Using Roam pair in camper


Userlevel 1
Badge

I have a home Sonos network with many Sonos products running on my home Wifi.  I have a camper with a SoHo router installed.  The idea is to take my cell hotspot or campground WiFi as as the WAN connection creating a local LAN in the camper.  This all works as it should except for Sonos.  It seems that only one of my Roams work and I can't create the stereo pair.  The 2 Roams work as a stereo pair in the house but not in the camper.  Any ideas.

 

David


21 replies

Userlevel 7

Did you unpair them while on the house Wi-Fi before you tried to pair them in your camper?

Userlevel 1
Badge

No I did not.  Let me try that tomorrow and see how it works.  Stay tuned.

 

Thanks!

Userlevel 1
Badge

OK I tried that and now now neither are working.  I think the one that worked was coming from my home network since the camper is in the driveway...for now.  So now when I restart the app on the iPhone.  When it can’t see any of my Sonos devices on the main screen it presents a message at the top of the app to look for devices.  I tap on it and it asks if I’m on a new network and I say yes.  It then scans the network and sees the two Roams and then asks for the WiFi password.  I enter it correctly and it says updating.  Then after a while a message appears that it can’t connect.  That’s where I’m at now.

Userlevel 7

What Wi-Fi network is the SOHO router using on the camper?

Userlevel 1
Badge

2.4 and 5 GHz. I’ve tried them both independently. Hope that answers your question.

Userlevel 7

You said you are using the SOHO router as WiFi as WAN. What outside Wi-Fi network is the router using in the camper?

Userlevel 1
Badge

It’s connecting to my home Wi-Fi in the house from the driveway and it’s got a good strong too.

Userlevel 7

When you connect to the SOHO router, do you use a different network name and password than your home Wi-Fi name and password?

Userlevel 1
Badge

Yes that’s how the pep wave so whole router works we need to pick a different SS ID and of course password. I saw another post where somebody mentioned that you should forget your network on the controller app and I tried that too and that didn’t seem to work

Userlevel 7

Is it possible to use the same SSID and password on the SOHO as your home Wi-Fi?

Userlevel 1
Badge

Well that is an interesting thought and I could do that are you thinking having them with the same SS ID and password would allow them to work. I will try that tomorrow. 

Userlevel 7

Pair the two Roams as a stereo pair on your home’s Wi-Fi and then move the Roams to your camper’s network with the same SSID and password. Hopefully the Sonos app will think the Roams are still on the same network or, at the very least, make it easier for you to connect the Sonos app to the Roams on your camper.

Userlevel 1
Badge

Thanking about this a little bit more it’s going to be hard to differentiate which network it’s on because they have the same SS ID and password. I can go into the client list on the camper router and that’s the only way I’ll determine if it’s on that network. When I’m away from the house at a campsite or I’m hooked up with my hotspot then I will know for sure. In fact maybe I should use my hotspot which will have a different SS ID HMMM

Userlevel 7

Unless you do a lot of camping directly outside of your house, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

Does your SoHo router have a setting for ‘client isolation’ and is it enabled?  If so, try disabling it.

Userlevel 1
Badge

Sorry no setting like that to disable.

 

After no success with the above ideas let’s take a different tact.  I seem to be missing something and maybe it’s because these are both wireless (2 Roams and 1 Move) and have no hard wired Ethernet ports on them. It shouldn’t be this hard to have some of my Sonos speakers work on another WiFi.  Once in a while I see a message in my attempts with a message Join an existing WifI or create a new account.  The join the existing Wifi fails and times out.  Maybe I need to create a new account for the 2nd WiFi network?  I am really hoping for a seamless transition bringing the wireless speakers to the camper from the house to use them.  I realize I could use just one of them bluetooth to my phone but really would like to use wireless network to create the stereo pair.  BTW thanks for all the suggestions thus far,  I appreciate it.

 

David

Userlevel 1
Badge

IT WORKS!!!

Let me tell you how I did it.  When in doubt call tech support and I spoke with Ramon (?).  I explained my situation to him and he said I needed to “reset” the Sonos speakers that I want to use in the camper.  Next make sure your device is connected to the WiFi network with the right SSID and open the SONOS app.  Your usual “full looking” screen of devices will not appear since you’re on a different WiFi.  It will ask to fix the network at the top of the app.  Don’t select it.

Here’s the process first for the Roam:  First turn off the speaker all the way by pressing and holding the button in the back for 5 seconds or until you hear the tone.  Then press and hold the play button on the top and then press and hold the button in the back until you see the orange light, then release.  In a few seconds the light will turn green and it ready to be connected to a new network. Suddenly the Roam speaker will appear and ask if you would like to connect to it as a new user or existing user.  I selected existing.  Then on the iPhone Apple asks you if the app is allowed to use the built in mic.  Say yes as the next step in the process the speaker emits a tone that the app is looking for to connect it up.  Then the app asks if you want the mic on the speaker enabled for the true audio set up.  Then you’re done.  Repeat the process for the second Roam.

 

Here’s the process to set up the Move:  It’s important to have the charging base ring and plugged into power.  First off press and hold the power button for 5 seconds to turn it off.  Keeping it off the base press and hold the infinity symbol (8 laying sideways) on the back of the speaker.  While still holding the speaker infinity button place it back on the base.  The light on the top will tun from white to orange then to green flashing.  At this point you are ready join the speaker with the new WiFi.  The process from here on out is similar to the Roam above.

 

Now I have the 2 Rooms in stereo mode and the move as a Quasi sub.  I went to painstaking details describing the process here so others if they stumble across this thread will hopefully find it useful.

Keep up the great work making fantastic speakers SONOS!

 

David

Userlevel 7

Glad you got it working. Do you have to reset the speaker again and redo the setup process to reconnect it to your home Wi-Fi?

Userlevel 1
Badge

Good question and I asked that too and he said yes.  But interestingly in the system menu there is a section called networks which would lead someone to suspect that it might remember the attached speakers.  Well regardless the speakers are in the camper for the summer so I’ll let you know for sure in the Fall.  :)

Userlevel 1

Thanks for that detailed write up David! It’s much appreciated.  

I just got a Roam for better music listing when traveling and am going to try this out this weekend at the Mother-in-law’s place.  I’ll post back here on what happens when I get back home.

Userlevel 1

First update:

I got my roam on another wifi network and up and running.  There are a couple of kind of annoying things about this that I can already see: I had to set up the Roam as a separate system so none of the services I have set up in my main system show up I have to reconnect them all.  That *might* be OK, but I have a feeling if I connect to antoher wifi network I’m going to have to do that all over again.  This is not the smoothest process and a bit disappointing from Sonos. 

Reply