Thursday, December 05, 2013

Belkin WeMo Switches



- These are basically iphone app over the internet controlled power switches.  These won't integrate with Harmony remotes since it's not IR but that's not what they are designed for.
- To setup you just install the iphone app, change your wifi network to the actual wemo device (creating a little adhoc network), enter wifi settings to get it onto your local network through your router, switch your iphone back to your standard ssid and you are good to go.  Now you can basically turn something on/off from anywhere in the world.  Make sure you do all the firmware updates.
- You can setup a schedule too and use it like a fancy timer.  You can set specific times for on/off as many as you want for each day of the week.  You can also pick sunrise or sunset and it knows automatically when that is once you set your zip code.
- They seem pretty reliable so far.  I had to reboot one to get it on the first time I moved it but so far they work well.  The first one I bought I used with a 120mm fan that sits on top of my ps4 (yes, I'm obsessed about keeping electronics cool).  I use the wemo to remotely turn on that fan when I'm using my Vita to remote play.  This setup works great.  I recently picked up 2 more which are controlling the outside Christmas lights.
- They are a little price at around $50 each but I picked up a pair for around $55 during black friday.  There is also a fancier newer version that has a built in kilowatt to monitor power usage.

Recommended.  If you find a need for one of these devices it sure comes in handy.


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