Restricting controllers to certain zones

[xAP]

It would be a very useful feature to be able to restrict specific controllers to specific zones. That way my kids cant turn the music on in my bedroom at 4am for fun.

Seriously though a sensible feature to add as it is needed in many situatons. Could be setup via the PC controller software. Has some awkwardness if you roam with controllers but ways around this - eg passwords or actually an acceptable restriction.

Hope it isnt mentioned elsewhere already.

K

[Kurt]

One of our customers keeps asking us if there is a way to disable the ability to control certain zones on certain controllers.

He is building a large house, and doesn't really want his kids to be able to pump pantera at max volume in the master bedroom from the other end of the house. It would be nice to be able to allow controllers to access only certain zones.

Has this previously been discussed anywhere on these boards?

[Malcolm - Sonos]

Originally Posted by Kurt

One of our customers keeps asking us if there is a way to disable the ability to control certain zones on certain controllers.

He is building a large house, and doesn't really want his kids to be able to pump pantera at max volume in the master bedroom from the other end of the house. It would be nice to be able to allow controllers to access only certain zones.

Has this previously been discussed anywhere on these boards?

There's been quite a bit of discussion on the various ways to implement a feature like this in this thread: Master Control. Currently the only way would be to create two Sonos households, operating side by side. This would mean your kids can't blast Pantera at 2am in your room... but they could blast it in theirs and you wouldn't be able to turn it down (with your controller associated with your ZP's at least).

[efk]

Grouping the ZP's with their corresponding controllers on separate subnets should also work, but there will be no "master" controller and no ability to link all of them. Perhaps somebody from Sonos can confirm this?

[Malcolm - Sonos]

Originally Posted by efk

Grouping the ZP's with their corresponding controllers on separate subnets should also work, but there will be no "master" controller and no ability to link all of them. Perhaps somebody from Sonos can confirm this?

That's right, but they don't even have to be on different subnets. When you set up a new Sonos system, a HouseholdID is created, and those Sonos units will only communicate with other units with the same ID. Because of this you can associate a CR with a ZP and another CR with another ZP and (assuming they are all factory reset) you will have two Sonos households.

Currently there is no way to control multiple households from a single controller.

[buzz]

Malcolm,

In a two system household, how would one switch the desktop controller from system to system?

[digitalexpert]

Go to the controller menu, do a factory reset, then reassociate the contoller to another player.

[Tastebuds]

What I'd like to see is something more like the ability to temporarily lock out parts of the UI on the controller itself. I could join / drop zones that I like and "focus" the controller on one zone (family room, etc.) and then "lock". That way the kids could listen to whatever they like without accidentally disturbing / activating other zones.

A simple locking/unlocking interface could be similar to what's on the iPod... a visual combination lock (3 or 4 digits) that uses the touch wheel for input.

The key here is that I'm not interested in "semi-permanently" separating/isolating my zones and control of the zones. It's usually ad-hoc and temporary so I'd like to be able to do it with a supported UI that's simpler that factory resetting all of the components and reconfiguring the household.

[wesc]

I'd love this feature as well. I inadvertantly grouped the outdoor Hot Tub zone to the main zone during one very late night party.

Angry knocks on the door at 5am aren't good for neighborly relations. :-O

[bkswain]

I second (third? fourth?) this request. I can see another use - if you have people over for a party and want to play music but don't want anyone changing volume and/or playlists.

With the new full-screen album art display, it would be even nicer to just leave the controller in the cradle where people can see what's playing easily, but not mess with it.

A simple 4 digit combination "lock" as mentioned above would accomplish this.