Stop updating for just little tweeks

Hi @hdjeep2000, welcome to the Sonos Community!

Thanks for bringing this up and we totally understand where you're coming from. 

Updating Sonos shouldn’t cause you that much pain and inconvenience. If you encounter problems again, please let us know here and submit a diagnostic report of your system, that way we can further check it what exactly causing the problem. You can submit now if you want us to take a look at your system because maybe there are other reasons why this is happening. 

If you’d prefer to check for updates manually, you can disable automatic updates in the Settings tab under System > System Updates > Update Automatically.

Just let us know. We and the community are always here to help.

No! No! No!

When are you (SONOS) going to get it into your stupid heads that owners do not want any sort of updates?

The last major update from SONOS completely screwed up my router and business broadband and it still hasn’t fully recovered nearly 6 months later.  I’m thinking of starting a class action against you people to stop interfering with systems that you sold not rented out.

Have you done the maths?  10,000 users (and that’s almost certainly a very low estimate) wasting 1 hour of THEIR time to overcome the crap that you force down the pipe is a huge financial cost.  Even at minimum wage.

I don’t work at minimum wage and I don’t want ANY more updates from SONOS - ever.  I had a perfectly decent Technics Hi-Fi system for nearly 30 years that didn’t require anything doing to it.  It survived three house moves without a quibble.  Seems your itchy-fingered software geeks don’t understand the ethics of business.  You sold a working system.  You didn’t rent it out.  So, once sold, it’s not yours to mess with any more.

Get a grip and stop the nonsense.

You do know you can turn off updates, right? 

Theoretically you can turn them off.  But guess what?  SONOS tells my PC that there’s an update available and when I say “Not Now” it  blocks use of the desktop controller.  How idiotic is that?  It exemplifies an approach to software updating that is both crass and unnecessary.

Why should anyone HAVE to update a working system?  Nobody is going to *burgle* a sound system that isn’t connected to anything like Alexa.  What would be the point?  You might as well say that any router/broadband connection is vulnerable to attack.  A completely meaningless approach.

All our mobile devices have automatic update switched off for SONOS - but that still doesn’t prevent the system from getting *angry* and insisting it IS updated.  It’s a complete nonsense.

If SONOS wants to patch things that subsequently appear to be an issue - then provide a locus where they can be accessed (like downloading updated software drivers for a printer) and leave it to the users to make an informed decision.  SONOS are actually opening themselves up to a massive lawsuit by continuing the way they are operating.  It’s not an excuse to *blame* the requirement on other businesses like Apple or Google/Android.

Take our current setup.  A soundbar (connected to a SONY Smart TV) and a couple of speakers in other rooms.  Two PC controllers and a couple of smartphones (Android).  Why should ANYTHING need changing?  Can anyone justify messing with a system that doesn’t belong to them?  If they do - then they are liable for the financial consequences.  In terms of loss of business due to a screwed up broadband connection - I leave you to imagine the value…

Whoever is running this operation needs to go right back to basics.  You sold it.  It is warranted against component failure.  If someone else’s software screws it up - THEY are liable for damages.  It’s time the software world realised that not everything is SAAS.  Outright sale means exactly that.

If you decline an update on the PC it will only block if your devices have already taken their firmware update (eg via the iOS app). Or you could use a third party app that will never update your system.

On iOS you also need to stop the App Store from auto-updating the Sonos app, otherwise it is still all to easy for another family member or device to upgrade your system without you even being aware, then getting you in the state you describe.

Or you could just accept the updates as they are delivered.

Any internet connected system needs updates, if only to keep it safe. Lots of Sonos customers want extra services too, which also creates the need to update. If you do not want updates, do not buy a connected device.

If you explain on this forum what prblems you have had, maybe we could find out the cause of those problems together. And help you to a system that will update without problems, like most Sonos systems.

How did a Sonos update screwup your broadband connection?

I have no idea how it screwed it up - but it certainly did.  Could not possibly have been caused by anything else.  Update ran and immediately afterwards PC could not connect to the router and it took weeks of tweaking to overcome the issue.  I now have to rely on an ethernet connection rather than WiFi which still drops out for no reason, sometimes more than 10x a day.

