ethernet. Unfortunately it’s doesn’t fix the problem. 
when I connect the sub via ethernet, it’s in the router room. The moment I disconnect the ethernet cable from the router, I lose the pairing with the speakers in the other room, the pairing will say Living Room (L+R+?). When I move the speaker back into the speaker room and plug it in, it will show up as Living Room (L+R+?). The sub becomes lost, and then I can’t play on those speakers it’s paired with, either. I then will un-pair the sub from those speakers, so that I can use them again, however, then I’m back to square one with not being able to pair the sub to the speakers wirelessly. It tries, but always error messages “There was a problem adding your Sub. Check the network connection and make sure your product is powered on.”

It’s a vicious cycle. 

J

As an experiment, can you disable the 5GHz band on your router and see what happens?  Your 2.4GHz band must have 801.11 b/g/n enabled

P

I’ll give it a go when I get home later. Does the sub not communicate with any of the other speakers through the 5 GHz signal? 

J

Direct routing using 5GHz radios is only used in HT setups. I think that when Sub is paired with other speakers the first thing Sonos will try is direct routing over 2.4GHz, but can (or at least should) connect over WIFI if necessary.

Whether or not that is entirely correct, a failure of the router to bridge the two bands seems a possible explanation for your problem. As does some sort of wireless card failure. As does something completely different that I haven't thought of!

P

So I disabled the 5 GHz network and boom, everything connected and worked. Haven’t had an issue all night! Just clear playing music. Thanks for the help! 

J

That’s good.  It would be even better if you could re-enable your 5GHz band, although you may be quite happy without it.  It may be worth seeing if your router has a setting for ‘band streering’ or ‘smart WiFi’ or some such name.  If so, and if it is enabled, try disabling it.

Terms & ConditionsCookie settings