As alluded, the connected home category is primed to explode. And, based on this FCC filing, the next entrant will be D-Link – who’ll be adding an $80 “WiFi Smart Plug” to their existing stable of IP cameras.
The DSP-W215 mydlink Wi-Fi Smart Plug is a multi-purpose, compact, and easy-to-use device that allows you to monitor and control your home’s electronic devices from wherever you are. Set a schedule that turns your TV off when you’re asleep, have your hi-fi wake you up in the morning, or ensure that your desk lamps aren’t left on when you’re at work. The handy mydlink smartphone app will allow you to switch your appliances on or off in an instant, or change your power schedules on-the-go, ensuring that you won’t have to worry about leaving something on when you’re away.
Unlike Belkin’s competing WeMo line, this first D-Link “HomeSense” product appears much more simplistic (at launch) – without an ability to create complex rules and link actions. Having said that, beyond mere smartphone on/off control, the 802.11g/n Smart Plug will at least provide data on energy usage (to replace my ancient Kill-a-watt?) and utilizes a thermal sensor to protect against devices that might overheat.
I am NOT a fan of my WeMo’s. When they work they work good, but mine keep on losing their settings and its a pain in the butt to set them back up again.
I have two of the WeMo plugs.
Looking at the reviews on Amazon I see many having the same problem.
Its a good idea, but unfortunately it does not work like they should.
A bit late to the party!
I had 2 wemo’s and sent them back as they weren’t stable enough for my Samsung S3, bought some new ones from a UK start up company – WiFi Plug and have been really happy with them, I got them before xmas when they had a promotion on and now control 4 different appliances for under £100! very happy.
Lets hope they can manage to improve the app better than Belkin can – and that they add a light switch to their set of products. I got my mom a Belkin light switch and while the switch does appear to be stable (good, as I am 600 miles away so can’t easily come in to fix it) but the iOS app is flaky and updates seem to sometimes make things worse. The most recent update made it so that I can connect to the device from 600 miles away and my mom can connect on 3G, but she can’t connect from within the local network.
Their price also needs to be more competitive — they want $80 while Belkin is selling for $50.
I’m not convinced that there is really a market for connected home products, especially power outlets. I have a box full of X-10 modules in my closet, and while it was fun to play around with remotely controlling lights and stuff I never found it to be very useful in practice. Granted the newer technologies allow you to remotely control devices when you’re not at home, but I still don’t see much practical value. What am I missing?
@dwgsp, the use case that my mom has is that she wants to be able to turn her outside spotlight on late at night if someone drops her off in the driveway. The layout of the house is such that a motion sensor for this isn’t great because the spotlight is also right under her bedroom window and would be distracting to have a deer or other animal set it off in the middle of the night.
For me I use them to reboot servers.
First I run a server which feeds lve Weather Information from my house to the NWS, WUNDERGROUND and my own website at http://weather.satelliteguys.us. The software needed to do this likes to lock up once or twice a week.
I have something setup where if the weather is not updated for 15 minutes I am set a text message and email. Thats when I can go into my phone and the WeMo and power the computer down and back on again. The issue is sometimes it works and sometimes it don’t. I can hit the green button and it swirls around like its shutting it down but it never turns red.
My other WeMo is hooked to my home security DVR, as sometimes it loses connection to the Internet and I am unable to view my cameras from remote. A reboot always fixes this. But again if the WeMo don’t work then its useless.
I dont think they are worth anywhere near what they are charging for them. They should work and they should work all the time. They should not just randomly lose their settings or lose the settings if the power goes off.
I agree with the others that the WeMo (Insight) is pretty worthless and not at all reliable. I purchased two in May 2014 and have had nothing but problems. My review (1 star) is on Amazon. When the damn thing works, it’s great but the problem is, it rarely works when you want it to. The other two WeMo light switches and older switch are a bit better, the Insight is complete garbage. The connectivity issues are very, very frustrating and Belkin tries to be nice and supportive but after all these months dealing with them, I get the impression they either do not have a clue how to fix this or just can’t or will not. I may have to give D-Link a try.