WeMo Maker

So far, not impressed, im a gizmo junkie, got a plethora of devices running on my network, like to doodle with arduino, etc. I have to say after hours and hours (many failures) i finally got it halfway working. My drive was based on a desire to create a unique standalone audible/visual with some delays alarm system for my kids windows (i do have alarms and cameras). Wemo Maker seemed to be a quick fit based on the hours of web searching. Its a nice device from outside but let me put it in contrast for others to validate - this is just what i found after 2 days of wasting my time. CONS: * i never got it to work from any of my android devices * i find it odd that a apple store search for app would not show up the Belkin app (had to use safari) * the maker creates its own network, based on what Ive seen its always on - i don't like this feature, once in your local network should be hidden, its not like it would be used like a GoPro, i mean this thing would be intended to be ALWAYS ON. Comments welcome here. * on my android after hours or struggling, i found that once i connect to wemo maker for setting up, the IP address is way off from what my router DHCP settings, i assume this is normal but i believe it causes too much drama (i.e. 10.22.22.2 wth???) * I believe on both android and apple there is something wrong with set up - if your password is longer than say 12 letters (numbers etc), it will cause you some problems during set up ( i seriously forgot to count but im too scared to wipe and start again because of my 2 days of playing, i finally got it to recognize) * I could not find anything on forums about resetting - Belkin lists all its products reset instructions except the maker. i did both 60, and 5 secs on/off etc. This is an issue because if you did like i did and try to set up on my android and not turn off your scanning network feature on the android it just searches and searches and remembers every time you reboot app, i wiped uninstalled app countless times. I just wanted a clean slate start over to start from a known beginning, when troubleshooting its frustrating to start from an "unknown" state * when i finally got it working on the ipad on first try its failed again. but this time it recognized after app crashed, then after all that, it asked for firmware upgrade, i clicked yes, but really???? * i wish from all the youtubes and podcasts and videos and reviews Belkin emphasized that its a USB power through adapter, i bought this thing assuming it can be powered from a 9v battery also, but only way to make that happen is breakout the cables and wire it to battery but the wemo maker adapter is for 2.5amps,............ PROS: * nice build - good quality from exterior Ill update if Belkin sees this and decides to reply back, but from the Dlinks, WD's, Netgears, and ASUS's, and others i have in my house, i am not impressed with Belkin and they are officially off my preferred vendors list! This WeMo Maker product was pushed out to soon as the software is where it frustrates me the most. At best should it have been out on Beta only. Yes thats right Jake and Jason - bad form not helping that guy out on the Google show on youtube. That should have told me right there what type of product support Belkin has!

I bought this based on the review by AaronR review: Garage Door Automation. I have two 20+ year old garage door openers and was looking for IOT solution for them and his was the best alternative I could find. I did not want to have to replace the openers, and all the IOT products I found seemed to not support them or had other major negatives. Just wanted to add a couple comments to AaronR review. The WeMo app is good. You can install it on multiple phones and it will automatically learn of all the devices and rules once the additional phone attach to the WiFi. Please be aware that if you have more than one WiFi, or multiple houses, the Wemo app seems to only work with one verses the other. Not both. I also found that the notifications provided by the WeMo app for the garage door opening or closing are iffy at best. The notifications were unreliable even before I installed the app on the second phone. In any event, the "sensor triggered" or "sensor not triggered" is totally reliable on the WeMo app so use that if you gotta know if your garage is opened or not. "Sensor Trigger" means it is closed, "sensor not triggered" means it is opened. It is highly recommended that you also install the IFTTT app for additional automation capabilities. The notifications recipes on IFTTT are also not very reliable just like the WeMo app, and additionally they sometimes come in much much later after the action occurred. But the reason you want IFTTT app is to setup "geo fencing". I set it up to open the garage door when I am at the end of my street and it has worked every single time. As I pull up, the garage door just starts opening. A+++. You can also set it up to close your garage door, but I did not do that for a couple of reasons. First, IFTTT only let's you setup one trigger. So if your garage door was already closed and you leave the geo fencing area, it would end up opening it. There is another app called Conjure that is under development that is supposed to have multiple triggers so you can test the garage door condition.

I needed a way to control my front gate Mighty Mule FM500 gate opener over the Internet remotely. WEMO had the solution with the Maker. It is very simple to setup the settings through the app. There are how to videos and instructions online and in the box and through the app that will walk you through it. I could have installed the Maker in the gate's control box through the push button connection. But I didn't want to put it out there where the weather and the environment could cause problems let alone WI-FI connectivity issues. Instead I soldered 2 wires to the leads of the gate opener remote's switch and connected them to the WEMO's relay and that did it. Pushing the butt on the Maker operates the gate from inside the house just like the keyfob does. But now I have access to open and close the gate from anywhere in the world. One problem I have is the duration the momentary option of the Maker's switch lasts. The keyfob needs 2 seconds to activate the gate. The momentary option in the Maker is set to a second or less which does not work with the gate opener. So I changed it to the toggle option. This causes other problems if I'm not careful. So what I do is press the button , count to 2 and push it again to release the keyfob switch. It works well. I wish the momentary switch option had a way to specify how long it would stay on. I didn't use the sensor connection on the WeMo Maker because it's impossible to know if the gate is open or closed or half way with a simple sensor. I have a WI-FI camera overlooking the gate that I use to make sure it's safe to operate the gate if I don't have direct line of sight. It's only been a few weeks since I installed the WeMo, it's working well without issues.