Belkin Ending 'Support' For Most Wemo Smart Devices (belkin.com) 57
New submitter RJFerret shares a Belkin support page: After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to end technical support for older Wemo products, effective January 31, 2026. After this date, several Wemo products will no longer be controllable through the Wemo app. Any features that rely on cloud connectivity, including remote access and voice assistant integrations, will no longer work.'
List of devices found in the link (four Thread based unaffected).
List of devices found in the link (four Thread based unaffected).
Re: (Score:2)
After due consideration, I have decided to never purchase a Belkin product again.
OTOH, I've always avoided purchasing anything that required internet access to work. So perhaps I'm not part of their market. (I believe that the last Belkin product I bought was a cable.)
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So, the cloud. How's it going for you?
I see nothing but sunny skies ahead for me!
Dupe, De Dupe, Dupe. (Score:1)
Dupe of yesterdays dupe by the same person.
Not a dupe. (Score:2)
Seems like you've been drank a bit too much from the firehose.
Not even three years (Score:3)
Incredible. Some of these devices won't even be three years old when they will stop working. They're making sure some people will never ever buy a connected device again. And they'll be better off for it.
Re:Not even three years (Score:5, Insightful)
They're making sure some people will never ever buy a connected device again.
That would be a public service but I think you underestimate the stupidity of humans.
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In this case, if you've connected them via HomeKit then they'll carry on working without issue.
Unless you need to rebuild your home network or factory reset the device for some reason to troubleshoot it, Then it will be bricked.
The unit also effectively lost its resell value as the new owner won't be able to set it up on their new Homekit network.
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Re: Not even three years (Score:2)
...things that work natively with what you want (Score:2)
Not just "pick things that work natively with what you want".
Pick stuff without any mandatory web connection for operation.
Otherwise a forced firmware update could change the functionality, such as change a non-internet feature to an internet-only feature, with subscription.
Not just hardware, look at the games industry.
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The dumb thing about most things IOT is that nobody looked at long term maintenance costs and said "oh yeah this is stupid"
If the devices all magically died at a fixed date, well then the AWS or AZURE services they're consuming can just auto-scale down to nothing.
I'd like to see the kind of compute/storage costs these WEMO things are racking up.
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They're making sure some people will never ever buy a connected device again. And they'll be better off for it.
Except when it's the only reason you bought such a product. I bought some Wemo plugs so that I can remotely shut down my 3d printers if a print goes sideways. Just because you can't think of something that would work for you doesn't mean that it doesn't exist for others.
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It was only five years ago they forced everyone to control their devices via the cloud (https://web.archive.org/web/20200627020116/https://www.belkin.com/us/support-article?articleNum=316877). It was a very controversial move at the time, because people wondered what would happen if the cloud support were to shut down. Before, devices were controlled locally.
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No, they'll just not buy from Belkin again. They'll still want the dubious "value" offered by "connected" devices that connect via proprietary crap from fly-by-night operators that decide supporting their legacy products isn't worth the expense any more and just shut it off.
Demand open standards, and this bullshit doesn't happen as easily.
Web connected devices... (Score:3)
Bought my first Nest Thermostat over a decade ago, and then ended up buying 2 more from Nest for different zones in my house. Was alerted yesterday (by Google) that they are going off connected support this fall, and they offered me a discounted price on a new one. The alternative being they will still be a great thermostat, just without the remote features and iOS user interface -- and that I would need to configure their settings from the actual device.
I'm a bit conflicted at this point, but as they are my only connected devices (I have devices that could be remotely connected/controlled like my stove, my microwave, my garage door opener, my wife's new car, my cameras -- but have purposely chosen to keep those devices "off the grid", my current thinking is just to let that remote functionality lapse, and have no iOT devices...
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The settings screen does allow me to disable networking support (WiFi for updates, remote diagnostics, etc.). Now might they have "hidden" a 4g modem in the car, perhaps, but given it was a lower priced vehicle (less then the average new car purchase price) -- don't know why they would want to -- especially as they were more then happen to just configure their vehicle to my network...
