Can you turn off the wifi and bluetooth?

[ha95118511]

I left fitbit after 6 years because their devices won't let you turn off the wifi and bluetooth. Has this changed? Will this Sense 2 allow it?

Thank you,

[Guy_]

Most probably not, as they didn't deem it necessary on prior models.

In fact it may not be necessary, as WiFi is off by default unless switched on for a specific reason temporarily and Bluetooth 5 uses very little battery and would create a support nightmare of people forgetting to turn it on and claiming the watch was faulty.

[Rich_Laue]

The only  time WiFi is turned on is during a firmware update or while charging. This goes for all models with WiFi. 

Leaving it on woukd quickly kill the battery. 

[Dopovo]

Are you speaking about Sense 2? Do you have information not shared to users? According the features page the wifi is disabled. 

Since the moderators seem not willing to clear our doubts we thank you if you can help us out for all our doubts. Thanks a lot @Rich_Laue 

[--Smeagol--]

I was always under the impression that @Rich_Laue worked for Fitbit, am I mistaken?

I was finally hoping we were about to get some answers. 

[Rich_Laue]

Nope, don't work for fitbit, tap the blue logo to see my relationship. Google does consider me one of their Fitbit Google Product Experts. 

However this question requires more info then even the Fitbit moderators would have. 

• Considering that fitbit hasn't added the option to disable BT on any other tracker. 
• Considering that fitbit removed the option to disable all day sync. 
• Considering that turning the BT off will disable all day sync 
• I very much doubt that the Sense will have an off line mode. Like the phone has. 

As for WiFi, the user is unable to directly turn it on. By default WiFi is always off, and will only be turned on while in its cradle and charging. The only other time WiFi may be on is during a firmware update. 

[LokeAa]

@ha95118511 , I guess you are asking for security reasons. The potential risk is for LTE to disclose where you are.  BLE uses proximity to authenticate that the user is near the device. Solution: Deny Fitbit App access to location. You will lose functionality like weather, notifications, Gps etc. If you are worried, I would think you have disabled Bluetooth on your phone? Problem solved, because if bluetooth is disabled on your phone, it can't exchange any data with Sense - no data to be found for the hackers.

In a way, a hack is a step further along the way. The key was invented about 4,000 years ago. The key was a rectangular piece of wood with mounted spikes that intervened in the lock.  If someone hadn't figured out how to bypass the very first lock, we wouldn't have Bluetooth, which is nothing more than an electronic key..

 

[McFIT_Design]

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@Guy_ wrote:

and would create a support nightmare of people forgetting to turn it on and claiming the watch was faulty.

---

Yep, same as millions smartphone users claim their smartphones as faulty when forgetting to turn off Airplane Mode.....

Obviously target users for Fitbit are dumb people.

[HansKl]

My understanding from the manual is that a firmware update is done from your mobile phone by sync using bluetooth. The firmware is synced part by part until completed.

[Rich_Laue]

I don't see that @HansKl 

 

[t.parker]

@HansKl I really doubt the FW update is done any different from previous models. FW update is done over WiFi and BT is a fallback when WiFi doesn't work. Updating FW over BT takes ages.

[HansKl]

Found it somewhere else: https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1871.html

However wifi nor bluetooth is mentioned. This is the text: Let the Fitbit app run in the background on your phone, which allows a small portion of the firmware update to download to your Fitbit device each time your device syncs.

My interpretation is sync is between mobile phone and device, which is using bluetooth?

Just found a 'revised' specification, which specifies wifi is supported. Refer to : https://www.fitbit.com/global/us/products/smartwatches/sense-2 specifications:

• Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n 2.4GHz)

deactivated .... is no longer there.

[Guy_]

Hi @HansKl  - there are two types of firmware update,

• the one you found which gets rolled out over several days and uses more phone and watch battery during that process and
• the instant update that can get done at watch setup (but which seems currently broken, see Incorrect Set up of a new device) and
• after a factory reset which still works and uses WiFi if it can or with Bluetooth otherwise.

Neither Bluetooth or WiFi can be turned off and it is unclear why WiFi is present if it cannot be activated, at least not by the user.

It should be noted that during a roll out over days, the user is completely unaware it's happening [other than greater battery usage] and only once it's complete will the message that a firmware update is available appear in the App. Until that time the Help & support, Check for update will always return up-to-date.

It is also unclear whether the "Developer Bridge" in the watch settings will exist on the Sense 2/Versa 4, as this normally uses WiFi.

[JohnnyRow]

@HansKl  I notice that Help article your cited does not specify which device.  Several Fitbit devices do not support wifi so do have to do firmware updates as described there, but I think that's no longer true for later smart watches with wifi.  Perhaps that article was written before any devices had wifi.