If you have one or more Sonos devices connected by Ethernet cable, then you are running in ‘Wired’ mode, and the wireless Sonos players will be on a ‘SonosNet’ network created by the wired ones. Hence, they’ll show as Ethernet connected by the router.

What model of VM Superhub do you have (SH2 or SH3), and how many of its wired ports have Sonos devices attached (either directly or indirectly)? Also, could you post the details of ‘About My Sonos System’ here, to confirm how the devices are connected.

Hi. Thanks for your help.

I have a Super Hub 2ac

I have 2 x Playbars, 2 x Play 5 and 1 x One (5 total)

None of the players are wired.

(When the system is working fully, all players are shown as wireless.)

I can’t see where to enter details in ‘About My Sonos System’ - where is it?

On a mobile controller: Settings > System > About My System
On a desktop (macOS) controller: Sonos > About My Sonos System. Windows app should be something similar.

Do you have any wireless access points or extenders in addition to the SH2 itself?

Thanks again. Here is a copy of ‘About My Sonos System’:

Associated ZP: 192.168.0.27
---------------------------------
Sonos One: Bathroom
Serial Number: 78-28-CA-B3-52-D6:E
Version: 10.4.2 (build 521370021)
Hardware Version: 1.21.1.8-2
Series ID: A100
IP Address: 192.168.0.23
WM: 1
---------------------------------
Play:5: Dining Room
Serial Number: 00-0E-58-5A-D9-58:7
Version: 10.4 (build 521369030)
Hardware Version: 1.16.4.1-2
Series ID: P100
IP Address: 192.168.0.24
WM: 1
OTP: 1.1.1(1-16-4-zp5s-0.5)
---------------------------------
Playbar: Lounge
Serial Number: 00-0E-58-B6-BD-F7:9
Version: 10.4 (build 521369030)
Hardware Version: 1.9.1.10-2
Series ID: A100
IP Address: 192.168.0.25
Audio In: No Signal
WM: 1
OTP: 
---------------------------------
Playbar: Master Bedroom
Serial Number: B8-E9-37-7C-FD-E8:1
Version: 10.4 (build 521369030)
Hardware Version: 1.9.1.10-2
Series ID: A100
IP Address: 192.168.0.27
Audio In: 
WM: 1
OTP: 
---------------------------------
Play:5: Office
Serial Number: 00-0E-58-80-30-80:1
Version: 10.4 (build 521369030)
Hardware Version: 1.16.4.1-2
Series ID: P100
IP Address: 192.168.0.22
WM: 1
OTP: 1.1.1(1-16-4-zp5s-0.5)

---------------------------------

I recently installed a spare router at the other end of the house as an access point BUT the problem was there before and hasn’t changed. (That’s a definite and without a doubt!)

Thanks. Currently, your speakers are all showing as WM:1, meaning that they’re connected to your WiFi (so called ‘Wireless Mode’), although it doesn’t tell you anything about which access point they’re connecting to.

When the SH2 router indicates that speakers are connected via a wired Ethernet port instead of WiFi, it means that their connectivity to the router is indirect, i.e., they are connecting to a separate WiFi access point that is connected to your SH2 router via one of its wired connections. That’s why I asked about additional access points. If your speakers show in the SH2 as connected over a wired port, it suggests they’re switching over to connecting to the secondary router.

Notwithstanding your comment that the problem was present before its inclusion, how is the secondary router configured, and how is it connected to the primary router?

To operate properly, all Sonos speakers need to be on the same subnet (192.168.0.XXX in your case), and mDNS broadcast traffic needs to be unrestricted. Also make sure that there is no secondary DHCP server running.

Paul,

I actually know this particular VM router quite well, my suggestion would be to wire one Sonos device to it. This will switch your Sonos system over to SonosNet, 

Make sure the SonosNet channel is set at least 5 channels away from the routers 2.4ghz channel.

Importantly - add all your Sonos IP addresses to the routers DHCP Reservation Table… this router has issues with IP leasing and this step will stop those issues. You will find videos on YouTube of how to do this, if you are not sure how to go about it.

Next, Goto the Sonos App “Settings/System/Network/Wireless Setup” and reset/remove the WiFi credentials from the App. You will not need these whilst having one device wired to the router and running in SonosNet mode.

