I was over at my friend Dave’s house the other day helping him solve a problem with his Sonos system. The issue was that his Sonos subwoofer does not pair with the Playbar. The Playbar alone connects to the Wi-Fi successfully. The sub does not.
Dave was at his wit’s end trying to solve this problem. So I took a closer look at it.
What we learned was that if the Sonos Sub is connected to the router through an Ethernet cable, it works fine and pairs with the playbar too. But as soon as the Ethernet cable is unplugged, the sub has to revert back to the Wi-Fi mode and it fails to pair.
Here’s how I solved the problem
Table of Contents
Basic Checks
As a first step make sure that the Playbar and Sub are both connected to power. Connect the sub using the instructions here.
Upgrade the Sonos products to the latest firmware and software.
Configure via Ethernet
- Connect both the Sub and Playbar to the router using Ethernet cables.
- Next, go to the setup page of your router and set the current IP address to Static IP for both Sonos sub and playbar
- Now open the Sonos app S2 and go to Setting > Advanced settings > Wireless setup
- Follow the instructions on the screen to set up the wireless connection
- Unplug the LAN cables, wait for five minutes, and your Playbar and Sub should now be connected.
Wi-Fi Settings
Uni Fi APs
If you’re using a Uni-Fi access point go to Settings > WiFi > {WiFi} > Advanced Configuration > Manual > Multicast Management > Show Options > Multicast and Broadcast Control
Ensure that Block LAN to WLAN multicast and broadcast data is turned Off.
Static IP
Use Static IP addresses for both the Playbar and Sub. A static IP assignment prevents the problem of duplicate IP addresses on your network. Reboot the router after assigning IP addresses and it should connect.
RF Interference
Devices such as Bluetooth, other Wi-Fi Access points (such as your neighbors) and microwave ovens can interfere with the operation of your Sonos Sub. This affects its ability to connect to the Playbar over wireless. To solve the problem:
- Remove these devices from around your sub. For instance move any mirowave ovens.
- Change the channel that your Wi-Fi network is operating on to either 1, 6 or 11. Without using sophisticated test equipment, it’s a trial and error method to see what channel works best.
Conclusions
Sonos products are plug and play for the most part. However they can sometimes be plagued by connection issues. In this post we have covered solutions to this problem.
We started with the basic checks and then tested various connectivity options to solve the problem. If you come across any related problems and/or solutions please leave a comment below.
