What are /r/WeMo's favorite Products & Services?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

I went with these Miross dimmers. They won’t win awards for looks, but they’re cheap and connect quickly with good reviews.

Limited-time deal: meross Smart Dimmer Switch Single Pole Supports Apple HomeKit, Alexa Google Assistant & SmartThings, 2.4Ghz WiFi Light Switch for Dimmable LED, Neutral Wire Required, Remote Control Schedule, 1 Pack https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08GPBH5NK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_17EWAVPBV4GTQ3SJ9V5M?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Have you considered using a switch guard? You'd have to use a standard Decora switch plate instead of the screwless snap-on plate that came with the Wemo switch, but you'd still have the ability to use the switch yourself when needed without completely disabling the switch through other means.

https://www.amazon.com/ChengFu-Switch-Protector-Acrylic-Sabbath/dp/B08K2SBFVJ/

The only other thing I can suggest is to install a second single-pole switch somewhere else (i.e., outside of your kids' bedroom), and wire this switch in series with the output from the dimmer switch. This second switch would then act as a "kill switch" for the circuit without introducing the unwanted effect of powering down the Wemo switch itself.

The best thing I ever did for my WeMo was get a rock solid WiFi setup. The best thing I did for my WiFi setup was to get a good (not amazing) router, and place it on the top of a shelf near the center of the house (1,600 sq ft). I've had zero WiFi issues across the board since then, including wemo. FWIW I have this router:

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-RT-AX3000-802-11ax-Lifetime-Whole-Home/dp/B084BNH26P

IFTTT hasn't worked for me since they rolled out the new wemo service. I can connect the wemo service in IFTTT, the Wemo/IFTTT does see my wemos, but their triggers are never activated.

I frequently see messages in the IFTTT activity log from triggers I did NOT activate - suggesting there's a periodic communication problem with the back end wemo services. I never see activity for the triggers that I do activate.

>Applet failed
>
>Jul 14 - 11:51 PM📷<strong>If Wemo Mini Switched on, then Send a notification from the IFTTT app</strong>
>
> There was a problem with the trigger.

or another (also from a trigger I did not activate):

> <strong>The WeMo Light Switch service or its API may temporarily be down</strong>

That error message links to a service status:

> Monitoring - The Wemo team has implemented a fix for this issue.
Jun 17, 12:03 PDT
>
>Identified - The Wemo team identified an issue preventing some Applets involving some Wemo triggers from running. Their team is working on a fix and we'll share any updates we have here. Thank you for your patience.
Jun 11, 15:00 PDT

I don't think they've sorted it out. It's only been a few weeks, right? (that was sarcasm).

Worst case you could create a new amazon account to use with alexa.

I guess you've tried this, but just checking - have you gone to alexa.amazon.com, logged into the same account as used on your echo/dot and phone? There you can check and remove skills, and in the Smart Home section you can remove and rediscover your devices.

I can't understand how the wemos will come back in that case - your account would be clean so they can't be found through the skill and they can't be found locally - so it'd need to be something I'd misconfigured. I'd start by confirming I only had one amazon account associated with my echo/dot devices to make sure it's not picking up an older account. If still using wemo I'd then confirm the wemo account is only showing the expected devices, then add it back to alexa.

I use Belkin Wemo switches with Ubiquiti APs and they're working fine, so at least it can be done.

I have mostly 1st gen wall switches and a couple of 1st and 2nd gen outlets.

Have you used a network scanner to verify that the switches are really on the same network as your phone? There's a good free one for iOS and Android called Fing

https://www.fing.io/

I'd recommend doing a scan with Fing - if you don't see the Wemos in the scan then they're not accessible from your phone. The AP they're connected to may be on a different vlan or may be otherwise partitioned from the network your phone is connected to.

Wemos use broadcast (and a horrible protocol, UPNP) to find one another. If the network they're on isn't the same one as the network your phone is on, or isn't bridged to it, the phone won't be able to discover them.

So for instance, if your phone is on the Internet via your cellular provider and not the wifi network that the wemos are on, it won't see them.

Once you have them set up the Wemo app can do remote access, though that requires a little more configuration in the app itself.

I have two button solutions I use, but it will depend on how your lights are connected/what home automation you already have setup.

Philips Hue has a $25 button you can use to trigger lights and scenes ... but this would require a Hue Bridge and Hue compatible lights. The Hue dimmer is a little more $$ but is smallish, transportable and gives you 4 triggers.

There is also FLIC. HTTPS://flic.io a button could be paired with a phone, or a central hub, and can integrate with a variety of home lighting solutions: Hue, Lifx, Wemo, IKEA, Lightify...

