Top critical review
1.0 out of 5 starsUnreliable and obstinate!
Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2020
In theory (and according to other reviewers), this is an awesome product, and I would agree - - - IF it would do what it was supposed to! I have had this now for 5 months and am extremely disappointed in it.
Setting it up for wifi was a challenge. I first had to contact the company regarding figuring out which option to select under "device" since they have multiple choices in several different categories that are all labeled "plug" with the same line drawing picture options... very frustrating, and time-consuming, unless you have all day to sit there and try selecting each one until you happen to hit the correct one! Then, figuring out how to schedule the timers was even more frustrating, but I eventually figured it out. Are you getting the idea that their instructions are not very clear or easy to understand/follow?
From the get-go, it kept giving me a "Poor Network Condition" error message. I moved it repeatedly trying to improve the connection, to the point that I brought it into the house and set it less than 5 feet from the main gateway, and a foot away from my phone. And still got the same message that it had a poor network connection. I have since had to reset it repeatedly because it will keep losing the network connection, with the same results.
It would eventually connect, but has proved to be extremely unreliable - it will "hold" the network connection for a short period of time (hours, days, maybe a week), then go dead. Running diagnostics on it would only get me the same result - "poor network connection". It's like that is the only response it knows! It doesn't tell you anything else, like what to do to correct the issue. I've tried moving it without success. In my mind, that message means it's either at the edge of or outside the network, which it isn't - I have extremely good wifi showing on my phone, standing right next to where I need this plug to go, and much further beyond.
The schedule would not "hold", so lights would not come on when scheduled, or would come on and stay on, not shutting off. Trying to use the Echo to control them (even just turning them on or off) would get me an error message from Alexa saying that the device was not connected. Grrrrr! And just to add to the confusion, I can manually turn the lights on and off from the app by touching the plug icon - I just have to remember to do so every day... what a waste of technology if it doesn't do it when you set it to so you don't HAVE to remember to do it!
At this point, it's too late to return it. Now the search is back on as I still need a RELIABLE and EASY TO SET UP multiple outdoor plug that I can set to a schedule, and run on wifi. Honestly, I don't care that I can control it with my Echo dot - I don't want to have to remember to tell something to turn lights on and off, or have to try setting up a schedule within the dot, that's what a schedule/timer on the lights is for! I am willing to drop-kick this thing as far as possible if someone can suggest one that will actually do what it is supposed to!