This was posted 10 years 11 months 24 days ago, and might be an out-dated deal.

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Belkin WEMO Automated Power Point $39 (RRP $59) / Wireless Home Bundle Motion $99 - Officeworks

380

Already bought a few of these - excellent for controlling outdoor lighting using iphone / ipad (and android too i think).

On special at Officeworks - Online only though can have delivered to store.

Cheapest have found is $50 online or $55 at Harvey Norman (with $5 off signup voucher)

typo edit for the pedants

Wireless home bundle
http://www.officeworks.com.au/retail/products/Technology/Pow…

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  • +5

    where did you bring those to?

    • Yup how hard can it be to get this one right?

    • +1

      Good deal I branged some too.

  • +1

    Australian power plug and socket (unlike what's shown in the image)?

    • +2

      Yes they are the Aussie plug and socket unlike the image used above.

  • Is it just me or they don't look like they suit Australia power plugs?

    • +3

      Those plugs in the photo look shocked

  • +5

    These are awesome. You can use them in conjuction with IFTTT

    • +1

      Oh nice :D :D

    • I have wemo plug thingy already I don't understand what IFTTT is I had a look at the site but how do you configure it to turn lights on when it gets dark etc?

      • When programming rules in the app you can set on/off at sunrise/sunset.

  • +1

    Call me paranoid but what are the security protocols of this wireless home automation stuff that works on 2.4Ghz?

    • I am guessing it will use the standard wifi protocols for protection. Such as WEP, WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK etc.

    • +4

      You are paranoid.

      It supports WPA, WPA2 and the lesser security stuff. It's no less secure than your home Wifi network. If you don't have password or just forward ports without knowing what you're doing then expect trouble. Worst case someone can turn on and off some lights or something until you remove the intruder.

      Even then why would you put something that important on a switchable outlet like this?

      Edit: On top of the Wifi security I'm sure there will be at minimum password security if you want to open it to the internet.

      • +2

        Just imagine putting a home life support system on one of these…

        • +1

          Like I say, you'd be stupid if you did.

          Meh I don't see the big deal. I do see a proposed use is putting an iron on one. That could result in a bad situation I guess if the iron was left lying down. My electronic iron still needs a button press to set the temperature after the power is turned on. Older ones wouldn't have that.

      • I was referring to accessing the WeMo switches' gateway remotely.

        [Daniel] was able to get root on his Belkin WeMo and with full control of his Internet-connected outlet was able to turn it into a deathtrap.

        [Daniel] says his exploit could be developed into a virus that will scan for WeMo devices. Once these Internet-connected devices are found, it’s easy to turn these devices on and off really fast; something not too dangerous for a desk lamp, but potentially lethal if it’s plugged into a space heater.

        In the video after the break, you can see [Daniel] exploiting the WeMo with a flaw in its UPnP implementation. There’s footage of his terminal hacking and of his desk lamp being turned on and off really fast, something that could be very dangerous for higher current devices.
        http://hackaday.com/2013/01/31/turning-the-belkin-wemo-into-…

        • +3

          A "deathtrap"? Alarmist much?

          If that's such a concern, don't put important stuff on it. And don't allow it access to the general internet. In that case don't bother at all then?

          Also looks like he did it from his LAN after crashing it with pings? So how is this a real risk then to the internet at large?

        • +1

          I'm not particularly for or against home automation; I'm just of the opinion that big multi-nationals don't give 2 hoots about privacy or security, which is why I brought up the topic and sure enough these things have some design flaws. That being said I think if you keep them off the internet/remote access then you should be fine.

        • So you don't use Wifi then?

        • +1

          Not alarmist in my books, unlikely maybe.

          You buy one thinking how useful it would be to connect one of these to your coffee maker, or frypan, or heater etc. so you can switch them on before you arrive home and the dinner is cooking, there's a fresh pot of coffee and the room is nice and warm.

          Johnny hacker finds your wemo device and knows because of it's lax security (maybe it was networked to your D-Link router, which also has a major security flaw), they can have some fun and rpidly switch your device on/off, leave it running to run up your power bill etc.

          Having those sorts of electrical appliances switched on, unattended and unwatched wouldn not be a smart move (either you're at work, or sleeping). Especially if it were a device which could boil dry and then be a fire hazard.

        • Pretty much everything that heats up these days has a thermostat/thermal fuse. Even if you leave it on, the worst that will happen is the fuse will blow. Kettles shut off once they boil, rice cookers go into "keep warm" mode, irons have thermostats.

          Hell, I bought a $10 heater this winter that has both a thermal shut-off to shut it off if it overheated (fan and all) and a pressure sensor to shut it off unless it was flat on the floor.

          As for switching devices on and off, the power in your house gets shut off and run backwards about 25 times a second; I'm not sure how much worse a hacked switch could make it. Maybe a paper jam in a printer if you shut it down mid-print?

