Belkin WeMo Switch - So far...

[nickm]

@kyeba - yes 9 times out of 10

[kyeba]

Does it turn on remotely with your Android app?

[nickm]

+1 for the Orvibo S20 https://www.google.com.au/search?q=o...&oq=orvibo+s20

Worlds smallest smart power adaptor, which worked well for me with my small space for coffee nook (Lelit Mara).


It was working a treat until I upgraded my Android version to 6.0 AND daylight savings. So now its one hour out with its timer (i can adjust that).


EDIT, the alrec = Orvibo S20 just rebranded. You can get it cheaper on Eb@y
http://www.arlec.com.au/wp-content/files/PC180.pdf

[lemoo]

same here, android and arlec app is pretty horrible
I'm finding when i'm on wifi at home it has a significantly higher success rate

on mobile data, well I pretty much can't use it..

[Steve82]

I have started to have more issues with mobile / android activating of the Arlec. Works say 40% of the time and sometimes it has said fail and upon arrival it has actually worked and the machine on.

The IPhone app works flawlessly no matter where / what.

[kyeba]

I'll give it another week I think, then return it for a belkin.

I think it might not help that the latest update was January this year....

[AlastairMcG]

Yes I have the same frustrating problem with the arlec. I'm sure I read that it needs phone on internet connection not mobile to activate switch. So it works sometimes when I do it at work through a WiFi I can't connect to but can find. However, won't work on my way home on 4G.

I'd love to know a solution too...

[kyeba]

I bought the arlec wifi power point yesterday at bunnings. Got it to connect through wifi after a bit of a struggle, but my problem is it won't work remotely with 3g signal.

When I try to turn the socket on remotely it will just say offline, anyone else get this problem? Works fine when my phone is in range of the wifi, and I have reset modem/deleted device and reconfigured. Problem still occurs.

I'm using the Android app.

[voicecoils]

I'm using the Efergy Ego also. I got mine here: Efergy Ego Smart Power Socket & App – Steplight and have been using it for a few months now.

Turning on/off from my Android app works well in the house or far away through the 'net. Timer works as expected too. Tracking energy use is fun for me but something anyone might find useful is the ability to confirm the machine is on and see when the boiler is heating.



Getting data to the app is not instant, there's a second or so lag for the app to update current power use but it makes it easy to see exactly what the machine is doing. When I first got the ego and wasn't convinced if the machine had really turned on or not, I'd just check power on the app to confirm.

Downsides: On the Android app energy graphing could be a bit nicer and more detailed. Not sure if the iPhone app is any better. Overall the app looks good and is functional but could be a little smoother to use.

Conclusion: I already knew I wanted a 'smart switch' so paying a little extra for active energy & power monitoring was worth it for me.

[theant]

"It will work 3/10 times. Most of the time it won't recognise the switch, especially in remote mode."

I've had my WeMo for a few months now and it usually works fine.
I have had troubles when there is strong winds or rain, my phone won't connect.
Occasionaly it will flash red for a few hours and then reconnect. The last episode lasted about three days so I turned our modem off then on and it righted itself.
I guess it is just like anything that uses a wireless connection, not always reliable.

[tezza85]

I'm having similar issues with my WeMo now. Was working great when I bought it 4 months ago, but it appears after it updated about 2 months ago, reliability took a dive.

It will work 3/10 times. Most of the time it won't recognise the switch, especially in remote mode.

The timer still works well, so I set it to times I usually intend to have my coffee, but still annoying as I've lost that reliable control.

I've tried resetting the switch, reinstalling the apps etc with no luck.

Anyone else have similar issues?

[barri]

I bit the bullet and returned one of them to Bunnings. I could only find one receipt. Replaced it with a Wemo from Harvey Norman. Works perfectly, it even did a firmware update. Arlecs never did that. The setup is simpler and the app is a lot classier. I can no longer recommend the Arlecs. You get what you pay for, as they say

[barri]

Got that setup in each house and it works perfectly. Labelled the sockets "home" and "holiday house". Its great that two separate apps controls either device. Thanks for the tip kopigeek. I highly recommend the arlec as its smaller than the wemo and about $20 cheaper. As far as I know they're only available at Bunning stores.

After months of success from the arlecs I now have problems with both. They are very unreliable turning on remotely. They work 1 in 10. They used to work all the time. I've reinstalled, rebooted, quit and restarted the program etc etc .

Any clues?

[AlastairMcG]

I have owned the Arlec one for 1-2 months and was working fine. However, it has just started regularly resetting itself/losing power to the adaptor, then going through power up and then into standby mode. Therefore, I keep losing power to my coffee machine when using the adaptor. This happens even if it is just sitting in standby/idle mode.

I might have to try to go into setup mode and redo it to see if that helps, but I lose power to the adaptor again before I get to set up mode.

Has anyone else experienced this?

[Steve82]

I sometimes get control timeout error when using the app to turn on/off the Arlec. Anyone else getting this error?

Cheers

question for anyone with the orvibo s20 and wiwo app:

just got a unit to test out with my giotto, the unit and app works fine when mobile is connected to WLAN
however, when not connected to wireless and mobile is using mobile data to try and control the s20, the app is not really responsive

trying to turn it on and off mostly results in nothing happening with "offline" popping up on the app. some times it does trigger it on and sometimes it does not
at times when it does turn it on, the status on the app still does not show that the s20 is on

anyone got the same experience?

This thread inspired me to grab an arlec from Green shed and has mostly worked really well.

I set it up on an iphone using the arlec app, works flawlessly. Then with an older Android phone using the WiWo S10 app I found the socket and can control it fine.

I had the problems with time out or offline error at first on the Android. I put a short cut to my " running applications " settings next to the WiWo app icon. So when it has not been in use for a while ( but still running background) or switching from Wifi to Mobile I just quickly go to " force stop " in the running WiWo app settings. So that when I hit WiWo app icon it is restarting afresh, since doing this it has worked quickly every time without error.