What harware is required?

[rxatwell]

I am new to Homeseer, Sonos and new to this Sonos plugin. Due to my home automation being retrofitted I believe that Sonos is the best way to achieve whole house audio.

The question is: What hardware to I need to get started with Homeseer/SonosPI and Sonos? Do I just need speakers (like play1 or play3) or do I need a Sonos Connect unit also? (Note: I will not be hooking into any existing amplifier or system. Fresh install.)

Thanks!

[Rupp]

You can get started with a Sonos 1 and this excellent plugin. I still have the connect in my system but I'm reasonably sure the newest Sonos software can connect to your homes WIFI directly.

Found this :
"Sonos just announced a firmware update that eliminates the need for the Bridge, which had to be physically connected to a router with an Ethernet cable for any Sonos system to work. Now, you can connect to one or more Sonos speakers directly via Wi-Fi, with no hard-wired connection."

[rxatwell]

That sounds great, thank you for your reply! I don't want to buy hardware I do not need unknowingly.

[rxatwell]

Just a thought, if I want to use a service like Spotify will I need a Sonos Connect? I would like to control the hardware with HSTouch, rather than an app on my phone. My thought is:

HSTouch > SonosPI > Sonos Connect > Sonos Play Speaker

Is this correct?

[mrhappy]

Just a thought, if I want to use a service like Spotify will I need a Sonos Connect? I would like to control the hardware with HSTouch, rather than an app on my phone. My thought is:

HSTouch > SonosPI > Sonos Connect > Sonos Play Speaker

Is this correct?

No - I don't use a connect (although think you might mean bridge?), one of my speakers is connected to the network wired but that is not essential, they can connect by WiFi alone. If you connect one by wire or by the bridge then it will establish it's own separate wireless network which is ideal for range issues.

[rxatwell]

No - I don't use a connect (although think you might mean bridge?), one of my speakers is connected to the network wired but that is not essential, they can connect by WiFi alone. If you connect one by wire or by the bridge then it will establish it's own separate wireless network which is ideal for range issues.

Okay, good to know. Do you use media services like spotify or anything in your configuration? If so, what "hosts" your media or service?

[mrhappy]

Okay, good to know. Do you use media services like spotify or anything in your configuration? If so, what "hosts" your media or service?

I use Deezer/Soundcloud with an additional MP3 library but I believe that the principle is the same with Spotify. I don't really understand how Sonos works (but it does, very well) but those applications exist in the Sonos Application rather than anything on the HomeSeer side.

The HS plugin allows a good degree of control of Sonos but I don't see it (others may disagree) as a substitute for the app. You can't search for songs in Spotify or the like with HSTouch as it is currently, you can play library content, learned radio stations, playlists etc, control the players etc but if I was you I think I would not invest too heavily in HSTouch. I use HSTouch to control the mute status, play a couple of preset playlists, set individual player volumes/play status and that is about it.

[rxatwell]

Thanks for your advice. I guess either switching between apps on my wall mount Tablet (with HSTouch) or Sonos on my phone mixed with HSTouch will work fine. I am happy to hear that I can play preselected playlists and stations from HSTouch. Thanks!

[matt246]

What I did on mine was create a button that opens a webpage on press put in "sonos::/" as the webpage and make sure the app is installed on your ios device, that'll make it so you can open the app directly and also have a little button at the top that says Back to HSTouch.

[jpape]

What I did on mine was create a button that opens a webpage on press put in "sonos::/" as the webpage and make sure the app is installed on your ios device, that'll make it so you can open the app directly and also have a little button at the top that says Back to HSTouch.

matt246, can you elaborate on how you configured your button to open a web page. I do not see that as a available button action.