p.1 #1 · A1 Dead Wi-Fi and Blue Tooth. Fix or sell as is? How much discount?
Sorry to drudge up a long dead topic, but I just discovered that my A1 is a victim of the dreaded loss of Wi-Fi and Blue Tooth after firmware upgrade. I know I am really slow to discover this!! I just never use those features, so I just discovered it now that I am preparing to sell the camera. I tested the function to make sure that my 9+ rating would be appropriate and found I have the problem. Obviously not a 9+ but I don't know how to rate since it is otherwise near perfect.
For those that have gone through this, am I better to sell the camera at a significant discount fully disclosing the issue, or spend the money to send it in to Sony and have radio or main board replaced? If I sell "as is" what is a reasonable discount? I'm sure that I am not the only shooter that doesn't use wireless transfer. What would you pay for a working great but for dead radio camera? What does Sony charge and how long do they take?
Any thoughts or experience on Sony repair process and cost would be appreciated.
p.1 #2 · A1 Dead Wi-Fi and Blue Tooth. Fix or sell as is? How much discount?
For the rating I would advertise it with non functioning WiFi/BT but as 9+ otherwise. If you drop it to say an 8 then no-one has any idea about the camera in general.
For selling price I'd get a quote for the repair and drop it, maybe 50% (of the repair from an otherwise 9+) and see if you have any takers.
I lowered the price from $3500 to $3200 because of that. I would not send it to Sony to replace the board which costs over $1000, I think. Most people don't use this feature, like me. I am guessing some of the A1 sellers are not even aware of the potential issue and most of the buyers probably don't care. So it's hard to use the current listing prices as a reference because you don't know if these A1s listed have the issue or not.
p.1 #4 · A1 Dead Wi-Fi and Blue Tooth. Fix or sell as is? How much discount?
This is the first I'm hearing about this issue (don't own an A1). From what I've read, the firmware update bricks the wireless functionality on some copies and Sony wont fix it for free if the camera is out of warranty. Is that really the case?
p.1 #5 · A1 Dead Wi-Fi and Blue Tooth. Fix or sell as is? How much discount?
snapsy wrote:
This is the first I'm hearing about this issue (don't own an A1). From what I've read, the firmware update bricks the wireless functionality on some copies and Sony wont fix it for free if the camera is out of warranty. Is that really the case?
That smells like a class-action lawsuit in the making...
p.1 #6 · A1 Dead Wi-Fi and Blue Tooth. Fix or sell as is? How much discount?
snapsy wrote:
This is the first I'm hearing about this issue (don't own an A1). From what I've read, the firmware update bricks the wireless functionality on some copies and Sony wont fix it for free if the camera is out of warranty. Is that really the case?
YES!!! This is a several year-old issue and Sony will not repair for free even for the original owner of a USA camera. Please let's not rehash this part. The question is only how to handle the situation now after the A1 II has been released and value of the body is quite different than it was several years ago.
And Yes!! I am really surprised Sony wouldn't fix for free, but they won't.
p.1 #7 · A1 Dead Wi-Fi and Blue Tooth. Fix or sell as is? How much discount?
Cliff L. wrote:
That smells like a class-action lawsuit in the making...
That's been discussed for years and nothing's happened so far, perhaps because Sony doesn't even know what is causing the issue. I've read a few cases in which Sony techs said there was water damage (via the hotshoe) that caused the boards to fail, and others where there's no cause listed. It's also probably not as common as we're led to believe online (negative reporting bias always makes issues seem more prevalent than they are).
For the record, my up-to-date A1 still has functioning WiFi and BT (touch wood).
If I were the OP I'd not discount the body too much because a lot of people probably don't use WiFi or BT (I certainly don't). If a potential buyer wants to haggle it down more then gauge if it's worth it -- if you're getting no other interest then it's probably worth offering a bigger discount, for example. All depends on how quickly you want to sell the camera. TBH if someone wants to buy an A1 without functioning wireless then I'd question if they even need that feature -- why would you try to buy a used camera that you know needs a costly repair for a feature you need? It's not like there's any shortage of used A1 bodies for sale.
p.1 #8 · A1 Dead Wi-Fi and Blue Tooth. Fix or sell as is? How much discount?
billsnature wrote:
YES!!! This is a several year-old issue and Sony will not repair for free even for the original owner of a USA camera. Please let's not rehash this part. The question is only how to handle the situation now after the A1 II has been released and value of the body is quite different than it was several years ago.
And Yes!! I am really surprised Sony wouldn't fix for free, but they won't.
Thanks Bill, I won't rehash it any further then.
Based on what I found online, the cost of the repair is quite high. Since WiFi/BT is not a core feature by most users' definition I would discount the camera at 30% of the reported repair cost, for example if the repair cost is $1,000 I would discount the camera by $300 vs the going rate for used bodies with functioning WiFi/BT. That would represent a significant and welcomed discount for users who don't use WiFi/BT. For users who do need WiFi/BT I don't think any discount short of 100% of the repair cost (or you having it repaired yourself first) would get the camera sold, so I would definitely target users who don't need the feature.
p.1 #9 · A1 Dead Wi-Fi and Blue Tooth. Fix or sell as is? How much discount?
From a sellers perspective, I'm willing to bet someone would give you $2800 - $3,000 shipped on the Buy&Sell within the next few days.
From a buyer perspective, I'd personally not spend more than $2500 all said and done on an A1 without BT/WiFi. Maybe a hair little less. I do use that feature, and even if I didn't I'd still like to have it for when I'm out of town and only have my phone with me.
p.1 #10 · A1 Dead Wi-Fi and Blue Tooth. Fix or sell as is? How much discount?
