Contributor I

Control Sonos remotely?

Forum|Forum|10 years ago
August 25, 2016
46 replies
24436 views

I've seen a post that was over a year old about this so I figured that I would start a new topic. Firstly, I think that Sonos has the best sounding, easy to set up, and easy to use system out there. I have had nothing negative to say until this morning.

This morning, when I arrived to work I opened up my Google Play tab and started a playlist. After the first song, it stopped with an error saying: "Can't play music on two devices at once." Dang, I must have forgotten the speaker in my bedroom on and did not hear it on the way out.

I am sure that I am not the only one that has had this issue. Apart from being able to solve this issue with the ability to control the system remotely, there are several other reasons why this feature would be great.

1.) Forgot to turn off system before leaving
2.) Left early or gone for vacation but you've not disabled your alarms
3.) You work from home and have to VPN into work, which causes the inability to control Sonos
4.) Remote support, for example, if you are in IT and the front desk has a Sonos but is having a problem (a user error rather than bad hardware)
5.) Sound systems that are in elderly homes, for example, my grandmother that has one and occasionally has some problems.
6.) Having the sound systems in environments that have multiple Wi-Fi connections, e.g. Company-Secured and Company-Guest. Many enterprise networks do not allow these to talk, so you need to swap your Wi-Fi over to control the system. Also, a large majority of companies that have Guest Wi-Fi do not allow communication between devices on that network.

Thinking about the problem, it is simple: controlling your system remotely, like you can with LIFX or Nest is a useful feature. The solution however, is probably quite the undertaking. Seeing as how phones automatically connect to any Sonos system that is on Wi-Fi, it seems that there would be a lot of core changes as well as added security. I think the first three points are the most important and useful. The last three points are examples but may not actually be intended use for Sonos (there are other Enterprise sound systems out there that handle this).

My workaround (since this has happened a few times now) is that I installed Chrome Remote Desktop on my desktop at home. I can remotely log in and open the Sonos app to turn off the system.

Perhaps this feature can be rolled out slowly, i.e. add functionality to stop music first to avoid some issues described above and then have other features rolled out after. Either way, what does everyone think?

Would you like capability to control your Sonos sound remotely?

control remotely

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mmatte

Contributor I

I also have this problem, or similar.
I often work from home with my computer connected to work via VPN.
I control Sonos with my phone.
The phone rings and i need to lower the volume on Sonos...
I cant.
Because the computer cant see my Sonos comonents (because of the VPN) and the phone close the app when it rings.
Can this be solved in any other way? Cant be just me with this problem...

Stuart_W

World-Class Superstar

I also have this problem, or similar.
I often work from home with my computer connected to work via VPN.
I control Sonos with my phone.
The phone rings and i need to lower the volume on Sonos...
I cant.
Because the computer cant see my Sonos comonents (because of the VPN) and the phone close the app when it rings.
Can this be solved in any other way? Cant be just me with this problem...

Something's not right here.

1) You can still connect to work on your laptop (or your work's laptop) via VPN AND be connected to the same wireless network as the Sonos system is on - In fact that is how I'd expect it to work unless you have a separate wireless network for work which is doubtful

2) To be honest this usage case is stretching the justification to it's breaking point - You want the ability to remotely control Sonos over the internet even though you are sat right next to the Sonos system that you want to control!

3) just press the mute button on the top of the speaker dude!

Arc + Sub (Gen 1) + 2 x Play 1/ Stereo Play 3s/ Era 100 Stereo in Kitchen, One Stereo in Bedroom, Play 1 stereo pair in Study, Play 1in Bathroom, Sonos Move 2

ratty

Start the Sonos desktop controller before opening the VPN connection.

C

chippie

Lyricist III

Well its a +1 from me!

Do not understand why some people are flaming this enhancement after all it will benefit those who require it immensely and have zero effect on those who will not use it although I bet you that if ever implemented it is something that will actually be useful to all. :D

Personally it would be extremely useful for me. I have my Home Automation and Security system all linked up to a separate 4G router which is completely isolated from my normal networks (I do not want them linked in any way). All my HA hubs, cameras etc. are all connected to this and all on UPS's hence providing a pretty fail-safe environment. My issue is that at the moment I cannot make use of my Sonos Speakers in my HA setup unless I actually add them to the isolated 4G network which will in turn obviously not make them visible to the normal household networks.

