I purchased the Sonos Beam launch week. It was my first Sonos product ever. I have always been a Bose/Polk/BW fan. I have enjoyed the Sonos Beam UNTIL TODAY. I purchased a new Wifi Router and learned the hard way that you cannot reconfigure the WiFi setting without physically wiring the Beam to the new router via Ethernet. This is 2018, this should NOT be an issue.
In my case, my router is in my attic behind two very small doors. My beam was downstairs in my study. All this meant that I had to completely move my TV, disconnect the beam's power supply from behind it, carry my Beam upstairs and go through two small attic doors to hardwire it to my new router just to connect it to the new WiFi network. Why in the world can you not do this from the app, wirelessly, is simply beyond me. It was enough of a struggle that I will never buy another Sonos product.
That one cannot reconfigure WiFi without having to hard wire is the most idiotic and nonsensical aspect of any product I've owned. I would strongly encourage anyone to NOT buy Sonos if convenience is important for you. Consider yourself warned.
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Userlevel 7
+22
Not a great solution but one that has saved me much grief over the years, flat Ethernet cables. Flat rolls and stores in a much more compact and less messy roll than round stuff. These are just the first hits, you don't need anything better than Cat 5 and unshielded which both should give cheaper cables.
100: https://smile.amazon.com/ethernet-Wireless-Networking-Connectors-LAN-White/dp/B06XXW49Q9/ref=sr_1_6
150: https://smile.amazon.com/Ethernet-Internet-Snagless-Connectors-Cable%EF%BC%88150FT%EF%BC%89/dp/B07C6TZGGW/ref=sr_1_5
200: https://smile.amazon.com/Ethernet-Internet-Snagless-Connectors-Cable%EF%BC%88200FT%EF%BC%89/dp/B01KV3731E/ref=sr_1_13
My current solution is a Boost, no more WiFi woes since it puts all my Sonos gear on a Sonos network.
100: https://smile.amazon.com/ethernet-Wireless-Networking-Connectors-LAN-White/dp/B06XXW49Q9/ref=sr_1_6
150: https://smile.amazon.com/Ethernet-Internet-Snagless-Connectors-Cable%EF%BC%88150FT%EF%BC%89/dp/B07C6TZGGW/ref=sr_1_5
200: https://smile.amazon.com/Ethernet-Internet-Snagless-Connectors-Cable%EF%BC%88200FT%EF%BC%89/dp/B01KV3731E/ref=sr_1_13
My current solution is a Boost, no more WiFi woes since it puts all my Sonos gear on a Sonos network.
Just configure the router with the same SSID and password as the old one.
Tried, did not work. The point of the story is that there is seemingly no good reason for Sonos to have their app/hardware setup in such a manner. If there is a good reason, they certainly do not elaborate on it. My 6 year old has a WiFi enabled baby doll that is easier to configure than the shenanigans that I endured today with the Beam.
Had I not gotten a new router, I would have likely bought other Sonos products in the future. Now, there is no way that is going to happen.
Had I not gotten a new router, I would have likely bought other Sonos products in the future. Now, there is no way that is going to happen.
Userlevel 7
+17
I used Ethernet from my laptop to a play1 to set up a new router a while back.
Is that still possible with the reduced sonos pc controls?
Is that still possible with the reduced sonos pc controls?
The old router could quite probably have been repurposed as a WiFi bridge, providing a wired connection to the Beam.
Thats a pretty lousy place to put a wifi router.
No it's not, it's fiber to the home, which comes in through the attic and has to plug straight into a router (no modem). Wired backhaul from router out of attic to APs throughout the house. I have 4 APs scattered through the house built into the ceilings.
@nick776. This has clearly been a real inconvenience for you. The situation is pretty rare (inaccessible router and APs, relatively immovable single Sonos component.) So this is rarely a problem, although no comfort to you.
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As a partial explanation, Sonos has been designed from outset to allow multiple speakers and controllers to talk to each other, with the requirement that they all be on the same LAN, indeed subnet. Any suggestion that connecting a single device (eg doll) is easy, is actually irrelevant.
When you change routers, Sonos finds itself with controller on one LAN and the speaker only having security details for the old LAN. So the wireless connection isn't possible. Well, controller could talk to speaker direct in theory, as in initial setup, but I can only assume there is some reason why this cannot be done, or Sonos are not comfortable doing it, after wifi details have been stored.
Incidentally, although there are disadvantages, you could have factory reset the Beam and connected wirelessly, with no need to move anything.
Sonos aren't idiots. If you buy no more products then yours is the greater loss.
.
As a partial explanation, Sonos has been designed from outset to allow multiple speakers and controllers to talk to each other, with the requirement that they all be on the same LAN, indeed subnet. Any suggestion that connecting a single device (eg doll) is easy, is actually irrelevant.
When you change routers, Sonos finds itself with controller on one LAN and the speaker only having security details for the old LAN. So the wireless connection isn't possible. Well, controller could talk to speaker direct in theory, as in initial setup, but I can only assume there is some reason why this cannot be done, or Sonos are not comfortable doing it, after wifi details have been stored.
Incidentally, although there are disadvantages, you could have factory reset the Beam and connected wirelessly, with no need to move anything.
Sonos aren't idiots. If you buy no more products then yours is the greater loss.
Yes, I was aware of factory reset. However, I would lose all playlists, favorites, etc. AND would have to re-calibrate (re-calibration only would not bother me). Sonos sounds great, indeed better than Bose (which is what I have always had). B&W is my top preference, overall, but they do not offer a diverse product base. It just seems like such a minor issue such as this could be solved somehow. That is my gripe. Certainly, I cannot be the only person for whom this has been a problem.
This. I've changed routers 3-4 times and by using the same SSID and password each time, all my devices just pick up the new router and go. With 30+ devices on our network, it would be a real pain to go change the wifi credentials on every device when I change routers.
Userlevel 7
+26
I wanted to update you all here that we've been doing some work on improving the workflow for reconfiguring Sonos when the router is replaced. With version 9.3 of Sonos, released today, for households with only one Sonos player, there's a new workflow that shouldn't require the device to be wired into the network. The Beam, in particular, has some hardware specifically to improve this flow, which will let it reconnect to a new network even easier. We'll continue to work on this and other system improvements in the future, but the first of these updates is now available.
I use a WiFi-to-Ethernet bridge for this sort of thing. How often do you need to configure Wi-Fi on your speakers vs how often do you listen to them? Focus on what’s important. If configuring Wi-Fi is important, you don’t need Sonos speakers.
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