paired sonos

[riley1...@gmail.com]

i have read a few threads on this but not sure where its all up to. My paired speakers were working fine about a week ago. Then they stopped working, other single sonos units remained working. I then read that the recent web upgrade was meant to improve this issue. In fact it made things worse, paired units still not working. And when you look a files they are all messed up. I put the year recorded at the start of album titles so that they are in chronological order, they are now all mixed up!! Has anyone else had this and have you been able to resolve it?

Thanks, Paul

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

Hi Riley,

Regarding this bit of your message " And when you look a files they are all messed up. I put the year recorded at the start of album titles so that they are in chronological order, they are now all mixed up!!"

It is not clear what you mean, in which interface Sonos/Brennan/NAS - are they appearing messed up. If possible could you take a screen grab or photo to show us what you mean.

Thanks,

Fred

[Daniel Taylor]

If they seem to be in a messed up order on the WebUI, it could be because the alphabitical button was pressed to off.  Press it so it lights up and they will go back to alphabetical order.

Or, if you're not talking about the WebUI, then please follow Fred's advice.

[riley1...@gmail.com]

sorry my fault, alpha sort was off, doh! Paired sonos still not working though.

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

Silly question but have you tried "forgetting" Sonos from the B2 then asking it to rediscover them?

Fred

[Tim]

Paul,  the latest software did not improve the paired Sonos stereo issue for me either.  It made no difference.  I am pretty much using the feature every day, throughout the day and it remains patchy and laggy, with short windows where it will work.  You quickly have to react to play whilst it is in "working mode" before it goes again.  The good news is that Martin is looking into it.

Tim

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

Hi Tim,

As a matter of interest, how is your B2 connected to your home's router (wireless or by ethernet and if wireless what is the WiFi strength at the B2 - there is a menu command to tell you this).

I found that moving my B2 onto Ethernet (all be it Ethernet over house power line) made my B2 (both NAS and Sonos) function better. Although my Sonos stereo pair is still laggy on occasions.

"laggy" = you change artist and the UI (left top) box goes blank for a bit then suddenly the new Album artwork and info appears and the new musick is then played - or you press pause and the music continues to play for a bit. In the end it does catch up but it is not responsive immediately like to a singe sonos speaker.

Fred

[PMB]

Hi All,

Yesterday I set up two brand new (out of the box) Sonos One SLs. I had the S1 app on my phone and computer but found during setting up (which had to be done on my phone - no option on the laptop) that Sonos insisted I update to S2 (no other option) so went ahead and updated the app.

Making the two SLs a stereo pair was very easy and have been playing to them without drop outs or a lag when selecting tracks, radio, etc. The web UI takes a second or two to update sometimes but the Sonos responds pretty much instantly.

The only issue so far - I powered off the B2 and closed the web UI overnight - left the SLs powered on - and this morning the B2 shows the SLs as separate units rather than a stereo pair (the second unit is not greyed out). Sending music to the Master SL results in a stereo sound (so Sonos has remembered). I cannot send music to the other SL, can select it but the UI doesn't do anything.

My B2 is currently connected via an Ethernet cable to the router. I intend to do more tests - use WiFi, move the SLs around, etc - and report back on my findings.

I also have an older Play 1 which I have removed from S1 and added to the S2 app.

I noticed that Sonos have dedicated pages for WiFi issue and avoiding interference on their web site

Paul

Brennan Support.

[john.h...@gmail.com]

Paul 

When shown as a pair on the B2 press stop pause then it loses the right device and tries to send to the non master 

Also try wiring one of the paid to the router to activate sonosnet. Still.gives the same problems 

[Peter Karetnyk]

After reading latest conversations I noticed that UI was showing both of the stereo pair in the sonos list.

So I cleared the list and then scanned again, it corrected itself and only found one of stereo pair.

Tested  by selecting speaker nearest B2 playing b2 radio, then grouping other speakers in via sonos all ok.

Then stopped radio, selected music and started playing ok to all for a few minutes ok, then got breakups on various speakers, but left it playing and has settled out OK and has been playing for last 15mins ok.

