Disable WLAN on Squeezebox Touch

[mozart_puccini]

I want to use the Squeezebox with a CAT/RJ45 Ethernet cable and would like to completely switch off the WLAN radio of the Squeezebox Touch.

Can anyone tell me if this is an option? If not, how could I best turn WLAN off, I wont use WLAN in the future, so it could be a one-time off and forever

Thanks for your help.

[jstraw]

I want to use the Squeezebox with a CAT/RJ45 Ethernet cable and would like to completely switch off the WLAN radio of the Squeezebox Touch.

Can anyone tell me if this is an option? If not, how could I best turn WLAN off, I wont use WLAN in the future, so it could be a one-time off and forever

Thanks for your help.

I'm not challenging your desire...but I am curious about what motivates it. What's the benefit from having Wifi actually shut off on the unit?

[JohnSwenson]

There is nothing in the touch menus that will do that, but there is a way to do it. You ssh into the touch and type the command:

iwconfig wlan0 txpower off

This shuts the radio off completely. Unfortunately it goes away when you unplug the touch. To always have it turned off you need to edit one of the config files so the command gets run at every boot.

To do this, ssh into the touch then do:

cd /etc/init.d
vi rc5.local
(press the 'i' key and then type
iwconfig wlan0 txpower off
(press the escape key, type
:wq (thats colon key, w key, q key)

This creates the rc5.local file which will be run every time the touch boots, the iwconfig line turns off the transmitter.

This will stay in place until you load new firmware.

That should do it.

John S.

[mozart_puccini]

Helo, John
thanks for the valuable information and the solution to my idea. I will try this and I hope I succeed.

Mozart_Puccini

[NewBuyer]

There is nothing in the touch menus that will do that..

So the Touch doesn't automatically disable the wifi when an ethernet cable is plugged into it, like the SB/Transporter units do? If so, that's disappointing...

[JJZolx]

So the Touch doesn't automatically disable the wifi when an ethernet cable is plugged into it, like the SB/Transporter units do? If so, that's disappointing...

I would think that it does, just like all other Squeezeboxes have.

[Mnyb]

I would think that it does, just like all other Squeezeboxes have.

That would make sense small cpu why load drivers that are not needed.

As linux noobish here is is easy to check if the wifi is running ?

[usch]

I would think that it does, just like all other Squeezeboxes have.

Not all of them, the SB1 definitely doesn't. I had to remove the WiFi modules to shut them off. But yes, I would indeed expect that all newer SBs do that.

As linux noobish here is is easy to check if the wifi is running ?

Your router or access point should be able to tell you. That's how I found out that my SB1s were still trying to connect via WiFi even though they were already wired.

[JohnSwenson]

So the Touch doesn't automatically disable the wifi when an ethernet cable is plugged into it, like the SB/Transporter units do? If so, that's disappointing...

The Touch DOES do a form of shutting down the wifi radio if that connection is not being used, but that does not necessarily completely disable the radio. If you have a USB or SD card plugged in they are being shared via samba and that might still be accessed via wifi from another device even if the touch's player is currently being fed from a wire. So the wifi is still there but not doing much. Every so often it keeps track of whats out there and if any body wants to connect.

The command I gave shuts it down completely, period.

John S.

[NewBuyer]

The Touch DOES do a form of shutting down the wifi radio if that connection is not being used, but that does not necessarily completely disable the radio. If you have a USB or SD card plugged in they are being shared via samba and that might still be accessed via wifi from another device even if the touch's player is currently being fed from a wire. So the wifi is still there but not doing much. Every so often it keeps track of whats out there and if any body wants to connect.

The command I gave shuts it down completely, period.

John S.

Hi John Swenson - I too am grateful for the extremely helpful information. Thanks!

To Mozart Puccini - Like you (and many others), I prefer to minimize these exposures in my home - there is nothing wrong with that, especially when children are involved. Try to have a sense of humor with some of the other posts around here - it's just a convenient way that some people express their opinion. After all, it is actually kind of an amusing simple line of reasoning, don't you agree? If something's popular, legal, and can't be perceived with the senses, then it clearly must be absolutely & exactly identical to all else that fits that same description, and therefore must "obviously" be perfectly ok and fine - right? I hope so!