Wemo Insight WiFi Enabled Smart Plug, with Energy Monitoring, Works with Alexa (Discontinued by Manufacturer - Newer Version Available)

DO NOT BUY THIS - There are better products available. Do not get sucked in to the Wemo ecosystem like I did - there are better, more reliable and - most importantly - flexible systems out there. Belkins support for this product is near zilch. The iPhone app crashes constantly at startup - very frustrating when I just want to turn on my bedroom lights in the morning. IFTTT support is now completely gone - whenever I try I receive This is not a valid IFTT code or similar. 10% of the time Wemo works, 90% of the time Wemo crashes (the app). More times than not, the app launches, crashes, and after many many times of relaunching/manually quitting on the iPhone, it finally connects to all devices. (Let me be clear here - the app CRASHES A LOT. A LOT. Ive given up on the damn app and just go to the switch and manually turn it on) Point is - way, way more frustrating than simply turning on a light. If the Insight feature is what youre after, save yourself from this junk and just get http://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Electricity-Usage-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1418942439&sr=8-3&keywords=power+wattage+meter for $15 to measure your usage in spots. Instead, heres what you should look into - Ive had GREAT success with GEs Wink platform, mostly because its open to other Z-Wave (aka generalized/standard home automation protocol) products which makes it easy to add other random devices without worrying about the Belkin ecosystem. Luton, GE, etc products are all supported with this purchase. Dont buy in to Belkins home automation products. Theyre horribly buggy, completely unreliable and the lack of media/app updates makes me think Belkin is slowly backing off this entire thing. Home automation has been around for a while now and perfected by companies like Lutron, Z-Wave products, etc. Look to those first and take the time to research what you really want. The open protocol devices are far more future proof than Belkins very weak attempt in this market.

I purchased the Amazon Echo ( Alexa ) and these WeMo WIFI switches x 2 I just wanted to see how this home automation is coming along. I will say that getting these switches up and running for the first time user can be a bit daunting..... The app you download to your phone or tablet from Google play store for Android is a bit frustrating and needs some more fine tuning I am sure Belkin is aware of this and will have updates in the future. Also my WiFi was fighting to make a connection with the switch and until you find the WeMo switch in your WIFI settings and make the connection the app stays on the HOW TO page. Anyway a bit of a learning curve however once the connection is made its smooth sailing. Once the switches were up and running on my network all I had to do next was ask Alexa to search for new devices and she found them. I then reopened the WeMo app and gave my switches names Like for example ( Table Light ) Then you just simply tell or ask Alexa turn on table light and wallah!! the table light comes on. And the same thing in reveres Alexa turn off table light and again Wallah off goes the light. I really love the automation and they do work very well I will be purchasing more when I feel I have the need for more Automation. So you have two ways to control these switched outlets Number One app on your Phone or Tablet Android or IOS or my favorite Voice control with Alexa (Amazon Echo) I only gave this a 4 Star just because of the not so streamlined configuration. But once you get the hang off making the connection its not so bad.. Belkin WeMo Insight Switch, Control Your Electronics and Monitor Energy Usage From Anywhere with the Home Automation App for Smartphones and Tablets, Wi-Fi Enabled, Compatible with Amazon Echo]]

I purchased one of these on a price dip, thinking it was time to give this technology a try. Its a rather clever device, providing integration of home automation controls and energy monitoring, with capable notifications, actionable rules and remote management. However, execution does have a few flaws. The limitations become more apparent in a more complex scenarios: no support for hidden wireless networks, inability of software to deal with multiple access points, or recognize home and remote wireless networks if they share the same network name. This device would likely perform much better in a country home with just one wireless access point and little interference, but in a dense urban environment, where 2.4GHz wireless spectrum is heavily congested (with up to 4 wireless stations visible on every Wi-Fi channel), the device seems to have connectivity issues. To provide adequate signal coverage, I already had a couple of access points on dynamically selected channels - but after installing this WeMo Switch, I had to add another one just 4 fee away from it, otherwise it would drop off the network every couple of hours. Even with an access point so close, I still end up having to pull it out and reconnect every couple of days, as it still drops the wireless connection. The vendor specifically states that multiple access points could cause a smartphone application not to find the device - that is definitely the case, as on many occasions I could not see the device while on Wi-Fi, but by shutting off Wi-Fi on my smartphone, I could manage it as if I were remote. The vendor should definitely invest additional effort into application (to remove constraints related to access point / Wi-Fi network name and visibility), as well as explore other connectivity options for urban dwellers, either by supporting 5GHz network band or by integrating PowerLine support.

