Eve Debuts Thread-Enabled Eve Energy HomeKit Smart Plug

[nutmac]

That's a good answer but I assume these products still have to connect to WiFi. They aren't just magically interfacing with your WiFi network.

No. Eve's Thread-based smart home products do not connect to WiFi. They connect to Apple's Thread-based Home hub instead (HomePod mini or just announced Apple TV 4K). And if the Thread device is powered, they can act as router, extending the range.

Most Wi-Fi routers tend to degrade with about 20 or so connected devices (some mesh routers can handle much more, such as Eero), even if most of the devices use very little bandwidth. So Wi-Fi is not necessarily the best connection for smart home devices.

 

[hanser]

I thought one of the great things about Thread was that it was compatible with all current devices. With one small firmware push older devices are Thread capable. I

I‘m guessing manufacturers said screw that, you want thread you buy new?

The German Eve plug I use was originally without thread, but a firmware update brought this capability. The new one for the US seems to be thread capable from the get go.

 

[hanser]

That's been the rub with the Eve accessories - they are bluetooth only. So they'll need to be within range of your Homekit hub - or now with Thread, within range of another device that is within range of your Homekit hub

They say this is a positive, because bluetooth uses less energy. I have found it to be a big negative, as it greatly limits where in the house I can place an Eve device. I'm now favoring devices from Meross, which do connect via wifi and are ~ $15 a piece.

The first time a family member tries to turn on a light and gets the "device not found" error, you'll be questioning why you went with bluetooth in the first place.

One main advantage of Bluetooth is safety. With Wifi you never know to what server it sends data, and a Wifi smart thing is theoretically a potential target for attack. Bluetooth is not connected to the web and therefore safer.

Disadvantage is the limited distance bluetooth is working, but that is exactly what thread is made to counteract by extending the range of the system.

 

[nutmac]

IKEA has a great HomeKit stuff that also are cheap! Trådfri

One of Eve's strongest incentives is Thread router node, capable of expanding the range of your Thread network. While I had good results with Wemo's Wi-Fi smart plugs (about $25 for 2-pack from Costco), I probably will pick these up in the future to expand the range.

 

[sw1tcher]

🤣

Pay $39.95 for one "smart" plug so I don't have to get up and physically/manually turn on that one device?

 

[hanser]

🤣

Pay $39.95 for one "smart" plug so I don't have to get up and physically/manually turn on that one device?

I integrated the plug in home settings like "Switch lamp on half an hour after sunset" or "switch on radio (which is a bit hidden) when I open my newspaper app when sitting down to breakfast in the morning". It is a luxury, but is nice to have.

 

[Lemon Olive]

That's been the rub with the Eve accessories - they are bluetooth only. So they'll need to be within range of your Homekit hub - or now with Thread, within range of another device that is within range of your Homekit hub

They say this is a positive, because bluetooth uses less energy. I have found it to be a big negative, as it greatly limits where in the house I can place an Eve device. I'm now favoring devices from Meross, which do connect via wifi and are ~ $15 a piece.

The first time a family member tries to turn on a light and gets the "device not found" error, you'll be questioning why you went with bluetooth in the first place.

If Thead doesn't mitigate 'device not found', then it comes up short of being a real solution.

It sounds to me like it should, but will be dependent on you having more nodes in order to expand placement.

 

[matrix07]

🤣

Pay $39.95 for one "smart" plug so I don't have to get up and physically/manually turn on that one device?

Like @hanser said, smart home is a luxury at this point.

But bravo guys I learn so much in this thread. 👏

 

[SCUBA4K]

Still haven't found anyone that can tell me what Thread is and how it is any better or different from what we've had all along.

It is a connectivity language that keeps these smart things in communication without Bluetooth or wifi.

 

[SCUBA4K]

I own 2 HomePod Mini's - how do we do the initial Thread network setup? I assume it is not fully automatic? Is there a way to view your current thread network? For a traditional wifi router I have the Asus RT-AX58U (wifi6)

Here are all of the homekit thread devices. It looks like through software updates they will go back and add new devices. https://www.homekitauthority.com/all-the-homekit-devices-that-support-thread/

 

[davidjschloss]

I would love to get these (if they're available in Germany) but I had the original smart plugs (2 of them) and they both had a very noticeable whining/beeping noise when they were switched on which was incredible annoying for me. Don't know if that's fixed here.

That's weird. I'd assume that the transformers were having more issues going from 220 to 110v and you're hearing the resistors.

I've got a bunch of Eve plugs in the US version with no issue, so sorry to hear the German versions are making a noise.

 

[SM3949]

Thread works flawlessly with the Nanoleaf bulbs and strips I have via my HomePod Mini.

These will be purchases for me - Thread is the future, I think, in smart home products.

For me too. I've got a few Nanoleaf bulbs and a lightstrip as well, and they've been rock-solid (way more reliable than my Lifx bulbs on wifi). I'm replacing my iDevices wifi switches with these as soon as they're delivered. The iDevices switches have been pretty OK, but they will fall off my wifi network and it's a pain to get them back on, plus their software is a disaster. I hope to eventually get rid of all my wifi-dependent smart home devices, once there are more devices on the market. I hope Lifx and Philips get with the program and update their bulbs and strips.

 

[davidjschloss]

It is a connectivity language that keeps these smart things in communication without Bluetooth or wifi.

Still haven't found anyone that can tell me what Thread is and how it is any better or different from what we've had all along.

The communications standards that HomeKit and other home automation work on are designed to be one-on-one broadcasting standards, but not really designed to cooperate. It's this lack of cooperation and rebroadcasting that causes most of the failures in home automation, and Thread is designed to both reduce failure but also extend the distance and complexity of your network, without having to do anything but add Thread capable devices.

