Fixed Sonos on my new wireless network
TLDR: To fix my ailing Sonos device, I created a separate Wi-Fi network set only to 2.4ghz and WPA2 Personal for auth.
I wrote before that I upgraded my home network. On the Wi-Fi side, I used the same SSID and password, and most of my devices moved over without a hiccup. That included most of my Sonos speakers, including an Arc soundbar and four Play:1s.
But the One SL speaker in our bedroom just couldnāt figure it out. My wife likes to use that speaker, so the fact that it was busted cast a shadow over my entire networking project, which was otherwise a success in my book. An expensive success. (She hates it when I change tech stuff like this, even when it saves us money.)
I factory-reset the speaker many times, but it would always error out during the setup process. It often failed to connect to the Wi-Fi network. Sometimes it would connect successfully and then try to apply an update. The progress bar would slowly fill up for several minutes only for it to fail once it hit 100%. I thought the speakerās Wi-Fi antenna might be weak or even faulty since all other devices were fine at the same range. I eventually moved it about a foot away from one of the Wi-Fi access points, but it still failed.
Having thrown only scraps of time at the problem, I decided to devote my morning today to solving it. After a handful more factory resets and different error states, I noticed one the error messages linked to troubleshooting docs instead of merely saying to contact support. At the bottom of one of those docs pages was a note about Wi-Fi networks that offer both 2.4ghz and 5ghz, suggesting to separate the two frequencies out onto their own dedicated networks. I hadnāt seen that suggestion elsewhere, despite a fair amount of searching and reading.
Iād been shrugging off networking changes up until that point since my other Sonos devices, both new and old, were working fine. And the One SL speakers are supposed to support 5ghz Wi-Fi. But now I was determined to root this out, so I gave it a shot. Fortunately the Aruba Instant-On app makes this very easy to set up. I created the new network and disabled 5ghz, leaving only 2ghz. I also limited auth to WPA2 only instead of Arubaās āWPA2 + WPA3ā default, since Sonosās docs list support for WPA2 but donāt mention WPA3. I left my other network as is, with both 5ghz and 2ghz enabled. (Not sure if thatās the right call yet.)
One more factory reset, and ... the speaker still tried to connect to the original network without giving me a choice. I learned that I needed to update the network settings in the Sonos app first.
One more factory reset, and it worked! No more setup problems, and the speaker was very responsive to requests from the Sonos app, even back in its original spot upstairs where it had been failing to connect.
Iām so pleased! I thought I might have to run another access point to our upstairs bedroom, and I wasnāt sure how Iād accomplish that logistically, let alone negotiate it with my wife, who would surely remind me that everything was working fine with the old network that I paid around $700 to change. Or I thought Iād have to buy a new speaker if this one was failing.
Other notes
The various Reddit and support-forum posts were inconclusive and contradictory, but they did clue me into some factors.
I read about using SonosNet vs. Wi-Fi to have the speakers connect to each other. SonosNet used to be Sonosās solution to compensate for shoddy Wi-Fi networks, but now they seem to recommend Wi-Fi if you have reasonable coverage, and apparently the newest speakers donāt support SonosNet anymore. I opted for Wi-Fi, since SonosNet seemed to be on the way out, and because I just paid hard-earned cash for these great new access points.
To get rid of SonosNet, I unplugged the one speaker that was wired to Ethernet. I might also have factory reset it. I canāt remember.
The app and speakers do feel more responsive under Wi-Fi vs. SonosNet. Sonos felt sluggish and flakey with our SonosNet and old mesh Wi-Fi setup (though Iām not sure if the mesh network was actually a factor). Iām hoping my wife notices some improvements someday!
As for the 2.4ghz vs. 5ghz decision, Iām honestly not sure why 2.4 was the fix. My best guess is that 2.4 is supposed to have better range than 5. But that could be a red herring, and the fix could have been that I limited the auth to WPA2 only.
If I were a proper scientist, Iād get to the bottom of this with some more experiments. But now that this months-long problem has been solved, Iām happy to take the win, call myself a crap scientist, and get on with my life. š