Update! After doing some research on the web and reading through lots of forums, I found a fix that worked for me using an Airport Extreme: 1. Updated settings in AirPort Utility to WPA/WPA2 personal, rather than WPA2 personal. Waited for Airport Express to restart. 2. Verified that iPhone connected to airport network. 3. Opened WEMO app and connected to WEMO network. 4. Selected AirPort network. This time WEMO connected fine, and was able to work. 5. Followed the WEMO instructions, and it works. Still annoyed that WEMO couldnt tell me the fix, but hey Ill take it Absolute Crap! Worked well until we had to change the router, now it will not connect no matter what we do. The app will not recognize it, and I cant return it for a refund. Before you buy this, think.....do you want to waste money on technology that sucks???

one thing I really like... is something that simply works without a lot of fiddling. This thing worked right out of the box like a champ with zero effort on my part. I was concerned because the instructions consisted of plug it in and activate the app. And sure enough, that was all it took. Ok, this is the follow up. First, I was speaking about the plug in the wall switch but they both worked great. Easy to set up on my all my hand held devices. For my IPAD I had to buy a 3rd party app but it worked fine for $1.99. Alexa and the Echo found the devices in the advertised 20 seconds and it just worked perfectly. I only have two problems. 1. The light switches are pretty large, They just barely fit into the metal wall (gang) box. With the wire nuts there was absolutely no room to spare and I do not like to cram the wiring as that can put tension on connections. (but I had to) 2. I need an outside switch. I can keep it dry but these switches are only usable (according to the directions) about freezing. So no out door porch or other outside (like the garage) stuff light switches. Other wise, easy and quick to install. Up and running in no time. Pretty neat.

To give you an idea of my technical expertise... I was a young Network Admin during the dark ages of Novell 3.11. For those of you confused this would be around 1994 - 1999 give or take a year or two... If you could configure Novell you could configure the Space Shuttle... and I could. Fast forward 20 years, I have a home-based Internet company - I personally built 10 gaming computers not for gaming but for business... I do things like port forward into my home network to view my security cameras and connect to an internal web-server... In other words, I know what Im doing... Now about this Belkin WeMo INSIGHT SWITCH... When I plugged it in the first thing IT DID was lock down my router without me touching ANY thing! - I was more than offended when all my PCs were instantly kicked off the web... all I could think about was losing my Router configuration, because I havent backed up the Router config file in a long time .. After rebooting everything, I resigned myself to give this setup 30 minutes of my time, because I really didnt feel like returning and reordering something else... 1hour and 30 minutes later of trouble shooting, which included multiple reboots of my router to get my PCs back online (yes you read that correctly) Android was still searching for this device... For the record my router has been rock solid for 3 years under my command... Note: no direct PC config allowed - must be done on your phone - extremely lame - but not before holding my entire network hostage yet again... the thought of throwing this thing as far back to China as possible seems tempting and worth losing the $99 refund value/hassle... Ive always had a professional hatred for all things Belkin - the company slogan should be were the Jacks of all things- and the master of NOTHING... (I think they make bicycle helmets too) but this last experience has made my love personal... In addition they expect you to connect this device that sits 2 feet away through a third party, third world web server a million cable wires miles away. Oh and the WeMo App couldnt blow worse chunks either - what I saw of it - I really didnt get that far into the configuration I do not think this plastic paper weight shipped to me broken - I think it is working exactly the way Belkin designed it to... the only thing wrong with it is the logo on the side that reads B e l k i n P.S. - Ah yes – my window to return this plastic headache ended yesterday… I guess thats part of the Belkin business strategy... If I could throw it, or launch it back to China now I would...

