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Forum Discussion
SONOS Compatability with Orbi
Is Orbi compatable with the SONOS mesh network? I have an extensive SONOS system throughout my house (7000 sq ft). It works flawlessly and I have wondered why a mesh network for a LAN application ha...
I agree, something is going on on your network. But it could still be wifi interference.
Can you test on 2.4 and 5 separately? 2.4 should be able to pull your full download speed if near the router/satellite. IF both channels see the same level of interference, I would say it's isolated to orbi or an entirely different source of interference.
My first orbi did not work right. My second has been nearly flawless.
Also, one other story: I was testing the linksys ea9500 recently. I saw these weird drops in bandwidth from my macbook while I was testing. However, I was option clicking the wireless menu to produce detailed info. Doing this briefly interrupts wifi on a macbook and reduces signal for a few seconds. I discovered that and a few other tools I had running was triggering that cycle. Speed would drop basically anytime I had my performance tools open. Story: router that was possibly perfectly fine got returned.
Anyway, it seems like there is some other thing going on. I would limit the Sonos to one speaker then test. Add another, then test. Etc. At least isolate when the problem happens. I had a speaker next to a router once that killed my wifi. ;)
--Derrek
dleute wrote:I agree, something is going on on your network. But it could still be wifi interference.
Can you test on 2.4 and 5 separately? 2.4 should be able to pull your full download speed if near the router/satellite. IF both channels see the same level of interference, I would say it's isolated to orbi or an entirely different source of interference.
My first orbi did not work right. My second has been nearly flawless.Also, one other story: I was testing the linksys ea9500 recently. I saw these weird drops in bandwidth from my macbook while I was testing. However, I was option clicking the wireless menu to produce detailed info. Doing this briefly interrupts wifi on a macbook and reduces signal for a few seconds. I discovered that and a few other tools I had running was triggering that cycle. Speed would drop basically anytime I had my performance tools open. Story: router that was possibly perfectly fine got returned.
Anyway, it seems like there is some other thing going on. I would limit the Sonos to one speaker then test. Add another, then test. Etc. At least isolate when the problem happens. I had a speaker next to a router once that killed my wifi. ;)
--Derrek
Will do, The bridge is close to the router though? This was my original thought on the interference, but it is necessary for Sonosnet.
The bridge isn't a speaker. It doesn't generate a magnetic field of significance (or it shouldn't). I had an 8 inch bass speaker blasting into an older router. Wasn't a good plan.
It doesn't hurt to separate by a few feet (length of a short ethernet cable), but it shouldn't be necessary. Also, a bridge is always on. Any interference shouldn't change *unless* it is 2.4ghz interference from the basic sonosnet. I don't think the bridge would repeat the 5ghz network. But I don't know the details about sonos 5ghz network.
--DerrekThese 2 articles are giving me some interesting testing ideas. Do you think it would be smart to wire in all Sonos components? The first article recommends this.
My gut feel is it's not a good idea. The issue is Sonos uses a protocol called STP. This protocol is designed to deal with network loops in this kind of broadcast networking. The problem is it's behavior is unclear when mixing with multi-point mesh networks via wireless. I think this has been the issue with eero and Sonos. One of the articles mentioned it briefly.
However, doing it won't hurt anything (might crash the ethernet network instead). So if it solves your problem, might be the answer for you.
You shouldn't need to decativate the network in the sonos device. It prefers wired if it's available. I'm not sure how 5.1 works when all wired.I would still love to know if this happens on both 2.4 and 5ghz connections. And if it's definitely only limited to the 5.1 mode.
--DerrekHave you considered other wireless devices? Wireless phones? baby monitors?
None of those are in the home, its just so immediate the drops when Sonos is playing it is clear the interference of sorts is coming from Sonos.
Baisc Results of what happened with my testing yesterday.
- -Change Channels again (1,6,11)
- Still experiencing Speed Drops
- -Changed Orbi Channel width to not support 40/20 simultaneously (Can't remember exact setting name)
- Still experiencing Speed Drops
- -Test wired connection speed to Router while playing music
- No issues
- -Test wired connection speed to satellite while playing music
- No issues
- -Disabling 2.4 ghz band completely and test
- Still Experiencing Speed Drops, seemed to reduce interference though Enabled saw speeds drop to 100 kpbs while playing Sonos.
- -Disable 5.8 ghz completely and test
- Not relevant most likely
- -Wire in as Many Sonos devices as possible
- Reduced interference but still only pulling 50 max with Sonos playing all day.
Not sure what Orbi and Sonos have against eachother, but because I cannot tweak settings on the backhaul between the 2 of them regardless of whether this is the issue I have kind of given up on Orbi. If I knew the house had wired drops, Orbi would not have been my first choice anyways, so now onto Google Wifi, and then to Unifi for some wired backhaul AP's.
Have decided to give Google Wifi 3 pack a try. One question, there is an area in the home (the kitchen/dining room area) that just gets poor coverage in general, but there is not a single network drop there. Can I do a wired backhaul for 2 of the google wifi points and one of them be wireless mesh?
- -Change Channels again (1,6,11)