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The settings screen does allow me to disable networking support (WiFi for updates, remote diagnostics, etc.). Now might they have "hidden" a 4g modem in the car, perhaps, but given it was a lower priced vehicle (less then the average new car purchase price) -- don't know why they would want to -- especially as they were more then happen to just configure their vehicle to my network...
Why would they? Because the collected data of tracking you over the lifetime of the car probably generates more profit than any option they could sell you.
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The Ford FastPass Connect modem is an option only included on some of their models. There are no settings for this modem on our vehicle, which doesn't surprise me we got a fairly stripped down model which doesn't even include an automatic transmission.
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If you don't like the $300 thermostat, do not look at the price of thermostats from HVAC OEMs that properly handle variable-speed heat pumps and multi-zone setups. Ours shit the bed and it was $900 for a new unit, which is just a replacement of the piece of shit we already had with no changes, except they apparently fixed the wifi chipset so it doesn't shit itself at the thought of a meshed network.
Love the efficiency of the rest of the system, but the t-stat is fucking garbage.
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For that kind of money you could DIY something excellent, without compromise. Listening to sensors and controlling relays is pretty trivial stuff, and there must be lots of free thermostat software out there. You could literally do it with an Arduino Nano but I wouldn't, I'd probably use a Pi with their fancy display, or at the very minimum the new esp32. At that point you could do it a lot cheaper, but I'd rather have something I can log in to.
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Just dealt with some nest thermostats. Hate their design.
Much prefer the "Sensi" thermostats, but the ones that still have HomeKit since those can be onboarded onto a LAN without internet (and even without an Apple Device). However they seem to have decided to discontinue HomeKit in their newer models, so I won't touch them either.
Re: Web connected devices... (Score:2)
Stop Killing Things (Score:2)
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The thermostat front panel is perfectly functional for all the non-learning (and remote operation obviously) features -- so not sure much would be gained by local off-device configuration. That being said, I do still have some very old AirPort Express(s) which can still be configured vi a local Airplay Utility (switch network, airplay toggle, etc.) -- but those devices were never designed to be cloud configurable -- which is where I think the problems will lie. If such a device does not provide a rudimentar
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A law that requires companies provide updates necessary to maintain the device functionality that does not need a company-run server is clearly needed. Fortuntely our
dropping support (Score:3)
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Hear, hear!
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We need a Stop killing electronics movement to complement the stop killing games movement. Concerning the design of electronics that cannot be operated at some random time in the future when the manufacturer decides to shut down their cloud servers.
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Right to repair is unrelated.
That movement is mainly about requiring manufacturers supply to consumers and independent repairers the same repair parts, access to information, and tools such as diagnostic programs used by their authorized manufacturer repairers.
Right to repair does not have anything to do with making a device continue to run after termination by the manufacturer of availability of cloud services or an app they designed the device to depend upon.
Right to repair has also been co-opted by the
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If they open source this product, then people could see their proprietary... errrr... crap-tastic code and see what they were REALLY doing.
Re: (Score:2)
Good.
Maybe that would get them to write less shitty code, and do less dubious things.
Local cloud? (Score:3)
It's time for some company to create a local-cloud product family configurable by a common Joe. Something one can setup locally, like a wifi router, configure with vpn and public dns and have it accessible w/o _their_ cloud.
Business model....eh... that's harder - they all like subscriptions, right?
Re:Local cloud? (Score:4, Informative)
If only there was something like Hubitat or Home Assistant, right?
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An example where the business case is at odds with the best situation for the user.
The ideal would be a local hub that can easily provide local area "app" connectivity, with ability to work with a DNS provider, Let's encrypt, and the relevant firewalls to let it have it's own port. Regrettably every member of the industry has steered explicitly away from making this interoperable. Upnp was designed to faciltate asking for real ports, but generally considered insecure and disabled with no standardized authe
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Isn't that just capitalism?
A difficult decision (Score:3)
we have made the difficult decision to end technical support for older Wemo products, effective January 31, 2026. After this date, several Wemo products will no longer be controllable through the Wemo app.
What made the decision so difficult was that they decided they had to give refunds to everyone whose devices no longer functioned properly, because their customers were no longer getting the functionality they had paid for.