UPDATE December 2014. Several more software and firmware updates (10.1.1 latest) and the product is now working as expected and deserves 5 stars. 99%+ the phone app works to connect (quickly) to devices and control. Insight is still a tad slower. We now have 7 different WeMo products and all are working very well. I wish I didnt have to go through the months of agony when we first got them. The current functionality is excellent. Working very well on both iPhone 5 and 6. UPDATE September 2014. In the last two weeks, Belkin has provided two iOS updates (1.8.X) and one or two firmware updates. The connectivity issues are nearly gone now. As I suspected, the issue was with the iPhone app that couldnt connect 8 times out of ten. With the new updates, connectivity is very fast and pretty reliable. Im still only giving the product 4 starts out of five for the months and months of issues I had with the product. The software is still not perfect with the Insight switches in terms of getting the update of data used, time on etc, but turning on and off all switches is now nearly instant as it should have been back in May of 2014 when I first purchased the products. Hopefully this new behavior will remain and I can now be happy with the product. ORIGINAL REVIEW: This generous 1 star is for the WeMo Insight switch. I also have two of the Light switches and one of the older plug-in units which would rate maybe 3.5 to four stars. The Insight is pretty much a piece of junk. I purchased two in May of 2014 and have had nothing but problems with them. In fact, Ive had to send both back to WeMo for replacement, one is due to arrive tomorrow. In a nutshell, the WiFi connectively with this product is simply awful. More than half the time, the silly device doesnt show up on the iPhone or iPad. Quit the app, reboot the phone, try using the Airport utility as recommended, no amount of fuzing around gets the unit to show up. Its just easier to walk to the device and manually turn the unit on and off. Belkin support has ranged from just awful to decent. Getting the last unit replaced due to its inability to be reset and then send out a signal was pretty bad. I had to keep calling and calling to finally get an RMA. The other two light switches and the one original switch work pretty well but not perfectly. At first I blamed their app which is pretty awful at updating itself. Then two Insight switches just flat out failed. Do not buy one! Try the other lesser expensive switch first and understand that the WeMo app is not very good. My wife and I have a good wireless network, weve got Airport Expresses (newer units) to extend the range, that didnt do a thing to fix the issues with the phone app and the Insights from communicating. The time Ive wasted with Belkin support, frustration trying to get the switch to operate isnt worth it, Ill just get up and do this myself with far less issues. Too bad because when the unit works, it is pretty slick. If it actuall worked 50% of the time, Id be in better shape than I am now, the Insight fails far more often than it works.

I bought this after reading the many mixed reviews. I have a modlet which is a similar device with a set up that is also challenging but I thought Id give the WEMO insight a chance. The modlet is pretty awful from a tech design perspective and this is actually better considering the challenges. The set up instructions are four steps on a short page but includes no troubleshooting. No support info. I tried to set it up and connect it to my wifi network and was unsuccessful about five times. I reset the unit twice trying to set it up. In the end I moved the device right next to my router and was only then able to connect only to my guest network with zero security. Wemo would not connect to any network requiring a password. I checked network settings and without getting into tech details I followed every direction for security on the WEMO web site and still could not connect. But Im only connecting an amplifier to the WEMO so I dont really care about it getting hacked but it was annoying. Once connected the device works great and while the app could be better it is still effective and relatively easy to use. It crashes occasionally but its itherwise ok. This is not the end of connected outlets. Long way to go before average people get this without the patience that buyers here needed to have to buy this. I almost sent it back during repeated failed setup. I cant find the WEMO on my Amazon echo. Not sure why but guessing that they are on different wifi networks since I had to put WEMO on my guest network. But for general controlling and saving energy this is ok. Could be better but with patience I could get the core functionality.

The Belkin Insight is just sloppy. It feels and acts cheap, and I’m sure that isn’t what Belkin is going for in terms of home automation. 1. Daylight Savings isn’t exactly a new concept. There is no excuse for the WeMo failing to account for it. 2. The WeMo insight last on for measurement doesn’t really make sense. It reads “last on for” as the time my espresso machine’s heating element cycled. Last on for should come from the rules/how long the WeMo is switched on. 3. Support requests require device serial numbers and model numbers, which should be reported in the app. Why do I need to unplug the device to get these numbers? 4. Setup requires multiple attempts before it “sticks.” Pretty much every review I’ve read after purchasing my WeMo complains about this. iPhone app shows all kinds of random graphical glitches. 5. Editing rules doesn’t always seem to register either, sometimes requiring multiple edit attempts. Home automation is a relatively new concept. In order to see wide adoption, it needs to work well. This probably isnt the platform thats going to make it work.

