What to replace Sonos with

Portable to Attic (as currently wired) has a rather borderline signal. Portable has the option of a two-hop route via Bedroom if things get sticky, though SonosNet tends to hang onto single-hop connections if it can.

I would ignore the amber 'OFDM Weak signal level: 3' boxes in the left column. The older radios seem prone to this now for some reason.

FWIW the Play:5 gen 1 has a somewhat weaker radio than the Play:1. But if everything stays stable I'd recommend getting a Boost to replace the Bridge anyway.

revdv,

Connections don’t look too bad, I would recommend the Boost too (more powerful signal).. that would be my purchase priority and move it further away from the router... as far as practicable.

I would ensure the router 2.4ghz channel 6 is 'fixed' and not allowed to auto-select it’s channel and if your powerline adapters are wifi access points and you need them, then they too either need to be fixed to channel 6, ...or much better don't use them with Sonos and perhaps just use their 5ghz radio with your non-Sonos devices. As a very last resort, you could cable Sonos to the powerline adapter, but look to that as being the very last option open to you.

In summary, run all your Sonos devices on the the Boost SonosNet signal, or cable them to your network. Use either SonosNet channel 1 or 11 to keep the radio signal far apart from your router channel.

As @Ratty mentions, goto the Sonos App 'Advanced Settings/Wireless Setup' and reset/remove the WiFi credentials... not needed when all are on SonosNet.

Dedicated Android Controllers running direct on SonosNet are good too as they connect/control via the nearby speakers/devices

I will recommend one further thing too and that’s to add your Sonos IP addresses to your routers DHCP Reservation Table, so that they get the same address on reboot/restart of the device or network.

Glad to know some experts are in our midst
This probably is still the big Sonos differentiator.

Good to hear.

(how do you know so much?! - especially the matrix thingy).Originally because of a need to understand why my system wasn't behaving right (we're talking 2007/08), then out of interest as to what other goodies the diagnostics offered. The user-visible bits used to be far more comprehensive, but are now hidden away by Sonos on grounds of security. (Foolish people were forwarding port 1400 through their router, and thousands of players were visible on teh interweb.)

I don't want to put a Play:1 on the half-landing by the router, so I shall fork out and get a Boost (expensive, aren't they!).

Cheap at the price of a modest night out, if you ask me.

My wifi analyser is showing channel 6 as the home network and now channel 11 is carrying the SonosNet (I assume that's what the HHID_xfO ...... signals are (there are 5 showing).

Those beacons are showing because you have Androids connecting to SonosNet.

I've tried to specify IP addresses for the individual Sonos devices but (a) I don't see them all and (b) the MAC addresses don't tally. The addresses that the router reports are usually one hex digit different to what the network matrix reported. Odd.

The MACs you should use for reservation are the ones you see in the router's DHCP table. These are the internal (bridge) MAC address. They also tally with the serial number.

Those in the matrix are the MACs for the wireless interfaces, which are +1 with respect to the internal MAC (and +2 for a home theatre speaker's 5GHz interface).

And another question: should my wife's android phone be able to connect to the SonosNet too?

Yes. Go into Advanced Settings on her phone's controller and enable it. The SSID will appear in the WiFi settings. You can't configure the SonosNet SSID manually.

Telling us on a Sonos support forum seems to be an odd choice. However, I'm sure we all wish you the best luck.

Given the problems you are having with your network you will have the same issues with any replacement. I assume you have worked with Sonos Support to try to fix your issues?

Selling the Sonos and buying a non-networked sound system really sounds like a big step back, I don't see any competition for Sonos. Denon was looking good until they got busted for stealing patented technology to get their gear working.

I'd spend a few minutes fixing your networking and get your Sonos back to working well. As angry as you sound I'd suggest you go directly to Sonos via the phones on Monday and work with them to identify your issues.

If you want us (sonos users) to chip in our opinions tell us about your devices, network and problems and see what we come up with.

