Apologies for the longish title but there are a lot of threads discussing speakers dropping, but none seemed exactly like mine. I love my Sonos system but ran into connection issues when I changed my WiFi from Xfinity cable to an ATT Fiber Router and added two Eero 6+ mesh devices to get signal around my house. While I’m not an IT expert, so excuse any naming errors, I am not afraid to try things out.
My system: S2 app, Play 1 gen 1 & Sub Gen 3 (Grouped), Amp (Outdoor Speakers), Arc Ultra (TV), and Boost (now offline). Everything is wireless, no direct connections after dropping the Boost.
My Issue: After connecting everything, which took a while, the Arc Ultra kept getting dropped. If it connected, then either the Amp or the Grouped Play 1s or Sub would get dropped. I could see all of the devices in ATT Gateway Router (Nokia) and on my Eero app. After researching the issue, I think that there were conflicts with the wifi bands and wifi sources. The speakers were connecting to the ATT Gateway or the Boost or the Eero mesh, and they wouldn’t “communicate” with each other. The Arc Ultra, connected to the TV, may also have been using 5ghz while other speakers were using the 2ghz frequency.
My Solution: I found some guidance on the Eero website and tips in the Sonos Community for connecting Sonos to Eero and Eero to the router. After a lot of rebooting, reconnecting, and researching, I ended up changing my ATT Fiber Router firewall to “IP Passthrough” mode. I also disconnected my Boost after figuring out that it was also a type of “mesh” system (aka “Sonosnet”). This ended up simplifying my system so that it was just on the Eero Mesh.
My Results: My system has been a lot more stable since the changes. I still experience Speaker drop in the S2 App, but not as often (once a week or less). When this happens I reboot the router, restart the S2 app, and wait at few minutes (waiting patiently is key). Then everything shows up in the S2 app again and works fine (so far).
Conclusion: I found that you have to do a lot of research, trouble shooting, and not be afraid to mess with the router set up, in order to figure out solutions that work. No one tells you that it’s not the one stop set up that it should be. The S2 app is still problematic and not easy to use but it works well enough to enjoy music or movies on my system without having to replace some of my older components (which I have had to do in the past, it’s costly and aggravating). Finally, the connection “hiccups” are not ideal but rebooting the router is easy enough and I still really love my Sonos set up.
Side Notes: The Arc Ultra didn’t seem like a big improvement from my Soundbar. Changing from Xfinity cable (NetGear router) to ATT Fiber also wasn’t a big improvement either because I had to get a mesh system. I’m also concerned that I will have to replace my older Sonos components in a few years, which is costly.
