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I know this has been posted before, but I don’t think an adequate solution has been offered.

 

Like others, I don’t want anyone who is on my WiFi network to be granted access to my Sonos system by default simply by having the Sonos app.
 

I realize guest networks are a thing, but this is not a solution for multiple systems on the same network. 

 

I would like my Sonos system to be accessible only by me, and if possible, users/accounts to whom I’ve given access.

 

This would also be less of an issue if the Sonos app didn’t randomly forget which system on the network it is connected to, and try to connect to the wrong one. This has happened on a number of occasions. 
 

So this post is a combination feature request and bug report I suppose, but I’d take the feature request in a heartbeat. 
 

Thanks for reading. 

Hi @DonovanB have you considered to create a guest network on your wifi network? You may need to look into your network settings to create either a virtual network (e.g. vlan) for your Sonos devices only or allow guests to connect to an isolated ‘guest’ wifi network with internet access only. This all will of course depend on the network features of your router(s).

 
 

Put a router or wireless broadcasting access point bolted onto your current network and run that on a different subnet - then put the users onto that (or the Sonos products/controllers, if you prefer). No way those on the ‘other’ subnet can access/run Sonos, but they can go onto access your LAN if you want that, or you can restrict their access in a variety of ways. 

Much cheaper to do that, than get the Sonos developers to re-write the App at goodness know what cost, for the minority of folk that want to do these restrictive things.


Hi @DonovanB have you considered to create a guest network on your wifi network?

 

Hey @el rubio, I have thanks. As noted, it’s not a viable solution fo ray use case.

 

Put a router or wireless broadcasting access point bolted onto your current network and run that on a different subnet - then put the users onto that (or the Sonos products/controllers, if you prefer). No way those on the ‘other’ subnet can access/run Sonos, but they can go onto access your LAN if you want that, or you can restrict their access in a variety of ways. 

Much cheaper to do that, than get the Sonos developers to re-write the App at goodness know what cost, for the minority of folk that want to do these restrictive things.

 

Thanks for the suggestion @Ken_Griffiths. No snark intended, but this certainly isn’t a “cheap” solution on my end. I don’t really feel like I should need to buy separate hardware and invest the time in creating subnets and what have you for what I view as pretty basic functionality.

For clarity, an in-app toggle saying “Allow others on your network to control this system/speaker” would more than suffice. Totally appreciate a firmware update and some dev would be needed, but I honestly find it a bit shocking it’s not there already. Based on the number of posts asking for the same feature, I don’t think it’s a terribly small minority that would like to see this included. Apple has this built into AppleTV and HomePods in an even more robust way (passwords, HomeKit, etc), so it’s certainly not unheard of.

 

Thanks again.


This would also be less of an issue if the Sonos app didn’t randomly forget which system on the network it is connected to, and try to connect to the wrong one. This has happened on a number of occasions. 
 

 

This sounds like you’re saying that you have multiple Sonos systems setup on the same WiFi network, is that correct?  It might help to better describe your situation, as many times, the solution you think you need might not be the only thing you can do.  Not sure that is the case here, but it more details never hurt.

As far as giving users the ability to restrict access to the system via login, I am mixed about that.  For those that use voice control or enable the speaker hard buttons, it would not be that effective for many.  Of course, your multi Sonos system setup is different scenario.  I also wondering if it would have a significant impact on other systems that can currently access Sonos on your network without a login.  It would have a cascading effect to those systems, although not anything that is cloud based.

My point is that I’m not sure that such a feature would have minimal impact.  Even if those impacts are irrelevant to you, it’s still something Sonos would have to take into account.

 


A few people have been asking for this for years and Sonos has never implemented it.  Snark or not, Ken’s advice is far superior to asking again and expecting a different result. 

And yes, it is a terribly small minority.  Matter of fact, it is dwarfed by the number of folks who stormed in with torches and pitchforks when Sonos dared to require a password for things like adding a new device or setting a volume limit.  


 

Hey @el rubio, I have thanks. As noted, it’s not a viable solution fo ray use case.

 

Thanks for the suggestion @Ken_Griffiths. No snark intended, but this certainly isn’t a “cheap” solution on my end. I don’t really feel like I should need to buy separate hardware and invest the time in creating subnets and what have you for what I view as pretty basic functionality.

For clarity, an in-app toggle saying “Allow others on your network to control this system/speaker” would more than suffice. Totally appreciate a firmware update and some dev would be needed, but I honestly find it a bit shocking it’s not there already. Based on the number of posts asking for the same feature, I don’t think it’s a terribly small minority that would like to see this included. Apple has this built into AppleTV and HomePods in an even more robust way (passwords, HomeKit, etc), so it’s certainly not unheard of.

 

Thanks again.

That’s okay, but I clearly see the Sonos music system slightly differently to you - Sonos products replaced my Home stereo audio system and my record/tape collections in my home and I had no security around that stereo, other than I relied on the security of my Home itself - if family or friends were in the Home, I either could invite them to use the audio system to play their vinyls/tapes etc; or I might ask them politely not to use it.

In many respects, the same applies now with Sonos Whole Home Audio  - the security is not the Home, but moreso the ‘Home Network’ instead, I’m still in the same position where I can choose to invite others to use the Sonos setup or not on that network… so I think the minority of folk asking for such additional security is easily solvable by adding a router or access point, which really is not a huge expense for the few folk that want this feature, compared to the Sonos development costs and testing etc.

I’d just much rather see the Sonos Devs doing more important things, rather than adding an extra layer of security, especially when a very simple and cheap solution already exists.