Right?
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I'm positive that their sunset date isn't magically after the last registered warranty in the database expires, or some double-digit number of days after the product was end-of-sale.
Remember folks (Score:3)
Remember, if your device relies on the cloud, you never "bought" or "owned" that device. None of these clouds have a silver lining.
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I'd expect that this problem is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. I'm just thinking about those tens of millions of Amazon Echo and Google Home devices that were bought around 2017-2018. Amazon and Google are probably going to end support for those soon. The only real question is if they're going to give up on this unprofitable platform entirely, or just force their users to upgrade to newer smart speakers.
Re: None of these clouds have a silver lining (Score:2)
That's because the silver is lining the ceo's pockets.
Sold in 2023 with a 3 year warrantry (Score:3)
They shut down the "Wemo Mini Smart Plug" which was still sold in November 2023. It came with a 3 year warranty.
That is screwed up.
And why you should NEVER buy hardware that comes with a service sold by the same company.
If you buy hardware it should be usable with OTHER people's services. If they want you to get a service, it should include the hardware for free/included in the monthly service fee.
Re: Sold in 2023 with a 3 year warrantry (Score:2)
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Yes, having another company run the service is significantly better because they can't lock your hardware to them.
That is, if I buy an iPhone and connect it up to the Verizon, I know that if Verizon goes under, I can probably connect it to T-Mobile.
The problem is not unethical business (that exists everywhere), but instead scum trying to sell you a service when you want a product, so they tie them together.
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They shut down the "Wemo Mini Smart Plug" which was still sold in November 2023. It came with a 3 year warranty.
That is screwed up.
And why you should NEVER buy hardware that comes with a service sold by the same company.
If you buy hardware it should be usable with OTHER people's services. If they want you to get a service, it should include the hardware for free/included in the monthly service fee.
Well, then it should be easy - if it no longer works and it's covered by a three year warranty they'll have to fix it somehow, Or, failing that, they will probably think a refund is easier,
Belkin is generally overpriced shit. (Score:4, Insightful)
Belkin APs are all trash.
Belkin cables are mediocre, and priced like they're premium.
Their name is shit, why would anyone buy Belkin anything?
Re: (Score:2)
You nailed it.
I have various belkin products purchased over the years, probably now on some shelf in the garage.
Every time I purchased that brand it was on sale or 'close out' priced.
Name recognition caught my eye and left me susceptible.
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At some point in the distant past, they used to make quality stuff. But that hasn't been the case in quite some time. Now it's the same craptastic garbage everyone else sells, in different plastics with a significant "brand" markup.
Fuck Belkin. I haven't bought anything with their name on it in over a decade because of this kind of thing.
IOT everybody! (Score:3)
Cloud all the things! turns out cloud computing costs real money. There's no reason these need to be cloud connected. They can do the same thing with the phone over wifi without spinning up Lambdas and all kinds of serverless resources. Or bluetooth. or both.
Some of these devices are 10 years old. Most of the WIFI connected devices I've bought stopped working after the first few months if they ever worked at all. I'm looking at you, Wifi light bulbs.
Stop Killing Games (Score:2)
If the Stop Killing Games thing actually ends up achieving something, that should set a precedent for similar regulation for IoT appliances. That being said, you have to be a special kind of retard to buy a cloud-connected baby monitor.
don't recycle, send them back (Score:2)
Belkin would like you to recycle your newly minted bricks. I say send them all back to Belkin, attention Steve Malony. Write a personal telling them that you will never buy their bricks again and that Steve can shove them where the sun doesn't shine.
The cloud is a trap (Score:2)
Run away!
"Smart" Device... (Score:2)
"Smart" Device, idiot purchaser.
Anyone with any amount of critical thinking knew there was a sunset date to these devices, if someone is footing a bill for an unseen compute resource that exists between the device and your phone. Nobody in their right mind is going to keep footing that bill for 20+ years, with only one purchase payment.
Buy stuff that works direct from your phone, or works via software you can install and control on premises. Otherwise you're on borrowed time, and the bean counters are the