Contributor I

Answered

How to disable Direct Control / Streaming services?

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
June 27, 2022
22 replies
1019 views

I have an old ZP80 system that I use strictly for playing music from a vast catalog of music and podcasts that keep on my NAS. So it’s all inside my personal network. I don’t route any streaming or outside services, e.g., Spotify, Apple, Google, etc, through my Sonos system. No do I have any accounts with those companies.

So was surprised the other day when my GF, who has Google and Spotify at her house, but not Sonos, was at my house and was able to play music from Spotify over my Sonos system. I called Sonos support and they said that Sonos exposes an API called Direct Control to 3rd party services such as Spotify, so all she needs is her Spotify app on her phone to play music through my Sonos system.

How do I disable that feature on Sonos? I don’t want Spotify to have access to my Sonos system, or to be able to route content through my network or gain marketing information by knowing that content was routed through my network. I want to keep my Sonos system tightly buttoned down to just my network inside my firewall.

Thanks in advance.

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Best answer by ratty

I don’t want my Sonos mesh network to be discoverable. This is not an unusual request - Bluetooth works the same way - you can control how “discoverable” a Bluetooth device is. Everyone uses Bluetooth - it’s not a big inconvenience.

Sonos devices respond to standard local network discovery protocols, such as UPnP and mDNS. There’s nothing one can do about that without entirely crippling the operation of the system.

A local network uses private IP addressing. The clue is in the name. The network is private. Within that network all devices are deemed contactable, including by broadcast.

Bluetooth is a completely different technology, essentially wire replacement. Of course one would want to control which nearby devices can be connected.

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J

John B

You have bought speakers that are Spotify Connect enabled. Your GF isn’t using the Sonos system - she is not using the Sonos app. So putting a password in Sonos would have no effect. (Does your GF even have the Sonos app on her phone?) So I suspect that to prevent this, Sonos would have to abandon allowing the use of Spotify Connect. The chance of that happening is zero.

You are simply incorrect in your assertion that your GF is playing through your Sonos system, she is playing on your Spotify Connect enabled speakers. The practical outcome may be very similar (you have to listen to her choice of music), but this matters for the action Sonos would have to take (if it could). If (heaven forbid) you had a Spotify Connect enabled Bose speaker lying about the place, she would be able to play through that too.

Whether Sonos could give an option to disable this, or would be allowed to do so by Spotify, I don't know. But I suspect it is wanted by so few people that it won't happen.

K

Kumar

I want to keep my Sonos system tightly buttoned down to just my network inside my firewall.

What’s the benefit of doing this?

ratty

Just to be clear, Spotify cannot unilaterally access the ZP80 from the outside. Someone on the local network has first to discover the ZP and make a request to the cloud based bridge between Spotify and Sonos.

Authorisation tokens are passed around the chain. The authorisation to play from a Spotify native app is subsequently rescinded when the player is instructed to play from a different source.

I wouldn’t allow onto my private network anyone I didn’t trust.

buzz

Grand Maestro

Some firewalls allow blocking specific URL’s.

A

art999Author

Contributor I

Is this what is actually happening though, or is your GF streaming from her phone direct to your Sonos kit? If you give her access to the internet and allow her to stream, then I don’t see how you can stop it.

She plays a song on her Spotify app and it comes out through Sonos. Sonos tech support says Spotify is using the Sonos Direct Control API to discover that there’s a Sonos device on my network and using that. I don’t want my Sonos mesh network to be discoverable. This is not an unusual request - Bluetooth works the same way - you can control how “discoverable” a Bluetooth device is. Everyone uses Bluetooth - it’s not a big inconvenience.

A

art999Author

Contributor I

Some firewalls allow blocking specific URL’s.

Why would I want to block an entire URL? What if I wanted to access Spotify via my PC or phone in my house? This is a Sonos issue.. As I’ve said here several times, Sonos is the only device on my network that’s wide open. Even the ubiquitous Bluetooth standard gives you more control and security.

rattyAnswer

I don’t want my Sonos mesh network to be discoverable. This is not an unusual request - Bluetooth works the same way - you can control how “discoverable” a Bluetooth device is. Everyone uses Bluetooth - it’s not a big inconvenience.

Sonos devices respond to standard local network discovery protocols, such as UPnP and mDNS. There’s nothing one can do about that without entirely crippling the operation of the system.

A local network uses private IP addressing. The clue is in the name. The network is private. Within that network all devices are deemed contactable, including by broadcast.

Bluetooth is a completely different technology, essentially wire replacement. Of course one would want to control which nearby devices can be connected.

A

art999Author

Contributor I

I want to keep my Sonos system tightly buttoned down to just my network inside my firewall.

What’s the benefit of doing this?

Every other device on my network has two levels of security: access to the network and access to the device itself. For example, if I have a designer at my house and he wants to show me his portfolio in the cloud I give him my WiFi password so he can access the internet. But he still doesn’t have access to my NAS. Because all the other devices require their own rigmarole (password or a special driver setup or a unique app) for access I don’t have to set up and maintain some complicated set of router settings for guests or other special classes of users. Only Sonos is wide open to anyone with access to my WiFi.

A

art999Author

Contributor I

I don’t want my Sonos mesh network to be discoverable. This is not an unusual request - Bluetooth works the same way - you can control how “discoverable” a Bluetooth device is. Everyone uses Bluetooth - it’s not a big inconvenience.

Sonos devices respond to standard local network discovery protocols, such as UPnP and mDNS. There’s nothing one can do about that without entirely crippling the operation of the system.

My NAS is a UPnP device but it also requires a password. The password is memorised by all of my own PC’s, laptops and phones so I don’t have to type it in every time, but if a visitor came here he could see that it exists, but he wouldn’t be able to access it. So there’s no inconvenience for me but it provides an extra layer of security.

ratty

Partly in response to concerns about guests on the LAN being able to change the system configuration, Sonos introduced account sign-in via password to protect such settings.

They have steadfastly rejected any suggestions of putting obstacles in the way of simply playing music.

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