Chock Full of Spyware / Works Mostly as Advertised
Through periodic expansion across two homes, I own this brand + 3 others, and I give this one an okay rating, but there are a few issues to be aware of. Warning: I’m a nerd and I’m snarky. 1. Power Control: Despite reading the description and many of the Listing Question answers, there is NO control over the USB ports, only the power plugs; they are statically on 2. The plugs are way oversized and make it near impossible to plug anything else with a three prong plug into normal outlet 3. The USB’s are advertised as 5v/2a but it’s literally flaky; being a nerd I put a meter on two of the units (4 ports) and it draws up to 2a, but hovers & fluctuates well below that, as such it pisses off my iPad Pro and other large draw USB devices 4. The app is an absolute tire fire, but the IFTTT and Alexa integration are solid and fast 5. I debated if this should be #1, but I had to deny the app and device location access SEVEN TIMES. Why does a wall plug need to know where it is? It’s not in China. It should just be happy. If it wants to spy on me it should just say “Alexa, what is the nerd doing now?” Then I noticed the app was making all sorts of unsolicited network calls. It wasn’t passing a lot of data, but when I ran it through Wireshark, the IP address location was blocked and it’s NOT Amazon / Alexa API traffic. So to get around the spyware and Uncle Jinping, just decline all the location prompts and follow the manual set up “direction” in the “Daul Plug Manuel” that comes with the unit. Once it is set up and connected to your Echo or Google unit, delete the crappy app fast. If you’re a nerd like me, you can also go ahead and block it from WAN/Internet traffic if you know how to do that on your router. Since these require an “Amazon Skill” or Google plugin it’s taking direction locally from your Echo/Google device The good stuff...well... 1. It’s a plug 2. It works fast and mostly as promised 3. It hasn’t burned my houses down yet 4. I cajoled it to defect and stop spying on me, but like Reagan said before nap time, “Trust, but verify.” Read more
