Belkin WeMo and Ubiquiti mFi Home Automation Platforms Review
by Ganesh T S on April 27, 2015 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Home Automation
- Belkin
- Ubiquiti Networks
- IoT
mFi and WeMo Product Lines
We start our look at the Belkin WeMo and Ubiquiti Networks mFi with an overview of the product lines. While Belkin WeMo started out with home automation as the main focus, the Ubiquiti Networks mFi is a M2M (machine-to-machine) control and automation platform that mainly targets the enterprise / business market. Despite its M2M focus, there is nothing preventing the mFi products from being used in a residential setting. Both lineups have a number of products in the family. Sometimes, the same functionality is delivered by multiple products.
The WeMo Family
Belkin's WeMo family has a wider variety of devices. In addition to the regular power outlet control with energy monitoring, devices to replace the standard light switch, motion sensors, smart LED lights, smart humidifers and air purifiers, coffee makers, heaters, IP cameras, door and window closure sensors etc. exist. Belkin's WeMo product lineup started exclusively with Wi-Fi as the communication technology. However, recent products such as the door/window sensors and smart lighting products require the WeMo Link, a Wi-Fi - ZigBee bridge device. In our review today, we are focusing on the WeMo Light Switch and the WeMo Insight Switch. Both of these connect directly to the Wi-Fi network and get addresses via DHCP. We will deal with the setup and usage aspects in a later section.
There are two interesting products in the WeMo lineup that deserve special mention. The first is WeMo Maker, a Wi-Fi device that allows control of low-voltage electronic devices using the WeMo app / integrate it with the other WeMo products. It contains a DC switch (24V@1A / 24W max.) and the ability to monitor up to three sensors with a 5V digital output. This device targets hobbyists with knowledge of electronics, and not the average consumer. As an example, it could be used to create a connected garage opener. The other interesting product is the unique, but, yet-to-publicly-launch WeMo Water. It is the only device we are aware of that can monitor the water consumption in a plumbing system without an extensive array of sensors.
WeMo Light Switch and WeMo Insight
The WeMo Light Switch is an in-wall device that can replace a single wall switch. It connects to a Wi-Fi router and a smartphone with the appropriate app can be used to control and schedule the lights. The communication is via 2.4 GHz 802.11n, and the product internally uses a Ralink / Mediatek Wi-Fi SoC. The FCC submission allows us to take a look at the internals of the Light Switch without disassembling it.
The WeMo Insight is a device that plugs into an existing three-prong outlet and converts it into a Wi-Fi enabled switch. It can also monitor the instantaneous power consumption as well as track the energy consumed over a period of time by the device connected to it. In addition to scheduling (similar to the Light Switch), it can also deliver notifications based on the aspects trackable by the device. The Insight also uses the same platform as the Light Switch, as evident from the internal photographs available in the FCC submission.
The mFi Family
Moving on to the Ubiquiti Networks mFi family, we find devices in three categories - mPort (for sensor interfacing), mPower (controllable power outlets) and InWall Outlet and Switch (in-wall manageable devices). We have already looked in detail into the mPower, a 3-outlet Wi-Fi controllable power strip. In order to give an idea of a multi-device mFi setup, we have a mPower Pro, InWall Outlet and InWall Dimmer Switch in the mix. The setup process of all the three are identical to the mPower we reviewed earlier. We will take a look at the installation process in a later section.
The mPort (which we will not cover in detail today) is used as a bridge between a IP network and traditional sensors / devices that operate over a serial connection. Ubiquiti Networks has a number of sensors compatible with the mPort - current, contact (doors / windows), motion (both ceiling and wall-mount) and temperature. The mPort is powered via PoE (power-over-Ethernet) and the sensors connect either through the mFi RJ-45 port (eg. temperature sensor) or a sensor terminal block port (eg. contact sensor).
Like the WeMo Maker, the mPort is very flexible. The advantageous aspect is that the flexibility is very well documented also.
mPower and InWall Outlet & Switch
All the three product categories that we are looking at today are based on the Qualcomm Atheros AR9331 chipset codenamed 'Hornet'. The AR9331 is a Wi-Fi SoC that integrates a MIPS CPU. The internals of the mPower models and the InWall Outlet are presented in the three galleries below.
