Question

Sonos affected by Wireless Access Point hardware change

  • 21 August 2020
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62 replies

K

This is getting murkier to me!


The above is all I see when I call up the log.

I have no idea why items 3 and down have the strange date that they do.

10.0.*.** is the IP address reserved for the TP Link Mac address in the main router.

And the DHCP server seem to be starting, though at the weird date/time, per item 8 for example.

PS: all Sonos units also have IP addresses reserved in the same router, preceding 10.0.*.**.

 

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ratty

Give the TP-Link device a static IP -- in the Network section -- and see if the problem goes away.

 

(BTW the 2019-01-01 items in the log would have been recorded before the unit was able to reach an NTP server on the internet and set its clock correctly.)

K

@ratty: done. I gave it the same address and the Wifi bit of the TP link is working. Now to see what happens to Sonos over the next day or so.

K

Looks like this now, instead of saying dynamic IP it now says static IP

 

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K

No joy. I saw a different wired to core network Sonos unit in the balcony drop off.

I got tired and thought to see what happens if I pull the TP link out of the network completely by detaching it physically and powering it off.

And although this needs a couple of days use to be 100% sure, it does feel like Sonos is back to its old stable self right away. 

Over the next day or two I will see if this stable Sonos state continues as I suspect it will having seen it so for many months now.

But this is disappointing because it means that the TP Link, whose simultaneous dual band feature was useful to my son with his PS4 that has no 5 GHz - while his Firestick needs 5 - cannot be used and only AEX units will serve. 

It also means that even what should be simple devices like access points can fox Sonos. Even where Sonos is wired to the core network.

ratty

it means that the TP Link, whose simultaneous dual band feature was useful to my son with his PS4 that has no 5 GHz - while his Firestick needs 5 - cannot be used and only AEX units will serve. 

Firesticks don’t ‘need’ 5GHz. They can be connected to either band. 

 

It also means that even what should be simple devices like access points can fox Sonos. Even where Sonos is wired to the core network.

Well, at least two of us here have reported misgivings about some of the RE2xx devices. On the other hand I’ve used the simpler WA850RE in several locations for years with Sonos and never had any problems.

K

HD video streams are more solid/stable with 5 GHz.

Let me see if the simpler device is available here, and does simultaneous dual band.

ratty

WiFi bandwidth at 2.4GHz must be pretty compromised then. HD video only requires about 4-5Mbps.

The WA850RE is 2.4GHz only. I’ve also had generally good results from Asus and Netgear APs/extenders.

K

I live in an apartment complex as is common here and that is probably why Firestick works better on 5 GHz at my place. Which also must be why Netflix India suggest 5 GHz for best results.

I noticed that the WA won't serve - we will find a way to soldier on with the AEX in 5 Ghz mode - fortunately the PS4 needs Internet only for game updates and it can be relocated for the times that has to be done. 

But this means that when any of my 2011 AEX access points die, I will have to search for what is available at the time that won't bugger up Sonos. Or run Sonos via line in jacks and rely on source unit grouping for multi room.

K

Sonos seems back to its old self, but on investigating WA 850 RE I found this:

suggesting it won't work for me, per T5 above.

 

On the other hand, I also found this, for another model:

 

Which will work for me if it lets HD videos stream properly, although the form factor is clumsy. But will this leave Sonos trouble free? How does one know in advance? 

Seems to me that installing a wired AP should not be something that is rare, so does everyone that installs one and runs Sonos have to go through hoops?

K

This for sure works as a wired to main router 2.4 GHz WiFi access point; will it work fine as such without upsetting Sonos as the RE205 is almost certainly doing?

Much more convenient to locate than the WA830.

 

Asus/Netgear are not easily available online here.

ratty

Sonos seems back to its old self, but on investigating WA 850 RE I found this:

suggesting it won't work for me, per T5 above.

That probably refers to when the device is in extender mode.

