Escalation of support when phone support cannot resolve

Older units, such as the ONE SL’s and BOOST’s can be part of SonosNet, a private SONOS wireless mesh system. ERA units, MOVE, and ROAM will not join this wireless ecosystem. Wiring multiple SonosNet capable units will improve the robustness of SonosNet.

I’m not a TP-Link user, but it is generally a bad idea to wire a SONOS unit to a 3rd party mesh point. Wire SONOS units to the router or a network switch wired to the router.

Hi @Stuart_W 

Thanks for your post!

You obviously feel like you are not gaining any ground with the issues you’re having with your Sonos system, and that is understandable. I have flagged your existing case with some colleagues and you will hear from them via email in the next few days.

In the meantime, I’m sure you’re about to get some more excellent advice from our community members like @buzz.

You may also find my article of use:

I hope this helps.

I’ve used a handful of TP-Link extenders and access points in the past (along with ASUS and Netgear), and had generally good results. I never connected any Sonos units to an extender, for well-known reasons. When I moved to a mesh I shied away from TP-Link, in large part due to the absence of configuration options and the requirement to use an online account.

Which TP-Link mesh is it? It is in router or AP mode? 

Which Sonos units are now wired, and to where?

Hi Ratty

It’s a TP-Link E4 Deco whole home wi-fi system with 3 units. It’s in Access Point mode. One of the nodes is wired into the left hand speaker of a Play 3 downstairs and now I‘ve plugged in a One SL into the upstairs node.

Thanks for the feedback by all appreciated.

Throws up these comments:-

1. Sonos reps didn’t mention at all not to wire a mesh node to a Sonos unit (I assume in AP it’s the same as wiring to the main router) or that it’s a bad idea to do that. What do Sonos expect us to do - Lay wires from the main router around the house?
2. No mention that Era100 can’t be wired to the router - indeed the Sonos website tells you to buy an adapter so to do!!!!

Let’s see what the escalation achieves.

It’s inadvisable to wire multiple SonosNet devices to different WiFi mesh nodes. In the best case it forces Sonos to use the mesh wireless backhaul to interconnect the players, when it thinks it has Ethernet all the way. This can sometimes result in dropouts in groups. In the worst case (in terms of mesh throughput) it can lead to SonosNet bypassing the wireless backhaul entirely, if the mesh uses STP and it fights with SonosNet’s version.

Era doesn’t participate in SonosNet, so you may be able to get away with wiring that to anywhere nearby.

What happens if you just let Sonos connect to the WiFi entirely, removing all wired connections? The controller will tell you which node each player has attached to, and the signal strength.

If you want to persevere with SonosNet, what does the network matrix look like?

If you’d like to wait until Sonos Support responds that’s totally understandable. They can see the system from the inside.

Thanks Ratty

No idea why Sonos didn’t tell me that!. I had Sonos connected to wi-fi only after Sonos told me to get rid of the Boost which I sold on E-Bay but I was having problems with drop-outs and so on. Their tech mentioned Wi-Fi mesh which is why I went down the TP-Link route. Perhaps I should re-wire my house and have ethernet ports in each room which I can wire directly to the BT router. But that would be several thousand pounds!
Here is the matrix with the 2 units still wired to the node. To be honest I’m bloody furious tech support had me wiring those two units when you’re basically telling me it’s a no-no!

I’m much more of the opinion Sonos should be paying for an installer with a spectral analyser to come and visit. I’m frankly tired of being told the opposite of what I was told previous calls to do!

I then unplugged the Play 3 Dining Room and play stopped. Unplugged the SL One and here is the matrix:-
 

The matrix when wired actually looks okay. Transient bursts of interference could of course upset things.

A matrix when unwired is a bit meaningless, and in any case the speakers would all need several minutes to reconnect to the WiFi. Some might need powercycling to give them a kick. The info in the controller is a useful guide as to connection quality (Settings>System>room>Products>device>Network).

It’s unfortunate that the newest models do not report to the Network Matrix. Nothing show stopping is indicated here. ODFM ANI level 0 (a measure of interference) is best, 9 is worst. While scary, I’ve had level 9 units working satisfactorily. The overall takeaway from your Matrix is that no serious interference is indicated for the units shown. The diagnostics available to SONOS staff have more detail.

In the case above where most units have disappeared, have you given WiFi credentials to the system?

Keep a log of events. I once was able to correlate severe, intermittent issues with my neighbor’s use of a cordless phone.

Yes I think keeping a log may be helpful to flush out if it’s a single issue. Maybe my neighbour’s caretake in rabbit microwaving orgies every few hours! 

It isn’t so much your city size that matters to WiFi since it is so short ranged. Usually anything past a few hundred feet isn’t an issue.

Noisy neighbors are often the issue but it can even be self inflicted. I fought issues for a while and the solution was to unplug nearby devices, even ones with no radio, and see if things got better. My culprit was an external hard drive with no radio, just shoddy design. Off and all worked, plugged in and sitting within a few feet of a Sonos and it got the dropouts.