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Author Topic: Is this product dead? Should I write off my investment and move on?  (Read 81874 times)

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Offline kbtn

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Is there even anyone left working on this product?  There is clearly no one even answering the questions posted here.

This product had so much potential.  It is a shame that after all the hype and all the money it it ended up being a bit of a flop. 

Samsung purchased SmartThings and is releasing a new version that will surely be the nail in the coffin for this product.  I feel like spending $250 for a product in Alpha was a huge mistake--lesson learned.

Offline JollehRoger

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Re: Is this product dead? Should I write off my investment and move on?
« Reply #1 on: July 14, 2015, 12:08:16 pm »
Why would it be dead? They literally released an update a month ago for it. Give the team a break. Do you really expect them to answer questions 24/7?

Offline medatom

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Re: Is this product dead? Should I write off my investment and move on?
« Reply #2 on: July 14, 2015, 12:38:45 pm »
Unfortunately I think so. One update every couple of months is not going to cut it.  With this speed, it's going to be at least another 2 years to come out of beta.
No road map yet though many of us asked for countless number of times.

Offline kbtn

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Re: Is this product dead? Should I write off my investment and move on?
« Reply #3 on: July 14, 2015, 01:24:33 pm »
I wish securifi would sell off the almond to a company with the resources to make it work to its potential.  Then we would all be able to benefit including securifi who will at least see some income from the sale. 

On the current course, securifi will be bankrupt in a year or two.  Right now, they are blinded from the profits they are receiving from their marketing hype.  Once a few tech sites start reviewing the almond, their sales will tank and they will lose everything.

Offline fillibar

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Re: Is this product dead? Should I write off my investment and move on?
« Reply #4 on: July 14, 2015, 02:26:15 pm »
Not sure what their sales are but you really think they would be blinded by profits? A ton of people backed for the Almond+ at $99 but ended up with something that has even better hardware than originally estimated. Is the software there... No. Are they working on it? IMO they are and I have seen substantial improvements compared to how it originally arrived. I do not think it is a "prime time" device yet but as long as they do not stop working on it there is still potential.
So, again IMO, not dead but still needs work.
Almond 3 mesh handling the home.

Offline kbtn

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Re: Is this product dead? Should I write off my investment and move on?
« Reply #5 on: July 14, 2015, 02:57:00 pm »
Why would it be dead? They literally released an update a month ago for it. Give the team a break. Do you really expect them to answer questions 24/7?

Why?  Because this product is not ready for primetime and the current schedule they are on will make the hardware obsolete before the software catches up.   The company still has no posted roadmap or published vision statement despite the community's repeated requests.  The basic router portion functions fine, but the software is still being tweaked for the most basic of functions.  It is basically just OpenWRT that you can install on any router yourself and the company is tweaking the firmware revisions to address various issues as customers report them.  The firmware updates are really only addressing critical issues that effect operation and no real additions or fixes for the home automation angle that is the real marketing of this device and the main reason many people supported it.

I would love to "give them a break" but they did not market or sell this device as beta hardware.  All anyone wants is for an item to live up to its marketing hype.  Yes, I know many companies let consumers down and even the biggest companies fall short sometimes.

Having a router integrated with home automation is a great concept, but you may want to think about two separate and more polished products on the market if your intent is serious control of your home while you are away.  This item is just too buggy and unfinished to trust with your home's safekeeping, which is very frustrating.   I love the concept and the company has one of the best tech support teams I have ever seen, but, again, the product is just not ready for prime time.

I do not expect 24/7 answers in the forum, but a quick review of the posting clearly show that in the past 30 days,  the majority of question have gone unaddressed by securifi--they can do a little better than that.
« Last Edit: July 14, 2015, 04:51:46 pm by kbtn »

Offline kbtn

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Re: Is this product dead? Should I write off my investment and move on?
« Reply #6 on: July 14, 2015, 03:14:45 pm »
Not sure what their sales are but you really think they would be blinded by profits? A ton of people backed for the Almond+ at $99 but ended up with something that has even better hardware than originally estimated. Is the software there... No. Are they working on it? IMO they are and I have seen substantial improvements compared to how it originally arrived. I do not think it is a "prime time" device yet but as long as they do not stop working on it there is still potential.
So, again IMO, not dead but still needs work.

I definitely agree with you--there is a ton of potential here.  They have to push a little harder to stay on top of what they are doing right now to show the community they are still progressing.  If Securifi keeps moving forward with this, they could become be the company that leads this particular market.
« Last Edit: July 14, 2015, 04:53:07 pm by kbtn »

Offline Fire69

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Re: Is this product dead? Should I write off my investment and move on?
« Reply #7 on: July 14, 2015, 03:52:55 pm »
I'm pretty sure it's dying a slow dead the way things are going right now...
Devices are added at an incredibly slow rate, and when they are added, it's only in 1 of the many UI's.  There is no consistency anywhere....

I was happily waiting for updates, improvements, beta releases as long as the device was only available to backers.
But the moment they started selling it on Amazon, my patience ended.  If you want to sell it officially, get your act together and make sure it works as intended.
Reviews on Amazon are mostly positive, but if you read them, most people just use it as a simple router, not HA. You can get any simple router for that...

