After getting this all working, later it develops severe problems. For example the Sonos starts to crash the access point.
My setup when it was working:
Main House Router: Linksys EA6500 v1 (la
Dettached Shop Metal Building:
Outside Shop Wireless Bridge: TP-Link CPE510 V2 in bridge mode (this connects to the router in the house wirelessly and brings an Ethernet connection inside the shop to the LAN ports of the Shop Access Point;
Inside Shop Wireless Access Point: Linksys E4200
Because the shop is a metal building, we need the outdoor wireless bridge to bring the network into the shop. The router in the shop is in access point mode. It isn't doing any routing. No firewall... Nothing but providing an access point for the shop devices (mostly Sonos, one Amazon Echo, and my phones or laptop.). All devices in the shop get an IP on the same network as the devices in the house.
A Play:1 is wired to the LAN ports of the shop access point.
A Play:1 is on the other side of the shop wirelessly connected to the network.
A Play Beam is on another wall of the shop connected wirelessly.
After setting up everything fresh, it works. Some time later it just stops working and it kills the access point and/or the bridge. (No phones can get internet while connected to the WiFi when this happens). If I unplug the Sonos speakers (I think it is the Play:1 that is wired in that causes this.) And reboot my network gear then the access point in the shop works great. When I plug the Play:1 back in (the one that is wired) then the whole shop network crashes. When this starts happening I have to factory reset all three devices in the shop and add them back one by one starting with the Play:1 that is wired to the access point.
I have tried this with all three speakers using wireless and the same problem happens, but maybe less frequently with one of them wired in.
The router is just fine for weeks and even months at a time without the Sonos speakers.
I just read today about STP so I'm going to look at the bridge and access point to see what they support. Are there any other protocols that I need to make sure are turned on or turned off specifically?
It is really frustrating having this thing work well and then suddenly it starts crashing the shop network.
There are several Sonos speakers inside the house. The ones in the dettached shop are on the same subnet as the ones in the house. The ones in the house are all connected wirelessly.
The wireless network SSID in the shop and the password is the same as the SSID and password in the house. When they were different, the house Sonos speakers couldn't be seen while in the shop even though the network itself was on the same subnet. By making the SSID's the same, when my phone switches networks, I'm able to see both systems. This doesn't make sense to me. I should be able to have various wifi networks all connected to and sitting on the same subnet and the app shouldn't care that the SSID is different if it can reach the same speakers at the same IP addresses.
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The problems possibly stem from the fact that the house players and the shop players are all part of the same system. They could be occasionally making direct contact with each other -- remember that a shop Play:1 is wired so SonosNet is active there -- then breaking away again. I'd guess that you've configured the SSID into the Sonos system, which is why the house players didn't work when the SSID there was changed.
It would shed a small amount of light if, when the whole system is visible in a controller, you checked in About My Sonos System to see which players show WM:0 and which show WM:1.
If nothing is wired in the house then STP shouldn't be a factor. It sounds more likely that the house players are flipping between SonosNet to the shop and WiFi in the house.
Do you actually need to have all the players on the same system? Do you ever group players in the house with those in the shop? Must you keep everything on the same subnet, for reasons other than Sonos?
Where this is heading is that one possibility is to put the shop E4200 into router mode, and move the shop Sonos units to a different system (Sonos call it 'household') by resetting them and setting them up as a new system. You could still keep the SSIDs the same, but depending which building you were in you'd see the relevant players in your controller.
Another option could be to simply disconnect the Ethernet from the shop Play:1, so long as there is decent WiFi coverage there. In that case the SSIDs in both house and shop must stay the same, so that players in each location can connect to the strongest access point.
It would shed a small amount of light if, when the whole system is visible in a controller, you checked in About My Sonos System to see which players show WM:0 and which show WM:1.
If nothing is wired in the house then STP shouldn't be a factor. It sounds more likely that the house players are flipping between SonosNet to the shop and WiFi in the house.
Do you actually need to have all the players on the same system? Do you ever group players in the house with those in the shop? Must you keep everything on the same subnet, for reasons other than Sonos?
Where this is heading is that one possibility is to put the shop E4200 into router mode, and move the shop Sonos units to a different system (Sonos call it 'household') by resetting them and setting them up as a new system. You could still keep the SSIDs the same, but depending which building you were in you'd see the relevant players in your controller.
Another option could be to simply disconnect the Ethernet from the shop Play:1, so long as there is decent WiFi coverage there. In that case the SSIDs in both house and shop must stay the same, so that players in each location can connect to the strongest access point.
I believe I explained these problems happen with the Play:1 connected to Ethernet or when connected to WiFi. (No I don't mean both at the same time... Just that I've tried both configurations and both ways it causes the network in the shop to die hard.)
I started with a wifi setup in the shop and that had similar problems (the router and/or bridge dying the moment the Play:1 is connected and not dying at all when the Sonos are unplugged,) The problem I've described happens even more quickly when the first speaker is on WiFi.
Considering walking into the shop and back into the house, and back into the shop, the Sonos app doesn't necessarily handle the change quickly. Also, I may want to have music playing in both. Also consider that I might be putting on music in the house for the family and controlling the music in the shop. I do not want to have to switch between households.
If the speakers inside a metal building can see a network that is far away and choose to connect to that weaker network instead of the much higher power network that is in the same building, then the Sonos WiFi connection process is complete and utter garbage. Also considering wifi access points have a MAC address, the speakers should know exactly which access point they are supposed to stay connected to. There is no excuse for them to somehow see the network inside the house from so far away and choose that as a somehow better option. Also, they aren't connected because the music stops and the network in the shop dies. I have to disconnect the Sonos speakers and reboot all the network equipment. The wifi network comes back after the reboot and goes away within a minute or two of plugging the Sonos speakers in. Basically as soon as the speakers finish booting up.
