With wireless earbuds these days that can continue to connect to the devices even when you walk around the house away from the device (even go upstairs/downstairs), the WiFi bridge should be upgraded to better than 10 ft., and should not require line of sight.
Couldn’t agree more with @Kwong1’s assessment. I suspect U-tec is cheaping out on their WiFi chipsets… that or they just don’t know how to code properly. I oversee many, many different WiFi/BT/proprietary cable IOT devices and NONE of them have the connectivity issues that the U-tec locks experience. The issue does seem to be improving somewhat, but why has it been so hard for U-tec to create stable WiFi capable smart locks??? ALSO, why chose a 2.4GHz only chipset? Understandably it is cheaper, but at the cost of end-user convenience and simplicity. Your setup instructions direct users to connect to a 2.4GHz WiFi network, yet many users have no idea how to manipulate their smartphone settings (if even available) or how to manipulate their WiFI networks to create a 2.4GHz only network. As far as I’m aware, an iPhone offers no way to connect only to the 2.4GHz side of a combined frequency WiFi network. And what about networks where the person installing the lock has no control over the WiFi network available, like shared apartment building WiFi, corporate WiFi networks, home internet routers with combined WiFi capability that the home user isn’t even allowed to manipulate, etc. Once again, U-tec has made a poor decision, not understanding how negatively such a decision would impact the end-use of their product. Why not spend a few dollars more and utilize a proper combined 2.4GHz/5GHz chipset? This would eliminate a lot of the connectivity and initial setup issues your user base experiences.
Hi, If you take a look at products on Amazon, you’ll notice that 2.4GHz is the mainstream choice for smart home products.
@Carrie it’s like you didn’t even read my post. We could go back and forth. I could list a few of the IOT devices from higher-end reputable home automation equipment providers (Lutron, Ring, Ubiquiti, etc.) and you could list a bunch of Chineese junk device manufaturers using low-end cheap (2.4GHz only) chipsets. What would be the point of that though? What matters is how U-tec devices work and what kind of end-customer experience they provide. I’m trying to provide you feedback regarding my experiences and where the setup/installation process came up short or was more complex than necessary. I use 8 of your locks and have setup several more than that due to hardware failures with warranty replacement. The connecting of the VERY BUGGY WiFi bridge device has always been a challenge for me in setting up U-tec locks. The main thing causing the challenges during setup seem to have to do with 2.4 vs. 5.0 WiFi networks. I’ve experienced these exact same challenges when using other IOT devices with 2.4GHz only chipsets. I suggest you forward my post over to your engineering team. Those guys think everything complex is simple because it’s the world they live in. Your average consumer probably has no idea how to manipulate their WiFi access point or network settings.