I suspect it did something to the firmware in the router - and I’ve no way of fixing that.

It highlights the point that organisations like SONOS ought to be liable for this kind of mess - except they don’t give a s**t.  There’s no pressure on their developers to undertake thorough and exhaustive testing, they rely on the costs of that being offloaded to the consumer who has no way of recovering them.  It’s like we’re all living in a huge Beta-Test environment that we didn’t sign up for.

Like many business people I want certainty from the products I buy.  SONOS continues to provide massive uncertainty.  Reading some of the other posts about how their updates have bricked equipment only makes that worse.

When are they going to start trying to be accountable?  How are they going to evidence that?  Until that point - can they please refrain from updating ANYTHING that’s already out there?  If they want to play with techie toys - then have a sand-box and go figure things out properly.

And, BTW - I’ve overseen enough tech development over the last 30+ years to be quite confident in what I’m talking about.  This continual updating has to stop.  It is not needed.  Most users really don’t want it.  Even those who are into streaming everything from Spotify etc shouldn’t need any upgrades - the interfaces are standard.

I rest my case.

Whilst I agree that the updates are largely pointless for many, and one is not advised in advance of any adverse impact on your particular system, the update process is completely under your control.

You can turn off auto updates on the PC, android and iOS apps. You can block the Sonos update ports and also block their update sites on your router. You can stop visitors interfering with your system by only allowing them access on a guest network. If you only play files locally (e.g. from a NAS) then you can completely lock the Sonos kit off from the internet.

I totally agree that you shouldn’t have to go to all this trouble, but it is possible if it really bugs you.

And where - in all of that - is there a simple step-by-step guide to make it happen?  Going to all this trouble really shouldn’t be the default option.  Give the user a simple *switch* that closes everything and blocks the updating until reset.

And BTW - there’s now nowhere obvious on the PC to turn off auto-updates.  SONOS removed that facility some time ago.

Turn off automatic updates in the Sonos App ‘settings/system/updates’ then just refuse App updates or/and switch off automatic App updates on whatever controller device you are using (just Google that for your device/operating system).

The usual warning however goes with doing that, as some updates maybe there to eliminate emerging security vulnerabilities. 

You don’t need to turn off auto-updates on the PC controller.  This option refers to system updates, which can be turned off on any mobile app.  The ability to do this on a computer went when most system management capability was removed from the desktop controller.

The desktop controller itself never updates automatically.

There is a simple switch for system updates, but Sonos cannot put a switch in the Sonos system that controls your settings for the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store (I am pleased to say)..

This isn’t difficult.  i have turned off auto updates on Play Store and in the Sonos app.  No update happens until I choose.  When i do choose, FWIW, it always goes through without a hitch.

One further general observation, based on long experience on the forum.  When there hasn’t been a recent update, and something suddenly goes wrong on their system, people come on here and say ‘something has gone wrong with my system’.  When there has been a recent update they say ‘the update screwed my system’.  It almost never is the update.

I don’t see how a Sonos update would update your router’s firmware.  In order for that to happen, your router security would have to allow that, and Sonos would have to have familiarity with firmware for the 1000s of different router models and versions out there.  Even if it’s not firmware, but a configuration change, Sonos would have to access somehow to do so.

I would guess that you are using Sonos devices wireless, and the update to Sonos changed how Sonos is communicating wirelessly.  Perhaps that put a bigger burden on your WiFi network or causing interference issues. It’s also entirely possible that some thing else has changed on your wireless network, something you don’t believe has an impact, that is causing the issue.  B

There was one time a Sonos device actually was negatively affected by an update - The Playbar fiasco.  It was a single device, and the bug was only seen in certain configurations.  The main thread reached 100 pages in a couple days, and there were dozens of other sub-threads on the subject. 

This is why I find it hilarious that a dozen or so people come here after an update claiming “The update screwed up my system!”.  Nevermind paranoid nonsense like a Sonos update somehow rewrote a router’s firmware.