The InWall Switch is a polished device - both in terms of industrial design and physical feature set. The functionality is similar to the device that brought Kickstarter success to Plum / Ube more than two years back. A capacitive touch front panel can be used to control the state of the light (a tap to turn it on or off, and a slide up / down to brighten or dim it). The device also tracks power consumption. The FCC submission provides us a look into the internals of the InWall Switch.
The InWall Switch can also be put in the pure-switch mode (dimming disabled) for applications where it is used to control appliances with motors and the like. Note that the unit is not directly compatible with lights controllable via three-way switches, though a software solution exists.
The table below summarizes the members of the home automation families that we have discussed so far.
| Home Automation Device Family Members | ||
| Functionality | ||
| Switchable Power Outlet | WeMo Switch | mPower (1,3,6 or 8 Outlets) mFi InWall Outlet |
| Switchable Power Outlet with Energy Monitoring | WeMo Insight Switch | mPower (1,3,6 or 8 Outlets) mFi InWall Outlet |
| Current Sensor | mFi Current Sensor | |
| Light Switch | WeMo Light Switch | mFi InWall Dimmer Switch |
| Light Switch with Dimmer | - | mFi InWall Dimmer Switch |
| Motion Sensors | WeMo Motion (Wi-Fi) WeMo Room Motion Sensor (ZigBee) |
mFi Motion Sensor Ceiling mFi Motion Sensor Wall |
| Contact Sensors | WeMo Door & Window Sensor (ZigBee) | mFi Door/Window Contact Sensor |
| Smart Bulbs (Dimming / Switching) | WeMo Smart LED Bulb (ZigBee) | - |
| DC Switch | WeMo Maker | mPort |
| Kitchen | Crock-Pot Smart Slow Cooker with WeMo Mr. Coffee 10-Cup Smart Optimal Brew Coffeemaker with WeMo |
- |
| Environment Sensors | - | mFi Temperature Sensor (Temperature) |
| Environment Control | Holmes Smart Humidifier with WeMo Holmes Smart Air Purifier with WeMo Holmes Room Smart Heater with WeMo |
- |
| Door Locks and Garage Openers | - | - |
| Surveillance | NetCam | UniFi Video Camera |
| Irrigation Controller | - | - |
| Entertainment | - | - |
| Siren / Alarm | - | - |
Note that the devices in the 'light switch' category can be used to control any AC load as long as the power limits are satisfied. Unless explicitly noted, all devices in the table above connect directly to an IP network (mostly though Wi-Fi).
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Daniel Egger - Monday, April 27, 2015 - link
> But since an led light usually uses around 5 watt an hourWell that depends on your LED lighting, 5W will yield around 400lm which is equal to around 40W of incandescent lighting which is not really much unless you're talking cozy reading lamp. For my ambient living room lighting alone I have 2 PSUs with combined 210W output and running all channels at full brightness (which is crazily bright) they use around 130W. In addition I have 26W of Living Colors for accent lighting and another 12W lighting my bar.
> how many decades do you need to keep the light on before a 50$ light switch and 2-300$ total solution pays for itself
How would it *ever* pay for itself? Those solutions increase power consumption and do not offer any savings whatsoever: if I need my lights they're on, if I don't they're off -- it doesn't get simpler than that.
V900 - Monday, April 27, 2015 - link
HOLY CRAP that's a lotta lights and wattage you got there!I think my whole living room is lit with 10-12 watts or so. Then again, in Europe power can easily cost ten times of what it costs in North America. Especially the parts of NA that get their power from nuclear power plants or through hydro electric means.
And even in Europe with high power costs, LED bulbs has made conserving the lights and power sorta meaningless. Even when you pay 1-2$ pr kilowatts, forgetting to turn off the lights costs a lot less when your lightbulbs use 5-10 times less power.
