Password to avoid guests changing music

Thanks for the link, jgatie. I don't really buy that argument completely -- you would put the PIN in your Sonos app on your phone once and it wouldn't ask again. I can see that the PIN-step (even if no human intervention is required after the first time) could add to the "time-to-music", so that may be a valid concern. A whitelist could also work -- I could type in the MAC addresses of all my phones/ipads into the Sonos and whitelist only those to work with the Sonos system. Again, I don't know enough technically if that would increase the time-to-music.

Interview from 2011. Hmm wonder if he still has same view.

Precedence has been set re allowing missing new features from legacy CR controllers which sounds like wouldn't be able to support control feature.

jgatie, all due respect the posts along those lines are quite condescending (def: having or showing a feeling of patronizing superiority.). When posters basically say "I can keep my friends or kids in line, why can't you?", that is patronizing. Besides, must I really dissect the argument, which is not even all that good apart from the condescension? For example: 1) You would have no idea at a party who was doing it. How would you address that person???? 2) There are social transgressions (maybe like a guest putting his feet up on a coffee table) that bother you but may not bother everyone and therefore you don't want to seem like a jerky host by pointing it out and would rather instead look for a solution (e.g., a tablecloth on your coffee table for next time you have guests over). 3) This is an internet forum about a technical product, geared at people asking for technical solutions, not a counseling session on how poorly users have chosen their friends.

Having the option for the tablecloth is what people are asking for. I am sure there are people who live in museum quality houses with really nice uncovered coffee tables whose friends would know never to put their feet up on it, and I am sure there are people who downright encourage folks to put their feet up on their coffee table. Bully for them -- go right ahead! I'm not going to condescend and say "What kind of person lets guests put their feet up on a table? or What kind of snooty person keeps their house like a museum?" Those of us who like optionality would prefer a "tablecloth" feature like a PIN.

But it all comes down to YOU giving out your WIFI password. Just change it if someone you gave it to previously is abusing it. Problem solved.

I have never given out my WIFI password to anyone outside of my immediate family. No need to. If guests need that much internet access at my place that they need to switch over to WIFI, then why are they visiting in the first place? And even then, I have guest access enabled on my router. Problem also solved.

Whether your definition of the transgression is different from mine or not (as I previously said, YMMV), this thread is about preventing someone from doing something the owner of the home feels is not warranted. So my statement that "There's no way in hell I'd personally put up with constantly entering a passcode just so I could police rude guests or unruly kids" still applies, and questioning why anyone else would suffer inconvenience in order to police those actions, when there are better alternatives, is not condescension, it is reality.

Even if the process of associating a Sonos controller was PIN-managed, and even if Sonos provided per-room PIN entry, the diagnostic/control interface on IP port 1400 is open on each and every player. A fool who wanted to really mess with a Sonos system could simply use a third party control app. The only way to prevent that is to keep such undesirables off your LAN subnet.

jgatie -- We can agree to disagree on the interpretation. I wasn't trying to single you out, and what you quoted is fine to me, but other posters did not couch their barbs in the form of a personal opinion, but more of a "parent your kids" approach. You of course would not have to constantly put in the passcode because a) you could opt to have it off and b) sonos would of course only force you to put it in once per device. that is a straw man argument.

ratty -- I am impressed with your knowledge of the sonos technical details. I'll take your word for it, but again this is about casual entry. Of course a dedicated intruder could bypass almost any defense. I merely want to prevent guests from showing off that "Hey, I happen to know that if you have the Sonos app you can hijack the host's system as long as you get the wifi password, which you can innocently ask for." Based on this thread, I will definitely be setting up a guest network....

@juanb,

For your particular concern, you would only need to enter it once. Others in this and other threads have asked for passcodes for parental controls, or to password protect certain rooms, Settings menus, queue management, and any number of other features that could easily require one to enter a passcode on a frequent and annoying basis.

I for one do not know why Sonos took away the requirement to press hardware buttons on an actual player to add a controller to the system. I saw this as a better detriment to unauthorized use than any passcodes. But that is just me, and none of these concerns are an actual concern if one makes use of a guest network, which has the equally important function of keeping people off your private LAN.

I will definitely be setting up a guest network....
If the router doesn't have a 'guest SSID' feature, the same protection from intruders can be achieved simply by putting the Sonos and all the normal occupants' devices behind a second router, cascaded off the first one. Sonos doesn't care about being behind a double-NAT. Guests can use the outer LAN. In fact I do this so guests can also avail themselves of a small separate Sonos household, the players located in guest rooms.

I for one do not know why Sonos took away the requirement to press hardware buttons on an actual player to add a controller to the system.
Convenience. There must have been countless "why must we press buttons to identify our ONE Sonos system?" comments.

For the paranoid a simple workaround is to have a single component from a different Household -- a BRIDGE will do -- on the same subnet. You'll then be asked to press buttons as before.