With regards to the other secondary router/access point, ensure you not only need to disable the DHCP server, but I would also recommend you run it’s WiFi either as follows …

Either …

1. With the exact same SSID, password and the same WiFi Channels as the main router for both the 2.4ghz and 5ghz bands (recommended) ....OR...
2. With a totally different SSID and also different WiFi channels, that are at least 5 channels away from both your main routers WiFi and your SonosNeg channel… if you decide on this second option however you must ensure your Sonos mobile controller devices do not connect to this Wifi network as they will lose sight of your Sonos system.

Hope that assists.

FWIW, I also know this router very well. I’ve had no real issues with DHCP, but Ken’s advice on reserving IP addresses does no harm, although it’s a clunky process on the SH2.

The advice on using the same SSID & channel on the secondary router is also good, although it’s irrelevant to Sonos whether you do this on the 5GHz band.

Personally, I’d want to root cause the issues on WiFi before giving up and switching to SonosNet, but it’s definitely worth trying if it’s convenient for you to wire one or more of your Sonos devices.

Yes the DHCP Reservation is clunky, to say the least. It’s best to make a note of the MAC/IP addresses and switch off the devices and then add them to the table after their leasing has dropped.

The SH2 DHCP Reservation Table is also limited to 16 devices only due to its memory capabilities  … perhaps not too important for most people, but not ideal for folk with larger Sonos systems.

Yep. I run a separate DHCP server (dnsmasq) that is much more powerful and easy to configure, but I do so for reasons mostly unrelated to Sonos. I never had any substantial issues with the SH2’s IP management as far as Sonos was concerned.

pwt, 

I did, my SH2 often got confused during Sonos updates. Always failed at the 'cleanup' stage and I had to restart the router to get the devices back online, but reserving the IP addresses sorted it for me. That was often my experience, at least.

I’ve not heard/tried dnsmaq. Would appreciate more info about that please, or maybe a pointer.. thanks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dnsmasq

I use one too, embedded in third party firmware on an old Linksys box, as DHCP/DNS server. Much more configurable, with up to 100 reserved IPs and the ability to map two MACs to one IP if required (e.g. if a device has multiple NICs).

So if I were to get and flash an old Linksys router with say DD-WRT, do you know if dnsmasq is ‘likely' embedded in that firmware?

Ah I found the answer I needed here... https://wiki.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/DNSMasq_as_DHCP_server 

And sorry for taking this thread slightly off topic.

Continued thanks guys!  Several points here so I’ll answer in a list.

1. I did say that it was  ‘(…. a definite and without a doubt!)’ that I did not have the problem before adding a remote access but a lifetime in engineering (not this field!) has taught me to suspect everything including my own statements! So, I think the best plan is to disable the remote wireless function on the TP-Link as I’m not currently using it for wi-fi. Obviously the frequency of this problem means that it could take some time to be certain.
2. Just to answer the questions,  the remote TP-Link was connected by cable LAN to LAN and DHCP was disabled. It is on same SSID but different channel. (Thought it had to be!)
3. Last week I did reserve DHCP channels for all the players on the SH2 successfully but as it happens the fault in question appeared the next day.
4. I can’t realistically connect a player by cable. The locations are just too difficult. A question on that: I used to have a bridge before it failed. Would fitting one (a bridge) convert the system to SonosNET?
5. OK, I’ve switched OFF the remote router wi-fi.  Lets see what happens?  I think that course may well explain a lot?

Re: 2: It’s fine for separate access points to be on the same SSID and channel. That’s how I run three separate APs in my house.

Re: 4: The modern equivalent of a Bridge is a Boost. One of these, wired to your router, would establish SonosNet for your speakers. You could buy one on a 100-day return basis from Sonos, and see how it goes (which is what I did). However, perhaps wait to see if the problem is now resolved rather than spending money unnecessarily.

Let us know how it goes :)

Hello again guys.

I’m reporting back with problem sorted!  

After a long period with the remote access point wireless switched OFF, the fault did not occur again.

I am therefore concluding that the players were indeed connecting to the remote wireless and therefore showing up as Ethernet connected when they disappeared from the Sonos setup.

I decided to buy a Boost (on Ebay- good price!) and installed it in minutes.

Job done!  Thanks for the help!!