Question

Sonos affected by Wireless Access Point hardware change

  • 21 August 2020
  • 62 replies
  • 1337 views
K

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.

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

62 replies

ratty

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

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.)

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

@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:-).

K

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

buzz

Kumar,

Are you checking for duplicate IP addresses?

K

A trouble free week with Sonos, with the WA850 working all the time; the one glitch must have been something else that troubled Sonos, seeing that it has not surfaced again.

I have bought and kept another 850 unit for the future seeing how well it works in its assigned role of WiFi access point wired back to the main router, also being excellent value for money. And obviously, for not troubling the wired Sonos system as the RE205 definitely did.

As far as I can tell, the trick here is the manual option offered in the 850 interface to turn off the DHCP server; an option missing in the 205. So, the obvious question: for anyone wanting to buy an access point to add to a home with a Sonos presence, how does one know in advance that such an option is offered for the device?

K

Yes. The tp links, in both cases had reserved IP addresses, also confirmed in their management apps, distinct to the ones assigned to Sonos units.

As of now, no more issues after the last solitary one 48 hours ago, after moving over to the wa850 unit.

J
Userlevel 4
Badge +14

I guess reading the manual before purchase is your best bet. But not even then you could be sure what features they secretly implemented.

K

I guess reading the manual before purchase is your best bet. But not even then you could be sure what features they secretly implemented.

I will for sure be more awake when I have to replace the 850 units, hopefully years from now.

I expect my Apple Time Capsule base station to be a casualty soon as well, bought in 2011. The good thing now that I have run ethernet wires around the home for Sonos, and now leveraged these for better WiFi coverage via the AEX/850, is that any ordinary/cheap router with normal range will do - I don't need the expensive kinds with antennas sprouting all over or the mesh type.

Of course, Sonos compatibility is something to be alive to then as well.

J
Userlevel 4
Badge +14

It looks like it is in the “Auto” setting, but decides that it should be off. Not sure when it might re-evaluate that decision, and personally I would set it to permanent “Off” just to be safe. I can’t see any situation where you would want it to act as a DHCP server (unless you deliberately want that). 

K

The words Auto Off are not clickable unlike others that have settings/information attached to them; I tried to do just that!

ratty

The words Auto Off are not clickable unlike others that have settings/information attached to them; I tried to do just that!

It’s in the Network section.

However, in my experience -- albeit with a different TP-Link extender/AP -- disabling the DHCP server also disabled the DHCP client. I just set the IP to static.

J
Userlevel 4
Badge +14

Seems like they removed that possibility in the v3 hardware, in v2 it was part of the settings:

 

https://static.tp-link.com/2018/201807/20180702/1910012424_RE205RE305_UG_REV2.1.0.pdf

See section 3.4

Also found some people that actually had DHCP trouble on their forum: https://community.tp-link.com/en/home/forum/topic/192368

 

ratty

Ah yes, I have a couple of RE2xx devices -- not in use -- and that rings a bell. 

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.

K

 

Also found some people that actually had DHCP trouble on their forum: https://community.tp-link.com/en/home/forum/topic/192368

 

Interesting…

I have found a workaround of sorts. I have moved the RE 205 to replace another AEX access point in my son’s room, where there is no Sonos, and moved that AEX to my bedroom where there is Sonos and Firestick/Macbook. 

All is now working fine in both rooms. 

A question: if I need to replace this AEX in future, what are recommended replacements that will be a drop in such that Sonos will not be affected? All I need is a AP that can be fed by the second port of a connected to main network via wire Sonos unit, such that WiFi signals in the room are 5 GHz and stable/fast.

That is what the AEX is doing, set up in access point mode.

ratty

I’ve had mixed results with the TP-Link RE2xx units (which is why they’re out of use). 

There have been no issues using the older (single-band) TP-Link WA850RE, or a small ASUS RP-AC52, hung off a wireless Sonos unit. In both cases I disabled the back-up DHCP server.

J
Userlevel 4
Badge +14

I think these repeater/access point hybrids is often plagued with weird behaviors since they are cheap and are trying to solve problems that shouldn’t exist (think, backup DHCP server, wat?)

I had a Linksys RE2000 which is a repeater/bridge that had some weird problem where it would start blocking DNS queries from wired devices (when working as a bridge), which shouldn’t even occur. A correct access point shouldn’t even act on anything but layer 2 traffic.

I’m running my home network with 2 dedicated access points (TP-link Omada, EAP245) and a separate router, but even with a wireless router, I’ve had no problem running the EAP245 in addition to a wireless router. For bonus points, the EAP245v3 (not v1, but those are discontinued) also has 2 ethernet jacks, which means you could wire it in reverse (first EAP245, then your Sonos player) to get gigabit to the access point. 

The learning curve for these are higher though, and you need more experience setting them up. They are also a bit higher price point at around $80-$90. But, the basic principle for me stands, an access point should be as dumb as possible. The only reason they need an IP to begin with is for administrative purposes only, in all other aspects they should just transparently forward traffic between wifi and wire lan. Most consumer equipment fails on that part.

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
Userlevel 6
Badge +11

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

And a perhaps related question: Invoking the matrix - now and earlier - sees wildly fluctuating response times: as low as less than a second to even a minute, or even no response at times. Why does that happen?

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.

Terms & ConditionsCookie settings