WiOn 50049 Outdoor Wi-Fi Wireless Plug-In Switch; Smartphone And Tablet Automation For Up To 12 Devices 2 Grounded Outlets Weather Resistant Energy Saving Wifi Controlled Switch

Would have had five stars for doing what it is supposed to do, easy set up and easy app but I had to replace one because it got water in it. Outdoor rated outlets really shouldnt let water in. Keep it in a place where it will stay dry and it will be great.

Being an engineer, I was disappointed that I could not get the device set up and resorted to calling customer support. The first person could not get it to work, so they connected me to someone else. I could not get it to connect to the device. The bottom line was that the customer support person says that it just does not work with some smart phones, and that I should try another one to get it set up. Trouble is I live alone. I will have to see if I can get another person to my house with a smart phone so I can connect the WION device to my router. These are the steps I took: 1. Plugged in the WION device. Blue light blinking. 2. Connected my Android cell phone to the WION WiFi signal. I have a Samsung Galaxy S4. 3. Started the WION app. It had a popup that said Looking for Router.... That is all it would do. Customer support said to click on the Plus sign to manually add it, but when I did that it would just beep at me with no other action. 4. This is a pain in the you know where!

Bought to run our outdoor Christmas lights. Setup was easy IF you follow the directions. You need to connect to the switch via Wi-Fi first, THEN use the app to connect to your home Wi-Fi. On/Off and schedules are easy. My only criticism (and is a small one) is that when using the Astronomic timer mode, all times are in relation to sunrise or sunset. Id like to be able to turn the lights on at sunset, and then off at a 10:30pm, not five hours after sunset which would vary from day to day. No issues controlling switch at home over Wi-Fi or when away using cellular. As an added bonus, these dont loose their program if there a brief loss of power. I would not hesitate to buy again when more of my old switches RF switches die.

Edit 2: It seems Southwire / Woods has merely rebranded the ECO Plugs RC-028W. I was able to install the ECO Plugs app from the Google Play store and successfully connect a factory-restored WiOn outlet to my router with it. It took me a few factory resets and forgetting the ECO-serial network on my phone and reconnecting, but the connection eventually succeeded. Although the Woods WiOn app is abandonware, the ECO Plugs app is a passable substitute updated for compatibility with Android 9. Connecting with the ECO Plugs app is quirky, though. A successful connection to the router does not deactivate the plugs temporary wifi access point. --- Edit 1: Beware! The Woods WiOn Android app doesnt fully work on the latest version of Android. It doesnt appear that Woods / Southwire has updated their app in a year and a half. Unless you have access to a device with an older version of Android, you may not be able to get this outlet to connect to your router. The out-of-box router connection dialog simply will not appear as it should when a new outlet is detected, regardless of clearing your phones cache and app data or resetting your outlet back to factory defaults. Maybe the ECO Plugs app would be a suitable workaround? Maybe, but I havent tried it to see. I ended up digging an ancient Android 4.4.2 device out of a drawer to perform the connection to my wireless network. Also, the WiOn products domain seems now to be controlled by a cybersquatter. There is no longer a website available for you to find support or documentation for this outlet. The outlet and its app are abandonware. I emailed Southwire a request for assistance, then followed up with my Android 4.4.2 workaround. If they respond with anything worthwhile, Ill update this review. So far my emails have gone ignored. --- Original review: Rugged, stable network connectivity from the opposite corner of the house and through walls, and Alexa integration is flawless. The WiOn app features above-average flexibility, offering automation with many triggers: time of day, countdown, astronomic, and random vacation timers. It does not offer Google or IFTTT integration, though. Bear in mind that Internet of Things devices such as this are heavily dependent on a reliable router. If youve got a garbage router, dont bother with this or any other IoT / smart home devices until youve upgraded. The Internet of Things tends to expose latent instability in mediocre routers. If youre not running Tomato, DD-WRT, Google Wifi, Ubiquiti, or better, dont blame inexplicable disconnections on your outlets. With OEM router firmware, more often than not, bugs are par for the course.

Update August 18 2019. Derating to 3 stars, product support is nonexistent, answers to requests for assistance are ignored. I found the way myself to get these smart outlets to work reliably away from home WIFI, it seems for some reason that they dont like the recommended higher levels of router security settings. Set the wifi security to WEP - weaker security - then hide your SSID. You may have to reconnect your devices but I found it does work. Only issue might be that other devices may need the higher level security to work, I have found that too. Luckily I have a dual band router so I have the recommended level of security when using 5G. Bought this few days ago. I use it to control outside pathway lights on a timer, its located only a foot above ground level plus 50ft from the access point and I had doubts about the WiFi signal but, its fine. Initial setup took me more than an hour because the connection instructions are confusing. I could not get it to connect at first - it couldnt see my SSID / WiFi name. First I had to do a reset, then enter my zip code (why?) WiFi SSID manually and then password (Obviously). After that it worked but gave a bad impression at first. Timer controls on the APP are easy to setup. Overall I am pleased with it so far.

These work great; have purchased 3 of them, the first one about 2 years ago, and its still going strong. To be fair, though, I do live in Southern California, so the unit hasnt lived through much rain and moisture, but has stood up well to extreme heat. I have one unit set up with weekend sunrise/sunset timers for our patio string lights; I used another with time on/time off settings for our holiday lights. Gifted the third unit to our neighbors who, every night and morning, were pushing and pulling their holiday lights cord into and out of an outlet; just couldnt bear to see them do it anymore. Only negative is the apps interface, which could use some serious updating and streamlining; its straight outta 2010. However, with the various timer options, its pretty much set-it-and-forget-it, so the app shouldnt be needed after the initial set up. And initial set-up itself was fairly painless; just followed the simple instructions.

I started building my smart home system with an outdoor Wi-on triple socket set for remotely controlling Christmas lighting. That device is still in use after three years and working well. The dual-channel device is similar quality and easy to connect to Alexa and the Wion app. As with other smart home products, your mileage may vary depending on the quality of your local wi-fi network. Local interference or obstructions can make the device not work as intended. Search Youtube to find videos on how to improve your wi-fi. In my case, I was able to add an outdoor weatherproof access point and that helps keep this product online and working.

I had a similar unit for Xmas lights control and couldnt find it. I went to order another since I didnt have the time look through all the stuff in our garage (its there somewhere). I found these units on AMZ and they were the half the price of my other unit, so I said what the heck order two of them. I figured if they didnt work, I would return them to AMZ with their ironclad guarantee. Didnt have to, worked as described and quite happy with them. These units do not require a hub and you install them with your router. Havent quite figured out they do other then the units first power up as a router and then you connect and they become a pass through to your regular router. I have other devices that use this method and it seems a bit odd but it works. Either way, no hub or setting up a network account with someone. They have been in for several days not and work great. I now have a very interesting Networks, my hub system, Wifi bulbs using a network account to store schedule and settings and now these devices. As long as I can keep it straight as to what device belongs to which network, should be good.

Works great for our outdoor lights. Only downside is if the wifi goes out, its a bit of a pain to reconnect this unit. Itd be nice to just have it remember the network and rejoin itself. The WiOn app is easy to use, and this units been running great.