Password Protect Sonos?

  • 9 January 2017
  • 37 replies
  • 16816 views

I have a PLAY1 in my university halls which has worked well, even being connected to the halls wireless network (StudentCom), but someone has just been trying to play their music on it at full volume. I assume they are trying to set their own one up but it's actually controlling mine. Is there any way to put some sort of passcode or pin number on my speaker?
The last question I saw on this topic was over a year ago and wondered if anything has been done since then.
Many thanks

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37 replies

Not directly in Sonos but get a travel router to get your own secure network. I have just suggested same thing for different reasons on a couple of threads so please take a look and come back if questions.
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Considering the amount of money you have just spent on this you would have thought they had come up with a built in function that would stop other people from changing your music. Especially since this topic has been brought up by numerous customers for over three years now in various sonos communities. TBH I am expecting a better solution from a "tech" company!
Sonos is a networked HOME multiroom audio system. You put anything on a shared network and you take a security risk. Your responsibility.
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I live in a shared house with one joint wifi.
if you can trust your housemates to respect your property then you have no problem. If you can't then your problem is with your housemates not your Sonos.
But you could always get a travel router....
If your housemates cannot be trusted to behave decently the problem is perhaps not with the Sonos. But there is always the travel router
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The landlord doesn't allow any additional router. But that is not the point, I really don't get why sonos is not able to offer an option here within the system.
The landlord doesn't allow any additional router. But that is not the point, I really don't get why sonos is not able to offer an option here within the system.

This has been requested going back a10 years (not just 3 years!) The take away IMO is that they dont want to offer the option.
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I have four zones/six SONOS speakers in my house. I went on vacation to a big house with integrated multi-room av, including some SONOS. I took my laptop which had the SONOS controller installed. While at this vacation home, I was able to control parts of the house SONOS installation from my laptop. I can't decide if that was kind of cool, or kind of messed up. I did have the vacation home WIFI password so I guess that was the "gate."
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This has been requested going back a10 years (not just 3 years!) The take away IMO is that they dont want to offer the option.

I don't understand why there isn't an official statement from them if has been requested by customers for such a long time. Especially when they say in their support email: "we always look to improve the system and pass on suggestions to the product development team".
Sonos very rarely comment that they "will" or "won't" do anything. Their product plans are confidential.

I don't see why the landlord would care whether you attached a travel router. To the main router it would behave like any other device. Sure, it could be detected as a router if he wanted, but why bother.
Sonos very rarely comment that they "will" or "won't" do anything. Their product plans are confidential.

I don't see why the landlord would care whether you attached a travel router. To the main router it would behave like any other device. Sure, it could be detected as a router if he wanted, but why bother.
Agreed. I suspect the "no other router" rule is trying to prevent you changing the router. As @ratty says, the travel router just connects to the existing network in the same way as a laptop, phone or Sonos speaker would.
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Like I said, I paid a premium price for this so I am expecting sonos to offer an option here inside the system.

This what I have just received from their support: "I appreciate your frustration and comments and in your email and that this has been on our community for a period of time. The community is there to let our program and software developers see how popular a subject and take action where they consider that the request can be added into our app."

So hopefully a software developer picks this up eventually ...
Like I said, I paid a premium price for this so I am expecting sonos to offer an option here inside the system.
Amazingly I verify what I want a product to do before I make the purchase, not after.
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Unfortunately it didn't say on the packaging: "if you live in a shared house you won't be able to stop your house mates from messing with your music". I don't think we are talking about rocket science here. But we might never find out unless Sonos put out a statement.

Why do you even care anyway if this is a problem between me/ many other users and sonos?
I think you'd have to look hard to find products which advertise all the things they don't do.

A shared network is, by definition, insecure in terms of what its other participants may get up to. A network which implements client isolation would overcome this, but stop local applications like Sonos from working.

You've been offered suggestions for how to resolve your situation, by creating your own private off-shoot from the shared network.
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Like I said, the landlord doesn't want any messing around with the router and therefore I need a solution inside the system - a simple admin function for example, nothing more.
I think there is just a flaw in the logic of "it cost this much so it should have this particular feature". If you were to add up the cost of every feature that someone on hete has said should be included at the price, the price would be twice as much.
Thete is no messing around with the router. As has been stated you are no more messing around with the router than when you connect your laptop.
A travel router can attach wirelessly.
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I wouldn't invest into a travel router just because they are not offering a simple admin function. I am sure they are making enough profit in order to add a feature that has been requested by customers for 10 years ...
It sounds like you don't quite understand how business works. Just because a feature has been requested by a small number of people, for however long, is totally irrelevant. Sonos will base their investment decisions on the potential business return.

A travel router might cost £20 or so. But by all means stick to your principles, don't buy one, and continue to suffer from ill-behaved housemates.
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Do you work for sonos or how do you know that only a small number of people have requested this feature? Again, why do you even care?
I dont care at all what you personally do. This is a public forum and differing opinions are expressed. The main original point of my post on here was to offer what i thought was helpful advice and a solution. Which, incidentally, is a good recommendation for anyone on a shared network, irrespective of Sonos.
Sonos staff are very clearly identified as such.

I've been helping users on these boards for around 9 years. Such privacy issues on shared networks have come up from time to time, but are way down the list in terms of relative popularity.

From Sonos' point of view they would clearly rather add shiny new saleable features, such as Spotify Direct Control, than add options to stop something happening. Besides, in recent times the advent of cheap travel routers with a WiFi-as-WAN connection has effectively solved the problem.

Why do I care? As I say, I've been helping out around here for some time. I enjoy using the products. We've attempted to help you, but you seem determined to shun the advice.