Yes and no. For normal operation a WiFi signal is required at all times. However after setting up the device or after powering it up and letting it connect to a WiFi it can continue normal operations without being connected to the WiFi network.

When your KiddieAlarm is not connected to a Wifi you won’t be able to operate it from anywhere you are, instead you will have to be close to the KiddieAlarm (as in the room next to the one where the KiddieAlarm is in).

A little word on why the KiddieAlarm requires WiFi and why it’s best to keep it connected to WiFi as much as possible.

KiddieAlarm highly depends on the current time of the week in order to be able to correctly apply your sleeping schedules. We do need to know if it’s Sunday or Monday and the exact time today. To do so we use an internet connection (your WiFi) to get and use the current time (which is most accurate over WiFi).
If the KiddieAlarm looses WiFi connection we internally keep counting the time ourselves. So the KiddieAlarm can be without WiFi for a few minutes, or even a few hours.
However our counting is not as accurate and after a few hours we might be off for a few seconds, or worst case even a few minutes. That is why we advice you to put the KiddieAlarm in a spot where it has decent access to WiFi.

Besides that we also keep developing/improving the software of the KiddieAlarm. This means that on a frequent base we put out updates for the KiddieAlarm devices. A device that is offline (not actively connected to any WiFi network) won’t be able to get it’s update. However when connected to a WiFi network the KiddieAlarm will auto-update itself with the latest software available!

When taking your KiddieAlarm on holiday we have a holiday manual section that learns you how to setup your KiddieAlarm on holiday using either an available WiFi network or your phone’s hotspot.