Sonos and Google Mesh Wifi - Router Settings - Sub problems

  • 18 February 2021
  • 6 replies
  • 5896 views
B

Here’s the issue.

  1. I have google Wifi (Mesh network with 3 nodes around my house)
  2. Connected (3) Sonos Ones, (1) Sonos Move, and Sonos Sub.
  3. Have this connected via wifi (NOT sonosNet) 
  4. After I pair my Sonos SUB to the den, it works fine for a while then cuts out - 
    1. Sometimes the Sub stops
    2. Sometimes the One stops
    3. EVERYTIME, upon linking my SUB to the ONE, the ONE loses all of its bass characteristics. It only plays mids and highs… VERY annoying - why does this change?  I was told by Sonos tech support the sound is not supposed to change.
  5. Called tech support and got a response that because I am connected to a google mesh network, I am supposed to change the wireless settings to the following.
    1.  Auto channel must be set to Off
    2. Choose best non-overlapping channel (1,6,11)
    3. Set channel bandwidth to 20MHz
    4. Both 2.4GHz and 5GHz should be enabled
    5. UPnP should be enabled
    6. 802.11 band should be set to b/g/n
    7. Airtime Fairness should be disabled
  6. REALLY?    Here are the requirements SONOS speaks of for the wireless connection https://support.sonos.com/s/article/126?language=en_US 
    1. Check out the subscript #2…  If you need to extend your home WiFi to use Sonos in a wireless setup, we recommend using a WiFi mesh router to do so. ----- So SONOS does support a mesh routing….  Right?  
    2. With a mesh router, at least with google, you CANNOT set the Auto Channel to “off”….  Is this only limited to Google? I can’t believe that it is.  
  7. Temp Solution - and I mean TEMPORARY.
    1. Connected one of my Sonos Ones to a wired connection. 
    2. Made sure all of my devices other than my Sonos Move is connected to the network by the wired connection (Made sure the wireless mode is set to WM:0)
    3. This has worked for a total of 8 hours thus far without dropping a Sub.  

What’s next?  Does anyone have a solution?  Has anyone else had this happen on their mesh network?  Here’s  a quick list of questions….

  1. Is google wifi (mesh network) the only mesh network that cannot change to the settings that the Sonos support provided?
  2. When paring your Sonos SUB to a single speaker, does your speaker also lose it’s bass?
  3. Please comment and leave feedback if you have any. ….  A couple of years ago I purchased a Sonos Soundbar and a Sub but the sub was intermittent then as well so I took it back to the store and purchased a Bose system.  Never had any issues with that system.  Additionally, I then started adding the single Sonos One speakers and the Sonos Move speakers around my house WITHOUT ANY ISSUE.  I added the Sonos SUB a couple of months back and it seemed to work for a month or so without any issue.  Since then, I’ve tried factory resetting the Sub and connecting it to different speakers, all of which have failed to fix the problem.  
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6 replies

Xander P
Userlevel 6
Badge +15

Hi @BatesFam, welcome to the Sonos Community!

Regarding Google WiFi, from my experience there are quite a lot less settings that you can change with these - Auto Channel I believe being one of the options that is not available. In general however, I have certainly seen Sonos systems working fine with Google WiFi. Is the Google WiFi getting its connection from another, ISP provided router? Or does it plug straight in to the wall?

As with any Sonos speaker, bonding a Sub will cause that speaker to focus more on mids & highs, rather than bass - this is because the Sub is taking over the bass audio, and is expected.

I suspect that the issues you’re experiencing are related to the network setup - mind giving us a bit more information about the network? Do you have just the Google Mesh, or are there any other networking devices such as network switches, or any other Access Points in use?

UKMedia
Userlevel 7
Badge +20

Hi

I have the Google Mesh system and have experienced a few problems with it, with both Sonos and other devices.  As you’ve mentioned, it is not possible to stop it changing channels which causes devices to temporarily lose connection for about 1-2 seconds.

As I normally live in very old UK houses where the walls are solid stone or brickwork and up to 3 feet thick, I have got used to connecting my Sonos Sound bars (I currently have the Arc and Beam) via an Ethernet cable and then let SonosNet connect to my other Sonos devices.  As such, I haven’t tried connecting my Sonos to Google Wi-Fi but constantly experience my Harmony Hub dropping connection for 1-2 seconds before it connects back - sometimes I have to do this manually.

