Google Cast connecting to home base every few seconds?

[nsi]

Hi,

my network at home consists of around 20-25 devices. Among those is a Wiim Amp. Generally speaking i'm very happy with the Wiim sound and software. This being said i do wonder why the Wiim software needs to be so "communicative". When i check the logs i see connection attempts from my Wiim Amp (which is identified as a Wiim Pro?) to connectivitycheck.gstatic.com every few seconds! To me this seems like a kid with ADHD telling his dad "I'm here" every 10 seconds or so. ???

Best guess, Google Chromecast. Even after resetting the device (more than once) and making sure not to come anywhere close to the "Enable Google Cast" button the device wants to talk to Google all the time. Weirdly, i do see Google Cast next to Tidal Connect even though i never enable Google Cast. ??

Does anyone have the same experience and by any chance a solution? Is this maybe only a Wiim Amp issue and the Ultra isn't as chatty?

 

[Deleted member 29741]

Hi,

my network at home consists of around 20-25 devices. Among those is a Wiim Amp. Generally speaking i'm very happy with the Wiim sound and software. This being said i do wonder why the Wiim software needs to be so "communicative". When i check the logs i see connection attempts from my Wiim Amp (which is identified as a Wiim Pro?) to connectivitycheck.gstatic.com every few seconds! To me this seems like a kid with ADHD telling his dad "I'm here" every 10 seconds or so. ???

Best guess, Google Chromecast. Even after resetting the device (more than once) and making sure not to come anywhere close to the "Enable Google Cast" button the device wants to talk to Google all the time. Weirdly, i do see Google Cast next to Tidal Connect even though i never enable Google Cast. ??

Does anyone have the same experience and by any chance a solution? Is this maybe only a Wiim Amp issue and the Ultra isn't as chatty?

Last cigarette before the guests arrive. Happy new year everyone. En guete Rutsch!
Learned, while reading a lot over the last few weeks in older threads, that normally posts like yours are ignored and met with silence, or the facts are dismissed as unimportant or paranoiac.
This abnormal numbers of internet activities is one, among some, reasons for me to stay only as an interested observer. Without a WiiM now.
Happy New Year everyone!

 

[RyanWithWiiM]

Thanks for the report! It looks like this is related to the standard network checks within the Google Cast SDK. We'll work on reproducing it and work directly with Google to try and get this sorted.

 

[huw]

Weirdly, i do see Google Cast next to Tidal Connect even though i never enable Google Cast. ??

I saw this too. Strange as it sounds you need to enable Google Cast in order to toggle the switch that disables it.

Post in thread 'How to disable Chromecast'
https://forum.wiimhome.com/threads/how-to-disable-chromecast.7775/post-145673

 

[nsi]

Happy new year!

Thx for the feedback ... tried enabling Google Cast to then disable it again. Even after a reboot nothing changed. I do see a Google Cast screen now that tells me Google Cast is enabled even if the "Allow Google Cast Service" flag is manually set to off. ??

Not sure what to make of this but following JABs move to stay on the sidelines until Wiim gets this (and potential other issues) fix doesn't seem like a bad idea.

 

[slartibartfast]

Happy new year!

Thx for the feedback ... tried enabling Google Cast to then disable it again. Even after a reboot nothing changed. I do see a Google Cast screen now that tells me Google Cast is enabled even if the "Allow Google Cast Service" flag is manually set to off. ??

Not sure what to make of this but following JABs move to stay on the sidelines until Wiim gets this (and potential other issues) fix doesn't seem like a bad idea.

I've disabled Google Cast in the the WiiM app and now the Google Home app shows my WiiM Amp as offline

 

[huw]

Yes the UI here is not great.

However, with "Allow Google Cast Service" toggled off my WiiM Pro does not advertise itself as a Google Cast target and so only appears once in Spotify and Qobuz Apps (as a Spotify Connect/Qobuz Connect device respectively). Before enabling Google Cast and toggling this switch it used to appear twice.

Back to the original question though you mention "connection attempts" and the screenshot shows "Action:Block" - are you blocking connectivitycheck.gstatic.com?

 

[nsi]

Yes the UI here is not great.

However, with "Allow Google Cast Service" toggled off my WiiM Pro does not advertise itself as a Google Cast target and so only appears once in Spotify and Qobuz Apps (as a Spotify Connect/Qobuz Connect device respectively). Before enabling Google Cast and toggling this switch it used to appear twice.

Back to the original question though you mention "connection attempts" and the screenshot shows "Action:Block" - are you blocking connectivitycheck.gstatic.com?

yes, the connection to Google is blocked. I did change it to check and see if Google Cast can kind of acknowledge the disabling of the service but it didn't really care. So i put it back on block and that's it for me for now. I'm fed up nonetheless and am looking for an alternative.

 

[huw]

Not sure what to suggest. Presumably as reported in these posts on ASR the WiiM device is contacting connectivitycheck.gstatic.com to see if the network it is connected to is connected to the internet and when that fails retrying this repeatedly.

WiiM Pro - Review & Measurements (Streamer)

I’m still cautious to let new device conected to internet inside my home network. Apple and Windows devices inside my network are updated frequently along with their apps. Have anyone audit this streamer security? What is it doing inside the network? Most of the smart devices like this are...

www.audiosciencereview.com

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...view-measurements-streamer.42300/post-1524388

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...view-measurements-streamer.42300/post-1533755