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Neither the iHome smart plug, the Wemo Mini, or any other smart plug that I have seen will work.
Neither the iHome smart plug, the Wemo Mini, or any other smart plug that I have seen will work with my new Orbi because it does not have a separate 2.1 GHz Wireless Network. Conversely the smart pl...
tbh, I don't think the OP has an actual operational problem, just a misunderstanding of the technologies involved compounded with bad information ostensibly coming from product vendors.
That having been said - 2.4GHz-only WeMo works perfect fine with Orbi. I have a mini switch, three smart switches, a light switch, a humidifier, and a crock pot all using WeMo flawlessly on my Orbi network.
Let's please not let FUD enter into this - regardless of what level 1 support told you, WeMo has zero issues with Orbi.
Rodney
Your comments inspired me to phone WeMo Support and ask the Tech (Katie) to walk me step-by-step though the setup process. She did and now I am able to turn my smartplug on and off from my iPhone or by voice commands to Alexa. Hurray! And thank you Rodney. You were so correct. The WeMo Mimi definitely works with my Orbi wireless network!!!
So what what different about the way Katie had me go through the setup and the way I had been doing before?
Before we started, she had me go into Settings on my iPhone and turn off Cellular and Bluetooth until the WeMo installation was complete. Then I was able to turn both back on. Thank you to everyone in the Community. Your comments were extremely helpful.
So what what different about the way Katie had me go through the setup and the way I had been doing before?
Before we started, she had me go into Settings on my iPhone and turn off Cellular and Bluetooth until the WeMo installation was complete. Then I was able to turn both back on. Thank you to everyone in the Community. Your comments were extremely helpful.
Based on the solution, my best guess is something another poster noted in an earlier thread. Did you possibly recently switch to Orbi from another system? In their case, the network numbering system used by their old network changed when they switched to Orbi, but the WeMo didn't pick up on that and was 'locked' to the old numbering system, requiring it to be hard-reset to clear it out.
That wouldn't explain why your phone couldn't see it for setup, though. Just hazarding a wild guess, but quite happy to hear you have it working well now!
Rodney