Well....
Thanks all. Maybe I can fix it rather than trash it all.
So we moved 2.5yr ago to a new, bigger, older house with thick walls and two consumer units (electricity fuse boxes) - one for ground floor and half-landing, the other for the middle and top floors. The router (76mbps fibre-to-cabinet) is on the half landing and the Sonos Bridge is hard-wired (Cat5) to that at about 0.6m away. The router feeds two separate ethernet-over-powerline systems -one for the lower floor and one for the upper two floors. It also is now Cat5 wired to my PC and Diskstation (Synology) with all my music (mostly FLAC, some mp3).
I have two connect:amps, one connect, one Play:5 (Gen 1) and two Play:1 s. The Bridge is the ZoneBridge. I also have a CR200 (used to have 2, but one of the screens died, as they do). These are spread about the house - living room (ground floor, connect), dining room (ground floor, connect:amp), bedroom (Middle floor, connect:amp), Kitchen (ground floor, Play:1), top floor, Play:1 and Play:5.
Control is mostly via the Sonos App on our two Android phones (android 8.1) although the living room can also be controlled with the Harmony Ultimate remote (which does TV, blu-ray (Oppo BDP105) and set-top box (Humax Freeview). The CR200 is on the top floor.

The most common failing is an inability to control the system from my phone. I'll go down to make tea in the morning and want to put the news on Radio 4 (BBC) - one of the Sonos favourites. It will always work if I press the play button on the Kitchen Play:1 (if that's what was last playing) but that's not always OK, because that Play:1 may have been grouped the previous day with another device.
So the Sonos app will maybe 30% of the time say "searching for Sonos on your wifi" and then fail to find it. When it does connect, it will often say "unable to connect" or "unable to browse music".
When it is working, maybe 20% of the time it will not group or ungroup rooms until the 4th or 5th attempt.
Similarly volume control often fails to respond quickly, requiring 4 or 5 attempts.
Frequently I will want to play music from the diskstation and having got to the album I want to play, seeing the tracks, pressing play will fail - "unable to browse" or "unable to connect"
And maybe once or twice a week the app decides I don't have any favourites and tells me I can put them where they were. Then after a while they all come back.

The hard buttons on the various devices all seem to work instantly as they always used to.

The system used to work flawlessly. Now it just feels like I wish I just had all the CDs back on their shelves and radios in each room!

So - sorry for the long post, but if the community can help, I'd be grateful.
And yes, Sonos support are aware. They come up with a suggestion, which often helps a little for a while,
I am not connected to SonosNet (on Support's advice).
I am connected to channel 6 (on Support's advice)

Any advice?

Just read - Android. Have you tried connecting them to SonosNet rather than WiFi?

1/ Remove the Bridge unless/until you can test its wall-wart power supply. Substitute another Sonos device for now. The PSU has a risk of failing with age. The voltage drops, and the Bridge's connectivity becomes intermittent. A healthy PSU puts out a steady 5.1V.

2/ Remove Sonos' dependency on the EoP (Ethernet over Powerline), even for the controllers. It's very variable, and any attempt to use it across the two consumer units is really asking for trouble.

I am not connected to SonosNet

That's inconsistent with the fact that a Bridge is deployed. If you've ever been persuaded to configure WiFi details into the system then:

3/ Remove the WiFi credentials via the 'reset' button at Advanced Settings/Wireless Setup.

At least for the purposes of experiment, and given your use of phone, I'd suggest forgetting the home wifi to ensure phone sticks to SonosNet.

I was going to suggest the same as @ratty and propose you get the Play:1 from top floor and wire it in place of the Bridge. Longer term a Boost might be worth it. Locate the P:1 at least a metre from router if possible.

Do you know which channel your router is using? There are plenty of free wifi scanner apps in the Google Play Store and they can provide useful, though not comprehensive, information.

After all the above, go to http://IP_address_of_Play1:1400/support/review (get the IP from About My Sonos System). Open Network Matrix and post a screenshot.

I'd also like to see confirmation of what the EoP is being used for. It can be a silver bullet, but at other times it can be hugely frustrating. Basically if one doesn't have a management app/console that reveals the state of the EoP connections one has only a rough idea about what it's doing.