Option to disable built-in WiFi, when Sonos is used as a single device.

  • 7 September 2012
  • 76 replies
  • 6774 views

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There are certain users, who don't utilize multi-zone capabilities, since they've picked up just a single Sonos player - be it Connect or Play - for one-room music experience. Naturally, those users don't need to keep the built-in WiFi in always ON state. Please, consider adding an option to disable WiFi, when it is not required. This will reduce power consumption, interference with other wifi sources, and keep the environment clean and free of extra EMR.

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76 replies

Userlevel 3
Thank you for the suggestion. This Idea has been discussed in the past and there currently are no immediate plans to implement this functionality but that is not to say that our plans will not change in the future. As with any Idea that is not currently planned, keep voting for your favorites as consensus is a great indicator for our Product team.
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Ok, but will you change the status of this idea to "Under consideration" in case your plans change, or we have to open a new idea? Thanks.
Userlevel 3
If an Idea's status changes we will reflect it within the original request. There will be no need to open a new Idea.
How strange that this intelligent request is not even under consideration by what would appear to be an open-minded company. This would be a simple functionality to accommodate those who prefer wired networking with one or many devices for any number of reasons... and it would not hurt the bottom line one bit. I mean only to say that this system I JUST PURCHASED which is neither TRULY Airplay compatible as advertised NOR CAPABLE of turning off a function I don't actually want or need is super, super easy to return considering the premium one pays to own a Sonos and the wave of competitors waiting at your front door.
How strange that this intelligent request is not even under consideration by what would appear to be an open-minded company. This would be a simple functionality to accommodate those who prefer wired networking with one or many devices for any number of reasons... and it would not hurt the bottom line one bit. I mean only to say that this system I JUST PURCHASED which is neither TRULY Airplay compatible as advertised NOR CAPABLE of turning off a function I don't actually want or need is super, super easy to return considering the premium one pays to own a Sonos and the wave of competitors waiting at your front door.
Wave of competitors? Who exactly are those?
How strange that this intelligent request is not even under consideration by what would appear to be an open-minded company. This would be a simple functionality to accommodate those who prefer wired networking with one or many devices for any number of reasons... and it would not hurt the bottom line one bit. I mean only to say that this system I JUST PURCHASED which is neither TRULY Airplay compatible as advertised NOR CAPABLE of turning off a function I don't actually want or need is super, super easy to return considering the premium one pays to own a Sonos and the wave of competitors waiting at your front door.
A quick Google search for "Airplay speakers" will reveal plenty, particularly for the market looking to fill just one room or apartment and not an entire house. More are surely on the way... Just to be clear, I'm a fan of Sonos. I'm very happy with the streaming of Spotify and similar, but this weird choice to limit the wifi functionality seems backwards. Maybe some would like to do without a secondary layer of wifi signal at home?
How strange that this intelligent request is not even under consideration by what would appear to be an open-minded company. This would be a simple functionality to accommodate those who prefer wired networking with one or many devices for any number of reasons... and it would not hurt the bottom line one bit. I mean only to say that this system I JUST PURCHASED which is neither TRULY Airplay compatible as advertised NOR CAPABLE of turning off a function I don't actually want or need is super, super easy to return considering the premium one pays to own a Sonos and the wave of competitors waiting at your front door.
Airplay is not a competitor in multi-room, multi-source music. The two recent "competitors" who approached Sonos in features are 1) Discontinued (Squeezebox) or 2) Available only in the UK, do not sync, and are 2x the price (Simple Audio). As to the logic of not allowing one to turn off wireless, if you have a completely wired system, wireless is effectively turned off anyway. Aside from occasional packets to keep the mesh intact for Sonos/Android controllers, the wireless will be inactive, with no impact to the WiFi spectrum. Nor could it be a perceived threat to anyone's health (a threat which is highly unlikely in the first place, no matter the level of wireless usage).
How strange that this intelligent request is not even under consideration by what would appear to be an open-minded company. This would be a simple functionality to accommodate those who prefer wired networking with one or many devices for any number of reasons... and it would not hurt the bottom line one bit. I mean only to say that this system I JUST PURCHASED which is neither TRULY Airplay compatible as advertised NOR CAPABLE of turning off a function I don't actually want or need is super, super easy to return considering the premium one pays to own a Sonos and the wave of competitors waiting at your front door.
Airplay is a competitor. Sonos didn't add Airplay compatibility with iPhones and scamper into the Airport Express "in-line" workaround because there's no threat. LOL! But the obvious market is the youngish professional urban dweller who wants to run iTunes / iTunes Match and services like Spotify into their 600 sq ft (and very expensive) apartments. Sonos knows this...the all-in-one system Play 5 is an obvious nod to this fact. As is the marketing.
How strange that this intelligent request is not even under consideration by what would appear to be an open-minded company. This would be a simple functionality to accommodate those who prefer wired networking with one or many devices for any number of reasons... and it would not hurt the bottom line one bit. I mean only to say that this system I JUST PURCHASED which is neither TRULY Airplay compatible as advertised NOR CAPABLE of turning off a function I don't actually want or need is super, super easy to return considering the premium one pays to own a Sonos and the wave of competitors waiting at your front door.
