meross Smart Power Strip Compatible with Apple HomeKit, Siri, Alexa, Google Home and SmartThings, WiFi Surge Protector with 4 AC Outlets, 4 USB Ports and 6ft Extension Cord, Voice and Remote
It is also app controlled. Not sure how the app would work behind a firewall, but it will work behind a firewall with HomeKit and Amazon Echo products.
Yes, I have been using a smart WiFi plug with a scheduled off/on rule: off at 4:00 AM and on at 4:05 AM. No issues so far.
I had to do this technique because after a month of having the Tablo Dual Lite, it hang or wouldn’t respond and I was traveling. I was without connection for the entire time I was away from home. When I got home, it still didn’t respond even when my device was connected to my LAN. I had to reboot the damn Tablo. Why it was not responding, I don’t know. Anyway, it’s been 8 months now that Tablo reboots every 4:05 AM daily.
P.S. I had to use a smart plug so I can reboot my Tablo on demand from remote, if needed.
A smart plug is all you need. I use Kasa HS105’s and Amazon smart plugs. For Kasa you have to use the Kasa cell phone app to set them up then they can be managed with Alexa. For amazon plugs you just use Alexa to set them up and manage them. Amazon plugs only work with Alexa.
Since most people already have an Amazon account, Alexa comes along for free.
So the question is if you only want to use a laptop via a browser to setup and manage your device will Alexa do both using a laptop with WiFi and Bluetooth.
Another question is can i send any of the above to technically challenged people and have any hope of success? Even if they can do it can the activating device be paired to the power plug even if they aren’t in the same place? Like with Tablo the answer would be, no…
What good does it do to use a lo-tech timer that powers off/on at 4:05AM every day if tablo stops responding at 10AM.
With a power plug you can not only schedule off/on cycles but also on demand off/on requests. If one watches for sales it’s not like a power plug costs a ton of money.
Well if you’re reasonably confident that your Tablo will stay online for more than 24 hours consistently a simple timer, as opposed to another wifi device connected to the internet, would probably work
But you’re right the cost really isn’t an issue. And if there’s a power failure the simple timer might start rebooting in the middle of prime time viewing. Unless you get one with a bsck up battery…
Still i think there are virtues to on demand capabity.
I am curious if you don’t mind me asking is your Tablo connected to a UPnP router set up or did you manually configure port forwarding?
So far my 2 manually configured Tablo set ups have been 100% reliable and the UPnP not. But I’d probably choose the remote switch solution if it’s reliable and doesn’t hurt anything over having to mess with another router’s settings.
Just that it’s likely there is a real problem, but not necessarily with the Tablo unit. I just hate to see people pull out the hammer to something, when there’s a real problem that’s not being addressed.
I agree the “real” problem isn’t with the physical Tablo unit itself, but with the software or firmware.
I cut the Tablo people a lot of slack. These are marvelous devices, and there are a lot of variables they have to deal with out in the real world.
That said I have an issue with a Tablo telling you at set up that everything is good to go. And then you find out when you’re away from the unit that this isn’t true.
I don’t know if Tablo can fix that issue for this particular router or not, or even if so is it worth their time and effort to do so.
Regardless, I’m not the only one who has this problem. I don’t think this is a hammer solution. And in my ignorance I think if a simple reboot fixes the problem that there is probably a firmware fix possible.
Someday I’ll get a rise out of Tablo tech support…
Again, my Tablos can run for years, well, they reboot for firmware updates. But they come right back online. I never have to touch them. Not for Internet recovery, not for power recovery. They come back up every time. I think there’s something else going on.
This is has been true of the first one I set up. It basically ran for 8 months with no problems (other than the self inflicted ones). It is manually port forwarded. I don’t think is has the static IP set (have to ask my son).
I think it will be true for the second one I set up also. It currently has performance issues (buffering) that it didn’t have for the 1st few weeks. I am hoping a proper reboot of router and Tablo will fix that. Don’t know yet. Find out next week. It is also manually port forwarded. And I tried to set static IP on it but I don’t think it worked as the IP address listed on the settings page has changed. (Could that be related to the performance problem?) The connection, availabilty, has been 100%.
The third Tablo was the easiest to set up, the UPnP apparently worked, but it loses its connection every 2-3 days. And rebooting the Tablo, not the router, fixes that.
How are your Tablo/routers configured?
Sorry for the dissertation. It took me 2 years to get the slingboxes working right. It wasn’t the slingboxes, it was the interfacing hardware, especially devices that connected with HDMI (specifically Channel Master DVRs), and then those changed their firmware and I could never get them to work again. (Dragging my relatives thru this whole process too.) Finally found lo-tech Media Sonic tuners that only had component cable outputs (like the slingbox inputs) and apparently never changed or upgraded their firmware. Been working great for 3 years now but then the ##### people are discontinuing slingbox.
I spent a lot of time on the forums. And once I got what I needed I disappeared (with all my experience).
Over the years there have been many brands of modem/routers. And these brands had many models. And even within a specific model various production runs used different chipsets.
So it’s not at all unusual to have a router that has an unfixed bug that will never be fixed for that specific chipset.
I have a fairly new smart device where it just happened to be in the first 10,000 to 20,000 units manufactured. It works great with the exception of switching between night to day mode. Various attempts to fix the chipset on this production run never totally worked. Newer models(chipsets) don’t have the problem. The only solution is to use it’s software capabilities to reset the device every early morning.
Not that much different then using a lo-tech timer or a smart plug.