What Is a Wi-Fi Speaker?

What Is a Wi-Fi Speaker?

Most of us think there are only two ways to listen to audio at home: wired speakers or Bluetooth. But nowadays there's a new category that's growing rapidly in popularity: Wi-Fi Speakers.

So what exactly is a Wi-Fi speaker and why are so many people switching over? In this guide, we’ll break down what Wi-Fi speakers are, how they work, and why more people are switching to them - so you can decide what setup makes the most sense for your space.

In This Guide:

What Is a Wi-Fi Speaker?

Just like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi speakers are wireless. However, unlike Bluetooth speakers that pair directly with your phone or laptop, Wi-Fi speakers join your home network—just like your computer or smart TV.

This means you can stream from any device on your network, without being tethered by range or limited to just one connection at a time.

Key traits of Wi-Fi speakers:

  • Wireless, but not Bluetooth

  • Connects over your home Wi-Fi

  • Can be controlled by multiple devices

  • Often used in multi-room audio setups

Benefits of Wi-Fi Speakers vs. Bluetooth

So why choose Wi-Fi over Bluetooth or wired systems? For home audio, the advantages are pretty clear:

1. Superior Sound Quality

Bluetooth compresses your audio to keep file sizes small. Wi-Fi has more bandwidth, so it can stream lossless or higher-quality formats—meaning richer bass, cleaner vocals, and more detail. Wired audio systems have long been held as the gold standard for sound quality in the audiophile community precisely because of Bluetooth's compression loss, but with the right Wi-Fi speakers, the difference between Wi-Fi and wired is imperceptible to the common ear.

2. True Multi-Room Audio

With Wi-Fi speakers, you can place speakers in every room and sync them together. Start music in the kitchen, then extend it to the living room and patio—all in perfect time. Back in the day, people relied on bulky receivers and a maze of speaker wires to get sound throughout the house. Wi-Fi speakers make all of that unnecessary—you get synchronized audio in every room, without the clutter. And as a plus, your phone gets to stay in your pocket, allowing you to control your audio from anywhere in the home.

3. Multi-User Device Sharing

Anyone on your Wi-Fi can control the speakers, not just the person who originally “paired” with it. We've all had that Bluetooth dance: unpair from my phone, pair to my roommate's phone. Now do it again in reverse the next time I want to connect. With Wi-Fi, the speakers aren't tied to any one particular device, and most Wi-Fi speakers allow a way for other people in your home to get their own access.

4. More Privacy & Control

At the surface, anything "Wi-Fi connected" seems like a security risk. However, not all Wi-Fi speakers are packed with voice assistants or mine your data. If your Wi-Fi speakers are using the right technology (UPnP, mDNS, Bonjour), they don't actually need internet access to work. They just need a local Wi-Fi network to play audio directly from a phone or computer in your home. This can make them even more secure than other Wi-Fi enabled devices like smart TVs or gaming consoles that often do rely on constant internet connectivity.

Here's a quick summary of the key differences:

Feature

Wi-Fi Speaker

Bluetooth Speaker

Connection

Home Wi-Fi network

Direct device pairing

Range

Whole house (Wi-Fi range)

~30 feet

Audio Quality

High (lossless/Hi-Fi)

Compressed audio

Multi-Room

Yes

No

Multi-User

Yes

No (single-device lock)

Privacy

Optional mic-free

Often includes mics

Best Use Case

Home listening

Travel, portable use

How Do Wi-Fi Speakers Work?

Wi-Fi speakers join your home network just like any other smart device. Once connected, they’re always ready to receive audio from your phone, tablet, computer, or TV - no need to re-pair or turn on.

There are generally two ways that Wi-Fi speakers can work:

  • Locally-Networked, where the Wi-Fi speaker does not require an internet connection but instead streams audio directly shared by another device on the network, like a phone or computer.
  • Cloud-Based Streaming, where the Wi-Fi speaker requires an internet connection to stream content directly from a service, like Spotify or Pandora.


Now if you want to get really technical, we've broken down the five most popular Wi-Fi audio technologies below to really get into the nitty gritty of how it works.

DLNA (Locally-Networked)

DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) is one of the oldest ways to stream music over Wi-Fi. Before modern platforms like iOS and Android existed, DLNA was created to allow devices from different brands to talk to each other over a home network. Its main job was to let you share your personal media files - like your music library - between devices in your home.

The concept is simple: one device in your home, like a computer, stores all your audio files (also known as a “server”). A DLNA-compatible Wi-Fi speaker can then find that local server on your Wi-Fi network and play the music directly from it. Because it's a completely local system, you don't need an internet connection, just a working home Wi-Fi network.

