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Kumar
August 21, 2020
Question

Sonos affected by Wireless Access Point hardware change

I recently swapped out my 2011 access point in my bedroom used for WiFi there, and I am seeing some Sonos anomalies.

In the bedroom I have a Boost that is also root bridge, wired back to the main router in the common area, that has a Connect Amp also wired back to the same main router. I was using Airport Express in the bedroom, ethernet wire connected to the other ethernet jack on the Boost using the switch feature on Boost, to successfully obtain high speed WiFi in the bedroom - with the single band AEX set to work in access point mode, creating a 5 GHz network there. No issues with Sonos then, using either the phone or the Mac in the bedroom for control.

I replaced said AEX using a dual band TP Link access point as a drop in replacement. Now, at times, the Connect Amp disappears from the Controller as well as from the Matrix. Getting it to reappear needs a Connect Amp reboot, that works for some time.

I can’t see any logical reason for this - and when I brought the AEX back for a test, the problem disappeared.

Any reason why Sonos/TP Link are not playing nice all the time? The bedroom Sonos is supplied wirelessly from Boost, and there is no issue with that unit. Nor are other bedroom units like Firestick/Echo Show affected by the change.

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    62 replies

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    KumarAuthor
    August 26, 2020

    Yes, TP is a dual band device, broadcasting on both frequencies at the same time. Unlike the AEX which has dual band, but only one at a time, and that is set to 5 GHz.

    sjw
    Local Superstar
    August 26, 2020

    Have you tried switching the 2.4GHz off (or at least moving it further from the Sonos Channel)?

    KumarAuthor
    August 26, 2020

    No, because the Connect Amp that dropped has its radio turned off and is running on a wired connection to the core network. 

    So the TP link radios should not be a factor but as good practice the 2.4 is set on channel 1 and 20 bandwidth while Sonos is on 11.

    sjw
    Local Superstar
    August 26, 2020

    Still worth trying IMHO. If only to eliminate simple WiFi interference.

    ratty
    ratty
    August 26, 2020

    I’m wondering whether the DHCP server in the TP-Link unit might be activating, perhaps just for a short while.

    In “automatic” mode it’s supposed to spring to life if the device can’t see a connection to another DHCP server (in order to allow clients to continue to connect to it). If, for some reason, it thinks its backhaul has dropped the DHCP server might be starting and, for a while at least, handing out IP addresses that are in the wrong subnet.

    If by chance a Sonos unit picked up one such address it would effectively vanish.

    I think I’d start by digging in the TP-Link unit’s system log.

    KumarAuthor
    August 26, 2020

    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
    ratty
    August 26, 2020

    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.)

      KumarAuthor
      August 26, 2020

      @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.

      KumarAuthor
      August 26, 2020

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

       

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      KumarAuthor
      August 26, 2020

      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.

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