Will keep you updated if anything changes, but I'm hoping it stays stabilised and I get my music ok via brennan. 

Regards 

PK

[Peter Karetnyk]

Update didn't  last long back to breakups again, also losing ui connection don't know if related.

Restarted using another speaker in the middle of sonos setup, will see how this goes.

PK

[Tim]

Hi Fred

My B2 is connected via wifi.  However, I have an antennae at the end of an extender and the signal is good.  You are lucky to have the ethernet throughout the house, I wish I did.  Next time!  By laggy, it literally comes and goes during the day.  The now playing panel goes blank, the B2 appears to be playing to the Sonos but you have no control.  So if music is playing that is great, however, you cannot pause it or play anything new via the B2.  You have to wait until the the information comes back and the play button is again operable.  You then have to wait and hope it comes back.  Sometimes turning on and off the sonos speakers works.  All other single sonos speakers are fine.

Tim

[Tim]

Paul

You experience sounds interesting.  I power off my B2 every evening but leave the Sonos speakers on.  Perhaps I should also turn the Sonos paired speakers off too?

Tim

[Peter Karetnyk]

Sorry to repeat, but now back to workaround,  seems that I can play radio to all speakers but music to only 4 once I add the others breakups start again.

Sonos speakers I would not power them down as you may have issues getting then to connect back into sonos next morning ie have to add speakers back in from start. I had that issue when I removed stereo pair and powered them down.

On ui it can remember all sonos speakers but not the one that was selected and is playing.  I have to keep selecting it everything I open it orit loses connection. 

Regards

PK

[PMB]

Hi John H,

Do you mean Play/Pause on the Sonos or the web UI?

Paul

Brennan Support.

[john.h...@gmail.com]

Hi Paul apologies the web UI 

[PMB]

Hi Tim and PK,

I only have the two SLs and the Play 1 Sonos units to test with.

When I powered the B2 on and opened the web UI this morning, I could see all three Sonos units listed although I couldn't send music to the other half of the  'stereo pair'. After powering the Sonos units off and back on, the web UI showed only two units i.e. the Play 1 and the Stereo Pair.

I've had the stereo pair playing Internet Radio with the Play 1 and Brennan Speakers playing different Albums off the B2. It has done this seamlessly all day so reckon the problems may be down to WiFi coverage and speed. Will do some tests using WiFi and moving the Sonos units around.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Peter Karetnyk]

Thx for the info.

I only have sonos to play my radio or music,  I do not have any speakers connected to b2.

I do not power off any sonos speakers , and neither do I power off brennan b2 at night I only run scan disc after cd ripping .

Should I be powering off b2 after pressing stop and seeing saving occur?

Regards

PK

[riley1...@gmail.com]

Paul

As the problem, for me at least, relates to playing music from the B2 to a paired sonos speakers I would have preferred if you test had been the other way round ie playing B2 on the paired speakers and radio on the single unit. I have tried my system again this morning and it still isnt working properly. I also do not think the issue is down to wifi as my system was working fine up until a week or so ago and my system isnt wifi.

Regards Paul

On Tuesday, 2 February 2021 at 22:25:58 UTC PMB wrote:

[Tim]

Paul

I have the same experience as Paul above.  I have no problem playing from the B2 to any other single sonos speaker.  The wifi seems fine for everything else, yet I have a continuous problem trying to play from the B2 to a sonos stereo pair.  Anyway, I would be really interested to hear how you get on as I would really like to resolve/improve it.

Fred, you do not have a wifi problem as you use excellent ethernet connections, but am I right in thinking you still experience "lagging?"

Tim

[PMB]

Hi Paul,

I am trying the system today with B2 HDD playing to the stereo pair and radio to the single Sonos.

If that goes Ok I'll try connecting the B2 via WiFi.

Will report back.

