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"How do you connect to a Sonos speaker?" We've gotten this question and many like it from friends and family, when they're visiting and want to share their music on our Sonos system or setting up their own first Sonos speaker at home. It's not immediately obvious how you actually connect to these Sonos speakers so you can get them to play your favorite music.

The first thing you need to know: with a couple of exceptions, Sonos ain't Bluetooth*. Most wireless speakers use the Bluetooth RF standard to connect from a phone or tablet to the speaker. And while this is handy when you're out and about or just want to play music from a single phone through a single speaker, it doesn't scale well. If you want to play music in multiple rooms in your home - and operate that system from more than one device - then you're going to need something more robust and scaleable than Bluetooth.

Sonos is built to handle playback of multiple music sources on multiple speakers. To do this, Sonos speakers connect to your home network using WiFi or a hard-coded ethernet cable. Once you've got your Sonos speakers connected to your home network, you can use the Sonos app on your phone or tablet to play music anywhere throughout your home.

So, to connect to a Sonos speaker:

1. Install the Sonos app on your mobile device, phone, PC or MacBook
2. Plug in the power cord of your Sonos speaker(s)
3. Open the Sonos app and select "Set up a new system" (if this is your first Sonos speaker) or "Join Nearby System" (if you're connecting to a Sonos system or speaker that has already been set up, like at a friend's house)
4. If you're setting up a new Sonos speaker or system, follow the prompts in the Sonos app to add the new speaker
5. Once the Sonos speaker has been added to your home network, click the music note icon at the bottom of the app to add your various music sources and music streaming accounts like Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Music - you only have to do this once
6. Once the music services have been added, click the music note icon again to select what music you want to play in the Sonos app, then select which Sonos speaker(s) you want to play it on
7. Press the "play" arrow in the app

That's it. Once you're connected and playing music, you can control volume and playback in the Sonos app or on the speaker itself. Most Sonos speakers have a basic set of controls for volume up/down and play/pause on the top or side of the speaker. A double click of the pause button skips to the next song.

If you've gone through all this and are still having trouble, check out the Sonos support site. They've got a series of tutorials and videos to help get you started.

*Some Sonos speakers, including the Sonos Roam and Sonos Move, also support Bluetooth connectivity, and these can be paired with a phone or mobile device in the usual way. They can also be integrated into a whole home Sonos music system via Wifi. In March 2023, Sonos also released two new speakers with Bluetooth connectivity: the Sonos ERA 100 and the Sonos ERA 300.

Related Topics:

• How to Get 5.1 Surround Sound from Sonos Speakers
• Why Does My Sonos Speaker Randomly Drop in Volume?
• Sonos Unveils ERA 300 Speaker with Dolby Atmos