WeMo Introduction and Teardown

Belkin’s WeMo is a lot of talked about IoT product for home automation. Belkin’s WeMo Switch smart power plug is one of our favorite smart-home devices because it provides such a low-risk home automation entry point. After you associate a WeMo device with your wireless network via an Android or iOS application, you’re subsequently able to control that device via the same application while on your LAN, or optionally even through a WAN connection. There are many devices that can do the same, but WeMo might be the biggest name in this field now. WeMo Switch initially creates its own private Wi-Fi network, which the configuring Android or iOS device temporarily connects to. Via the configuration utility, the desired end Wi-Fi network attributes are sent to the WeMo Switch, which then reboots to complete the setup process. Paired mobile devices can operate the WeMo from anywhere in the world once paired up on a local WiFi network.

The WeMo has the ability to connect with the awesome web app called IFTTT (If This Then That) which allows the switch to respond to actions. It can be set to do things as ridiculous as turning the lights on and off every time you send a tweet, to something more useful like having the lights turn on when arriving home and off when driving away.

Here is a video giving introduction to that device:  Review of Belkin Wemo

They also have a version that fits in place of light switch. You can find information it from Installing the Belkin WeMo Light Switch and Belkin WeMo Lightswitch Unboxing, Installation, and Amazon Echo Demo videos.

Why WeMo is so popular? The reason is that it can do a lot and it has lots of hacking potential. Do-It-Yourself Home Automation with the Belkin WeMo web page introduces you to what you can do easily. There is a SDK for iOS and Android for building your own mobile apps. You can also control WeMo without a smartphone. You can control Belkin WeMo with OpenRemote integration platform for residential and commercial building automation.And many more. Open and easy to use also comes with some negative things: security issues.

The WeMo product line has been extended over years and there are newer more advanced products. Belkin unveiled new WeMo sensors at CES 2015 and they are hackable as well. There is an  advanced Insight Switch, which supports both control and power-consumption monitoring functions, was previously discussed on EDN. Belkin WeMo Insight Switch review: An even smarter smart-home power plug article tells that the new model, the $59.99 Belkin WeMo Insight Switch, has the same capabilities as the $49.99 original — remote device power control, programmability, IFTTT support — along with a more compact design, and the surprisingly deep ability to track the energy consumption of any gadget you plug into it. The energy consumption tracking won’t be useful for everyone, but thanks to IFTTT, I can see certain use cases, particularly for tech-savvy parents and roommates (It can also send data through IFTTT, so for example it can keep a Google Calendar of the amount of daily energy usage it’s recorded for the day). The WeMo Insight Switch really shines when you integrate its programmability with that energy tracking – for that you’ll need to familiarize yourself with IFTTT (“if this then that”).

Belkin WeMo Insight Switch Review – Control Lights and Electronics with iPhone or Android and IFTTT!

Belkin WeMo Insight Switch Review (With Energy Use Monitor)

If you are a hardware hacker, you might want to know what is inside WeMo device. EDN magazine article Teardown: WeMo Switch is highly integrated answers your questions what is inside WeMo. Teardown: WeMo Switch is highly integrated has hands-on disassembly results, specifically on a WeMo Switch. It’s processing “heart” is Ralink’s MIPS-based RT5350 Wi-Fi SoC. The RT5350 is also found in 802.11b/g routers, access points, and the like. As is the case with many consumer electronics devices, the hardware implementation is highly integrated and low cost from a bill-of-materials standpoint. Given that the product ASP is $49.99, Belkin is presumably making a decent profit margin on a per-unit basis.