User Manual

Product Guide
4
Sonos Setup Options
Standard wireless setup
With Sonos software update 5.1 and higher, Sonos can now operate on your home WiFi network. This setup
is ideal for any home with good WiFi coverage (wireless setup is dependent on your router’s WiFi broadcast
power).
BOOST setup
Connecting a BOOST, BRIDGE or Sonos player to your router permanently with an Ethernet cable creates a
dedicated wireless network exclusively for your Sonos system so you get reliable wireless performance no
matter how large your home or how many WiFi devices you use. (This setup is required for some household
configurations; see Sonos Setup System Requirements below.)
BOOST setup is ideal for:
• Larger homes where the WiFi performance isn’t reliable or doesn’t reach all of the rooms where you want
music.
• Homes where the WiFi network is already in high demand with streaming video and web surfing and you
want to create a dedicated wireless network exclusively for your Sonos speakers.
If you already have a BRIDGE, we recommend you leave it connected - you are already experiencing the
benefits of having a separate wireless network exclusively for your Sonos system.
Sonos setup system requirements
Standard wireless setup is supported on:
• 2.4 GHz home networks supporting 802.11b/802.11g wireless technology
• Home network routers configured to use open (no security) or WEP/WPA/WPA2
BOOST setup is required for:
• Routers that support only 802.11n (standard wireless setup requires 802.11b / 802.11g)
• Routers that support only 5GHz (not switchable to 2.4 GHz)
• Access points configured to require certificates or some other form of enterprise authentication (aka
“802.1X”, “RADIUS”, or “WPA/WPA2 Enterprise”)
• Routers configured for WEP that do not use the first key index
• Networks with wireless range extenders