Daniel Egger - Monday, April 27, 2015 - link
> HOLY CRAP that's a lotta lights and wattage you got there!Yes, but a regular nighttime light scene only takes around 40W in total which is not much. Even the 200W halogen uplight I had a couple of years ago took 120W at the darkest dimm setting while only lighting a fraction of the area. Heck, even the projector over my head is using almost 200W right now.
> I think my whole living room is lit with 10-12 watts or so.
You must have a small living room or prefer candlelight setups. ;) As I said my bar has 4 downlights with 3W each (80lm/W) and is by far the best LED light I've ever seen, very halogen-like -- I totally love that beautiful setup and it's easily as good and bright as the 4x20W halogen downlights which are installed next to them in the kitchen. But it's not even remotely possible to light the whole living room just with those...
malcolmh - Wednesday, April 29, 2015 - link
"$1-$2 per kilowatts"? Not sure where you get that assumption from.Here in the UK I'm paying £0.0945 / kWh, which is about 15 cents US. My plan also has a £0.25/day flat rate standing charge, but since that's a flat rate it's not really relevant here.
I also can't see the point of these devices though. /Maybe/ if you integrated them to a whole-room voice activation system, that worked as reliably as the video promoting Amazon Echo...
ganeshts - Monday, April 27, 2015 - link
Couple of examples:Vacation mode : You are out on vacation, but need to make your house look occupied to the outside world - If you could randomly turn on/off lights at night remotely / set such a schedule, that would be a deterrent against would-be burglars.
Home Theater setting : If it is night and you are starting to watch a movie on your TV, slowly dim and then switch off the lights.
Energy sensing outlets can help you determine what devices consume the most power and how you can optimize their usage. Check out reviews of smart outlets on Amazon - there are plenty of usage models. I do agree that they need to come down in cost - which is where the InWall outlets come into play - they don't really have that much premium over the generic outlets that are installed in the walls.
steven75 - Monday, April 27, 2015 - link
"they don't really have that much premium over the generic outlets that are installed in the walls."I beg to differ. $59 vs about $1.50 for a duplex outlet at the local hardware store is a massive premium.
I like the idea of this stuff very much, it's just that the price needs to be lower by a factor of about 10.
ganeshts - Monday, April 27, 2015 - link
You are right.. I was having the dimmer switches in mind when I wrote that:http://www.homedepot.com/b/Electrical-Dimmers-Swit...
The minimum is around $22 - the good ones around $30 ; There is a premium of around $30, but that is still less than the ~$60 premium for the outlets.
Daniel Egger - Monday, April 27, 2015 - link
> Vacation mode : You are out on vacation, but need to make your house look occupied to the outside world - If you could randomly turn on/off lights at night remotely / set such a schedule, that would be a deterrent against would-be burglars.Right, because burglars are utterly stupid; they don't notice that the car is absent for weeks but are easily fooled by randomly flicked lights (because that's what people do, rather than say turn it on on demand and depending on the sunset). Not to mention that the best protection against burglars here are roller shutters which tend to counter the idea of making light inside for the outsider to see.
> Energy sensing outlets can help you determine what devices consume the most power and how you can optimize their usage.
You'll only have to do that once per device. There's no point in doing it constantly; it's a huge waste of energy without any information gain.
V900 - Monday, April 27, 2015 - link
Actually, today's modern burglar doesn't have to sit in a parked car for hours to do surveillance on a potential house to burglarize.(I actually doubt they've ever done that, though that is the whole logic behind setting your lights on timers. No matter if we're talking about 3$ manual dollar store timers or 50$ Belkin internet timers.)
Even today's poorly equipped burglar can go on Facebook to see whether the owners are home, or if the whole family is in the Dominican Republic for two weeks.
And the 70$ Android handset put an end to the good old "What kinda burglar brings their smartphone to work?!?" argument.
Daniel Egger - Monday, April 27, 2015 - link
> Actually, today's modern burglar doesn't have to sit in a parked car for hours to do surveillance on a potential house to burglarize.My point exactly. Even though I don't use Facebook et al, it's quite easy to spot -- just by driving by -- whether we're at home. Hm, maybe I should switch my parking spots every now and then to create the illusion I'm at home. ;)