AI Prime going Bluetooth only next year?

[HaloPhenom27]

My local LFS dropped a little tidbit on me and I am wondering if anybody else has heard this? I trust what they are telling me as these are some serious reefers but was curious if anyone else has heard the same?

I personally welcome Bluetooth only with their own app. One of the issues I have with many of the lights on the market is them being WiFi. WiFi goes in and out, it is just the nature of the beast. IMHO that fact makes buying expensive lights with WiFi hard to stomach and I simply won't do it. I have WiFi at home obviously but my WiFi goes in and out from time to time regardless of who my provider is.

I was in the market for the Hydra26's but them being WiFi has made me stay away so if it is true, this guy is waiting for the Bluetooth version.

 

[jrill]

You do understand that you can still access the lights when the internet is down right? You still have local access as long as the router is on even if the internet is down. The lights will still stay on schedule.

 

[lpsouth1978]

NOT having Wifi would actually be a deal killer for me. I like the ability to control my lights when away from home. If it is Bluetooth only, that would not be possible. I really hope this is not true!

 

[HaloPhenom27]

You do understand that you can still access the lights when the internet is down right? You still have local access as long as the router is on even if the internet is down. The lights will still stay on schedule.

I did not understand that you could still do so. Thank you for clarifying that because for me WiFi is almost a deal breaker when you are talking dollars. I have no problem paying $1000 for a light but if I do, I want zero issues, and I mean zero. If I am paying a good portion of that $1000 just for the WiFi capability, and yet my WiFi goes in and out alot, and I am at work, that would kinda negate why I paid $1000 dollars to have WiFi capability while I am away from home.

Personally, and with my lifestyle, WiFi is in no way a necessity for me. And options are always nice because we all have different needs. If if I don't need WiFi capability, I would like to still be able to get great lights without paying for that capability that I don't need.

I set my lights to a schedule and don't play with them. If there is a power outage or something like that, somebody is in my home 100% of the time, always. I have no need to adjust lights on the fly or to monitor whether they are on or off while I may be away.

 

[lpsouth1978]

Luckily the WiFi capabilities of the AI lights are NOT adding much, if any to the cost of the lights. They are still cheaper than many other options out there and they have WiFi built in. The Radions are more expensive and you have to get their adapter (another $100) to have WiFi. I don't have issues with my WiFi coming and going and my Hydras have worked flawlessly from day one. I just had to put a WiFi extender near the tank, since my Router is as far from the tank as you can get in my home.

 

[Greenreef75]

My WiFi is ify at best and my hydras work great once the schedule was set up. I don't mess with them at all now.

 

[HaloPhenom27]

Luckily the WiFi capabilities of the AI lights are NOT adding much, if any to the cost of the lights. They are still cheaper than many other options out there and they have WiFi built in. The Radions are more expensive and you have to get their adapter (another $100) to have WiFi. I don't have issues with my WiFi coming and going and my Hydras have worked flawlessly from day one. I just had to put a WiFi extender near the tank, since my Router is as far from the tank as you can get in my home.

I would need to know how much they are adding to the cost from the manufacturer to know if it is not adding much to the cost. If you take the hundred dollars that Radion is charging for their WiFi capability, and deduct that hundred dollars from the Hydra26s', then you are looking at $250 rather than $350 and that is my exact point. It costs AI something to put WiFi capability in, however, if you don't need it or want it, it is just money being thrown away. I actually prefer that a manufacturer give you the choice to buy WiFi capability or not.

As for the high dollar cost of the Radions', while they are superb lights, there is no justification for their overall price in my mind. The fact that you can get lights that are their equal or close for half the cost tells you all you need to know on that front. Those lights are for the people that just want to say they have the highest dollar lights on their tank so they believe they much be the best. I am a smarter consumer than that.

As for whether or not WiFi goes in and out, some of us do have that problem. That may not be a problem with the Prime lights if they do in fact not need to run on WiFi in order to hold their program or allow someone to change that program with zero failure after the change is made. With that said, I have read several reviews from people who have had that exact problems in their home. So for those of us who don't need WiFi, and seem to have WiFi problems, and don't want to have to pay for an extender because the tank does not sit right next to the router (Mine does not) or even close to the router, which is in another part of the house, hearing I simply don't need to run the WiFi will have me buying them. I don't need or want the WiFi. I simply need them to run my program once I set that program. Everything else I can handle.