While reliable for playing local files, DLNA feels a bit old-school today. The setup can be tricky, and it doesn’t have native support for streaming services like Spotify (though some hobbyists have developed thier own workarounds). It’s been largely replaced by more user-friendly technologies, though many people still prefer DLNA because it’s the most flexible option that doesn’t lock you into a specific ecosystem.

Apple AirPlay (Locally-Networked)

In classic Apple fashion, when Apple first released AirPlay to the market for audio streaming, they based it on much of the same underlying technology as DLNA. However, unlike DLNA, AirPlay is built directly into the operating systems of iPhone, iPad, and Mac, making it much more seamless for sharing audio with Wi-Fi speakers around the house.

Because it’s integrated at the system level, AirPlay can stream audio from just about any app or service on iPhone, not just files from a library, and share it to any AirPlay-enabled Wi-Fi speaker on your network. This makes it the most versatile Wi-Fi audio technology that current exists on the market (so long as you use Apple products, of course).

While it is a proprietary Apple technology, a huge number of third-party speakers (including affordable options like Dio Node) now support AirPlay 2, so you're not locked into buying only Apple's own speakers. We went ahead and created a list of every AirPlay-enabled speaker that we could find. We also created a much more detailed guide to AirPlay in case you wanted to learn even more about this technology.

Google Cast (Cloud-Based Streaming)

Similar to AirPlay, Google also has its own Wi-Fi audio protocol called Google Cast. However, unlike AirPlay, the technology behind Google Cast is fundamentally different.

While AirPlay uses DLNA-style local networking to share audio from an Apple device to another Wi-Fi speaker on your network, Google Cast uses cloud-based streaming to send the media directly to your speakers via the internet from a Cast-enabled service like YouTube or Spotify. This turns your phone into more of a “remote control” for your speakers, telling the speakers to pull audio directly from the internet.

The advantages of this include improved streaming stability and less battery drain from your phone. However, Google Cast is limited to only audio services that have been Cast-enabled, so you won’t be able to play voice notes, ChatGPT voice answers, or other types of audio that are not qualified for Google Cast. Having Wi-Fi speakers that are always connected to the internet may also introduce privacy concerns.

Like AirPlay, Google Cast supports multi-room audio, letting you group speakers together for synchronized playback. It’s also widely supported by a good range of third-party speakers, smart TVs, and soundbars, making it one of the most popular and flexible Wi-Fi audio standards available, especially for Android users.

Amazon Alexa (Cloud-Based Streaming)

Unlike the other technologies on this list, Amazon's Alexa isn't just an audio protocol—it's a complete voice-controlled smart home platform where music is a primary feature. The experience is centered around Amazon's own Echo speakers and the core method of control is your voice. Saying "Alexa, play today's hits on Amazon Music" tells the speaker to stream that playlist directly from the cloud, similar to how Google Cast works.

As a Wi-Fi audio protocol, Alexa-enabled speakers operate similarly to Google Cast, where the speaker draws audio directly from the internet. You can control the speakers via the Alexa App on your phone or through the Alexa voice assistant on any voice-enabled product in your phone. Similarly to Google Cast, Alexa-enabled Wi-Fi speakers can only play audio from compatible services like Amazon Music, Audible, and Spotify. Notably, YouTube is not supported for Alexa multi-room Wi-Fi audio streaming.

Alexa-enabled speakers also often have microphones built-in so that you can directly control them with the Alexa voice assistant. This may introduce further privacy concerns, not only of an always-connected Wi-Fi speaker, but one that is also always monitoring your speech.

Sonos (Cloud-Based Hybrid)

Before "multi-room audio" was a common phrase, there was Sonos. As one of the original pioneers, Sonos built its reputation on creating speakers that could all synchronize together to play your music. Today, the Sonos App acts as a central hub, bringing together dozens of streaming services—like Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, and even some niche services like IDAGIO and Mixcloud.

Technically, Sonos is a hybrid system. Its primary method is cloud-based, where the app tells the speakers to pull music directly from the internet, much like Google Cast and Alexa. However, Sonos speakers also create their own dedicated wireless "mesh" network between each other, separate from your main Wi-Fi, in order to improve audio synchronization between speakers.

Out of all cloud-based services, the Sonos App has the widest range of compatible services. However, being cloud-based, you will still find restrictions on what services you can use compared to locally-networked technologies like AirPlay and DLNA. That’s why all of Sonos’ newer speakers also support AirPlay in addition to the Sonos App, and many of them also include the Alexa built-in voice assistant. This makes Sonos a great all-in-one solution; however, you are restricted to only Sonos’ own speakers at a premium pricepoint.


