Kessil Dongle

LARedstickreefer · Aug 31, 2019

$100 bucks? Sheesh.

Puff Daddy · Sep 2, 2019

I have been testing the dongle for about 3 weeks. It works well and the app is a massive improvement from the one for the ap700. The UX is really good and it is very feature rich. It is easy to connect to your home network and once you are connected you no longer have to connect directly to the dongle. The settings sync with a google, facebook, or twitter account so you can always redownload them if something goes wrong. The device itself is about the size of a keyfob. It is nice to have something smaller than that ecotech bridge, though you still need to hard wire your lights to the one with the fob. This is not a big deal when the lights are on the same tank as you have power cables anyway. Separate tanks that are far apart will probably require you to buy a dongle for each tank depending on how long you can run a USB-C between then.

A downside is the dongle is only compatible with the a360x line of lights. The spectral controller x works with all the standard 0-10v lights and the a360x. I assume they will slowly update those other lights to USB-C (K-link) so they become compatible. Once everything is updated it will be a very nice system for controlling all things kessil.

Also $100 is kind of steep. It is the same price as the Spectral Controller X, which is a large device with a screen, buttons, multiple ports. $50 is probably a more appropriate price point.

Positives are that since every light is not communicating over wifi, it significantly reduces wifi signal pollution. This is especially true for large setups using 6 or more lights. It also makes the a360x slightly more future proof as you could probably upgrade the dongle without changing the light if some new features came out.

So, the app is great. The dongle is expensive (at least you only need one). So far I am pretty happy. Check out my review and if you have any more questions about it post below.

Scorpius · Sep 2, 2019

I'm going to be getting two 360x's next month and honestly I'll more than likely stick with the spectral controller. There's nothing better than hardwiring something and once I get my lights set I'll rarely mess with my settings so why bother with the more prone to error wifi dongle. Oh, and bring back my 3.5mm headphone jack on my cell phones as well. lol

Doostur · Sep 2, 2019

I have had Kessils for a long time. Either the dongle or spectral controller is fine. After you dial in your settings on the spectral controller, there is no reason to mess with it again. Set it and forget it.

Puff Daddy · Sep 2, 2019

Agreed. Either will work fine since both are set it and forget it. I have had no errors with the dongle so I would say it is reliable so far but there is no reason to replace a spectral controller x if you already have it.

kkiel02 · Oct 23, 2019

Well October is coming to an end soon. I haven’t heard anything even searching google for kessil WiFi dongle release date yielded no results. I hope this does not become another late launch like so many other products in this industry.
Hope they are just keeping it hush hush and will release it in the next week or so.

Teddy00024 · Oct 23, 2019

kkiel02 said:
Well October is coming to an end soon. I haven’t heard anything even searching google for kessil WiFi dongle release date yielded no results. I hope this does not become another late launch like so many other products in this industry.
Hope they are just keeping it hush hush and will release it in the next week or so.

It’s out already. Mine is in the mail and on the way. I ordered it from aquacave but they are already sold out since it was the first batch. Might have to dig around locally or wait till online vendors restock.

Scorpius · Oct 23, 2019

Spectral controller works just as well. Not like you're going to fuss with light settings constantly.

kkiel02 · Oct 23, 2019

Teddy00024 said:
It’s out already. Mine is in the mail and on the way. I ordered it from aquacave but they are already sold out since it was the first batch. Might have to dig around locally or wait till online vendors restock.

Man I’ve been looking on all the bigger sites. Don’t know how it got passed me. I wanted to get the first couple ones to beat the rush but guess I missed them.

kkiel02 · Oct 24, 2019

Scorpius said:
Spectral controller works just as well. Not like you're going to fuss with light settings constantly.

I don’t have a place to put the controller. This tucks up nicely with the light. The only reason I am getting it is to ramp it up and down. I’ve been using a timer and manual controls since they were released.

flagg37 · Oct 24, 2019

So the X series lights gets a new app but the AP700 app still needs to be revamped.

GainesvilleReef · Oct 24, 2019

Mine was just delivered. I got it from MarineDepot last week. Sold out within hours.

kkiel02 · Oct 24, 2019

GainesvilleReef said:
Mine was just delivered. I got it from MarineDepot last week. Sold out within hours.

That’s not good. I can’t believe I missed this... hopefully kessil will have more available soon.

GainesvilleReef · Oct 24, 2019

Ok, So far not good at all.

The dongle connects to my wifi and is discoverable by the app but fails to connect on the last step.

Worse, the Kessil support page is broken. You can't fill anything in the message section of the email.

GainesvilleReef · Oct 24, 2019

I can control it but I still have a red light which means not connected

GainesvilleReef · Oct 24, 2019

It also does not detect the other lights on the bus.

Daniel92481 · Oct 24, 2019

GainesvilleReef said:
I can control it but I still have a red light which means not connected

I wonder what’s going on with it? I also received mine in the mail from marine depot, but haven’t set it up yet.

Daniel92481 · Oct 24, 2019

kkiel02 said:
That’s not good. I can’t believe I missed this... hopefully kessil will have more available soon.

Supposedly, the 25th is when it will be widely available. I got lucky with the marine depot in stock alert. It was at 530-6 in the morning last week when I got the email. I had posted something saying there were only 8 left on marine depots website. Once I checked back, they were gone.