WD TV Media Player Constantly Accessing Network Even When "Off"

Question

I have my WD TV Media Player attached to a wired network.  So far, I'm using it primarily to view YouTube videos, and really not much else.  I'm noticing from the lights on my router that this thing is constantly engaging in network activity, even after it has been turned "off" for hours -- it's constantly doing something on my network. To try to get to the root of what this thing is constantly accessing the network for, I've have turned off all varieties of network sharing (Windows, Mac and Linux), I've turned off auto-detecting WiFi (though I wouldn't expect that to have any effect on a wired network connection, but I turned it off, anyway), I've switched detecting a connection on the wired network from auto to manual, I've turned off the Media Library feature, and I've even turned off automatic checking for new firmware versions.  In short, I've turned off every last thing I could find to turn off that would be a reason for this contraption to go constantly looking on the network (or the Internet?) for something -- but it's still constantly generating network activity for some reason. I have a network connection that has an upper limit on the amount of data downloaded each month for the standard monthly fee -- if I go oever that amount of data downloaded, then I start getting charged extra. Could someone please tell me what this thing is doing with its constant network accessing, even when it's supposedly turned "off" using the remote?  Is this thing constantly trying to access the Internet to download something? Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Hello, As part of trying to understand all of the network activity I'm seeing, I actually isolated this contraption on its own branch network separated from every other network device by a firewall configured so that the Internet is the only thing it has access to through the firewall. So, while DHCP and/or ARP may explain at least some of the activity I'm seeing, there are no DLNA devices anywhere for it to receive anything from or for it to transmit anything to.  Also, as I mentioned originally, I disabled all of the types of network sharing I could find in the configuration menus and I also disabled the Media Library feature -- so even if there was some other device on its isolated network branch that it could communicate with, it shouldn't actually be trying to do any of that. Additionally, I'm also trying out a Roku 2 (also on its own isolated network branch), and it's network activity is nothing like the WD TV Media Player -- and this is in spite of the fact that the Roku 2 has no way to ever be turned off -- there is literally no power button at all on the remote or on the Roku 2, itself. I do appologize for the heresy of bringing up a Roku box in this forum, but I think it's a valid question (and even important) to ask why the Roku 2 is able to be so quiet on a network while the WD TV Media Player is doing something on the network all of the time (and I do mean 24/7 -- it never stops unless I use the 5-second turn off procedure pointed to above by JoeySmyth).