The TLDR is that both WiFi and Bluetooth were designed for other things, and are being used for home networking, and that has drawbacks. Thread was designed to be use don home automation-type problems, and so doesn't have those drawbacks.

WiFi and Bluetooth both transmit instructions from HomeKit router to device, and the devices use either Bluetooth or WiFi to transmit back.

As a peer-to-peer broadcast system, both have drawbacks. WiFi gets slower/less effective the more devices are on the network. WiFi communications from the devices requires a relatively high amount of power too. Bluetooth is much more power efficient, but the range isn't designed to be as far as WiFi. (This is why headphones start to drop audio when you get a few dozen feet from your phone.)

Thread is a communications standard that uses repeaters to re-broadcast the signal. It's essentially Mesh-Wifi and Bluetooth had a baby.

Each router on the network—and a router can be a outlet device like this, or a bulb, or a HomePod mini, etc.—makes sure the signal is re-broadcast until it has arrived at its destination device, and can confirm that that has happened.

This means that the more Thread devices that act as routers that you add, the better your communication between all of your devices get. And since Thread is a cheap standard to implement, you end up with things like $20 lightbulbs that have Thread routers built into them.

With thread there's lower lag times between event triggers and the action, fewer "I'm sorry I haven't heard back from your devices", and no need to use WiFi in order to connect devices, which means your home network performs better too.

 

[rhaezorblue]

So is Thread built-in to HomeKit? Or do you need to do some kind of initial setup for the "Thread network" ?

 

[Lemon Olive]

So is Thread built-in to HomeKit? Or do you need to do some kind of initial setup for the "Thread network" ?

You need a HomePod mini or a new Apple TV (latest hardware).

 

[Lemon Olive]

The communications standards that HomeKit and other home automation work on are designed to be one-on-one broadcasting standards, but not really designed to cooperate. It's this lack of cooperation and rebroadcasting that causes most of the failures in home automation, and Thread is designed to both reduce failure but also extend the distance and complexity of your network, without having to do anything but add Thread capable devices.

The TLDR is that both WiFi and Bluetooth were designed for other things, and are being used for home networking, and that has drawbacks. Thread was designed to be use don home automation-type problems, and so doesn't have those drawbacks.

WiFi and Bluetooth both transmit instructions from HomeKit router to device, and the devices use either Bluetooth or WiFi to transmit back.

As a peer-to-peer broadcast system, both have drawbacks. WiFi gets slower/less effective the more devices are on the network. WiFi communications from the devices requires a relatively high amount of power too. Bluetooth is much more power efficient, but the range isn't designed to be as far as WiFi. (This is why headphones start to drop audio when you get a few dozen feet from your phone.)

Thread is a communications standard that uses repeaters to re-broadcast the signal. It's essentially Mesh-Wifi and Bluetooth had a baby.

Each router on the network—and a router can be a outlet device like this, or a bulb, or a HomePod mini, etc.—makes sure the signal is re-broadcast until it has arrived at its destination device, and can confirm that that has happened.

This means that the more Thread devices that act as routers that you add, the better your communication between all of your devices get. And since Thread is a cheap standard to implement, you end up with things like $20 lightbulbs that have Thread routers built into them.

With thread there's lower lag times between event triggers and the action, fewer "I'm sorry I haven't heard back from your devices", and no need to use WiFi in order to connect devices, which means your home network performs better too.

This is great.

 

[rhaezorblue]

You need a HomePod mini or a new Apple TV (latest hardware).

Yes, I know you need a HomePod mini.. hence why I said I have 2 of them. What I'm asking (which no one seems to really know, I'm finding..) is how do you take advantage of Thread as a Mini owner? Is there a way to view your Thread network etc

 

[Baritone_Guy]

I wish I could find smart plugs that support dimming and not just on and off. I have a few Zigbee devices I would like to replace.

 

[ErikGrim]

🤣

Pay $39.95 for one "smart" plug so I don't have to get up and physically/manually turn on that one device?

Uhm, yeah absolutely. Once you have *everything* set up so you don't ever have to get up to manually turn anything off you'll see what the benefit is. Lights turning on right before sunset. Plants being watered every day at sunrise. Have music playing and lights come on as you enter the apartment. Being able to go to bed and say "Good night" to have everything from lights to tv to music turned off is literally life changing.

 

[Razorpit]

Uhm, yeah absolutely. Once you have *everything* set up so you don't ever have to get up to manually turn anything off you'll see what the benefit is. Lights turning on right before sunset. Plants being watered every day at sunrise. Have music playing and lights come on as you enter the apartment. Being able to go to bed and say "Good night" to have everything from lights to tv to music turned off is literally life changing.

I don’t know if I would say it’s life changing. It’s a cool toy that you’ll waste time and energy on to get working and then certain things will start to break when bad firmware updates it. My “Good night Siri” routine has been broken for the last two months because an update did something to my AppleTV that I haven’t figured out yet.

You want life changing, get married, have kids, sign them up for hockey. That’s life changing.

 

[hanser]

You want life changing, get married, have kids, sign them up for hockey. That’s life changing.

Been there, done that. What next?

 

[Razorpit]

Been there, done that. What next?

Firearms

 

[Lemon Olive]

Yes, I know you need a HomePod mini.. hence why I said I have 2 of them. What I'm asking (which no one seems to really know, I'm finding..) is how do you take advantage of Thread as a Mini owner? Is there a way to view your Thread network etc

I'm sure part of the entire purpose is to leave tinkering out of it.

 

[hanser]

Firearms

not here in Germany.

 

[Razorpit]

not here in Germany.

Bummer. How about BBQ?