Hi All! I have just upgraded my Router to the XR500 Nighthawk Gaming Router. The only major barrier I have come up against is the connection to my collection of Sonos wireless speakers (Sonos Play:1's & a Playbar). Normally to change the network setup for these speakers it involves plugging them firstly in via the LAN, then doing a configuration to the new network. The speakers are visible when on the LAN, and I try to complete the process, however when it comes to the step of them talking to the wifi the Sonos app gives me an error message saying there is no compatible network available. I have read another forum post suggesting this router is just incompatible with Sonos speakers. Is this truly the case? I kind of expect the latest premium router to connect to quite common premium wifi speakers??? Any guidance people could provide would be great. If the router is truly incompatible then this is a deal breaker for me, and I'll need to return. Thanks

Had this or simmilar issue today. When the 2.4 & 5 network are "same" with all the bells and whistles MU-MIMO etc. Sonos would not connect to the 2.4 network. So what I did was enabled Guest Network (Only 2.4), created XYZ Network, enabled local share, added WPA2 password and connected my sonos with no issues immidiatly.

I shouldn't think they're incompatible. The likely cause is the smart connect feature. Disable that so you have individual 2.4Ghz & 5Ghz SSIDs and then connect it to one of these and see if that resolves the issue.

I have a few ideas, untick IGMP Proxying in WAN Setup and disable SIP ALG. It may also be that SONOS does not support beamforming and mu-mimo so I would experiment with disabling these in Settings > Advanced Settings > Advanced Wireless.This guide from Sonos may also be worth trying: https://support.sonos.com/s/article/1219?language=en_US as well as the suggestion at the bottom of this page: https://support.sonos.com/s/article/290?language=en_US#panel2-1

Sadly it may be a case of the router does not support Sonos equipment. The R7800 is not supprted and since the XR500 uses the same SoC, switch etc and apart from the extra Flash (NAND) at 256MB compared with the R7800's 128 Flash (NAND) It's identicle even down to the same 512MB DDR3 RAM so I would imagine its not supported too. Looking at the supported routers or unsupported is the better bet as there are quite a few as even BT's Whole Home Mesh routers has issues with Sonos, so I would say buying a router known to be supported by Sonos is the best bet really. https://en.community.sonos.com/troubleshooting-228999/netgear-r7800-x4s-nighthawk-confirmed-incompatible-with-sonos-6803875

Okay so sounds like they won't work together unfortunately. Raise a ticket so that they can work on allowing compatibility.

XR500 & Sonos | NETGEAR Communities

18 Replies

Netduma-Fraser
NetDuma Partner
Jul 20, 2018
I shouldn't think they're incompatible. The likely cause is the smart connect feature. Disable that so you have individual 2.4Ghz & 5Ghz SSIDs and then connect it to one of these and see if that resolves the issue.
- mackit
  Initiate
  Dec 16, 2018
  Had this or simmilar issue today. When the 2.4 & 5 network are "same" with all the bells and whistles MU-MIMO etc. Sonos would not connect to the 2.4 network.
  
  So what I did was enabled Guest Network (Only 2.4), created XYZ Network, enabled local share, added WPA2 password and connected my sonos with no issues immidiatly.
  - JoshGre
    Aspirant
    Dec 18, 2018
    I'm not sure how much help I could potenitally offer here, but I have an XR500 and Sonos Ones's and Play:1's and all are working on my router. At first it didnt and it turned out to be modem issues. I am also using VLAN tagging and it works.
    
    My current setup is Netgear DM200 in modem only with VLAN passthrough. Then in the settings of the XR500, I have VLAN tagging set to be 101 (which I believe is the default for the UK, but also what my ISP requires).
    
    Without VLAN passthrough and the LATEST firmware on the DM200, it wouldnt work! I spent a few hours on to Netgear phone support to sort this out. On earlier versions of the DM200 firmware, for some reason VLAN tagging wasnt working and it was like my Sonos or my Nest thermostat for that matter, couldnt get an upload connection.
Killhippie
Prodigy
Jul 20, 2018
I have a B&W Zeppelin Wireless and a Sony HTNT5 soundbar, both connect just fine. There is no reason Sonos should not connect. I would follow Frasers advice, also use 2.4Ghz not 5Ghz as wireless speakers dont need much bandwidth and 2.4Ghz travels much further. If you have recent upgraded firmware and this continues may I suggest a factory rest and set up again, not using a backup, as that may cure your issue too.
- tcookes
  Tutor
  Jul 20, 2018
  Thanks both for the suggestions.
  
  Turned off the smart connect and created separate names for the two bands. Tried setup on the 2.4ghz channel however same issue as last time. Comes up on LAN but falls over on WiFi.
  
  Also did factory reset, and setup router from scratch. Again came to the same failed screen on sonos app.
  
  Any other suggestions??
  - Netduma-Fraser
    NetDuma Partner
    Jul 20, 2018
    I have a few ideas, untick IGMP Proxying in WAN Setup and disable SIP ALG. It may also be that SONOS does not support beamforming and mu-mimo so I would experiment with disabling these in Settings > Advanced Settings > Advanced Wireless.
    
    This guide from Sonos may also be worth trying: https://support.sonos.com/s/article/1219?language=en_US as well as the suggestion at the bottom of this page: https://support.sonos.com/s/article/290?language=en_US#panel2-1
XRaptor29
Luminary
Jul 22, 2018
Have you tried Factory Resetting the Sonos devices?
- vanderboegh
  Tutor
  Jul 23, 2018
  We have 5 Sonos speakers in our home and we are also using the xr500 with zero issues. I would try the wireless setup in the sonos app under advanced settings.
  - tcookes
    Tutor
    Jul 24, 2018
    Hi Vanderboegh,
    
    Very interesting! A few questions on this.
    
    1. Did it just work straight away for you? Or any particular settings you had to change?
    
    2. Did you previously have your sonos setup with another router?
    
    3. And to confirm, you're using the speakers wirelessly correct? As I could get it work when plugged into the LAN... just not wirelessly
    
    4. You have the original 'Sonos Play:1' speakers? Or the newer model 'Sonos One'?
    
    Appreciate any further pointers you can give. As I was about to give up with this router!
    
    Thanks
- tcookes
  Tutor
  Jul 24, 2018
  Hi Xraptor,
  
  No, haven't tried a factory reset on the sonos. I'll give that a try tonight.
  
  Thanks
- tcookes
  Tutor
  Jul 26, 2018
  Hi Xraptor,
  
  Factory reset completed, and again went through the process of setup while on wired network.
  
  It again failed in the final stage when trying to connect to the wireless network.
  
  I have raised a ticket directly with Sonos, so I'll see if they provide some guidance/advice.
  
  Will advise any outcomes.
  
  Thanks

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XR500 & Sonos