The SD/MMC card works fine. I have done it when my network was down before. I do not believe you can stop the EPG. All it will mean is every morning it will try and connect and fail. I have set my time limit (with the unit plugged in) for the remote to on to 10 minutes. The unit shuts off eventually. If not, just hit the cancel button on the screen when it says it is trying to connect. The only real problem I see with no internet connect is you cannot get firmware updates (like they will ever make another). So, if it does not come with the latest that's it. You could get a B only Access Point for about $10 if you want. Just setup your remote on your computer, transfer it to a SD/MMC card, and then load it into the IPronto, that's it.