02-27-2014 01:45 AM
I have a couple of the Wemo sockets that plug into the wall, and have been eagerly awaiting the in-wall switch. I got two, one for the front door lights and one for a bedroom. Installation is easy, with no other tools required other than a screwdriver and access to your circuit breaker. Note that you need a neutral (white) wire for the unit to work. Once it's in the wall, you can use the iOS or Android app to configure the switch to use your wifi network. The first thing it will do is download a firmware update (easy) and restart, then you're ready to program it. The app has a nice step-by-step workflow for adding rules. The app is location aware so you can set it to turn on/off with the sun if you want. There's also a fully-featured set of IFTTT (If This, Then That) triggers if you want to get creative, turning on the lights and tweeting about it when certain events happen. You could set a trigger to anything: new pope, new royal baby, someone walking by a motion sensor, texts from a certain number, and so on.
Belkin deserves a lot of credit for sticking with their software, updating it to allow multiple triggers and greatly enhancing ease of use and reliability from the original release. The Light Switch hardware is simple and attractive. The switch itself is standard sized, so you can use any faceplate you want. No need to worry that you're stuck with the big white faceplate from the photographs.
I hope the Wemo equipment becomes a standard and sticks around for a long time.