Re: xAP interface to Alertme Smartplugs

["Paul Bendall" <paul@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Kevin,

Thanks for the investigation. I must admit I hadn't considered a call-back
over the internet I assumed it would be to the hub. Shame as the device
looked promising and at a good price point as well.

Paul

--- In xap_automation@xxxxxxx, Kevin Hawkins <yahoogroupskh@...>
wrote:
>
> Just had a quick look over their current API and I can't see any way
of
> getting at the power consumption figures :-( - either from the plugs
or
> the hub.  There is a call to turn a plug on/off but that's about it
:-(
>
> Even if there was then those remote API calls also suffer from the
> following caveat..
>
> "Requests to the API are rate limited. Should a request fail
because of
> rate limiting, you will see the following HTTP error: 503 Service
> Temporarily Unavailable It is therefore important to handle this error
> gracefully. The extent to which requests are limited can be reviewed
on
> a case-by-case basis. If you believe your application needs less
> restrictive rate limiting, please contact support"
>
> Which makes any prospect of getting useful realtime (ish) data from
> plugs unlikely -   AlertMe really do need to have some local API calls
> for such  applications or the means to handle bucketloads of remote
> ones.     I suspect part of their reluctance is that if the internet
> connection fails then they have data rates over GPRS to pay for...
>
> So it doesn't look like a xAP conduit is very practical.
>
>    Kevin
>
>
> Kevin Hawkins wrote:
> >
> >
> > AIUI it the AlertMe API actually makes calls to their central
server
> > (over the internet) rather than to your local AlertMe ZigBee hub
- which
> > is a real shame as it introduces latency/dependency . It would be
nice
> > if at least some appropriate API calls were handled locally. So
for me
> > this caused a certain loss of interest but I could have got it
wrong as
> > I only spent a few minutes looking. I'm not sure if you also need
> > their monthly subscribed version for this ?
> >
> > They haven't yet announced their 'power bundle' yet - ie the
hub/plugs
> > have they ?
> >
> > Nearly a purchaser ....
> >
> > K
> >
> > Paul Bendall wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > Good morning all,
> > >
> > > I not sure if anyone else subscribed to the Alertme
newsletter? They
> > > have finally released the Smartplug which monitors power use
and can
> > > switch on and off. I'd love to know if anyone is working on
an xAP
> > > interface to Alertme?
> > >
> > > Smartplugs
> > > http://www.alertme.com/energy-saving/#save
> > <http://www.alertme.com/energy-saving/#save>
> > > <http://www.alertme.com/energy-saving/#save
> > <http://www.alertme.com/energy-saving/#save>>
> > >
> > > Forum discussing API
> > >
> > http://support.alertme.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=5503&task=forum
> > <http://support.alertme.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=5503&task=forum>
> >
> > >
> > <http://support.alertme.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=5503&task=forum
> > <http://support.alertme.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=5503&task=forum>>
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>




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