Hi there,
I’m running a stereo pair of Era 100s and running into a bit of a networking mystery. I’m hoping to get some clarity on why the speakers seem to prioritize 5GHz so aggressively, even when I don't want them to.
Here is what I’ve experienced:
* Originally, I had both units on 5GHz band.
* I decided to switch to 2.4GHz, so I connected my phone to the 2.4GHz network and factory reset one speaker. After setup, it ended up on 5GHz again, not matching my phone's network band.
* I then completely disabled 5GHz on my WiFi router, reset the speaker, and finally got it set up on 2.4GHz. But as soon as I turned the router's 5GHz band back on, the Era 100 immediately migrated back to 5GHz on its own.
Is this intended behavior? It seems like the speaker is forcing a 5GHz connection regardless of my initial setup method. Any explanation would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Era 100 keeps overriding my choice and jumping to 5GHz
Best answer by Mr. T
I totally agree that 5GHz generally offers better performance.
That said, for a few reasons, I’d prefer to keep my Era 100 on 2.4GHz.
Does the Sonos Era 100 automatically migrate to 5GHz if the 5GHz signal is strong enough, even after being reset and set up on 2.4GHz?
In my case, the speaker is only about 3 meters from the router, so I believe both 2.4GHz and 5GHz signals are sufficiently strong.
I guess I should probably check which band is actually stronger using a Wi-Fi signal analyzer app to be sure.
Delete the 5GHz SSID from the known Networks in the Sonos app so the speakers remain on the 2.4GHz band.
If you don’t want the speaker to join the 5GHz network, block the MAC address for that band in your router’s settings.
Thanks for the suggestion.
That method would definitely stop my Era 100 from connecting to 5GHz,
but what I’m really curious about is why it keeps switching back to 5GHz.
I reset my Era 100 and connected it to 2.4GHz, yet it still later moves over to 5GHz on its own.
I understand that 5GHz is generally better in terms of bandwidth and performance, but is there a specific reason it would force-switch from 2.4GHz to 5GHz like this?
Is this expected behavior?
Thanks for the suggestion.
That method would definitely stop my Era 100 from connecting to 5GHz,
but what I’m really curious about is why it keeps switching back to 5GHz.
I reset my Era 100 and connected it to 2.4GHz, yet it still later moves over to 5GHz on its own.
I understand that 5GHz is generally better in terms of bandwidth and performance, but is there a specific reason it would force-switch from 2.4GHz to 5GHz like this?
Is this expected behavior?
It’s likely the 5GHz band is the stronger signal, potentially with less interference, so that’s why it joins that band.
I get better performance from the system when it connects to 5GHz so restrict all Sonos devices from accessing 2.4Ghz with exception of soundbars that require it.
+21Quite a few Router have something called band steering, this forces clients onto the better (in most cases) 5Ghz band. Its expected behaviour if the 5GHz signal is strong enough, if you move the device (Sonos) further away from the Router it will eventually drop down to 2.4GHz.
The Sonos App on the phone / tablet etc. plays no part in Sonos hardware choosing which band.
A simple solution ( if your Router is not a free locked down pile of ….) is to split bands, give the 2.4 and 5 different names for their SSID’s and then only connect Sonos to 2.4. Appending the 5GHz SSID with “-5GHz” would mean Sonos has never had knowledge of this network and hence won’t connect.
Thanks for the suggestion.
That method would definitely stop my Era 100 from connecting to 5GHz,
but what I’m really curious about is why it keeps switching back to 5GHz.
I reset my Era 100 and connected it to 2.4GHz, yet it still later moves over to 5GHz on its own.
I understand that 5GHz is generally better in terms of bandwidth and performance, but is there a specific reason it would force-switch from 2.4GHz to 5GHz like this?
Is this expected behavior?
It’s likely the 5GHz band is the stronger signal, potentially with less interference, so that’s why it joins that band.
I get better performance from the system when it connects to 5GHz so restrict all Sonos devices from accessing 2.4Ghz with exception of soundbars that require it.
I totally agree that 5GHz generally offers better performance.
That said, for a few reasons, I’d prefer to keep my Era 100 on 2.4GHz.
Does the Sonos Era 100 automatically migrate to 5GHz if the 5GHz signal is strong enough, even after being reset and set up on 2.4GHz?
In my case, the speaker is only about 3 meters from the router, so I believe both 2.4GHz and 5GHz signals are sufficiently strong.
I guess I should probably check which band is actually stronger using a Wi-Fi signal analyzer app to be sure.
Quite a few Router have something called band steering, this forces clients onto the better (in most cases) 5Ghz band. Its expected behaviour if the 5GHz signal is strong enough, if you move the device (Sonos) further away from the Router it will eventually drop down to 2.4GHz.
The Sonos App on the phone / tablet etc. plays no part in Sonos hardware choosing which band.
A simple solution ( if your Router is not a free locked down pile of ….) is to split bands, give the 2.4 and 5 different names for their SSID’s and then only connect Sonos to 2.4. Appending the 5GHz SSID with “-5GHz” would mean Sonos has never had knowledge of this network and hence won’t connect.
Thanks for the explanation.
My Wi-Fi router already has separate SSIDs for 2.4GHz and 5GHz, named something like XXX_2G and XXX_5G.
Even with the SSIDs split like this, I’m still seeing the behavior I described.
Is it possible that some routers apply band steering even when the SSIDs are separated by band?
I’m wondering if band steering can still be active despite having different SSID names for 2.4GHz and 5GHz.
I totally agree that 5GHz generally offers better performance.
That said, for a few reasons, I’d prefer to keep my Era 100 on 2.4GHz.
Does the Sonos Era 100 automatically migrate to 5GHz if the 5GHz signal is strong enough, even after being reset and set up on 2.4GHz?
In my case, the speaker is only about 3 meters from the router, so I believe both 2.4GHz and 5GHz signals are sufficiently strong.
I guess I should probably check which band is actually stronger using a Wi-Fi signal analyzer app to be sure.
Delete the 5GHz SSID from the known Networks in the Sonos app so the speakers remain on the 2.4GHz band.
+21The SSID credentials for both your 2.4 & 5 WiFi networks have been entered into the Sonos controller and hence have been remembered by the hardware. In the Sonos app, networks, manage networks hopefully you will see both SSID entries and you can remove the one you don’t want.
Bandsteering won’t move a client to another SSID, only way would be for the SSID’s and passwords to be case identical.
Edit Mr T was quicker off the mark!
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