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Sonos Move Bluetooth and Grouping

  • 6 September 2019
  • 16 replies
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Regarding the new Sonos Move, very curious to know if one could still group in other speakers when using the bluetooth connection option and presuming that the Move is also connected to Wi-Fi. Or is it a case of the bluetooth option being fully stand-alone, and the Move can not simultaneously use Wi-Fi and bluetooth?
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Best answer by melvimbe 6 September 2019, 15:04

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16 replies

Regarding the new Sonos Move, very curious to know if one could still group in other speakers when using the bluetooth connection option and presuming that the Move is also connected to Wi-Fi. Or is it a case of the bluetooth option being fully stand-alone, and the Move can not simultaneously use Wi-Fi and bluetooth?

It's the latter. You can't be in both bluetooth and wi-fi mode at the same time. If you are on wifi, you likely wouldn't need to turn on bluetooth, unless you're trying to play content that can't be streamed through Sonos under wifi (youtube, for example)
Regarding the new Sonos Move, very curious to know if one could still group in other speakers when using the bluetooth connection option and presuming that the Move is also connected to Wi-Fi. Or is it a case of the bluetooth option being fully stand-alone, and the Move can not simultaneously use Wi-Fi and bluetooth?


Think of the Move as two different speakers, one is a battery operated WiFi Sonos speaker, the other is a standalone Bluetooth speaker for use when away from your Sonos system. Pressing the Bluetooth button toggles between the two.

Regarding the new Sonos Move, very curious to know if one could still group in other speakers when using the bluetooth connection option and presuming that the Move is also connected to Wi-Fi. Or is it a case of the bluetooth option being fully stand-alone, and the Move can not simultaneously use Wi-Fi and bluetooth?
Think of the Move as two different speakers, one is a battery operated WiFi Sonos speaker, the other is a standalone Bluetooth speaker for use when away from your Sonos system. Pressing the Bluetooth button toggles between the two.


I think it's actually a bit better than that. When you connect the Move to a wifi system outside your home, you have access to all your streaming services and such, just like home. So if the public park/beach has wifi, you have your Sonos system, not just Sonos. Going to grandma's house for the holiday's and don't want to listen to her sad speakers? Bring the Move (or a couple with you).



I think it's actually a bit better than that. When you connect the Move to a wifi system outside your home, you have access to all your streaming services and such, just like home. So if the public park/beach has wifi, you have your Sonos system, not just Sonos. Going to grandma's house for the holiday's and don't want to listen to her sad speakers? Bring the Move (or a couple with you).


Yeah, that too. Forgot about that bonus. So it's 3 speakers. Sonos system at home, standalone Sonos on the road, and Bluetooth when outside of WiFi range.
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Not sure you can access the Move via the Sonos app (which would be necessary) on public wifi in a parc....
Not sure you can access the Move via the Sonos app (which would be necessary) on public wifi in a parc....

I've asked. You can. Your phone would connect to the wifi, then the phone would setup the Move with wifi credentials through BLE. Next time you're in range of the network, the Move will remember the credentials and connect (when in wifi mode). The downside is that you would not be able to control the Move in that scenario, you'd need to rely on the hard buttons and voice control. Perhaps not really a better scenario than just using bluetooth.
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Not sure you can access the Move via the Sonos app (which would be necessary) on public wifi in a parc....I've asked. You can. Your phone would connect to the wifi, then the phone would setup the Move with wifi credentials through BLE. Next time you're in range of the network, the Move will remember the credentials and connect (when in wifi mode). The downside is that you would not be able to control the Move in that scenario, you'd need to rely on the hard buttons and voice control. Perhaps not really a better scenario than just using bluetooth.


I do want to add a slight warning that if we're talking about a public wifi network the configuration of that network may be a bit of a limiting factor. While it should work, there's always a chance that the network isn't friendly, but likely you'll be good to go.

Great answers everyone! The Bluetooth button on the back of Move will toggle between Wifi mode and Bluetooth mode.
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Hi there, I'm also interested to know when using Bluetooth if you can pair 2 Moves as stereo (L+R) as you can when configuring them on WiFi.
No, in Bluetooth mode, it is a standalone speaker. It can not be "paired" or "grouped" with other speakers.
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No, in Bluetooth mode, it is a standalone speaker. It can not be "paired" or "grouped" with other speakers.
That's a real pity as this functionality is currently available with other bluetooth speakers so you can have left and right channels to have proper stereo separation. Makes more sense for Sonos to do this, as they'd probably sell twice as many. Forcing 'Stereo' out of a single unit is so yesterday.

No, in Bluetooth mode, it is a standalone speaker. It can not be "paired" or "grouped" with other speakers.That's a real pity as this functionality is currently available with other bluetooth speakers so you can have left and right channels to have proper stereo separation. Makes more sense for Sonos to do this, as they'd probably sell twice as many. Forcing 'Stereo' out of a single unit is so yesterday.



Makes me wonder if this is a feature Sonos hopes to add in the future. It might be that the feature didn't make it through testing in time for this release. It could also be that it's more complicated to do when you throw auto trueplay into the mix.
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No, in Bluetooth mode, it is a standalone speaker. It can not be "paired" or "grouped" with other speakers.That's a real pity as this functionality is currently available with other bluetooth speakers so you can have left and right channels to have proper stereo separation. Makes more sense for Sonos to do this, as they'd probably sell twice as many. Forcing 'Stereo' out of a single unit is so yesterday.

Makes me wonder if this is a feature Sonos hopes to add in the future. It might be that the feature didn't make it through testing in time for this release. It could also be that it's more complicated to do when you throw auto trueplay into the mix.

I was reading more on the Sonos website and apparently auto trueplay is not available when the speaker is in Bluetooth mode, only when connected to Wifi.

 Mmmm, Well I always have active wifi network…. But not always internet available so thats why I want to use bluetooth to connect and play directly from my devices or My customers….. so now my system is not so clever as I only get one speaker :sweat:

Who from Sonos is monitoring this thread? Sonos Move Bluetooth Stereo Pairing is pretty standard in the industry.

I two did not do my homework. I bought a second move for my Mother in Law’s funeral to support streaming audio from my Windows 10 entertainment NUC PC for a piece I put together to find out that audio will only work on one of the two speakers.

I also attempted to move back and forth between the two speakers though bluethooth. One of the Moves works however when I disconnect it and then connect to the other Move that is being recognized by Windows 10 no audio. I have attempted to do this with my Ipad pro 11. Same Issue. The only way to resolve this is to reset the Sonos Move speaker and then rejoin it to the WiFi network. I can duplicate the issue by simply turning both Sonos Moves back on switch them both to Bluetooth. Broken again. Hmmmm….. Going to place a call with Sonos support Team.

Can I group my Move with the Spotify Connect option in my Sonos app? Spotify Connect is through my Control4 system.

 

No, in Bluetooth mode, it is a standalone speaker. It can not be "paired" or "grouped" with other speakers.

That's a real pity as this functionality is currently available with other bluetooth speakers so you can have left and right channels to have proper stereo separation. Makes more sense for Sonos to do this, as they'd probably sell twice as many. Forcing 'Stereo' out of a single unit is so yesterday.

 

 


Makes me wonder if this is a feature Sonos hopes to add in the future. It might be that the feature didn't make it through testing in time for this release. It could also be that it's more complicated to do when you throw auto trueplay into the mix.

 

 

 

It goes without saying that having the bluetooth stereo pairing/grouping option without Trueplay would still be a better alternative to not having it at all. In a variety of scenarios, Bluetooth might be the only option to connect the speakers. It would be a great added value if this is taken into consideration for future firmware/controller app updates.