Question

Will my older speakers work with the Boost

  • 28 November 2019
  • 9 replies
  • 1846 views
T

I recently received an email from Sonos to replace my Bridge with the newer Boost and currently have a generous time limited discount offer to do so. I should mention here that I have very few connection problems with my Sonos set up which comprises 1x Play3, 4x Play1 (in two stereo setups), 1x Connect and 1x Bridge. All devices are first generation. We use Windows PC and Android controller apps and my only music sources are via a NAS on ethernet and Amazon Prime membership.

So my question, as per title, is will these older components continue to work OK when set up as a Sonos Mesh Network thus (as I understand it), freeing up my home wi-fi?

And will they STILL continue to work after Sonos bring out more upgrades in the future?

 

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

9 replies

Ken_Griffiths

The answer is YES to all your questions, or you could simply wire one of your existing speakers (Play:1 or 3) to your LAN, if practicable and that will operate all in wired Boost Mode. One other option would be to use no wires and try running your devices on WiFi instead.

You may find these two links helpful aswell…

 

Switching a Sonos Household between Wireless & Wired mode & vice versa

Choosing between a wireless (WiFi) and wired (SonosNet) Setup

T

The answer is YES to all your questions, or you could simply wire one of your existing speakers (Play:1 or 3) to your LAN, if practicable and that will operate all in wired Boost Mode. One other option would be to use no wires and try running your devices on WiFi instead.

You may find these two links helpful aswell…

 

Switching a Sonos Household between Wireless & Wired mode & vice versa

Choosing between a wireless (WiFi) and wired (SonosNet) Setup


Many thanks for your rapid reply Ken. I have now read the two linked articles which raise a couple of supplementary questions :-)

  1. At the bottom of 2nd linked article it says “ We do not recommend using these ports to connect to a networked device like a printer or streaming device”  Because all my LAN ports are in use on back of router I have the Bridge connected directly to router and the NAS on which my music resides plugged into the 2nd port on the Bridge. Seems to work OK but what is reason for warning (or does that only apply to a wired speaker)?
  2. I’ve checked the “About My System” on the app and it confirms that it IS operating as a wired system ie wm=0. But all the Sonos products have been picked up by the router and given IP addresses by the DHCP! Is this likely to cause a conflict ?
Airgetlam
  1. The ports on a Sonos are the slowest 10/100 possible. While fine for music purpose, they can get flooded for higher throughput devices. I certainly wouldn’t want to push any video through them, but if you’re not currently having issues, I’d say you’re fine. Just be aware they’re not gigabit ports :)
  2. No, this is the way it is supposed to work. The router still needs to assign IP addresses in order to know what device to send the data to, it just happens to be on another ‘network’.
Bruce
T

Thanks Bruce, that all makes sense. As my NAS is just for back up storage the only streaming it does is music to the Sonos so 10/100 should be well within limits. It’s not practical to connect one of the speakers to the LAN so I’m just left with the choice of staying with the Bridge or taking up the offer on an upgrade to a Boost for future proofing.

Again, thanks for your most helpful replies guys.

Terry

Stanley_4
Userlevel 7
Badge +22

You can add a Ethernet switch to your setup and add from 4 to 48 more Ethernet ports. The 5 and 8 port switches can be found in the low $20 range. Do check the bad hardware list and avoid the ones there.

Bad Hardware: https://support.sonos.com/s/article/41?language=en_US

T

You can add a Ethernet switch to your setup and add from 4 to 48 more Ethernet ports. The 5 and 8 port switches can be found in the low $20 range. Do check the bad hardware list and avoid the ones there.

Bad Hardware: https://support.sonos.com/s/article/41?language=en_US


Thank you Stanley. I had considered this but was not sure if it would work. I do own a switch which is a Netgear GS105 Gigabit. The list you linked to says the Netgear GS108 IS incompatible and the two product IDs are a little too close for comfort for my liking. The 108 just seems to be an 8-port version of the 105 5-port device, so one might reasonably assume that apart from the number of ports the devices are identical with regard to their hardware and firmware!  What might have been more useful is a list of switches that ARE compatible. Have Sonos tech dept tested the GS105 I wonder? I guess I could just try it myself and see.

One worrying part of my proposed upgrade to a Boost is the large number of second hand ones available on the UK eBay site!

Terry

biggetjeindewei
Userlevel 3
Badge +3

The Netgear switch will work perfectly fine with Sonos as long as it is not an v1 version. The version is listed on the label I remember.

I use the same one, together with an 8 port version.

Additional benefit of running your Sonos via the Netgear switch is that you can hardwire more than 1 Sonos device without the network crashing itself.

Some standard ISP routers cannot deal with more than one Sonos device hardwired connected due to disabled Spanningtree protocol.

Maurice
Stanley_4
Userlevel 7
Badge +22

I have a bunch of “close” Netgear switches here and aside from that exact model and version all are happy. I also have TrendNet ones that work happily.

What I’ve done in a couple cases is used a switch at the router to get more ports there, then run single Ethernet cables to where I need them and added another switch at that end. Really handy as my TV cabinet needs 11 Ethernet connections. There is some limit on how many you can have but I only recall it was more than the 3 I’ll ever need.

T

Quick update. Bought a long LAN cable and connected my office Play 3 to my router via the GS105 (v5) switch. Removed the old Bridge and everything working perfectly. So thanks to all replies above for saving me the cost of a new Boost.

Terms & ConditionsCookie settings