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

COMPATIBLE OPERATING SYSTEMS	STANDARD (WIRELESS) SETUP	BOOST SETUP	TEMPORARILY WIRED SETUP*
iOS devices running iOS 6 and higher, including: iPhone 3GS or later iPod touch 4th generation or later iPad 2 or later (iPad 1 is no longer supported)	X	X	X
Macintosh® OS X 10.7 and higher	X	X	X
Windows® 7 and higher	X	X	X
Windows® XP		X	X
Windows® Vista		X	X
Android devices running 2.3 or 4.0 and higher	X	X	X
Android devices running 2.2, 3.x		X	X

* During the setup process, you may be prompted to temporarily connect one of your players to your router with an Ethernet cable if your device does not support standard wireless setup (see the Compatible Operating Systems table above). At the end of the setup process, you can disconnect the Ethernet cable and move your Sonos player to a different location.