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I do not recommend WeMo
I ordered and installed my first WeMo Smart Dimmer switch in January 2019. Last week, I had 31 WeMo switches installed.
Since I work in Wi-Fi in my day job, I wanted to have my house automated using only Wi-Fi. This limited my choices, but so far I have been able to do everything I've wanted. WeMo seemed a very good choice for switches in January 2019. But over time they have become more and more troublesome.
WeMos aren't (weren't) cheap. As of 12FEB2022, WeMos are approximately double the price of equivalent TP-Link devices.
I got tired of fixing WeMo switches each week. Here are three common problems with WeMo devices, which WeMo/Belkin doesn't know how to fix permanently:
Drop Outs: WeMo switches lose connection to Wi-Fi, which is characterized as the device becoming non-responsive to either Echo or the WeMo app, or both. A reboot and running through set up fixes the issue. But, really, I need to this for multiple devices every week?
Power Cycle: This is less common. For some reason, UNRELATED TO MY NETWORK, WeMo switches loose connection to the WeMo server. This is recent issue, which I am estimating started in NOV-DEC2021. The device blinks red and it must be power cycled (flip the circuit breaker). Flipping a circuit breaker to fix a switch is totally unacceptable. The WeMo cannot be rebooted by holding down the buttons.
Alexa and WeMo App: Every few months, the WeMo app cannot synch with the Alexa app. A small number of devices become uncontrollable through Echo. The fix is to disable the skill in the Alexa app, wait a few minutes, and then re-enable the WeMo skill.
The week of 12FEB2022, I replaced 27 WeMo Smart Dimmers and 4 WeMo 3-way light switches with TP-Link (Kasa) (HS220 and HS210).
WeMo worked fine until I got past ten WeMo devices. WeMo doesn't scale very well. With 31 WeMos, I was having 2-4 drop outs per week. Silly me, but I want my light switches to just work with no work on my part. I want to install it and forget it.
My house doesn't lose power or have brown-outs.
I have a stable gigabit circuit.
Since I work in Wi-Fi, I have tools many people may not have. I measured the Received Signal Strength (RSSI) at each smart switch. The RSSI is strong.
On a periodic basis, I check the Wi-Fi neighborhood, channels and interference. In general, I do not have near neighbors. My signal strength is ~20dB better than my neighbors' APs. Each 3dB represents a 50% drop in signal strength.
I have two Wi-Fi Access Points (APs), each AP has two radios. One radio on each AP is dedicated to 2.4GHz N-only. The WeMos are split evenly between the two APs. So, no it is not my Wi-Fi.
There is something wrong either with the WeMo devices, or the central server.
I am using latest version of WeMo app, and the latest version of WeMo firmware.
The support team at WeMo tries. I feel sorry for them. It seems they are being told to give the customer FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt about their Wi-Fi or their network). In my day job, I work on Wi-Fi. So, FUD about my network or Wi-Fi doesn't work on me. These fixes suggested by WeMo are at best:
Reboot my cellphone - why would anyone think this might resolve any issues?
Restart my router - how could this help? The router isn't having issues. The WeMo devices are having issues.
Restart my Access Points - OK, this could help. APs generally advertise N simultaneous users, but the reality is APs usually allow N associations and N/2 simultaneous. Association or authentication tables could fill up. BUT ... how would this only impact WeMo devices and none of the other devices on my network?
WeMo tells me I have interference between my access points and the AP. How would they know? We would it work for a month or two, and then just stop working? And, again, why does this only happen to WeMos?
I have ~80 devices on my home network: 1/2 wired and 1/2 Wi-Fi. Not one of the other devices on my network have any issues similar to the WeMos.
As I am installing the TP-Link switches, I am appreciating that the designers took the time to understand what is in a switch junction box. WeMo did not do this. Here are some improvement that could be made to WeMos design:
Junction boxes are crowded adding excess wires and excess twist on wire connectors is poor design
A WeMo has two additional wires and requires two additional twist on connectors
TP-link eliminates these by having the load and line wires connect directly to the smart switch
The setup of TP-Link smart switches is faster, with fewer steps
The synching to Echo/Alexa is automatic
The TP-Link app is more intuitive then the WeMo app
TP-Link uses the MAC Address of the device as the unique identifier for all actions.
By contrast, WeMo uses a variety of identifiers for each action, which makes it confusing
The transmitted power from the TP-Link for both setup and communication is much stronger than WeMo's Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. WeMo setup must be done within 10-12 feet. I can site in any room in my house and set up a TP-Link device
I liked WeMo's slider for dimming, but I like TP-Link's buttons much better. For example, if I press a WeMo in the middle of the switch or near the bottom, then the brightness changes. I don't want that!. Nobody wants that!.
If you buy WeMos, then this will be helpful:
3 Way Wemo Switches:
If I need to factory reset a WeMo 3-way switch, it is very annoying because I need to keep the boxes and scan code, or record the switch's ID somewhere. Otherwise, I need to shut off the power, remove the face plate and remove the switch to get at the ID. (see table below for IDs)
WeMo and HomeKit
Oh, the horror! Two good/great companies (Belkin and Apple) get together and make a bad product worse. HomeKit enabled WeMos need to be returned. I don't have HomeKit. Perhaps, if I did, this wouldn't be so bad.
HomeKit enabled WeMos must be installed using HomeKit and the ridiculous 8 digit identifier stored behind the faceplate. Why not use the MAC Address? The only way I could get HomeKIt enabled WeMos to work was to install using HomeKit and then delete them from HomeKit.
No Longer used Wemo Switch pages:
Google Sites
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