BTW I am not trying to disprove what you guys are saying but trying to gather information to help us improve the software, so keep the feedback coming.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[john.h...@gmail.com]

Thanks Paul 

Tested again last night can still get the error start music from HDD stop start and change tracks after a while display shows true instead of what's playing in web UI if you check debug the B2 is sending music to the non master in the pair 

Seems to loSe focus 

Also try wiring one of the sonos to router sonosnet takes over I get the same problem 

My B2s are wired  haven't tested on bb1s yet

Same problem in playbar and surrounds loses focus on correct master speaker 

Hope that's helpful 

John 

[Tim]

Thanks Paul, really hoping that there is a solution.

As a workaround, although rather crude, I have found that turning off and then on my paired stereo speakers provides a brief scintilla when you can play something from the B2.  This is far from ideal but I suppose I can cope with it, because the ability to play from B2 to sonos without having to rely on the music library/NAS is a game changer for me.

Tim

[john.h...@gmail.com]

More testing again using web UI and Apple app

Faultless playing on single speakers 

On app sent music to surround sound setup started ok then display goes blank  only vol works 

Room shows as disconnected.  Loses correct master IP.address 

Same with stereo pair John 

[PMB]

Hi John H,

Tried playing from HDD to 'stereo pair' >> stop/start (several times) >> changed Track >> repeat >> change Album >> repeat - no problem so far.

I have seen the Now Playing panel go blank on one occasion (when I first set up the system) but cannot remember what I had done - I could still select the single Sonos and Brennan Speakers and control them via the web UI - so the web Ui was still working just not with the 'stereo pair'.

I had the Sonos S2 app open yesterday but not this morning.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[PMB]

Hi Guys,

I have had the B2 connected via WiFi the last few days and I can sometimes notice a slightly slower response from the web UI (compared to Ethernet connection) but it seems to work reliably.

Moved the 'stereo pair' as far away from the router as I could in the house (snowing outside today so the garden was off limits for testing) and found the UI could loose contact with the stereo pair.

So I'm wondering if Sonos WiFi limits are partly to blame. I found this article - link - on their website and thought you could try their suggestion of changing WiFi channels, moving the Sonos units, etc as a test.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[john.h...@gmail.com]

Tested again via new app and via web UI still seeing random blanks on the pairs only volume works 

[Tim]

Still struggling with the sonos pair but not any other single sonos speaker.  Random blanks with only volume working.  Becoming resigned to the situation.

[PMB]

Hi All,

We are investigating issues with 'stereo pairs'.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[riley1...@gmail.com]

 I note the advice about looking at Sonos settings etc but I don't really think this is really the issue. From my experience and what others have said up until about a month or so ago paired devices were working fine, at that point something happened and paired devices havent worked since then. To confirm I have a number of individual Sonos units and all work fine with no issues. I did have a paired set up which stopped working. As a test I unpaired them and reset them as a group, which has been working fine for a number of weeks with no issues. But this is not a stereo set up. I am no expert but on this basis I dont think the problem is anything to do with wifi or sonos settings, but i could be wrong. It is disappointing that having been shown a system that worked exactly how i wanted things to work with the benefits of the B2 system running through a sonos set up. As Tim has stated, I too am getting resigned to the fact that this ideal solution is slipping away.

[Daniel Taylor]

Riley,

If this situlation of B2 problems with stereo pairs of Sono speakers is a new development, it would be helpful to know which version(s) of B2 software were working.  Do you remember what version you were running before the problem started?  Do you have copies of your previous versions that you can load via USB?

[Tim]

I agree with Riley, I do not think it is the wifi or Sonos settings.  For what it is worth, my Sonos stereo pair problems have always been there - the different B2 updates have not changed the position at all for me.  I am convinced it is something to do with the master IP address switching between the units in the Sonos pair - John mentions this a couple of times above.  It seems that this does not present an issue other then when playing music from the B2 to the Sonos stereo pair.  

Anyway, I am coping.  I turn the units on and off, and it is usually unlocks them long enough to start playing.

