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Arlec Grid Connect Smart Home Hub
- 2 reviews
Unavailable on Mac Book, Xbox or Foxtel
Why dont they provide an App to run on your Macbook, Xbox or Foxtel ? Seems strange, the system runs relatively ok on iphone, but not on MacBook - strange I thought in 2022 we had arrived in the future but obviously only if your on your phone all day. FYI - I was going to install for my business - probally over $2000, but I'll choose another sophisticated system and leave Grid Connect for simple domestic operations - simple not too serious security, a toy, etc only for the phone - got it
Purchased in January 2022.
Have two both work perfectly. Set-up for clients as well.
Had no problems except used AutoScan instead of add manually, funny how complainants also indulge in assumptions. These products are considered some of the best in the smart home market. Considered by some of the Home Assistant crowd to be a worthy product and they are not easy to win over either. Why call yourself "Smart Arlec" if you don't know anything about Arlec smart products? Obviously your pairing a bluetooth product to your phone and a wifi product to your AP, it may take you more than one go to get it right. Rather than assume a company has completely diched QA or is taking bribes from "factories", assume you need to do a little more reading.
Purchased at Bunnings Warehouse for $29.
Works as described
Works great! Range is only Bluetooth but you can have multiple hubs nearer to your sensors. I mounted a couple in my roof cavity. Does the whole house. Never touched em since initial pairing. Amazing.
Purchased in March 2019 at Bunnings Warehouse.
- 2 reviews
Absolute Piece of crap
I suspect the purchasing manager for Arlec got a great kick back from a Chinese factory sales rep to dump their obsolete products on aussies. Product casing looks adequate for its price bracket however the construction of the components appear to be an amateurish DIY kit. The range of the 2.4G Smart devices is coincidentally as good as Bluetooth. In particular the garage remote control kit, which inconveniently drops out whenever theres an emergency (ie I locked myself outside). Disclaimer. I have more than 85% wifi signal strength in the garag...
Read moree and my modem wifi router is approximately 5m from the garage door kit with inbuilt wifi extender dongle. Despite a good 2.4G wifi connection in the garage, the preferred lower 2.4G bandwidth to penetrate walls and floors twice as well as 5G, the dongle is unable to maintain the wifi connection. Fix. Found an unused new netgear wifi extender model 1330 from 2015, I plugged the wifi extender into a power outlet which is 15cm from garage door dongle. So far connection is still visible on my iPhone app. Highlight of purchasing this product is my wiring loom from the motor to the dongle.Purchased in July 2021 at Bunnings Warehouse Retail Stores for $49.
Find out how Arlec Grid Connect Smart Home Hub compares to other Electronics
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This product is rubbish
This product is an absolute waste of money. I will never ever buy a grid Connect product again. After following the instructions faithfully multiple times i have given up and will throw it in the bin.
- 8 reviews
- 11 likes
Replacement Works Really Well
Having contacting Arlec, I made them aware of the problems I was having with this hub. Arlec have replaced my faulty hub & the range is better than advertised, the new model is also nicer looking. Connection to both my door sensor & motion sensor happened automatically when I discovered the new hub within my software. My new version of the hub is very good which is why I've updated this review. Arlec did the right thing by me & it's only fair to make you aware of this. Thank you Arlec for my warranty replacement hub, happy customer.
Purchased in March 2021 at Bunnings Warehouse for $24.95.
- 2 reviews
- 3 likes
Arlec Should Be Ashamed!
The year is 2021 and 5G Modems are in just about every Home
The Year is 2021 and Most Australian homes are running a Telstra NBN Modem
The Year is 2021 and Arlec can NOT connect to 2021 Technology
Arlec want you to reprogram your modem by re-naming the 2.4G and 5G network settings,
because this piece of junk cannot differentiate between the networks, as it only connects to 2.4G WiFi
THEN HERES THE KICKER!
If you finally do get it to work. ...
Read moreThe 27 other pieces of equipment you may have in your home like myself eg. x5 Televisions x2 PC's X3 Laptops X1 Android Box x1 Smart fridge x6 Mobile Phones x1 Doorbell x1 CCTV System also Family & Friends that auto connect when visiting all have to be reprogrammed. All to turn a powerpoint on and off. With all the marketing money in the world you dont even have a proper Youtube video or documentation on how to do it. No examples just some basic illogical text brushing it off as a non issue. Now I have to get back in my car and get a refund from Bunnings for this JUNK! I charge $95 an hour for my work and you have just cost me 360 Bucks. Typical corporate greedy companies flogging snake oil.Purchased in March 2021.
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- 4 reviews
- 3 likes
Crap product
Paid a small fortune for a product that does not connect, goes through all set up only to fail on last step, no help on line or anywhere, waste money
Purchased in January 2021.
I must have the only one that works properly right out the box!
