I'm so tired of connections / disconnections with Sonos, considering changing it

I

I have to say I am dissapointed by the connectvity quality of Sonos. Asking 400 Euro for Play5Gen 2 and using an 802.11a chipset obsolete chipset in it, is not understandable. 
I had 4 speakers which worked ok-ish, still with a lot of disconnections and conneections back. 
And then I added 7 more, so now I have 4 x Play5Gen2 and 7 x Sonos One and it is just horrible:

  • sometimes the app will not see all speakers, even if the speakers are actually playing 
  • sometimes the speakers will appear as they need repair, but they will come back to normal randamly
  • sometimes the speakers just randomly disconnect and reconnect

It is a nightmare.

Yes, the answer is connect them with ethernet cable but they lose the advantage against Bose. If I need to run cables everywere I will not chose Sonos anymore. 
 

But again, creating a product like Play5Gen2 and using 802.11a chipset it just does not make sense. 
802.11a is so old, that my hotspot doesn’t even have it in the list.

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10 replies

G
Userlevel 7

You just need to wire one speaker to the router with an ethernet cable to create SonosNet. I have 12 Sonos devices and wiring one device to the router improves the network performance on all of my speakers significantly.

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
106rallye
Userlevel 7
Badge +17

The Play 5 (Gen 2) was created before november 2015, so is a bit old already,

AjTrek1
Userlevel 7

Where did you get the idea that the chipset for the Play5 Gen2 was limited to 802.11a? This link clearly states that the chipset works with 802.11 b/g/n (with stipulation for 802.11n only networks). Your router should be backwards compatible to 802.11 b/g/n. However, @GuitarSuperstar advice is probably the route to follow. If wiring a speaker is inconvenient you can purchase the $99 Boost module from Sonos.  

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.
I

Where did you get the idea that the chipset for the Play5 Gen2 was limited to 802.11a? This link clearly states that the chipset works with 802.11 b/g/n (with stipulation for 802.11n only networks). Your router should be backwards compatible to 802.11 b/g/n. However, @GuitarSuperstar advice is probably the route to follow. If wiring a speaker is inconvenient you can purchase the $99 Boost module from Sonos.  

Play5 gen 2 is an 802.11a only chipset: https://support.sonos.com/en/article/sonos-system-requirements

I enabled only 802.11n on my router and only the sonos one remained connected, all 5 disconnected.

Bumper
Userlevel 7
Badge +14

Where did you get the idea that the chipset for the Play5 Gen2 was limited to 802.11a? This link clearly states that the chipset works with 802.11 b/g/n (with stipulation for 802.11n only networks). Your router should be backwards compatible to 802.11 b/g/n. However, @GuitarSuperstar advice is probably the route to follow. If wiring a speaker is inconvenient you can purchase the $99 Boost module from Sonos.  

Play5 gen 2 is an 802.11a only chipset: https://support.sonos.com/en/article/sonos-system-requirements

I enabled only 802.11n on my router and only the sonos one remained connected, all 5 disconnected.

You need to use a boost if you want to run a N only network. But it does support B/G and yes it is insane that it doesn’t support new wireless protocols- but TBH just use Sonosnet and not worry about it.

Airgetlam

I think most Sonos products were made long before chipsets that would recognize N networks were cheap enough for commodity use. Lowest common denominator is much easier to match than highest, from a cost standpoint. 

Bruce
Ken_Griffiths

Here’s some information on the various 802.11 WiFi standards over the years…

Wi-Fi generations 1–7. Please refer to the below:

  • WiFi-0 = 802.11 - Year adopted 1997  (1-2 MBit/s) - 2.4Ghz
  • WiFi -1 = 802.11b - Year adopted 1999 (1-11 MBit/s) - 2.4Ghz
  • WiFi-2 = 802.11a - Year adopted 1999 (6-54 MBit/s) - 5Ghz
  • WiFi-3 = 802.11g - Year adopted 2003 (6-54 MBit/s) - 2.4Gh
  • WiFi-4 = 802.11n - Year adopted 2008 (72-600 MBit/s) - 2.4Ghz/5Ghz
  • WiFi-5 = 802.11ac - Year adopted 2014 (433-6933 MBit/s) - 5Ghz
  • WiFi-6 = 802.11ax - Year adopted 2019 (574-9608 MBit/s) - 2.4Ghz/5Ghz
  • WiFi-6E = 802.11ax - Year adopted 2020 (574-9608 MBit/s) - 6Ghz
  • WiFi-7 = 802.11be - Year adopted 2024 (1376-46120 MBit/s) - 2.4Ghz/5Ghz/6Ghz
buzz

It has taken several years for a new standard to significantly penetrate the market. WiFi6 is just beginning to land.

Airgetlam

Agreed. Adopted does not mean ‘inexpensive, wide spread chip adoption’. 

Bruce
Ken_Griffiths

Yes, I agree with the comments of @buzz and @Airgetlam - it takes a while for each standard to reach the masses and as an example Plume WiFi which I’m currently using at Home has only just started selling WiFi-6E mesh based systems here in the U.K. and three of their Superpod router/access points currently cost in the region of £/$750.00 to £/$1000.00 so it’s perhaps not a cheap upgrade, but I personally expect to see these devices maybe monthly/yearly ‘leased’ to users in the future, maybe as part of an internet providers ‘package’ and to maybe make them quickly affordable to more people… We shall have to see what happens.

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