Almond+ as controller?

Community Playground General Discussions
1

Just wondering if anyone here has had any positive experiences implementing the Almond+ (Securifi) as a secondary controller? I’m looking for a sub $100 AC router and having basic zwave controls on a touch screen device would be awesome.

2

I supported the Almond+ kickstarter. Never got an Almond+, but I purchased an almond when they first came out, for use as a wired access point. The design was awful in regard to where the ports exited the device. The features advertised were 1/2 implemented with assurances that stuff would work in the next firmware or two. The touchscreen was never needed after setup, so really useless. I purchased it off amazon and wrote a comprehensive review that stated some nice things. The company Securifi called me 3 times to ask me to change my my review. They weren’t overly nasty, but insinuated I was from a competitor or " didn’t understand how things really worked".
I contemplated the almond + for about 30 seconds when I realized

  1. Where am i putting a router that i can access the touch screen. ( mine is 2 floors away from main living area)
  2. How much do I reconfigure a router to need a touch screen ( never)
  3. Is sub par performance worth more than a touchscreen. (No)
  4. The screen is tiny.

The almond + was announced over 2 years ago, did it even ever come too fruition ?

I would purchase a cheap android tablet or used iPad as a controller, or any old android phone. And an AC router for that purpose. I think cheaping out on a WiFi router just waste money. Buy a good one and it will last you 5-7 years.

I have the Asus Ac68r as my router and 2 AC66r units as wired AP’s and they are awesome. If I was buying today I would get the AC87. But the Ac68 will work long into the future. I am on 105Mb cable and with these I get 100mb on speedtest.net with an iPad anywhere on the property. The Asus routers are rock solid, and firmware updates are quick to address security issues.

3

I did receive my Almond+ from backing it on Kickstarter and played with it for about a day when my main router died. It seemed to work OK as a router, but the UI didn’t seem finished. Since the UI appeared to be less done than UI7, I never played with using it as a controller. I was really hoping for something as flexible as my VeraLite, but the Almond+ still isn’t there.

As Osmosis said, the touchscreen is almost useless; it is OK for initial setup, but after that, it has virtually no utility.

4

Thanks to both of you – you’ve only solidified my suspicions about this device :-\