That was another option for sure. Solid product. Lutron has a smart 3 way dimmer that I want and TP Link doesn't have one yet. But Amazon.ca has a smokin deal on the TP Link products. For example, a 3 pack of smart dimmers from Lutron is $209 and a 3 pack of dimmers from TP is $59. There are a ton of other deals for TP at the moment. You can add a few packs to your cart but you can only buy it once so stock up. :)

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07HGSCXB6/ref=ppx\_yo\_dt\_b\_asin\_title\_o02\_s00

Yes. We bought these. You can even paint them. Arlington Non-Metallic Box Extender, 1-Gang https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0078848FA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_6HF78K340VB3N3BNJG10?_encoding=UTF8&amp;psc=1

I tried many of the suggestion around on the web for fixing this.
The only way to have the WEMO devices be responsive again it to reboot he WEMO bridge.
Basically I don't think there is a permanent fix!

Being tired of that (and having too many WEMO devices to throw them away) I bought a ConnectSense Rebooter. I configured it to automatically reboot my WEMO bridge every night at 3am. Works like a charm!

https://www.amazon.com/ConnectSense-Automatically-Connection-Scheduled-Controller/dp/B08GSS37R7/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Zooz Zen22

I haven't tried this specific item but it should do exactly what you asked without extra effort. I have used the zen26 in a 4way without any issues.

You seem to assume other people have had little or no experience with consumer electronics and networking. Perhaps you should rethink that assumption.

19% of Wemo smartswitch purchasers on Amazon give it one star - 1 out of 5 people. Kasa's one star are only 6% of reviewers. That is a major difference that's too big to be accounted for because some people are "vocal" about product problems.

Nor was it a "technical issue with something in the implementation on your premises." Nothing in any environment should be able to case a Wemo switch to come on at random times each day without being programmed to do so. Nothing in the environment should be able to cause it to just lose it's ability to connect to the router until it's reset.

I've tried these switches in multiple homes, with multiple ISPs and multiple routers. Same flaky issues.

By contrast TP-Link switches in these same environments work perfectly. Wemo products are too unreliable to be sold as consumer devices.

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That was my initial barrier too. The thought of learning a whole new system (Homebridge) and then rebuilding all my existing automations made me put it off for a long time. Homebridge has opened so many more options and I’ve never looked back.

One example is with the new Meross smart plugs. You can get a 4-pack of these for $25 without HomeKit support. The HomeKit versions cost $34 for a 3-pack. Using a Homebridge plugin, you can bring the non-HomeKit versions into the Home app seamlessly. Much cheaper than the Wemo smart plugs.

Meross WiFi Smart Plug Mini, 16 Amp & Reliable WiFi Connection Powered by Mediatek Chipset, Support Alexa, Google Assistant and SmartThings, Remote Control, Timer, Occupies Only One Socket, 4 Pack https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079KYHLDZ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_kmwnFbXX4F9T1

Meross Smart Plug Mini, 16A & Reliable WiFi, Support Apple HomeKit, Siri, Alexa, Echo, Google Assistant, Nest Hub, and SmartThings, App Control, Timer, No Hub Needed, 3 Pack https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084JD86NT/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_GmwnFbK7T3M3X

This is what I use on a lot of the LEDs around my room.....

MySpyBlocker Light Blocking LED Covers for Routers, Electronics, Appliances and More. Contains 248 Stickers. Blocks 100% of Light https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0769QYWN8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_kDGkCbECGE5JC

I used to have an Always On WeMo Mini connected to my Insteon Hub. I used it for remote reboots when needed.

The problem was periodically, for no reason at all, I would find the WeMo Mini had turned off; thus breaking my Alexa to Insteon functionality.

I went so far as installing a battery powered alarm on the outlet that would beep if power dropped.

https://www.amazon.com/POWER-RELIANCE-CONTROLS-MfrPartNo-THP207M/dp/B018A30T8Q/ref=lp_16584716011_1_1?srs=16584716011&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1532021705&amp;sr=8-1

Eventually it became more trouble than it was worth and I removed the Mini for that function.

So I got these in Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PWLJ2OC?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf Got two 12v DC wall warts. Hooked up to the actuators so that power would make them extend. (If not flip wires) Hooked up the wall warts to two wemos. Set up ifttt trigger and Google Assistant to have power come on then off when command is given. Great idea for using items without smart controls

Good call, cafescrambler! the mini wemo smart plug has arrived.

Wemo Mini Smart Plug

No problem. The important part is that you have to get a heated mattress pad with a mechanical on/off switch. I got this one. Each side has a control mechanism so we actually got two WeMOs so we could each control our own side. I'm extremely happy with the purchase.