Tim

[PMB]

Hi All,

Martin is keen to sort this issue but it has been difficult to reproduce the problem on our systems.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[riley1...@gmail.com]

Thought I would give a quick update and see if anyone can explain this. Today I unpaired my speakers, tried them both individually, both worked fine, tried them as a group and again they worked fine. Re-paired them and they worked as a stereo pair direct from B2, moved them to another location in the house and they still worked. Have had them on for most of the day with no issue but about an hour ago tried to start a new album and no response. I have Move and that is still working but the stereo pair are no longer working. Any ideas as to what is going on?

Thanks, Paul

[john.h...@gmail.com]

Have had the same issues if you open the debug on the webui you will see that the music is sent from B2 but to the wrong side of the stereo pair or wrong IP address usually it reverts later on and will play again 

[PMB]

Hi John H,

You mentioned this before but it didn't sink in - can you email me -   thebrennanb2   @   gmail   .   com   - no spaces, with a copy of the relevant section of the debug screen so I can show Martin.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Tim]

Paul - for what it is worth, I think John is absolutely on to what is happening as I mention in my post above.  Hopefully Martin can come up with a solution to this.

Best 

Tim

[john.h...@gmail.com]

Paul 

No problem will do this evening

In a sonos stereo pair the lh speaker is always the master in the configuration

John 

[john.h...@gmail.com]

debug and screenshots sent

john

[PMB]

Hi John H,

Got it, thanks. Hopefully this will identify the problem....

Paul

Brennan Support.

[PMB]

Hi All,

Martin has been working on a fix for the Sonos 'stereo pair' issue and has released this software update - 25th Feb 2021 - for testing. Also please see the following notes from Martin -

I believe I have fixed the Sonos Stereo pair issue. There is file for offline upgrade of B2B here

 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zQf8qDCqq89CxPigFIUulEcwgeSIts1T/view?usp=sharing

 The improvement also accelerates Sonos Device discovery – scan is now also in settings on the web UI and usually works immediately.

[The stereo problem was to do with the subordinate right speaker sometimes being used instead of the coordinator device – and I fixed that by using what is called a topology request – which lists all the speakers]

 I have also added a new feature to the B2 Front Panel

 Pick Speaker will allow you to pick a Sonos Speaker (or Zone would be more accurate) and then play things and adjust the volume from the front panel.

 Significantly if you press next when it’s not playing it will send 20 random tracks to the Sonos.

 The B2 will remember the setting on power up so there is no reason you couldn’t use the B2 with just Sonos speakers.

 You can play different music in different zones simultaneously from the front panel.

 As a shortcut the Y key on the remote takes you to the Pick Speaker menu

 Please forward this to John H and also post on forum for anybody who would like to help test.

 [This code also fixes the limited scrolling on the web UI]

The software needs to be loaded using a USB memory stick (not via Web Upgrade) - so download the file >> make sure it is called   b2.tar.gz   with no other characters >> copy it to a USB stick >> insert the stick into USB C >> navigate to the Maintenance menu >> select SW Upgrade.

Let me know of any issues with the software.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Tim]

Thanks Paul.   You will have seem the "excitement" this is causing.  I very much hope that it works and there is a general release.  For my part I feel very invested in this update as the Sonos Pair issue is the single biggest problem I encounter.

Best

Tim

[Peter Lowham]

Paul,

I have one query about the name of the upgrade file for the Feb 25 2021 upgrade.  In your post above, you have stated that the file is 'b2.tar.gz'.  This name suggests that this is for software version 'B2'.  The website download is 'b2b.tar.gz', which is for 'B2B' software version and the 'Latest Software' website shows:

'This file for B2B offline upgrade contains new Sonos features.'

Have I missed something here?

Regards,

Peter.

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

Peter

The one that downloaded for me was as in the following thread

https://groups.google.com/g/brennanb2/c/DpAm7BCTbsg

it was called b2b.tar by Windows.

It didn't work!

Fred

[Peter Lowham]

Hi Fred,

It needs to be named 'b2b.tar.gz', so perhaps that is the problem.

Regards,

Peter.

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

Hmm

When I simply download it it ends up as b2b.tar

you can not "add" a ".gz" to a windows file name, anything after the first dot is surely the file type (and you can not add a second dot).- ie I cannot rename the file to be "b2b.tar.gz".

when I click on the hyperlink on the Brennan web site i get this

and when I hit the download (3rd icon in from the right), it arrives in my downloads as "b2b.tar" but windows know it is a gz Archive.

