YoLink Water Leak Detection Starter Kit, w/SpeakerHub Audio/Talking Hub & Water Leak Sensors, LoRa Up to 1/4 Mile Open-Air Range, SMS/Text, Email & Push Notifications, w/Alexa, IFTTT, Home Assistant

Description

YoLink, by YoSmart, a US corporation based in Irvine, California, is a line of wireless smart products for residential and commercial use, utilizing wireless technology initially utilized for industrial and other large scale applications. This technology, LoRa, short for Long Range, is unique in the smart home industry and provides you with benefits that include 2 to 10 year battery life, 1/4 mile extreme long range, superior wall and obstruction penetration, including concrete, masonry and even metal YoLink benefits include a more secure automation network due to a centralized and encrypted internet connection, as the devices are not on the internet and they do not rely on WiFi. All communication is encrypted, and controlled by AWS servers, for finance grade security, backups and redundancies. Review: This could be the start of a beautiful relationship... - Humphrey Bogart quote notwithstanding, this is the most impressive home automation startup I've ever dealt with. I decided to add water leak detection to my home automation setup and originally chose a DLink option, based on some positive previous experiences. But DLink's device is not ready for prime time- I never could get it to communicate properly and gave up. I then saw YoLink's leak detectors on desertcart with some very strong reviews, so I figured I'd give them a try. The system, which does require a hub, was simple to set up and worked perfectly. The LoRA technology they use has many benefits over WiFi or Bluetooth, allowing widely spaced sensors that last 2 years on 2 AA batteries, providing incredibly flexible placement options. The only thing I didn't realize is that it utilizes notifications to your cell phone or PC to alert you to a problem. I didn't want to miss a problem that happened at night when our phones are downstairs on chargers, so I looked for a siren option to add to the hub. That's when I found this product, the YoLink Speaker Hub, which apparently had just been introduced- there were only 12 reviews. But they were solid reviews and I was already impressed by the ease and performance of my YoLink detectors, so I ordered this to replace the silent hub I started with. Well, from the amazing capabilities and expansion options of the Speaker Hub, it is obvious that YoLink has big plans for a comprehensive home automation suite. This is both a good and a possibly less good thing. The flexibility to customize alarms, alerts, notifications, spoken alerts, etc is great. But the learning curve is much steeper. So to get the Speaker Hub to do what I wanted required 2 calls to customer service. And this is where YoLink blew my socks off. Both calls were answered by the second ring by a YoLink engineer! And these guys know their system software inside and out. The first call got me 90% of the way there, but one issue stumped me. The second call resolved that issue in a couple of minutes. The system now provides an audible alert that announces which detector sensed a leak, as well as sending text notifications and emails in case we weren't home. All of this happens within seconds of the sensor touching water- they even placed contacts on top of the sensor so it can detect a leak that is dripping from above before a pool of water forms. In the process of speaking to the engineers, it is clear that they are rightly proud of their product, and intend to continue improving and expanding its capabilities. The leak detectors using the Speaker Hub are a great solution on their own, but it is obvious that they've built in a ton of capabilities so that as they expand their offerings, they won't have to modify the software every time they add another device. I can't wait to see what they come up with next. Your move, YoLink! Review: Additional sensors cost prohibitive - Whilst overall unit is good, adding additional sensors is expensive, it is cheaper to purchase another starter kit. Sensors come from USA and shipping costs are as much as the items themselves. Also still trying to connect speaker hub to Alexa, the two detectors recognised no problem.