2.4G band isolation with Actiontec T3200M

[joeser]

I am having issues with my Sonos speakers. They have issues on the 5G band on this router, so I have moved them to the 2.4G band.

But, the Sonos speakers now are only accessible to other devices that are using the 2.4G band. I can't connect or control them either using the 5G band or hardwire Ethernet connections into the router. If I connect my phone or PC via 2.4G band then everything is good.

I have looked through all the settings in the router and I see an “SSID Isolation” setting on the router configuration, but it is greyed out and the default selection greyed out is showing “disable", so I don't think the 2.4G network should be isolated.

Is there any other setting that can affect network band isolation?

[TELUS_Support]

There might be other settings that could impact communication between devices on different bands. Here are a few things to check:

• AP Isolation or Client Isolation: Sometimes found under the advanced Wi-Fi settings or security settings, if enabled, this prevents devices on different bands from interacting.
• VLAN or Subnet Configurations: If there are any VLAN or subnet settings active, devices on different bands may be treated as separate networks, which could be causing the issue.
• Multicast and Bonjour Settings: In some cases, enabling these protocols can help devices like Sonos communicate across different bands.

If these options are not visible or configurable, try ensuring both 2.4G and 5G networks share the same SSID and password. This could help with device communication.

[joeser]

Thanks for the reply, but nothing in your suggestions seems applicable.

AP Isolation or Client Isolation: The only setting I can find on the router is unselectable as already mentioned, but the default is showing as "disable" (no isolation)

VLAN or Subnet Configurations: There are none active

Multicast and Bonjour Settings: Multicast protocol is already active on the Ethernet adapter. If the Bonjour service was needed, then connecting to the network via 2.4G WiFi would not work or be any different that connection via 5G WiFi or Ethernet. If everything is working with a connection via 2.4G then this cannot be the issue.

A couple of further observations about the issue:

When the speakers were on the 5G network, then I could access them via any connections method to my network, the issue of isolation only appeared once I moved the speakers to the 2.4G network.

I can't use the speakers on the 5G network, they suffer from connection stability which required me to reboot the router and speakers every day to keep a stereo pair configuration functioning.

If I merge the 2.4G and 5G network to share SSID and password, then the speakers preferentially will connect to the 5G WiFi, I had differential the networks and disable 5G WiFi during the speaker setup to force them onto the 2.4G band where they will are now stable.

No matter what the connection method, I can PING the speakers IP address successfully.

Does Telus offer a different router which may not have this same 2.4G isolation problem (or maybe also would let the speakers work with a 5G connection)?

I have spend a couple of months trying to get my Sonos speakers to work reliably with support from Sonos, and it seems the issues are all related to the Actiontec router.

[FuzzyLogic]

Have you tried disabling smartsteering? This will allow you to have different SSID's for different bands.

I have a friend with Sonos speakers and has had many challenges with wifi, especially with some of there older equipment.

Here is some additional info that may help:

How to troubleshoot common Sonos issues (site.com)

Supported WiFi modes and security standards for Sonos products | Sonos

[joeser]

Yes, smartsteering has been disabled. Even with it disabled 5G had stability issues, only moving the Sonos to 2.4G solved stability, but now I have control issues due to whatever isolation the router is unexpectedly doing preventing communication from other network connection types.

On Friday, October 4, 2024, TELUS Neighbourhood <

[joeser · Accepted solution]

I installed a new Asus tri-band router to replace the Telus Actiontec, using “Tri-band Smart Connect” (all bands have the same SSID and password), and the Sonos speakers were reconfigured onto this network and are now working without issue.

I can access them from any device connected via 2.4G, 5G, 6E, or Ethernet cable.

So definitely the Telus Router has been the source of my issues with Sonos.

Hope this helps someone else who is having trouble using Telus equipment with Sonos speakers.

The Sonos speakers did seem to work fine with the Actiontec until Sonos did their problematic new S2 software/firmware platform.