I am posting this comparison between the Wemo Insight and the Edimax Smart Plug under both products as I own both and thought it would be helpful to have a comparison (when I was looking for smart plugs I would have appreciated it). I have been a Belkin Wemo Insight owner from when the Insight Switch first came out several years ago as I have places that are hard to get to (specifically my landscape lights) that are controlled from a switch in the crawlspace (for the front) and a detached shed (for the back)—until the Wemos I had manual timers installed which required periodically crawling under the house to reset. I also historically used the Wemos to turn off TVs at certain times so my kids couldn’t watch them too late (yes the plugs are where the kids can’t get them easily without major gymnastics). Over the years I have had issues with the Wemo switches as they periodically lose contact and I have to reset them (I would say this happens on average every other month) or that they temporarily lose contact with my wifi and don’t show up on the Wemo app (this usually happens for the ones in the crawlspace and the detached shed, so I assume it is a wifi range issue). When the Wemos temporarily lose contact they usually fix themselves in several hours, but sometimes this causes the Wemos to not turn on/off in time. They other issue I have had with the Wemos is that they aren’t password protected and so my kids could put the Wemo app on their phone and turn the TVs back on (luckily they hadn’t figured that out yet). I have also experienced (periodically) where the Wemo schedule seems to “detach” and I have to delete the schedules and put them back in to get them to work again. On the positive side the Wemos do have a “sunset” and “sunrise” time feature that ties into our local sunrise/sunset which makes programming the landscape lights a breeze. I would add that I am an “advanced user” for wifi and I have 2 access points and a range extender in our house. Therefore when I saw the Edimax Smart Plugs I thought I would give them a try. I have been running 4 Edimax plugs for about a month now (in place of our 4 Wemos) and have observed the following in comparison to the Wemos: (1) they seem to get better reception and don’t drop like the Wemos do, (2) they are password protected which is very easy to set up from the app, (3) the Edimax’s firmware is updated by logging into the same wifi network that the Edimax plug is on and using Edimax’s firmware update tool. Originally it was hard for me to find this tool on Edimax’s website and I had to do a google search to be able to find it and download it (hopefully by the time you are reading this Edimax has fixed this). Once I found the firmware update software it was very easy to use. In comparison to the Edimax, the Wemo will tell you periodically if it needs its firmware updated. Although this is a good feature on the Wemo, I have found to be buggy over the years and sometimes the update wouldn’t take/work easily (requiring resets of the Wemo), (4) they take 2 different approaches to programming. The first level for the Edimax are the days and you have to program each day. The first level for the Wemo is the rule and then you can decide which days to apply it to. If you want to have the same rule run the same on each day, the Wemo is easier/better, but if you want to run different rules on different days the Edimax is easier/better. In summary the comparisons between the Wemo Insights and the Edimax Smart plugs are: - Ease of app use—a tie - Rule programming—a tie, but if the Edimax had a sunrise/sunset feature I would personally give it the advantage - Sunrise / sunset feature—only on the Wemo, advantage Wemo - Password protection—only on the Edimax, advantage Edimax - Stability (e.g. not having to reset the plugs periodically)—so far (1 month), advantage Edimax (as I have had 2 years of buggy Wemo experience) - Size (the Wemo Insight plugs are a bit smaller)—advantage Wemo - Wifi range / connectivity—so far, advantage Edimax - Firmware update—a tie; as the Wemo does it from within the app (e.g. notifies you that it needs to be updated automatically), but is buggy and unstable in my experience; the Edimax update software was hard to find and doesn’t automatically tell you if it needs to be updated - County of manufacture (Wemo: China; Edimax: Taiwan)—advantage Edimax as I have found stuff manufactured in Taiwan to be more predictable on quality - Time synch—advantage Wemo (it is automatic on the Wemo, and on the Edimax it asks you if it should synch with your phone time. This is a small feature difference in my opinion, but if you travel and open the Edimax app you have to make sure not to select synching with your phone time if you are in another time zone) In summary, the Wemo has been around for a while and still seems to not have been able to produce a stable (not buggy) platform. The Edimax plug has been around for a shorter time and seems to be more stable. I give the Wemo a 3 rating due to its buggy nature with the need for periodic reboots and re-install and lack of password protection (if it would be more stable and have password protection it would get a 5). I give the Edimax a 4 as it lacks a sunrise/sunset feature and is slightly less user friendly to update the firmware (if it had a sunrise/sunset feature I would be torn to give it a 5 and if it at least had a feature to tell you if its firmware needed to be updated I would definitely give it a 5).