Belkin WeMo Home Automation Reviews

Published: 16 June 2015

Belkin WeMo Home Automation Reviews

Home automation was once the domain of rich home owners ready to spend thousands of dollars to have their blinds automatically open at certain times of the time, or an array of lights controllable via a touchscreen display. They’d have to enlist the solutions of a home automation specialist whom knows the ins and outs of esoteric protocols like X10 and C-Bus and can find the obscure products to interface with them. But in 2015, many thanks to buzzwords like the Internet of Things and the prevalence of smartphones and pills, the thing that was when niche and expensive has become widespread and (relatively) low priced. Belkin WeMo range of house automation items are more accessible and easy to make use of devices presently available on the market. You’d think setting this kind of thing up would be difficult, but it is surprisingly simple. WeMo devices are based on Wi-Fi & most of us have already Wi-Fi in our homes. Whenever you take a WeMo device from the package and turn it on, it creates its own Wi-Fi network that you connect a smartphone to. As soon as connected, the WeMo app guides you through adding these devices to your existing Wi-Fi network. No IP addresses to configure, no scripts, no serial ports with no tiny little DIP switches. Remote access is ingeniously handled via Belkin’s cloud service, no need to open up ports on a router to run a server at home or set up dynamic DNS solutions.

The basic item in the Belkin WeMo range is a switch that can turn things on, or of , direct from your smartphone, at home or away, with barely any configuration. Use an electric heater and desire to transform it on half an hour before you arrive house from work? If it’s plugged in to the WeMo switch and you also’ve got Wi-Fi in the home, just introduce the WeMo app on your phone and turn the heater on with an individual tap. That’s literally how easy it really is to utilize. Also into the WeMo line-up are LED bulbs (RRP $179.95 for a starter kit, $59.95 for additional bulbs), which can be installed anywhere and allow lighting to be managed via a smartphone with no brand new wiring. The WeMo motion sensor can detect when movement occurs, or when some one goes into an area and turn things on or of  based on that motion. New to the WeMo range is the WeMo Maker and Insight Switch.

The Insight Switch works like the fundamental WeMo switch but has got the added good thing about logging the energy usage of whatever is plugged into it. For those comfortable with low-voltage electronics, or a particular thing they want available via the Internet, Belkin has the WeMo Maker (RRP $149.95), which is basically a relay that plays with the WeMo ecosystem. Hook up such things as garden lights, garage doors, blinds, or even sensors to measure heat or moisture. What makes the WeMo so versatile is integration with a web solution called If This, Then That (IFTTT). With IFTTT, all sorts of scriptable automation can occur and most useful of all, IFTTT is a joy to make use of and simple for everybody, no programming knowledge required. A tiny list of what IFTTT and WeMo integration is with the capacity of include:
• Turning on a lamp at sunset.
• Geo-location based triggers (age.g: turn of something plugged into a WeMo when you leave the house).
• Turn a WeMo device on or of  considering a specific list of dates and times.
• Toggle WeMo on or of  when some one enters a room .
• Send notifications, Tweets or Facebook communications considering WeMo unit task.

There are thousands of combinations of IFTTT “recipes” that can have your WeMo unit interact with other IFTTT enabled hardware and services such as for instance Dropbox, Facebook, Google Calendar, Gmail and hundreds more. The only limitation is your creativity. Not everyone needs to automate the stuff  in their home, or hook it up to your Internet, but if you’ve ever thought to yourself “yeah, it would be awesome if I could control that with my smartphone”, then Belkin’s WeMo range is simple to recommend.

Disclaimer:

Product Information Only

This website and its content (including links to other websites) are presented in general form and are provided for informational purposes only.

TechnologyPep.com does not sell any products on this site and, to the maximum extent permitted by law, excludes all liability and makes no warranties or representations that the products written about on this site are fit for any particular purpose, or are suitable for any particular use or by any particular person.

TechnologyPep.com is not responsible for the practices of owners of other websites and makes no representations or warranties about the products available for sale on those other sites.

Please check product content information carefully before purchasing any product on another site via a link provided on this site or otherwise.