WiOn 50049 Outdoor Wi-Fi Wireless Plug-In Switch; Smartphone And Tablet Automation For Up To 12 Devices 2 Grounded Outlets Weather Resistant Energy Saving Wifi Controlled Switch

Works easily with the app but pairing with Alexa is way too hard and required back and forth email with their customer service. Long story short, don’t use long names for the switch. I named mine “Holiday Lights” but the Alexa couldn’t find the device on the network. Turns out you need to use just one word for the name. I renamed the switch “holiday” and Alexa worked first try...after trying to figure out the issue with their customer service. Not the greatest app or Alexa integration here.

This was the third WiOn 50049 Outdoor Wi-Fi Wireless Plug-In Switch that Ive purchased which brought me to writing this review. The device is very easy to setup and the instructions are very simple and straight forward to follow. I originally purchased two (2) last year to help manage the Halloween lighting and decorations in my yard, as I got tired of having to deal with other timers that kept going bad or were difficult to adjust. I purchased a third (3) one this year for our Christmas yard decorations and it was a piece of cake to add to the existing smart phone app. I love the smart phone application access to adjust times to turn lights on or off, or even turn them on manually while Im away from home, to give the appearance that someones home. The item is very sturdy and well-made. I highly recommend this item, especially for the price-point.

Working well. I’m getting ready to order my third. WiFi range is good. One is in a crawlspace under the house. Even next to a steel beam, it’s connecting to WiFi well. Instructions on setting up and controlling second unit could be better. I found help on an online video. To adjust second or additional units, you have to shift the devices icon to the leftmost position on your display. Once you know to do that, it’s simple to set up. I have it set up on a non-broadcast WiFi network. That can be tricky with some devices, but not this one.

Edit 2: It seems Southwire / Woods has merely rebranded the ECO Plugs RC-028W. I was able to install the ECO Plugs app from the Google Play store and successfully connect a factory-restored WiOn outlet to my router with it. It took me a few factory resets and forgetting the ECO-serial network on my phone and reconnecting, but the connection eventually succeeded. Although the Woods WiOn app is abandonware, the ECO Plugs app is a passable substitute updated for compatibility with Android 9. Connecting with the ECO Plugs app is quirky, though. A successful connection to the router does not deactivate the plugs temporary wifi access point. --- Edit 1: Beware! The Woods WiOn Android app doesnt fully work on the latest version of Android. It doesnt appear that Woods / Southwire has updated their app in a year and a half. Unless you have access to a device with an older version of Android, you may not be able to get this outlet to connect to your router. The out-of-box router connection dialog simply will not appear as it should when a new outlet is detected, regardless of clearing your phones cache and app data or resetting your outlet back to factory defaults. Maybe the ECO Plugs app would be a suitable workaround? Maybe, but I havent tried it to see. I ended up digging an ancient Android 4.4.2 device out of a drawer to perform the connection to my wireless network. Also, the WiOn products domain seems now to be controlled by a cybersquatter. There is no longer a website available for you to find support or documentation for this outlet. The outlet and its app are abandonware. I emailed Southwire a request for assistance, then followed up with my Android 4.4.2 workaround. If they respond with anything worthwhile, Ill update this review. So far my emails have gone ignored. --- Original review: Rugged, stable network connectivity from the opposite corner of the house and through walls, and Alexa integration is flawless. The WiOn app features above-average flexibility, offering automation with many triggers: time of day, countdown, astronomic, and random vacation timers. It does not offer Google or IFTTT integration, though. Bear in mind that Internet of Things devices such as this are heavily dependent on a reliable router. If youve got a garbage router, dont bother with this or any other IoT / smart home devices until youve upgraded. The Internet of Things tends to expose latent instability in mediocre routers. If youre not running Tomato, DD-WRT, Google Wifi, Ubiquiti, or better, dont blame inexplicable disconnections on your outlets. With OEM router firmware, more often than not, bugs are par for the course.

This is not a light sensitive plug. It works off of an app and it appears to use actual sunrise/sunset times. The app was a bit confusing to use when I wanted the lights to come on a dusk and stay on for a period of time. The app uses a start before/after a specific time as well as the stop time. This was a bit confusing at first but figured it out. Seems like the instructions could give you a hint and example of how to set it up for this type of situation.

UPDATE: Thanks to a review from another person, I finally figured out how to make mine work with alexa. The key is the plug needs to have a 1 word name (in WiOn app). If you use 2 words, it wont connect to alexa. Now that its working with alexa, its a great product. The company isnt great though. No support and their iOS app is the worst UI ive ever seen. Original review: Use this for my x-mas lights on the patio. Now I can turn them on and off without going outside to plug/unplug it, which is awesome. I use the timer usually. Only issue is that Alexa wont find the device, so I cannot use voice commands. I have the skills connected, but the device wont be found.

This would have been a 5 star review, except for one major issue: software. I have 4 of these outlets and they have worked dependably and consistently for several years. However, the WiOn app hasn’t been updated in quite some time, and it no longer works with my iPhone running iOS16. So… I’m unable to set up and program the outlets anymore, rendering them useless. I’ve contacted customer service three times (both email and voicemail; couldn’t talk with an human) and have received no response. I can’t recommend this item until the software issue is resolved. UPDATE: WiOn has updated their software to work with the new iOS update. All is fine, and I reiterate the complement I made: it works reliably and consistently. Highly recommend WiOn outlets.

Fantastic device, quite easy to set up and it seems to be working reliably after 4 days in use. I am using it to remotely control a pond aerator that requires a very specific on/off schedule. An added benefit of using a WIFI-enabled device in the cloud is that I know the house power and my home wifi network are functioning generally, and also that the aerators circuit has not tripped the GFI. This unit can handle 15 amps and 1000 watts, well above the 1/3 hp 5-amp draw (650 watts) of my pond aerator motor. The WiOn app on my iPhone is easy to use and offers great programming flexibility as well as manual on/off override independent of the time settings.

While the instructions on this item suck, it does work! For anyone else that is trying to set this up, when it tells you to connect your device to the wifi, it ACTUALLY means to connect your cell phone to the WiOn device, via wifi. That means, when the device is blinking, go to your devices wifi settings and look for your WiOn device there. Select it and then it will let you connect to it, for the initial setup. Life would have been much simpler, if those instructions had been given up front. I had to figure it out on my own. Im using this to control a new fountain that I built and it works perfectly. I just tell Alexa to turn on the fountain and both the fountain and light come on right away.

This is the second Wion outdoor plug I purchased. Over 1 year ago the first one installed with out a hitch and works great. The timer function (dusk to dawn with 20 minute offsets) is easy to set up. The distance it receives the wifi signal is impressive - it is mounted on my dock and easily picks up the WIFI signal from the house more than 100 feet away. The second one was a nightmare to set up. First I had the problem with naming the plug with a name longer the 5 characters. Thanks to all the Amazon reviews I figured that out. Next I used different amazon account for each plug because I forgot which account I used on the first plug 1 year ago. Even with that mistake, the WION app found both plugs but Alexa could only find one plug. The fix was easy, put both plugs on the same amazon account in the WION app. Next I disabled the WION skill in the Alexa App, then I re-enabled the skill and signed on to the Amazon account. Then Alexa was able to find both plugs. I normally would not give 5 stars to something with such limited customer support - but these are well engineered and easy to set up if you dont use a name longer than 5 characters and make the mistake of using two different amazon accounts. I have smart home devices from Leviton, iHome, Insignia(Best Buy), Amazon brand, Ecobee, and others. I think these plugs are some of the best designed, best operating and easy to install. Its too bad the traps in setup are only documented in Amazon reviews ...