        • +1

          Considering my experience with Belkin in the past in regards to security, they don't give a crap. I alerted them to a massive security hole in one of their routers, they just fobbed it off. Apparently according to them, I was using the router for an unusual purpose and it wasn't worth spending the time to fix the issue.

        • +1

          jong: Clearly you have fairly little idea about AC voltage and electricity in general.

        • +2

          @poedgirl Strange, what sort of issue did you discover?

          The issue that Daniel reported is worrying (http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2013/Jan/272). Some of their routers do suffer from some terrible remote code executions and weak crypto issues.

        • +1

          Shonky: At least what jong wrote is well substantiated. Without an explanation from you I'm inclined to agree with him and not you. Probably goes for a lot of ozbargainers.

        • For real?

          1) AC does not get shut off and run backwards 25 times per second. It's a sine wave for a start. It's 50 times a second. It's not power, it's the voltage. Power is being delivered in both halves of the cycle for all but the most primitive devices.

          2) A relay switching on an off repeatedly is not good for the relay itself and eventually it will either weld itself closed OR the coil will die and it will probably fail open.

          3) A relay switching on and off is also likely to cause grief to whatever device is on the other side of it. Something like a plugpack is probably not going to mind too much. A conventional bulb switching on and off rapidly is likely to die earlier. The newer fluoro type bulbs electronics may die prematurely, etc.

          Enough?

          edit: Part of what he wrote was complete rubbish nor substantiated.

    • You're not the only one, various IT Security entities have been making rumbling noises lately about the upcoming plethora of (perhaps pointlessly) connected simple devices and the security implications.

      http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/11/06/what_if_the_light_bu…

      As others point out with this device use your brain and you're probably very unlikely to have any sort of issue.

      Personally I can't see the point of this beyond a little entertainment value which will wear off quite fast. I'm happy to hit a switch and so forth to turn lights on or what have you and I can't really envision how pulling a phone out and opening an app or swiping an NFC strip is going to be more convenient or fast … but you know what usually happens, people end up doing all sorts of interesting things that no one thought of prior to having it so who knows, it could be something to get later for me.

  • ·.·

  • +8

    ok, it's $10 cheaper than anywhere else. I just have to figure out wtf I'd use it for????

    • +1

      store it in the pool room with those new jousting sticks you just scored from the trading post

    • +1

      You must be new here.

      • +1

        Ozbargainers buy first think later.

  • Do you happen to know other brand that can do similar thing below?
    "The sensor plugs into an outlet and detects motion up to 10 feet away. It then sends a wireless signal to the Switch to turn the connected device either on or off."

    What I want is the light is off then when it detect a movement it will turn on the light. This is for indoor light or put inside the room so for my children if he/she wake up in the middle of the night and would like to go to the toilet then it will turn on the light.

    Any idea or feedback?

  • -1

    Skip this. Go for z wave.

  • Can I use this to turn on and off my computer remotely?

    • +1

      You can probably install log me in or something similar to do that

      • +1

        Logmein can only Wake on Lan if you have Logmein installed on another PC in the same network.

        I use Logmein for remote access, but I have an app on my iPhone that sends the magic packet to wake up my PC. A little more interaction required, but it works like a charm.

    • +1

      On, probably (might need to twiddle with BIOS settings to enable power on after power loss)

      Off, definitely not advisable as it'll cut the power without your computer shutting down properly.

      • If reaallly necessary, hook up a UPS in between. the UPS will detect the power loss and tell the pc to shut down.

    • You can VPN to certain routers and use their WOL feature.

  • I'm going to wait for an update from these guys before I order from OW: http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/121095

  • This will end the argument about who has to go upstairs to turn on the electric blanket on a cold winter night.

  • How much power does it use when it's 'waiting'?

  • +1

    It is not so much that it is a remote switch. For me it the multiple switching that can be programmed.
    I have it to switch on a pump at various times of the day. Much more accurate than the mechanical devices available.

  • Seems pretty cool. Programmable. :)

  • +2

    Priced matched at bunnings this morning for $35.10, no questions asked.

    • bunnings has Wemo? since when. which bunnings?

    • Can you post your receipt so that we can price match at Officeworks?

      The next guy that buys from Officeworks can post the receipt so that we can price match at Bunnings.

      And the cycle continues…

      • +1

        BargainCeption?

  • I can but it won't help as it says price match on the receipt

  • On android is there a way to connect this up to tasker/lama or nfc trigger apps etc? Aka can you do anything smart with this apart from opening a stock app and clicking on/off.

  • Nope.

  • Good for an old fan or heater which doesn't have remote. Thanks Op.

    I'd also use it for lighting if I didn't already have HUE bulbs.

  • Got two - not sure what I'm gonna control with them yet but I'm gonna control them with RPi :D

    • We'll all control them with you :-) Give us yer IP!

  • Alas, price appears to have risen to $48.97.

  • Damn, missed it.

    • Me too. I've been eyeing this for a while (long before it was posted), waiting for a better deal, but then OzB came along and gobbled them all up. I still have no idea what I would use it for, but I wanted to mess around with IFTTT.

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