Airplay is a competitor in product awareness, but it is hardly a competitor in functionality. Especially since the main reason for people wanting Airplay - direct streaming of iTunes from iDevices - is now moot.
How strange that this intelligent request is not even under consideration by what would appear to be an open-minded company. This would be a simple functionality to accommodate those who prefer wired networking with one or many devices for any number of reasons... and it would not hurt the bottom line one bit. I mean only to say that this system I JUST PURCHASED which is neither TRULY Airplay compatible as advertised NOR CAPABLE of turning off a function I don't actually want or need is super, super easy to return considering the premium one pays to own a Sonos and the wave of competitors waiting at your front door.
Moot? Not so moot. But rah rah rah. FYI: There is no direct streaming of iTunes outside of iOS, which is ridiculous because even the largest iPhone or iPad can only hold a small fraction of the average person's library. Worse, if you want to stream via iTunes Match, i.e., your entire library, you can't do that with Sonos currently. That's a key differentiator, and Sonos marketing language obscures this fact and is basically misleading. Sure, you can make Sonos point to files on a Mac hard drive or on an NAS that *might* get recognized by an Airport Extreme and actually share...but...you sure you want to have this conversation? Are you an intern or something?
How strange that this intelligent request is not even under consideration by what would appear to be an open-minded company. This would be a simple functionality to accommodate those who prefer wired networking with one or many devices for any number of reasons... and it would not hurt the bottom line one bit. I mean only to say that this system I JUST PURCHASED which is neither TRULY Airplay compatible as advertised NOR CAPABLE of turning off a function I don't actually want or need is super, super easy to return considering the premium one pays to own a Sonos and the wave of competitors waiting at your front door.
No, I am hardly an "intern" (LOL!) and I do not work for Sonos. However, an accusation of me working for Sonos is where I bow out, for in my experience the conversation goes downhill fast when the messenger is attacked instead of the message. Cheers! Enjoy what ever competitve system you find.
How strange that this intelligent request is not even under consideration by what would appear to be an open-minded company. This would be a simple functionality to accommodate those who prefer wired networking with one or many devices for any number of reasons... and it would not hurt the bottom line one bit. I mean only to say that this system I JUST PURCHASED which is neither TRULY Airplay compatible as advertised NOR CAPABLE of turning off a function I don't actually want or need is super, super easy to return considering the premium one pays to own a Sonos and the wave of competitors waiting at your front door.
Yet you lurk on these boards and engage in a conversation that doesn't acknowledge a concern or desire from a new customer? I have an issue about the wifi yet you jump on "wave of competitors" comment like a paid shill? My friend, if you're compensated for your cheerleading, you're not doing anyone any favors.
Userlevel 2
Sonos, can you provide some insight as to why this idea is not being considered, considering it has been raised so many times in the forums? Many of us are concerned about needless radio waves, especially when we have them hardwired with ethernet, and would like to have a unit in our bedrooms. Although the dury is out as to whether there is any long term impact, there is nothing wrong with 'better safe than sorry'. I currently will not put a unit in my bedroom even though i would like to, for this reason. This is a basic software fix with a single check box in the settings menu, and seems like such a simple thing. Not really sure why the community is being ignored on this issue, considering we see it as a potential health issue.
How about this senario: Put this option under the room configuration menu: Disable wireless when the ethernet port has an active connection? That way if I accidentaly activated this checkbox I could always connect to the device wirelessly when no ethernet cable is plugged in.
I would also like to see this feature enables . . we constantly do racks with 10-12 Sonos' as well as whole houses with individual systems. There are cases where the systems are too far for reliable wireless but will catch it from time to time . . meaning if we hardwire (which we normally have the option to and prefer) the connect/connect:amp/bridge will create a network storm and bring down the network. this has happened on several jobsites and it is a PITA to force the client to needlessly hide a bridge somewhere when it is sitting right nest to an ethernet jack. Please let us have the option to disable in some advanced menu. (enable it by default for normal users + compatibility with adding more zones). Also, I miss having the ability to choose a channel. We used to keep Sonos' on Channel 11 and force our access points to auto select between channels 1-8.
I would also like to see this feature enables . . we constantly do racks with 10-12 Sonos' as well as whole houses with individual systems. There are cases where the systems are too far for reliable wireless but will catch it from time to time . . meaning if we hardwire (which we normally have the option to and prefer) the connect/connect:amp/bridge will create a network storm and bring down the network. this has happened on several jobsites and it is a PITA to force the client to needlessly hide a bridge somewhere when it is sitting right nest to an ethernet jack. Please let us have the option to disable in some advanced menu. (enable it by default for normal users + compatibility with adding more zones). Also, I miss having the ability to choose a channel. We used to keep Sonos' on Channel 11 and force our access points to auto select between channels 1-8.
You can still set the channel, they have not eliminated it.
I too would like this feature to be enabled and supported - as I too like to limit wireless activity in my house and will not have a Sonos unit in my bedroom for similar reasons above. There are unsupported techniques to achieve this, I just don't understand why this is not a simple option/tick box in the preferences.
I am also sure that people how can afford the SONOS components will have invested in wire solutions like I have. I don't want to have my home with little kids as a massive electro smoke house. Please make sure you have a software option ready soon.