I had no trouble setting the hub up straight away, and set up two motion sensors and a climate sensor with it. It took a few minutes after setting up the two motion sensors - each paired to smart lightbulbs - to work properly (settling in, I guess) but after that they all work fine, no regrets. I'd get more sensors if I could justify it.
Purchased in January 2021.
Find out how Arlec Grid Connect Smart Home Hub compares to other Electronics
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- 7 reviews
- 10 likes
I lost the will to live trying to connect
This is IMPOSSIBLE to connect to your wifi if you use a booster - even if you have the product, in this case a light, sitting literally on top of the router/modem. Guess you sure do get what you pay for....shoot me now as there are 4 hours of my life I'll never get back.
Purchased in January 2021.
Waste of money
Had the electrician wire 2 lights in, connected both lights in the app, they worked for a little while then started blinking rapidly on and off, sure this could be due to internet connection but if my wifi is no good do I have an option just to use them as normal lights??
Expensive toy when you factor in the electrician cost, rip them off the wall and throw them in the bin, no wonder they’re cheap.
Purchased in February 2019 for $29.
Waste of time
Couldn't even get past setup. Device won't pair due to only being able to connect to 2.4ghz. App won't let you give feedback unless you choose a device and have a photo...how ridiculous if you can't even connect a device!
Purchased in March 2020.
Find out how Arlec Grid Connect Smart Home Hub compares to other Electronics
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Horrible
Fitted the whole house out with Grid enabled gear. Took a week to get it all connected & working. Many! Many! Many frustrations in getting the whole system to work. If the internet goes down, which in Australia is somewhat regularly, everything stops. Seemed to work ok for a while until Telstra reset my modem. Lost connecting to every device. Haven’t bothered reconnecting. Figured it’s actually easier just using the wall switch. Don’t waist your time or money.
Purchased in January 2020.
- 141 reviews
- 46 likes
- Verified
A Compromised Product, And Not Even That Cheap
This product is used to connect to a range of sensors that are used within the 'Grid Connect' system of Arlecs' smart lighting products. This hub connects to your house / phone / Google Home etc via Wi-Fi, and each of the sensors (temperature / humidity / motion / door sensors) are connected to the hub via Bluetooth.
Most of the competitors use a wireless protocol called Zigbee, and now I see why. The Zigbee products are required to run on battery power alone for at least 1 year, and each Zigbee product needs to be able to both send and receiv...
Read moree data to other Zigbee products, forming a mesh connection. With the Arlec solution of Wi-Fi & Bluetooth, the sensors themselves are battery powered (AAA batteries with no chance of lasting 1 year), and the Hub itself has to remain powered by USB continually. Add to that, the range of Bluetooth is 10 metres at best, which means to get whole house coverage, you will need hubs in several areas of your house. At $32 for each hub, plus $20ish for each of the sensors, this is not even that cheap. To compare, a Phillips Hue motion sensor is $50ish, however it is Zigbee which means that it will connect to, and enhance, the existing mesh. The only reason that I invested in the Arlec Grid Connect ecosystem is that I wanted a smart light replacement for two 4' fluorescent lights in my garage. If Phillips Hue or Sengled had these, I would have gone for their product. Overall, I don't love this product. Don't get me wrong, it works, it's just an ugly solution. It seems as though Arlec has tried to rush into the Smart Lighting sector but with inferior products.Purchased in July 2020 at Bunnings Warehouse for $32.68.
Questions & Answers
Is this a listening in device
can i use ths without wifi
No, unfortunately the device does not have an RJ45 network port and must be connected to a WiFi network. Extend the range of your wifi and connect multiple bluetooth hubs to cover the areas your sensors are located.
it has limited Bluetooth range
I have arlec fan lights and I can't get the lights to dim via voice control (hey will dim via the app ) and am wondering what I am doing wrong ?
Which voice assistant are you using ?
hey Freda,
have you tried at techenquiries@arlec.com.au or +613 9982 5000....
Read more unfortunately, the call centre just takes notes of inquiries, it is sad the tech support team is not motivated. They just escalate to the poor engineer who responds with a generic answer or palms the issue to the third party (manufacturer of the wifi router or mobile device) to configure the connection. In their defense, there are many third party devices in the market that could potentially work with their smart devices but the tech support team should have learn fixes for popular third party devices. Steve, My home made fix worked well for 1 week after my post. Now the dongle is a black box, a cheap imitation of a Christmas ornament with a single flashing blue led. I ran a 10m "cable" to the auxilary garage door opener at one end of the garage, which faces the garage door - hence I wanted a wifi /bluetooth remote garage door opener as a backup in the event I am locked out or for convenience. I cant maintain wifi connection and my wifi AP that is less than 15 cm apart from the garage dongle aka black magic box. Please provide solution.Contact Arlec directly via there website, my problem was the same. A ridiculously short range, they sent me out a replacement product & it works well.
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