So, if updates don't start coming faster (devices, stability, functionality), I don't see a bright future for the A+ (at least not for mine...)

Offline pete

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Re: Is this product dead? Should I write off my investment and move on?
« Reply #8 on: July 14, 2015, 05:13:28 pm »
I remain optimistic here.

That said just yesterday used one Almond + with one said Amazon Echo.  Bean working fine. 

Someone from the Vera site put out a jar file for use as an emulator of sorts.

Really would like to see this work with the Almond +.

I did test and enable the Amazon Echo automation pieces with the emulator and another piece of automation software.

Worked great and the Amazon Echo assimilated my test devices just fine.

I know this is a bit off topic.  Just stating that the Almond + is a one of a kind device and there is nothing available like it.

Yup; routers are a dime a dozen and readily available these days.  Here have gone to using PFSense.

Where can you find a combination router, switch, AP, firewall, LCD touchscreen and Zigbee / Z-Wave tiny automation box today? 

I know of no other company that makes one.
« Last Edit: July 14, 2015, 05:15:32 pm by pete »
[img width= height= alt=" width="250" height="52" class="bbc_img resized]http://forum.securifi.com/Themes/Firox_multicolor_by_SMFSimple/images/logo.png[/img]
Pete
Lockport, IL  USA

Offline Fire69

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Re: Is this product dead? Should I write off my investment and move on?
« Reply #9 on: July 14, 2015, 05:42:43 pm »
Whether they are the only one making this type of device or not, is not relevant here.
What is relevant is the fact that it is still not working as it should.
I would (and will) happily use 2 or more separate devices if this means I can at least use them for what they are made.

You call it an all-in-one device, but basically it's just a router (router, switch, AP, firewall is 1 device in every router) and a HA-controller with an LCD on top.
But the router and HA are separated (no interaction possible between network and HA, so for example you can't detect on wifi if phones are connected to use in your HA-rules).
So you can just as well use 2 separate devices, just take up a little more space.

Sorry about the pessimism, but I think we've been pretty patient up until now, so we would like to see some progress, or at least a sign of it in a roadmap.

Offline fillibar

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Re: Is this product dead? Should I write off my investment and move on?
« Reply #10 on: July 14, 2015, 07:36:08 pm »
I have to think we will start seeing that integration between some router abilities and HA abilities. Like you mentioned, detecting smartphone connections would be a very nice add and has been something people have requested. It opens up a few possibilities even if it is simple "is it there or not". Creepy when you read about big retail stores using the capability (even if you do not connect to their network your phone can still be "testing" to see if there is wifi it will connect to) to monitor people... but it make sense with your house. Wonder if it could determine signal strength as a sensor reading. Maybe useful for wifi sensors in a house...
Almond 3 mesh handling the home.

Offline Blueiris8

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Re: Is this product dead? Should I write off my investment and move on?
« Reply #11 on: July 15, 2015, 03:19:36 pm »
Pete,
did you say you go Almond + working with Echo?  If so, how?
« Last Edit: July 15, 2015, 03:25:36 pm by Blueiris8 »

Offline pete

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Re: Is this product dead? Should I write off my investment and move on?
« Reply #12 on: July 15, 2015, 06:14:21 pm »
No

I have multiple LANs / WANs (PFSense Firewall) and used an Almond + wireless configuration for the Amazon Echo.

That said using a new jar file emulation to my automation mothership.

It would be nice to run Java on the Almond +.

That said noticed a 100% CPU hit when running the JAR file on the RPi2 today so will not be testing this on the RPi2 and moving it to an Intel Haswell iSeries mothership.
[img width= height= alt=" width="250" height="52" class="bbc_img resized]http://forum.securifi.com/Themes/Firox_multicolor_by_SMFSimple/images/logo.png[/img]
Pete
Lockport, IL  USA

Offline Fire69

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Re: Is this product dead? Should I write off my investment and move on?
« Reply #13 on: July 16, 2015, 05:50:32 pm »
Ok, so it's obvious nobody from Securifi staff is going to react here (I'm assuming pete isn't 'official' staff) to at least reassure us about the status of this device.

I suggest everybody who's as worried (or lets just call it frustrated) as me to send a personal message to the Securifi CEO and hope we will get at least some reaction from their part...

Offline mparadis

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Re: Is this product dead? Should I write off my investment and move on?
« Reply #14 on: July 16, 2015, 08:27:31 pm »
Over the last few weeks I have begun to worry about this as well. We were supposed to be receiving monthly or so software updates. As a beta tester I generally received them 1 to 2 weeks early for testing. Having not received one recently is disappointing. I keep hoping the next update is the "big one" but it hasn't happened yet. It doesn't seem like a ton is happening so I only hope there is a lot going on behind the scenes. I don't know if the company is making enough money on these to stay afloat or if they have funding from other sources but I hope that doesn't become an issue since the hardware is current and solid now but if it takes 2 more years to get it up to where it belongs on the software side, it will be outdated. I still like the Almond+ (my Almond 2015 is much less successful as a range extender than my original Almond) I wish it did more that it should and did what it does now even better.

 

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