Here's how all five technologies compare at a glance:

Feature

DLNA

Apple AirPlay

Google Cast

Amazon Alexa

Sonos

Type

Locally-Networked

Locally-Networked

Cloud-Based

Cloud-Based

Hybrid (mostly Cloud-Based)

Control

Various 3rd-party apps

Built into iOS, MacOS, and Apple TV

Any Cast-enabled app

Voice or Alexa app

Sonos app

Main Advantage

Open standard

Seamless OS integration

Stable, saves phone battery

Hands-free voice control

Premium Hi-Fi multi-room & home theater

Main Limitation

Clunky setup

Apple ecosystem only

Limited to compatible audio services

Limited to compatible audio services

Premium price

Best Wi-Fi Multi-Room Speakers

Dio Node

Best Overall: Dio Node

The Dio Node hits the sweet spot between performance, simplicity, and price. It’s built around Apple’s AirPlay 2 technology, which makes it incredibly versatile for anyone in the Apple ecosystem, while its minimalist design and focus on audio-only playback make it a refreshingly simple choice.

  • Price: $79 - $90

  • Pros:

    • Affordable: Priced for building a multi-room system without breaking the bank, including bundle deals on 3-Packs and 5-Packs.

    • Flexible Audio Choices: AirPlay 2 support means you can stream audio directly from any app on your iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV.

    • Incredibly Easy to Use: No apps to download, no accounts to create, and no microphones listening in.

  • Cons:

    • Android / Windows Support: Not yet natively compatible with Android or Windows.


Amazon Echo Dot Image

Best Voice-Assisted Smart Speaker: Amazon Echo Dot

The Echo Dot is an affordable entry point into the world of smart homes, offering hands-free voice control for music, smart devices, timers, and thousands of other "skills."

  • Price: $49.99

  • Pros:

    • Seamless Voice Control: The Alexa assistant is responsive and makes playing music as simple as asking for it.

    • Smart Home Hub: Control lights, thermostats, and other compatible smart home devices with your voice.

    • Budget-Friendly: The most affordable way to get voice-controlled music in any room.

  • Cons:

    • Ecosystem-Locked: Compatible with only a handful of audio services within its ecosystem, notably excluding YouTube.


Sonos Era 100 Image

Best Premium Hi-Fi Speaker: Sonos Era 100

If sound quality is your absolute top priority, the Sonos Era 100 delivers. It offers a rich, room-filling audio experience that punches well above its size. As part of the broader Sonos ecosystem, it’s a fantastic starting point or addition to a high-fidelity, multi-room audio setup.

  • Price: $199

  • Pros:

    • Exceptional Sound: Precision-tuned acoustics deliver deep bass and crisp highs for a true Hi-Fi experience.

    • Powerful Ecosystem: The Sonos app integrates many more streaming services compared to Google or Alexa.

    • Flexible Connectivity: Supports the Sonos app, AirPlay 2, Bluetooth, and a line-in connection (with an adapter).

  • Cons:

    • Premium Price: The high cost can make building a full multi-room system expensive.

Common Questions About Wi-Fi Speakers

Can I use Wi-Fi speakers with my phone or tablet? Yes—most Wi-Fi speakers support AirPlay or have an app to stream from phones, tablets, and even computers.

Do Wi-Fi speakers need the internet to work?

Not necessarily. If the speakers use DLNA or Apple AirPlay, they don’t need internet to work.

Can I mix Wi-Fi and Bluetooth speakers?

Typically, no. There may be some workarounds for certain devices or apps, but you can’t have a true multi-room synchronized experience between the two technologies in most cases.

Do Wi-Fi speakers work with Spotify or Apple Music?

Yes, as long as the service you are using (Spotify, Apple Music, etc.) is integrated with one of the technologies we mentioned above. Dio Node supports AirPlay, so anything your iPhone plays can go to your speakers. Google Cast, Amazon Alexa, and Sonos also all support Spotify and Apple Music, specifically.

Can I take my Wi-Fi speaker outside?

Yes, as long as it stays in range of your home Wi-Fi network—or you use a portable hotspot. But unlike Bluetooth speakers, Wi-Fi speakers aren’t typically designed for the beach or hiking trails.

Conclusion: Build a Better Home Audio System

Wi-Fi speakers are the modern solution for great sound at home—whether you want music in one room or every room. They’re smarter than Bluetooth, more flexible than wired setups, and when you choose something like Dio Node, they’re also easier and more affordable than you might think.



👉 Shop Dio Node or Contact Us to get started building your perfect home audio system.

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