[PMB]

Hi All,

Sorry that was a typo - the offline upgrade is for B2B version software only (at this time) and the download is called  b2b.tar.gz  and is to be used in conjunction with a USB memory stick and SW Upgrade - Maintenance menu.

Fred,

The file must be called   b2b.tar.gz   otherwise the B2 will not recognise it. Usually when you try to add an extension Windows warns you but does let you do it.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Would Be Pilot]

Hi All,  Only to report I have had the same problem with my B2 not always discovering my stereo pair but always finding my single OneSL.

  

But... once connected its an absolute pleasure to choose my own music (or Sonos Radio) and the B2-Sonos integration is seamless - bravo Brennan team for your technical brilliance!  I'll try the OS Upgrade later today.  Added the .gz on my Mac without problem.

Andrew

[Would Be Pilot]

Already reported to another thread upgrade worked A1 for me.  B2-Sonos now fully operational.  Fantastic combination!  Well done all round.

Andrew

[Peter Karetnyk]

Paul,  All

I have been watching last week, and see that sonos stereo pair now seems to have been resolved, along with random play. I'm sure Tim and Graham will be pleased.

I have upgraded to this latest software and tested my system again today and yesterday, still  can only play a few speakers with music from brennan, if I add more speakers I get drop outs from various speakers, BUT if I stop music and select radio via brennan then ALL speakers play OK.

The only point I would make is app and ui seem to loose connection with brennan quite frequently making things even more difficult. 

I decided to call sonos today and run a diagnostic with them, they checked and say all seems ok, wifi good only thing they could see was that my sonos speakers had not been powered off for a while, this is correct as I only powered off the stereo pair to check them out as part of a recent test after a software upgrade. 

They suggested that I power off all speakers for at least 30secs and also do same with router.  This I have done this morning and tested again with NO Change at all.

Paul I know you passed this issue on to Martin, can you please check and see if he has any update, I know he was busy doing stereo pair etc and well done to get these issues resolved. 

I am back to using workaround to keep using brennan to play music. 

Regards

PK

[Graham Stephen]

Hi All

After the upgrade my Sonos pair are working well. Thanks to everyone who worked on the fix. I’m so impressed with the way the company and this forum operates. My B2 has opened up dark corners of my music collection that I’ve been overlooking for too long. Being able to beam it around the house on Sonos is the icing on a very fine cake. 

All the best

Graham 

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

Hi PK,

Sorry if you have answered this already, I have looked but this thread is quite "platted".

Can I ask

1) how you have connected your B2 to your router (ie via WiFi or via Ethernet cable)?

2) how your Sonos speakers operated (ie via your router directly or via their own Sonos WiFi hub then to your router)

I ask these questions because driving a large number of speakers wirelessly round a home must involve quite a lot of WiFi network traffic and potential congestion. This must eventually cause problems!

Connecting the B2 by Ethernet would eliminate part of this potential WiFi congestion and ensure that the source of the music was not competing for WiFi space.

Just a thought

Fred

On Wednesday, 3 March 2021 at 13:16:02 UTC pkar...@gmail.com wrote:

[Peter Karetnyk]

Hi Fred,

Yes this thread is platted, Paul has been aware of issues since start but wanted all Sonos issues on this thread.

Started with wifi and signal strength was too good around -15 to -20  and after some advice here I connected to router via cable and removed dongle to eliminate this as an issue.

Sonos works via my WiFi router and s2 sonos app.

I have a few sonos speakers around house and all work fine on sonos only.

They also all work fine with brennan b2 along as I only play radio.

Its only when I play music via brennan that I get break ups happening. 

Setup is router , Play5 and brennan under Playbase and tv inliving room.

I started choosing play5 adjacent to router and breannan as selected sonos speaker via ui.

This speaker is grouped in sonos with other speakers, 4 play 1s a sonos one and move.