To be honest I am pretty surprised that this sort of functionality was not implement years ago, it is hardly rocket science and has existed for countless other products for a very long time. You have had the ability to control lights, turn the heating on, vacuum the living room and boil the kettle etc. from afar for years so no reason why you should not be able to play some music for your dog whilst you are at work 😛 😉

dave77

Headliner I

Logitech Squeezebox allowed you to control it from anywhere. The only time I ever used it was to trigger one of the alarm sounds, a kettle boiling on the stove, to try and scare the **** out of the other half, it worked 😉

melvimbe

To be honest I am pretty surprised that this sort of functionality was not implement years ago, it is hardly rocket science and has existed for countless other products for a very long time. You have had the ability to control lights, turn the heating on, vacuum the living room and boil the kettle etc. from afar for years so no reason why you should not be able to play some music for your dog whilst you are at work 😛 ;)

There are some significant differences between your examples and Sonos. In almost all cases, the level of control required is much lower. It's often just a simple on/off switch. Obviously, Sonos is more complicated then that.

There is often a much greater need for the functionality. If you can't control remotely, there isn't much point of having control at all. Not so with Sonos, since the majority of the time people will be on the network when they want to listen to it.

As well, I don't think these devices have the same need for backwards compatibility that Sonos has. Rarely does the thermostat or vacuum you already own start working with outside control. You have to replace your light switches in order to control the lights. Sonos doesn't want to force customers to throw out their old units in order to get this functionality.

Many of these devices aren't controllable without a 3rd party hub. Sonos is actually similar (currently) since the control can be done from the outside with a 3rd party hub. It may be smarter to just let the 3rd party hub approach develop overtime instead of trying to fix the problem themselves. Since you can control Echo music remotely now, I would not be surprised if the Sonos/Alexa integration adds some remote control features.

Maybe most importantly, in order for control to be done from outside the network, there has to be a server maintained on the outside that will communicate with your Sonos system. That's a cost that may not be all the beneficial to many customers. Again, might be something 3rd parties will do for you anyway.

Danny

C

chippie

Lyricist III

There are some significant differences between your examples and Sonos. In almost all cases, the level of control required is much lower. It's often just a simple on/off switch. Obviously, Sonos is more complicated then that.

There is often a much greater need for the functionality. If you can't control remotely, there isn't much point of having control at all. Not so with Sonos, since the majority of the time people will be on the network when they want to listen to it.
........
Maybe most importantly, in order for control to be done from outside the network, there has to be a server maintained on the outside that will communicate with your Sonos system. That's a cost that may not be all the beneficial to many customers. Again, might be something 3rd parties will do for you anyway.

Not quite understanding the argument here, there is no need to have the level of control in the cloud, you simply need to route it (commands and library details etc.) over the cloud from your device/app to the equipment, the app simply needs to be able to talk via the cloud to your Sonos box at home and seeming as Sonos already store all the details of your equipment on their servers (I believe so anyway) this is not a huge hurdle. I am not stating it is as easy as flicking a switch but it is not overly complex.

Beg to differ about the ability to control it remotely, the posts above and the votes show that this is something people would like for whatever reasons they may have. So the need is there.

Again, yes a server is required but it does not need to handle all the requests, it simply needs to create a link to your home network where all the processing happens on your phone an on the Sonos at home.

Irrespective, Sonos did announce that this functionality is coming so we just have to wait for it. If you have no need for it then no bother of course, just carry on and before.... 😃

melvimbe

@Chippie, you're probably right. I didn't really think about it being a pass through like that. I'm sure there are some changes, but not much too much in that regard.

I don't think Sonos tracks the devices we have by our account. From what I can tell, it isn't even tracked in the controller apps. But as you said, a server wouldn't need that info, just be able to pass information back and forth.

I don't know that 50 votes on a forum constitutes a need. Particularly considering that forums tend to draw high end users, not typical users. As well, I could easily see people who aren't interested in remote control wouldn't bother opening the thread.

Danny

Smilja

[...] Irrespective, Sonos did announce that this functionality is coming so we just have to wait for it. If you have no need for it then no bother of course, just carry on and before.... :D

How do you know? As already stated by ratty "... patent applications and actual implementation are two quite different things".

»And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space, Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind.« (›Windmills Of Your Mind‹ [1967]. Music by Michel Legrand ; English lyrics written by Alan & Marilyn Bergman)

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chippie

Lyricist III

@Chippie, you're probably right. I didn't really think about it being a pass through like that. I'm sure there are some changes, but not much too much in that regard.

I don't think Sonos tracks the devices we have by our account. From what I can tell, it isn't even tracked in the controller apps. But as you said, a server wouldn't need that info, just be able to pass information back and forth.

I don't know that 50 votes on a forum constitutes a need. Particularly considering that forums tend to draw high end users, not typical users. As well, I could easily see people who aren't interested in remote control wouldn't bother opening the thread.

I agree but then we never needed or obviously used Alexa unitl it was available, the same with all other natural progression of added functionality to all the items we use daily.

As a comparison, have a look at Harmony, everything runs locally on the IR Hubs yet you can still access it via the cloud, as far as I am aware no processing happens at Logitech it is simply routed through.

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