 

[aqua_code]

They already kinda did this in the past with AI director. This really doesn't make sense and bluetooth has lots of problems with interference. I doubt this will happen because it will be too unreliable and range will severely decrease. They would need to sell a base station to sit next to the lights.

Z-Wave plus or Zigbee is a different story, I could see something like that as a push towards IoT. Mindstream has Zigbee. If AI goes this route - they will sell a wireless module separately.

I still have an original AI controller and that can work just as well as anything else.

 

[HaloPhenom27]

They already kinda did this in the past with AI director. This really doesn't make sense and bluetooth has lots of problems with interference. I doubt this will happen because it will be too unreliable. They would need to sell a base station to sit next to the lights.

My current lights run on Bluetooth, and while the lights are not great, I have zero issues with the Bluetooth. Ofcourse, I set my program and never mess with it so it is not as if I am always changing things with my lights. I was glad to learn I do not need to use the WiFi capability with the Prime lights because that was the only part of the lights I could care less to have.

 

[lpsouth1978]

Simple solution.... BLACK BOX.

Seriously though. If you don't want or need the extras, don't get them. Bang for your buck, I think the Hydra 26 are one of the best options available. That being said there are definitely cheaper options that don't have all the extras, i.e. CBB's, PAR 38's, reef breeders, etc.

To each their own. I still believe that those who are in the same situation as you are in the minority and going Bluetooth only would seriously cut back on their following. WiFi may have it's shortcomings, but IMO they are fewer than bluetooth.

 

[HaloPhenom27]

Simple solution.... BLACK BOX.

Seriously though. If you don't want or need the extras, don't get them. Bang for your buck, I think the Hydra 26 are one of the best options available. That being said there are definitely cheaper options that don't have all the extras, i.e. CBB's, PAR 38's, reef breeders, etc.

To each their own. I still believe that those who are in the same situation as you are in the minority and going Bluetooth only would seriously cut back on their following. WiFi may have it's shortcomings, but IMO they are fewer than bluetooth.

I like everything but the WiFi simply because I have no use for it. I never touch anything on my system or lights without being at home. And if my WiFi is always shotty at best while I am out than WiFi serves me no purpose.

I never once questioned whether or not it was a good light that had good features. A Black Box does not have all of those features or quality. The others you listed I would have to look into and see if they have all of the same features and materials as the Primes but just simply don't have the WiFi. And even the Primes I will buy as long as I can run them without the WiFi.

I was actually considering Kessil's because of this as they don't require WiFi to operate. Now that I have been told Hydras do not require it, I will confirm and buy them.

 

[mattzang]

i've had a prime for over a year and my wifi drops and goes in and out, the lights never stray from their schedule.

i can't connect to my lights when i'm not home, though. so idk what i'm really getting in the wifi over bluetooth department. but going backwards from wifi capable to bluetooth only seems unlikely

it's for the best anyway, the more i open the app the more i tinker with my lights. it'd be better to plug into it and then the wiring self destruct mission impossible style so constant tinkering can't occur

 

[HaloPhenom27]

Simple solution.... BLACK BOX.

Seriously though. If you don't want or need the extras, don't get them. Bang for your buck, I think the Hydra 26 are one of the best options available. That being said there are definitely cheaper options that don't have all the extras, i.e. CBB's, PAR 38's, reef breeders, etc.

To each their own. I still believe that those who are in the same situation as you are in the minority and going Bluetooth only would seriously cut back on their following. WiFi may have it's shortcomings, but IMO they are fewer than bluetooth.

The reason my situation may be different from others is that I am almost always home. I run my own business and the only time I am gone is for an hour or two to meet clients and make deals. Then I send my guys out to do the work. So I basically work from home. And if I am not home, somebody who is reef savy is. So I always have eyes on my tank at all times. I don't take vacations because I am too busy running a business and making money comes first for me. Plus, I am the only one who can do the work that I do in my business so I could not go on vacation if I wanted to.