I can make the problem go away for an extremely unreliable period of time by factory resetting the speakers and setting them back up. It might work for a day or a month but when it starts to fail again it takes the shop network with it.
I don't see why having speakers connect through a wireless bridged access point on the same network / same subnet is too much to ask. I certainly don't mind buying something else to help make this work. If there is a protocol or network feature that must be supported for this to work, I'm happy to buy something that supports that.
I am hoping that someone else that has a bridged access point on the same network might share their experience with this.
If I need a more advanced radio, I don't mind buying a MikroTik or something like that, but I would like I comprehensive list of requirements that need to be met so I can work towards that.
I started with a wifi setup in the shop and that had similar problems (the router and/or bridge dying the moment the Play:1 is connected and not dying at all when the Sonos are unplugged,) The problem I've described happens even more quickly when the first speaker is on WiFi.
Considering walking into the shop and back into the house, and back into the shop, the Sonos app doesn't necessarily handle the change quickly. Also, I may want to have music playing in both. Also consider that I might be putting on music in the house for the family and controlling the music in the shop. I do not want to have to switch between households.
If the speakers inside a metal building can see a network that is far away and choose to connect to that weaker network instead of the much higher power network that is in the same building, then the Sonos WiFi connection process is complete and utter garbage. Also considering wifi access points have a MAC address, the speakers should know exactly which access point they are supposed to stay connected to. There is no excuse for them to somehow see the network inside the house from so far away and choose that as a somehow better option. Also, they aren't connected because the music stops and the network in the shop dies. I have to disconnect the Sonos speakers and reboot all the network equipment. The wifi network comes back after the reboot and goes away within a minute or two of plugging the Sonos speakers in. Basically as soon as the speakers finish booting up.
I can make the problem go away for an extremely unreliable period of time by factory resetting the speakers and setting them back up. It might work for a day or a month but when it starts to fail again it takes the shop network with it.
I don't see why having speakers connect through a wireless bridged access point on the same network / same subnet is too much to ask. I certainly don't mind buying something else to help make this work. If there is a protocol or network feature that must be supported for this to work, I'm happy to buy something that supports that.
I am hoping that someone else that has a bridged access point on the same network might share their experience with this.
If I need a more advanced radio, I don't mind buying a MikroTik or something like that, but I would like I comprehensive list of requirements that need to be met so I can work towards that.
Part of the system is in SonosNet ('wired') mode. The other units will attempt to join it. This is, quite sensibly, how the system is designed to work.
So-called 'mixed mode', with some units on SonosNet and some on WiFi, is deprecated. It tends to be unstable.
complete and utter garbage
On that basis I'll leave you to continue your troubleshooting with Sonos Support. They will no doubt tell you that spanning a system across a wireless bridge is an unsupported configuration. Good luck.
You're hyper focused on the Ethernet cable. The problem I'm describing happens with or without that connection. I stared with an all wifi setup. When the network in the shop crashes repeatedly I tried plugging in one speaker to the access point and the problem is still there, but not as often.
So let's go back to before I plugged in that Ethernet cable: the network in the garage is the strongest. Why would the Sonos speakers try to connect to a network further away if there is a strong one right there?
How do you think people cover large properties? They have multiple access points that are sitting on the same subnet.
I will be calling Sonos, but it will have to be a day where I have many hours that I can devote to this. My original question stands:. What are the network protocol requirements? I have read on other threads about STP, and broadcast. If there was a definitive list of what must be working, I could at the very least dig through all the settings in the bridge, access point... Or maybe even put the access point into routing mode but have the bridge attached to the LAN side with DHCP turned off (I know there should only be one DHCP on the network as a whole.). But maybe there is something that isn't being passed properly on the access point.
I've tried two different access points in the shop. I'm leary of just buying more hardware blindly at this point.
So let's go back to before I plugged in that Ethernet cable: the network in the garage is the strongest. Why would the Sonos speakers try to connect to a network further away if there is a strong one right there?
How do you think people cover large properties? They have multiple access points that are sitting on the same subnet.
I will be calling Sonos, but it will have to be a day where I have many hours that I can devote to this. My original question stands:. What are the network protocol requirements? I have read on other threads about STP, and broadcast. If there was a definitive list of what must be working, I could at the very least dig through all the settings in the bridge, access point... Or maybe even put the access point into routing mode but have the bridge attached to the LAN side with DHCP turned off (I know there should only be one DHCP on the network as a whole.). But maybe there is something that isn't being passed properly on the access point.
I've tried two different access points in the shop. I'm leary of just buying more hardware blindly at this point.
You questioned why units in one location would try to connect with those in another. I set out the circumstances.
In the last para of my original response I also said that, if all units were using WiFi, they would connect to their strongest local access point.
How do you think people cover large properties? They have multiple access points that are sitting on the same subnet.
In larger properties most would use SonosNet mode, since it's a self-extending mesh, wiring as many Sonos components as is convenient. In fact attempting to use a larger, spread out, system in WiFi mode can be problematic. In that mode Sonos requires that all access points use the same channel, so units can connect directly peer-to-peer when grouped. If users struggle with running Sonos on a meshed WiFi they're typically advised to wire a device and put the system into SonosNet mode.
What are the network protocol requirements? I have read on other threads about STP, and broadcast.
STP isn't active in WiFi mode. Broadcast and IP multicast are certainly a requirement. You can ask Sonos Support about any other considerations, but the fact is that the configuration you're trying to use, with a wireless bridge in the middle of the system, isn't officially supported.
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