A Roomba can make your life so much easier. It saves you time and effort and ensures you don’t have to worry about vacuuming and vacuum cleaner issues again. You may be used to controlling your Roomba using your smartphone and Wi-Fi, but what if the Wi-Fi is down?
You can use a Roomba without Wi-Fi, but you won’t be able to access some of its extra features. To do so, simply put your Roomba on the floor and press the CLEAN button. It will clean your floor but won’t allow access to specific cleaning features, alerts, or voice commands.
If you want to know more about Roombas and their usage, keep reading. This article will detail how to use your Roomba without Wi-Fi.
Can You Use a Roomba Without WiFi?
Roombas are smart devices that may seem like they require Wi-Fi to function. However, essentially, Roombas are household appliances capable of performing specific functions that don’t require any connection to the internet. There are even Roombas that don’t require Wi-Fi at all.
Roombas can function without Wi-Fi or a smartphone to control them. You’ll still get your Roomba to clean your floor as usual. However, without Wi-Fi, you won’t be able to control some features that would make cleaning even easier and smarter.
So what features do you lose? The smartphone app that you access using Wi-Fi can help your Roomba clean in a smart way, offering features such as:
- Setting a cleaning schedule remotely
- Setting your Roomba to do two runs around the floor
- Cleaning features such as Carpet Boost or Edge Clean mode
- Accessing cleaning history or cleaning maps
- Receiving alerts if your Roomba is stuck or if the dustbin is full
- Using voice commands to direct your Roomba
Without Wi-Fi, you can’t use any of these features because they require a smartphone and an internet connection. There are no buttons on your Roomba for special cleaning features or alerts. You can use the schedule button to schedule a cleaning. However, you can’t do it remotely.
How Do I Turn On Roomba Without WiFi?
Using a Roomba without Wi-Fi is pretty straightforward, and it only requires pressing a few buttons. Since you don’t have access to its extra features, you’ll use the buttons to tell the Roomba to clean the floor like a vacuum. You can also schedule a cleaning for later.
To turn on Roomba without Wi-Fi, pick it up and place it wherever you want it to start cleaning. Press the CLEAN button or CLEAN SPOT if you want it to clean a particular area, and then let it do its job. Once it’s done, take it back to the charging base or press HOME to go back by itself.
The Roomba will sit in the home base in standby mode, ready for you to use it again. If your Roomba has the return home feature, you need to make sure to start cleaning on a home base; otherwise, the Roomba won’t be able to go back to the base by itself.
You can schedule a cleaning without Wi-Fi using the schedule button on the Roomba, which has a calendar icon. You can set the date and time you want, and your Roomba will repeat this schedule weekly. To see what time the Roomba is supposed to clean every day, press the schedule button.
Can Roomba Connect to WiFi Hotspot?
You can connect your Roomba to a Wi-Fi hotspot if you don’t have Wi-Fi. You’ll need one phone to create the hotspot and another phone to use the Roomba app. Connect the latter to the hotspot and use the app as usual. If you set a schedule, the Roomba will remember it even if it’s not connected.
Using a Wi-Fi hotspot, you can make your Roomba do everything it usually does through the app. You can:
- Start or pause it
- Select an area to clean
- Schedule a cleaning for later
If you schedule cleaning, your Roomba will remember the time even after you disconnect the hotspot. Roombas can maintain a schedule without an internet connection.
Does Roomba Have Camera?
Older Roomba versions don’t have built-in cameras to help map out your room or avoid obstacles. However, the newer versions have a front-facing camera and a sensor that can create a map of your room and make cleaning more efficient. Moreover, they can detect obstacles and ask you to review them.
The camera itself can identify plenty of objects and navigate around them. However, the room must be adequately lit for the camera to be able to map it. The newest models can even remember the mapping and improve the way they clean every time, following the most optimal paths.
Can Roombas Be Hacked?
Considering Roombas are connected to Wi-Fi, and you control them using your smartphone, you may wonder how vulnerable they are to potential hacking attempts. Can hackers somehow access your Roomba, and what kind of information can they get?
Roombas can be hacked like any other device connected to the internet and cloud-based services. Hackers can access the information your Roomba stores about your house, like a mapping of your floors. However, your Roomba is equipped with security features to protect your data.
You may ask, “What can a hacker get from hacking my Roomba?” Here are a few possibilities:
- Hackers can get a pretty accurate map of your floors. They can access detailed information about the layout and size of your home.
- Through the camera, they can also get information about you and the people living in your house.
- Hackers can also recognize objects around the house and use the images to show you more accurately targeted ads.
Conclusions
Roombas are smart devices that make it much easier to clean your floors. You can connect them to Wi-Fi and control them using your phone.
However, even if you don’t have Wi-Fi, you can still use your Roomba to clean your floors. You won’t have access to most of its extra features, but you can set schedules and have your Roomba clean the house as usual.
