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ghare79
Contributor I
January 26, 2017
Answered

Play different radio stations at same time

I'm trying to work out if I have a fault or not. Play tunein radio fine but when I select 2 different stations on 2 different devices, my new sonos connect stops playing unless I group the devices and play the same station. Is this a limitation or a problem?
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John BAnswer
January 27, 2017
Here is one possible explanation. When both are wireless, only your wifi is involved, so nothing to interfere with the wifi signal.. When both are wired, both your wifi and SonosNet are active, but any interference doesn't matter because they are wired.

But when only one is wired, interference between wifi and SonosNet could affect the wireless speaker. Are your wifi and Sonos wireless channels the same? They need to be well separated. If you aren't sure, just try changing the Sonos channel in Advanced Settings. And don't place the wired player close to the router.
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10 replies

ghare79Author
Contributor I
January 26, 2017
Update... Found the resolution. It seems that all players have to be either hardwired or wireless and it works fine. Having one wireless and one wired creates the described problem!!?? Wouldn't have thought that should make a difference??
Stuart_W
Stuart_W
World-Class Superstar
January 26, 2017
No it shouldn't. You probably have wireless interference causing issues to the stream
Arc + Sub (Gen 1) + 2 x Play 1/ Stereo Play 3s/ Era 100 Stereo in Kitchen, One Stereo in Bedroom, Play 1 stereo pair in Study, Play 1in Bathroom, Sonos Move 2
ghare79Author
Contributor I
January 26, 2017
Agreed that could be a problem but if they are both on wireless, it works absolutely fine. I'd say that rules out the wireless?? All updated to latest version too.
Stuart_W
Stuart_W
World-Class Superstar
January 26, 2017
When you wire 1 to the router are you moving it closer to the router? If it's too close you may get interfernce
Arc + Sub (Gen 1) + 2 x Play 1/ Stereo Play 3s/ Era 100 Stereo in Kitchen, One Stereo in Bedroom, Play 1 stereo pair in Study, Play 1in Bathroom, Sonos Move 2
ghare79Author
Contributor I
January 26, 2017
Nope. Location never changes if wired or wireless
T00LF00L
T00LF00L
Prodigy I
January 27, 2017
i have 7 Sonos devices, some wired and some wireless. i can play whatever i want on whichever speaker i want. this is how it should operate, so you most definitely have some type of issue. IP conflict perhaps? power cycle your router and both Sonos units
I am just a worthless liar. I am just an imbecil.
John BAnswer
January 27, 2017
Here is one possible explanation. When both are wireless, only your wifi is involved, so nothing to interfere with the wifi signal.. When both are wired, both your wifi and SonosNet are active, but any interference doesn't matter because they are wired.

But when only one is wired, interference between wifi and SonosNet could affect the wireless speaker. Are your wifi and Sonos wireless channels the same? They need to be well separated. If you aren't sure, just try changing the Sonos channel in Advanced Settings. And don't place the wired player close to the router.
    ghare79Author
    Contributor I
    January 30, 2017
    That's the one @John B!!
    I have a large network and the wifi covers the whole house very well. I think I'm just out of range for the 'sonos high performance wifi' so giving problems. I've found a bridge also resolves the issue.
    Would be nice to be able to always use the house wifi regardless if a device is hardwired or not?!
    Stuart_W
    Stuart_W
    World-Class Superstar
    January 30, 2017
    That's the one @John B!!
    I have a large network and the wifi covers the whole house very well. I think I'm just out of range for the 'sonos high performance wifi' so giving problems. I've found a bridge also resolves the issue.
    Would be nice to be able to always use the house wifi regardless if a device is hardwired or not?!

    That doesn't really make sense in my opinion. If you want the system to use Wi-Fi and not Sonos Net then just don't wire a Sonos unit. But honestly if you are in a borderline wireless environment then having 1 unit wired to create SonosNet should be the optimal solution as Sonos will determine how best each unit should connect. You may become susceptible to interference if you wire a unit and of course if your ranges are large then interference will be more and more relevant.

    These days if you can't wire a Play unit to the router the Boost is the way to go and has better range than the Bridge.
    Arc + Sub (Gen 1) + 2 x Play 1/ Stereo Play 3s/ Era 100 Stereo in Kitchen, One Stereo in Bedroom, Play 1 stereo pair in Study, Play 1in Bathroom, Sonos Move 2
    ghare79Author
    Contributor I
    January 30, 2017
    Simple really; I like things to be hardwired where ever possible and not clogg up the wifi with everything hanging off it, interfering with each other but also the flexibility to move a player (to say the garden occasionally) and have it hook up to my wifi, that I know covers everywhere, and connect seamlessly, without worrying if I'm close enough to connect to 'Sonos wifi'.
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