Sonos system requirements
This article provides the requirements for setting up and using your Sonos system with either the Sonos app or the Sonos S1 Controller app. You can add up to 32 products to a single system.
An iOS or Android device is required to set up your Sonos system. See our article on Sonos app requirements for information on which operating systems are supported by the Sonos app.
Network requirements
General requirements
- High speed wired internet connection such as cable, fiber, or DSL
- WiFi router
- Sonos app and all Sonos products are on the same subnet
Supported WiFi modes and security standards
All Sonos products can connect to wireless routers or access points that support 802.11b/g WiFi over 2.4GHz. Additionally, all Sonos products can connect to WiFi networks that use WPA1 and WPA2 Personal security standards, as well as unsecured WiFi networks.
When running the latest software, many Sonos products also support faster WiFi modes and additional security standards. Sonos products that are set up using the S1 Controller app cannot utilize these modes. You can learn more about these additional modes in our article about supported WiFi modes and security standards.
Wired setup requirements
- One or more Sonos products wired to the router via Ethernet cable at all times1
- Support for Spanning Tree Protocol (STP)
Unsupported network setups and devices
- Wireless internet connections such as satellite, mobile hotspots, or LTE routers
- Guest networks or networks that use a portal login page
- Networks using wireless range extenders2
- Ethernet over Power (EOP) devices
- WPA/WPA2 Enterprise
- VPNs blocking access to local network resources
Home theater speaker requirements
Sonos home theater speakers are compatible with a wide range of televisions and audio formats. For more detail, see our articles on TV requirements for Sonos home theater speakers and supported audio formats.
Prior to installing the Sonos home theater speaker, make sure all external components, such as your cable box, DVD player, etc. are connected directly to your TV. If you have any existing home theater or surround sound equipment, disconnect it from your television.
Music library requirements
Sonos supports the playback of your own music library stored on a NAS drive or personal computer. See our articles on supported audio formats and Sonos app requirements to ensure your music files and devices are supported on Sonos.
Sonos music libraries are limited to 65,000 tracks. The memory limit can be reached prior to 65,000 tracks if there is a large amount of metadata. For example, classical music tracks tend to have a large amount of metadata and can use up the available memory before the 65,000 track limit is reached. If you have more than 65,000 tracks, you can use Plex with Sonos as an alternative.
1 In WiFi mesh networks, Sonos products must be wired to the primary mesh node if using a wired setup.
2 If you need to extend your home WiFi to use Sonos in a wireless setup, we recommend using a WiFi mesh router to do so.