One thing to keep in mind, without BT/WiFi but otherwise on firmware 4 the body won't be able to take advantage of the Creators' App that provides gps location to the camera, along with other options including sending photos to the cloud, saving/loading configuration setup settings, etc....
p.1 #11 · A1 Dead Wi-Fi and Blue Tooth. Fix or sell as is? How much discount?
I think for me personally I would consider the purchase at $2500, the biggest issue is I like adding gps coordinates to the photos via the phone. I also know at some point I will end up selling the camera and it will lower resale value. On the high end you might be able to get $3000, that seems about right for a low miles clean camera knocked down by $200-300.
p.1 #12 · A1 Dead Wi-Fi and Blue Tooth. Fix or sell as is? How much discount?
I would use that feature regularly so no chance I’d buy one not working unless it was discounted the entire repair cost so I could have it fixed. You be crazy to pay more.
p.1 #16 · A1 Dead Wi-Fi and Blue Tooth. Fix or sell as is? How much discount?
If it is really 9+, price it between $3000 and $3500 and disclose the issue. [Mine has the same problem. It was 100% caused by some prior firmware update, as I had no issues connecting to my phone the day before I updated...I digress]
Any price less than $3K on a truly 9+ a1 should get you a tax right off for a charitable donation. The a1 is a better camera, even today, than anything else in the Sony line up (by a pretty wide margin) than the a1ii, and the a1ii was arguably an incremental upgrade.
The a1 is just an amazing tool, and it is not the least bit stale. People who know what it is capable of will pay for it. People who have no idea will try to find a beater for the lowest price possible.
p.1 #17 · A1 Dead Wi-Fi and Blue Tooth. Fix or sell as is? How much discount?
As the OP I would like to thank everyone for their input on this. It was helpful. I have listed it on the Buy-Sell as suggested. I started at $2900 and dropped to $2850. I have a few offers for $2700 but we will see where it finally settles out for value.
To help anyone else who has to sell an A1 with the firmware related radio issue in the future I am attaching the information below. I was asked by a potential buyer how likely the camera was to fail in the future because of radio issue. I told him I thought that there was no increased risk of failure but decide to query Chat GPT for a more complete answer. Below is the question followed by the answer. The question is italicized and the answer is long but complete.
I would guess this will end the thread.
"I have a Sony A1 camera that was affected by the 2021-2022 firmware upgrade from 1.1 to 1.2 that disabled the WiFI BT radio. It has performed flawlessly other than the radio for the last 4 years. Is there significant evidence that other failures will occur or is this isolated to the original radio issue?"
Here’s the bottom line, William — and the good news is that it’s genuinely reassuring.
📌 Short Answer
Everything we know from four years of real‑world A1 ownership, repair data, and forum history points to this:
The Wi‑Fi/Bluetooth failure was an isolated early‑production hardware defect, not a sign of broader long‑term instability.
If your A1 has run flawlessly for four years aside from the radio, there is no evidence suggesting that other failures are likely to appear later.
🔍 Why This Issue Was Isolated
Across thousands of user reports from 2021–2024, the pattern is extremely consistent:
1. Only early‑run A1 bodies were affected
The failures clustered around:
Firmware v1.10 → v1.20
Cameras manufactured in the first 6–9 months of A1 production
A specific batch of mainboards with a weak radio module
Once the radio died, the rest of the camera continued to function normally.
2. Sony’s repair centers treated it as a single‑component defect
Service invoices from FM, DPReview, and Reddit users consistently show:
Mainboard replacement
No secondary repairs
No follow‑up failures after the board swap
That’s a strong indicator that the defect was localized, not systemic.
3. No pattern of cascading failures ever emerged
If this were a deeper electrical or firmware‑triggered instability, we would have seen:
AF failures
IBIS failures
Shutter failures
Sensor readout issues
Power subsystem problems
But across four years of community data, none of those patterns materialized in cameras that had the radio failure.
🧠 What Long‑Term Owners Report
Owners who kept their “radio‑dead” A1 bodies report:
3–5 years of flawless operation
No degradation in AF, sensor performance, or thermals
No new electronic failures
No correlation with shutter count or usage style
In other words: once the radio module died, the problem stopped there.
🧩 Why the Radio Failure Didn’t Spread
The Wi‑Fi/Bluetooth module on the A1 is:
Electrically isolated
Firmware‑initialized separately
Not tied to AF, sensor readout, or power regulation
The firmware update didn’t “damage” the camera — it simply triggered a weak component that was already destined to fail.
Once that component failed, the rest of the system was unaffected.
🟢 Your Camera’s 4‑Year Track Record Is the Best Evidence
Electronics that are going to fail due to a latent defect almost always do so early:
First 6 months: infant mortality
First 2 years: early‑life defects
After 3–4 years: statistically stable
Your A1 has passed all the failure‑prone windows.
⭐ Conclusion
There is no significant evidence that A1 bodies with the early Wi‑Fi/Bluetooth failure are at risk for additional failures.
The defect was:
Isolated
Hardware‑specific
Non‑progressive
Not linked to other subsystems
Your camera’s flawless four‑year performance is exactly what we’d expect from an A1 that had only the early‑run radio issue.
p.1 #18 · A1 Dead Wi-Fi and Blue Tooth. Fix or sell as is? How much discount?
Chat bot might have been useful there.
My a1 lost its WiFi connection ability at least two - and probably three - years ago, but everything else about it has been perfect. My camera even connects still, but only for a few seconds. Basically, I never used the app anyway and the only downside is not being able to push an update from my phone, which I never would do anyway.