When playing  music they started to have break ups, tried a few things but what I found worked as l call my workaround was to select  a speaker in middle of the network ie a sonos one  then add 2 play1s and play5 in sonos app, this allowed me to play music stable nearly all the time. If I then add other speakers break up starts again,  but if I then stop music then play radio all work again.

Hope this helps if you need anything else, just let me know.

My big query is how does radio via brennan works ok all the time on all speakers yet music cannot.

Regards

PK

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

Hi PK

Next question - what sort of router do you have and how old is it?

The only thing I would note is that when playing radio the WWW based information has to come into the B2 then has to be sent out again from the B2 to your Sonos cluster.

When playing B2 music the information stream to/from the B2 is halved as no incoming data is needed.

This SHOULD reduce congestion!!! but your problem is the opposite!! - dunno but perhaps the to and fro of the radio is holding that stream open.

I beefy router should be able to cope with all this but if it is just a "free" ISP supplied box it may be overtaxed!

The other question to ask Martin Brennan is - "is his Sonos implementation addressing the music stream to each Sonos device individually from within the B2" if so is there a maximum No, of Soni that can be handled before the Pi gets overloaded?

If this is the case then the radio may work because when playing that the Pi is not lso having to manage HDD I/O.

Just throwing Ideas into the air!

Fred

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

Hi PK

Just a though but you could Test my "is there a maximum No of Sonnoses that can be handled by a B2 - by gradually decreasing you cluster size (simply turn speakers off - one by one) to see if the problem goes away a some point -

bit crude but worth a try?

Fred

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

FYI

I have 3 Sonos ones, set up as a standalone (office) and a stereo pair (living room) - these seem to work OK with the latest software release.

Fred

[Peter Karetnyk]

Hi Fred, Paul

Thx for the reply 

I have a Sky router and they also fitted a repeater box as well to cover the conservatory so that I can use SkyQ in living room and 2nd Sky Q mini box outside if required, don't use it very often but booster was needed to get WiFi out through outside wall into conservatory.  These were fitted with SkyQ approx 2yrs ago. 

I also fitted wavlink dual band wifi range extender to allow move to be used further away when outside house last summer.

I have got the workaround up to nearly max as I only add a stereo pair of ply1s in conservatory and then move which is portable and I can use it outside when weather improves. I previously un paired the stereo pair to see if that was the cause, was not.

I even tried the playbase instead of play5 as there is known issues with wifi card in old play 5s, but playbase also broke up, this was another reason for asking sonos today to check out diagnostics I sent this morning, but they'd not find any wifi issues.

Paul you might want to ask Martin re comment on max number of sonos speakers that can be used with b2.

Regards

PK

[Peter Karetnyk]

Fred tried various permutations of speakers and getup to around 5.

Even put all furthest away on first and played ok still up too 4 / 5.

Will carry out further tests when I get time.

Regards 

PK

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

Thanks PK,

I am sure the forum will find the feedback from this research testing fascinating; you appear to have the largest Sonos cluster of the active members of the Forum.

Fred

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

For your info

My ISP is PlusNet but I use my own router, a NETGEAR Nighthawk RAX200 - which seems to cover my house's environs adequately. I also have a Sky Q box and 2 Sky Q miniboxes in other rooms. When Sky came to install Sky Q they provided a second Sky router (they said it was easier for them to set up Sky Q using their own systems) which I connected to my primary NETGEAR router via an Ethernet cable. So my TV watching is not actually clogging up any of my house WiFi bandwidth :).

Fred

On Wednesday, 3 March 2021 at 21:21:30 UTC pkar...@gmail.com wrote:

[john.h...@gmail.com]

Hi have you got one speaker wired to ethernet  to create sonosnet this creates 

A sonos network which helps 

The Limit for number of sonos speakers supported is currently 10 I have requested this limit is raised to 20 

John 

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

Hi John.

Thanks for this feedback.