As your issue relates to the sub connection, which uses a 5GHz frequency to connect to the Sound Bar, I suspect that you have some interference in this area.  To be honest, I haven’t found a way of stopping my Google wi-fi changing channels  I’ve read on the Google Wi-Fi community that 2.4GHz is set to Auto, with no way to change and the 5GHz is pre-set to a frequency based upon the region the device was manufactured in, Quote ‘In the U.S., that is channel 149/155 (for 20MHz and 80MHz operation, respectively’.  All of the mesh systems I’ve looked at appear to use the same protocol. :cry:

Personally, if your going to keep Google Wi-Fi, then I’d look at making SonosNet your permanent solution.

 

Edit: I believe that the Netgear Nighthawk allows the wi-fi channel to be changed via a web browser but can’t confirm this personally.

Remember: Sometimes Red Wine helps :)
J

Yes I am puzzled as to why wiring one device is only a temporary solution.  That is my recommendation to anyone with Google WiFi.  SonosNet is how Sonos was originally designed.  I use with my ‘conventional’ router, but if anything it is even more necessary with some mesh systems.

If it is not convenient to wire that particular speaker, or any other speaker, then it would be worthwhile getting a Boost.

B

Thanks all for the replies.

@Xander P  I am willing to give you any information you need about my network.  We have Gigabyte Fiber to my house where it hits an ATT wireless router.  I have turned off the wireless portion of the ATT wireless router and have plugged Google Wifi directly to this router.  We only have one wireless network in our house produced by the Google Wifi.  Sonos support says that my One speaker was connected to a different channel than my Sub.  Support mentioned that although this can work for a time being, that it will cause issues and Sonos will become confused and shut off - this is exactly what I’m experiencing.  I can’t help but to think that this only happens because these are the only “Paired” speakers in my house so they need to constantly be talking with each other.  I guess being on a different channel within the same network makes it hard for devices to communicate???

 

@UKMedia Reading your response makes it clear that I’m not the only one with Google Wifi having issues with Sonos.  Thank you.

 

@John B You shouldn’t be so puzzled that wiring a devise is a temporary solution.  Some people, like myself, like to hide routers and wireless devices away from view.  Also, the location of the internet entering the house is not always ideal for a speaker to reside.  With that said, I appreciate the suggestion of adding a “Boost” to the system.  Looking at that equipment makes me think that will have to be the solution if we cannot figure out the Google Wifi issue.  Thanks for the suggestion.

J

@BatesFam .  Picking up on one point in your reply to @Xander P .  You are correct that the constant communication between devices means that a multi-device system like Sonos makes much greater demands on a network than a single device like a computer or TV.

Sonos is designed to override ‘normal’ WiFi data paths where it is optimal to do so, and instead use direct routing between speakers using Sonos protocols.  Examples where this is likely to happen are stereo pairs and where a Sub is paired or bonded to a speaker.  This communication is only possible if the speakers are on the same wireless channel.  Thus Google WiFi’s feature of having potentially different channels on different nodes, and this being a dynamic picture outside of the user’s control, introduces instability into Sonos’ communications, when the system is operated in WiFi mode.

This direct routing also applies with SonosNet (in fact, that is the context in which it was designed), but SonosNet has only one channel.

That’s just for info, but it’s really just what you had pretty much discovered for yourself.

Edit: just for completeness, I don’t think the Move uses direct routing at all, although as I write that I wonder about stereo pairs.  Other common instances of direct routing don’t apply, as the Move cannot be paired with a Sub or used as surrounds in a HT setup.

B

Just a quick update to help close out this issue.  Nothing from Google Wifi was able to help this situation.  Plugging in a Sonos One directly into the internet and utilizing the SonosNET for the entire Sonos system has stabilized the sub connection/pairing with the One Speaker.  The sound has not skipped a beat since making that change.  

 

Going forward, I plan to purchase a “Boost” module to perform the SonosNET broadcast and relocate my speakers exactly where I want them (Thanks @John B for the suggestion).    With this said, if you have Google Wifi, I suggest either plugging in a single speaker or purchasing the Boost to broadcast SonosNET for any system that requires a sub that is not linked to a soundbar.  

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