It’s always been sold as an extender or access point. You’d have to work hard to convince my three TL-WA850RE access points that they’re not so. In fact the user guide has a section “4. 2. 1. To Set Up the Extender as an Access Point”.

 

C
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WiFi bandwidth at 2.4GHz must be pretty compromised then.

I live in an apartment complex as is common here 

 

Just a thought, is the channel set to auto on APs? If so, it could be changing and/or forcing channel change on other devices (that you have no control over) that are in the apartment complex that could interfere with Sonos.

 

K

@craigski The TP was set to Auto Off once it was assigned a reserved IP address in the router, but as a dynamic IP. The TP does not have any way to turn Auto Off to just off. And once ratty suggested earlier in this thread that the IP be made static in the TP network menu, one hopes that this issue was addressed, but who knows for sure?!

And the channel was set to 1 on 2.4 and auto on 5. Sonos is on 11.

K

That probably refers to when the device is in extender mode.

It’s always been sold as an extender or access point. You’d have to work hard to convince my three TL-WA850RE access points that they’re not so. In fact the user guide has a section “4. 2. 1. To Set Up the Extender as an Access Point”.

 

In more than one place, I am seeing that the ethernet port on the 850 works to wire an end device like a computer to a 850 wirelessly connected back to a router. Perhaps there has been a version change that has brought this about. The available user guides online no longer have the section you have quoted in them.

In any case, if I was to try another TP product it would be the  855 RE, picture posted above, that is definitely an access point and also more convenient to install directly into a mains socket.

But would it leave Sonos undisturbed? That is what I don't know.

ratty

In more than one place, I am seeing that the ethernet port on the 850 works to wire an end device like a computer to a 850 wirelessly connected back to a router. Perhaps there has been a version change that has brought this about. The available user guides online no longer have the section you have quoted in them.

They do. https://static.tp-link.com/2020/202004/20200422/1910012794_TL-WA850RE_UG_REV7.0.1.pdf

In extender mode the port on that unit functions as a wireless Ethernet bridge, as does just about every such device.

K

@ratty:

So if I bought the attached, it can be set up wired back to the router as a 2.4 GHz WiFi access point and it would not disturb Sonos performance?

 

 

ratty

I already said that I’ve used up to three of such APs with Sonos without issue.

Some wired to a router, some wired to wireless Sonos units.

K

Fair enough, just double checking on the one I will add to my cart. It isn't that expensive either, so there is that. 

I suppose I should also do the IP address reservation in the router and set the IP selection in the TP Link menu to static IP as I did for the RE 205?

ratty

I suppose I should also do the IP address reservation in the router and set the IP selection in the TP Link menu to static IP as I did for the RE 205?

Better practice would be to assign a static IP outside the DHCP pool. There’d then be no need to reserve it.

K

Reverting back to topic: since one 2011 AEX is getting glitchy, the basic reason to look for alternatives - we switched back to RE205 for my son’s room with no overt connection to Sonos except wiring back to the core network. And within 5 minutes, my balcony wired to core network Sonos stopped playing.

So there is something definitely not suited to Sonos with RE205.

Hopefully, the WA850 due to come on Saturday, will do better with Sonos.

K

WA850 turned up a day earlier, and it is a case of so far so good.

Perhaps one reasons why it behaves differently is that there is an option for DHCP between Auto, On, and Off. So Off can be user selected once IP address reservation is done in the Time Capsule. 

Early behaviour also suggests that from within his smallish room, it is coping with the delivery of HD streams to my son’s Firestick, so there is that box also hopefully ticked.

What the RE205 gains by having different internals with respect to the DHCP aspects if that is indeed the cause for it to disturb Sonos, is a mystery to me. I can't see its dual band feature to be a reason.

K

@ratty almost two days down the line, Sonos and WA850 are coexisting fine and my mostly wired Sonos system as as stable as a wired one ought to be.

Thanks for the guidance...again:-).

ratty

Yes, in my experience they’re useful little units. Stable, quick to boot, and they run cool too. 

K

Yes. I have ordered another to keep as a spare before they disappear.

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