However I do not understand, could you please elaborate - I can see on my Sonos speakers there is and Ethernet port at the back but I did not know that wiring one up to Ethernet would then create a separate "Sonos network", I thought that all traffic

still went though the router  and that that speaker would use the Ethernet rather than the WiFi.

and

The limit for number of speakers - is this the B2 limit or a Sonos limit?    .... and .... if it is a B2 limit has this limit been tested as viable for the Pi ?

Fred

[PMB]

Hi PK,

I have asked Martin about the maximum number of Sonos units the B2 can handle.

Meanwhile to answer the question about why the radio plays OK - in this mode the B2 instructs Sonos to play radio and then doesn't need to do any further work (except when you change station, play/pause. etc). You can even turn off the B2 and Sonos continues to play the radio.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[john.h...@gmail.com]

Hi Fred the maximum number of speakers sonos can support is 32 

B2 currently only discovers 10 have asked for increase 

Sonosnet is a network created by writing either a speaker or a boost to the router and is useful for larger speaker collections prevents dropouts and is much more stable in groups and pairs 

See link below I run my system like this 

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/3235?language=en_US

John 

[Peter Karetnyk]

Hi All,

Thx for the info Paul, that explains why radio is working as it's not brennan but sonos that's doing the playing, as Sonos can also play music to all speakers.

John as for connecting a speaker to router via cable. 2 concerns 1no port available so would have to buy a switch/hub. 2 would the move still work outside as I have the range extended but don't know what range I would get with sonosnet.

Regards

PK

[john.h...@gmail.com]

Hi the Move as a portable speaker does not use sonosnet and always connects to WiFi  regardless if there is a wired sonos component 

[Peter Karetnyk]

Hi John,

Did not know that, will consider my options now.

Would be good if Martin could tell us maximum speaker numbers.

Regards 

PK

[Peter Karetnyk]

John

How many speakers can you play music via brennan and sonosnet.

I seem to be ok up to any 4 after that drop outs occur.

I don't want to buy switch/hub and find I still have same problems, as Sonos cust care did not think I had any wifi issues.

I did try and use line out from brennan to line in on play 5, worked to all speakers but quality not good.

Will just limit speaker numbers at present.

Regards

PK

[Would Be Pilot]

Hi all; What fascinating information coming out of this thread.  Just for clarification, does a stereo pair still count as 'two' speakers when counting up connected speakers as left and right have individual IP addresses?  Think I may have answered my own question!

Thanks, Andrew.

[john.h...@gmail.com]

Andrew not sure yet on that question each zone if paired shows once but the B2 might be counting individually 

On a theatre set up this could be 4 IP addresses

I can't test fully yet as discovery linked to 10 on the software 

I have played via line in on play 5 then grouped to  multiple

 speakers no issue with dropouts 

Have also selected a speaker from brennan then grouped to multiple zones in the sonos app while 

Playing no issues.  . As stated earlier I am in sonosnet mode 

Hope this helps 

John 

[riley1...@gmail.com]

Have now downloaded the new software and set up my paired speakers. All appears to be fine after playing for many hours yesterday. The only thing I can't manage to do is get the random play by pressing the next button to work. I have tried using the next button on the B2 and on the web ui, neither appear to do anything, I am on B2 not B2B but wouldn't have thought that would make the difference. Is anyone else having this problem or am I missing a step in getting this going?

Thanks, Paul

[PMB]

Hi Riley1,

Via the front panel controls - Pick Zone >> select 'Office 1' (in my case) >> press NEXT - starts playing in Random mode to the selected Sonos.

Via the web UI - SONOS >> select 'Office 1' (in my case) >> click on FFWD tab (a title is shown in the Now Playing panel but doesn't start playing) >> click on Play tab.

'Office 1' is a stereo pair.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[PMB]

Hi All,

Martin says the B2 currently works with 10 Sonos zones. A stereo pair is one zone, so in theory you should be able to address 10 x stereo pairs. Any feedback to the contrary would be useful to have.

Paul

Brennan Support.

On Friday, March 5, 2021 at 8:24:58 AM UTC riley1...@gmail.com wrote:

[riley1...@gmail.com]

Paul, thanks for the clarification. Did take a few goes to get it going. May not be logical but it appeared to work properly after I had tried it direct on the B2 prior to that I was just trying web ui and was not getting anywhere.

