To simplify the setup, you should use multiple instances of SonoBus as a plugin, each one in a separate channel, then use some clever routing within your DAW to distribute each part of the package to its destination. You would connect each laptop speaker only to its designated group, in a one-to-one fashion, while your main computer acts as a hub.
The other, worse option would be to have one big session where every computer is connected and can hear all the channels, but set the main PC in Multichannel mode. Then, each laptop would go into the multi - receive layout and mute every received channel but it's chosen one. For that to work, you would need to first work setting the SonoBus plugin as a multi channel entity, routing various sources into its channel in a specific, channel by channel fashion, then work within the Input Mixer in SonoBus to assign every incoming channel to a different internal channel (making sure each one is Mono)
I think this can be worse network performance wise because as of yet, that I know of, when you mute an incoming channel from within a Multichannel transmission SonoBus is still using the full bandwidth, just muting the sound. If that were to change, this would probably be the best, stabler way.... I think your bottleneck is the WiFi saturation and not the CPU/bandwidth on your main computer
I am looking to use Sonobus for an outdoor installation/performance with battery operated speakers positioned around a pond. Each speaker will be paired with a laptop or iPad running Sonobus to receive the audio that I send from my computer. The transmission will only be one way. My question is, could I assign different outputs from my audio interface/Ableton setup to the individual speakers that are attached to Sonobus, essentially creating a surround system? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.