Furthermore - I would also like to suggest to have a power on/off on the devices. It can be that we try to safe energy all the time and have power safing light bulbs and then have all those devices on while we are not even at home. Wake-up on LAN might be a first step...or just a normal on/off. I have manually added this on the power cord.

Thanks for your consideration to make a fabulous product even better!
Userlevel 1
Dear Sonos
I would like to see the feature of turning off the wireless net especially over night within a timerange I can define, like many users do use this on there NAS systems or with the normal WLAN in there homes. Especespecially with the introduction of the beloved Play:1 you step more and more in our bath- and bedrooms - private areas. People would see these areas free of WLAN - as many others said "better save than sorry"
So please consider and implement this feature for all equipments - Bridge too
Thanks in advance
If an Idea's status changes we will reflect it within the original request. There will be no need to open a new Idea.
Dear Mike. Any news the those requests? I stronly beleive that you guys would make a big difference to other products on the markets and as suggested by Christoph. This could also be a market differentiator for your company and show that you really care.
KR

Andreas
Dear Sonos,

However i understand that your enclosed WiFi signal is part of the strong Sonos formula, i would kindly ask you to consider the possibility to add WiFi management to your system. I'd like to turn off as must signals as possible when i'm going te sleep such as WiFi , DECT and turn my phones beside me in 'flight-mode'. My Fritzbox Router and DECT station allows me to take control when to turn on / off WiFi and (green) DECT. I'm considering expanding the Sonos system to my sleeping rooms and bath-room: your current WiFi policy is holding me from doing so. So please be kind: let me manage when to turn on or off the Sonos WiFi. A great product comes with great responsibility...
I have just found that the 12 Sonos devices in our home are brining down our network. Without being able to turn off the unrequired wireless feature it means we have to turn off the Sonos devices. This is really frustrating. No carols this Christmas 😞
I have just found that the 12 Sonos devices in our home are brining down our network. Without being able to turn off the unrequired wireless feature it means we have to turn off the Sonos devices. This is really frustrating. No carols this Christmas 😞

I also have 12 SONOS zone players.  They are all hardwired with Ethernet cables, so the only thing the wireless signal does is interfere with other WiFi using the same channels.  My SONOS system includes older ZP100s which only operate on 2.4Ghz frequencies of which there are only 3 non-overlapping channels.  All 3 channels are being used for other Wifi networks.  The SONOS is causing what these other Wifi networks see as Signal Noise.
I cant understand why you guys at sonos are so strongly again a small change like this.
For all of you: Just find out the IP of your SONOS device and go to http://IP-ADDRESS:1400/wifictrl?wifi=off

After power off on the wifi is reactivated again.
I cant understand why you guys at sonos are so strongly again a small change like this.
For all of you: Just find out the IP of your SONOS device and go to http://IP-ADDRESS:1400/wifictrl?wifi=off

After power off on the wifi is reactivated again.

If you want to disable it and have it persist through reboots, issue:

http://sonos-bedroom:1400/wifictrl?wifi=persist-off