Thanks, Paul

[john.h...@gmail.com]

Hi Paul I have set up 3 pairs and a theatre zone and am just seeing errors no speakers do may be 10 IP addresses 

Can I request discovery is increased to 32 which is maximum sonos can support per system please 

If I only power on less than 10 physical devices discovery seems to work ok 

John 

[riley1...@gmail.com]

Paul, may have spoken to soon. Still having a few issues. When the random selection has finished I can't get the web 

UI to set up another random list, but tried it from the front panel and it worked first time. Is there an issue with this, or am I just doing something wrong when trying the web UI? I don't think I am doing anything wrong!!

Thanks, Paul

On Friday, 5 March 2021 at 12:45:51 UTC riley1...@gmail.com wrote:

[Peter Karetnyk]

Hi John. ALL,

Decided to get a switch and then  connect play5 to router via switch along with brennan,  using sonusnet as John suggested. 

Sonos still plays ok instantly to all speakers ok as expected.

Definite improvement when using brennan via ui, managed to get all speakers playing as I want.

Still some issues when starting / stopping using ui, selected speaker starts ok then others come in afterwards.

Still get some break ups till they all stabalise, can take between minute to 5 min.

When using ui I did notice that move stops and starts quickly whilst other speakers take time, quite a few seconds sometime.

Quite happy with this outcome.

 Will feedback any other issues, hopefully not many.

Thanks to All for your help, especially Fred , Paul and John for input and suggestions. 

Regards

PK

[PMB]

Hi John H,

Do 10 or less units play OK or are they just discovered?

Paul

Brennan Support.

[john.h...@gmail.com]

Hi Paul when less than 10 speakers to  seems to discover and play ok but multiple pairs or theatre set up on causes errors 

Wanted to eliminate the 10 limit as the issue 

John 

[PMB]

Hi John H,

OK I will ask Martin about increasing the limit - hopefully it will prove to be the solution....

Paul

Brennan Support.

[john.h...@gmail.com]

Fingers crossed. Thanks Paul 

John 

[Peter Karetnyk]

Hi just an update, still getting occasional break ups in middle of sonos system. No idea why plays fine for a time then get the odd break ups on a few speakers.

Stop all playing then start again picking another speaker in ui  and group again in sonos and ok again for a while, normally a few days. 

Regards

PK

[john.h...@gmail.com]

Hi one thing to try is to change the sonosnet channel.as you have a wired setup as there may be 

Some wireless interference

In the sonos app go to settings system network and see the sonosnet channel it can be 

1 6 or 11 

I found channel 1 worked best in my setup 

John 

[Peter Karetnyk]

Thx John will look at this. I'm on channell 11 at present. Will see if changing helps, appreciate your input here as things have improved with your help, and I will change and see what happens.

Slow progress is better than I was having previously,  it's so annoying that sonos itself works fine but only when I use brennan I get break ups.

Thanks again.

PK

[Peter Karetnyk]

Update John I changed sonos channel from 11 to 1 then tried brennan, failed after a few seconds and sonos came back saying music stopped wifi unstable. 

Changed sonos channel to 6 and am running now to test it out.

Regards

PK

[Peter Karetnyk]

Still having break up issues when trying to play to above 4 speakers,  have now resorted to only playing a couple of speakers when using brennan. 

A bit annoying as when using sonos only I can play ALL and move around whilst listening to music in all areas which I'm used too, but when I want to play my old cds from brennan breakups start and I have to change my set up to only a couple

 of speakers. 

Also still losing connection to ui when trying to play to all, seems better when only a few playing. Don't know if this is connected.

Looks like I will have to live with it.

Regards

PK

[PMB]

Hi PK,

Martin is working on new software which is planned to include an increase of how many Sonos units the B2 can work with. So keep an eye on our Latest Software page - link - for any updates.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Peter Karetnyk]

Thx Paul will wait and see but I'm  not any where near 10 so I still wonder why.

Regards 

PK