Sonos ZoneBridge 100

Until now, a Sonos system consisted of ZonePlayers (normally two)--networking devices that output music to your receiver or to a set of speakers--and the Controller, a remote with a three-inch LCD that looked like an overgrown iPod. You control your music either through the Sonos software that you install on your PC, or via the Controller. But the system isn't completely wireless: One of your ZonePlayers must have a wired connection to your router in order to stream music from your PC or networked hard drive; this leaves one unwired ZonePlayer to be placed elsewhere in the house. If you wanted to stream music to additional rooms, you had to pay at least $350 for each extra ZonePlayer--a lot of money if you just wished to listen to music in a room other than where your router resides. In that instance, the new ZoneBridge is a better choice. It doesn't output music, but instead serves as the wired connection to your router, and it costs only $99.

My experience with a Sonos system that included a ZoneBridge was a little spotty. A few times during my two weeks of testing, the bridge lost its connection to the ZonePlayer I was using in my dining room (about 50 feet away), and I then had to re-establish the connection to the player. That took only a minute or two, but was still a hassle. Also, a number of times the music just cut out for 30 seconds or so, then came back on its own.