Author Topic: Acurite plans to drop support for SmartHUB August 31, 2018.  (Read 19914 times)

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Offline nincehelser

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Re: Acurite plans to drop support for SmartHUB August 31, 2018.
« Reply #75 on: February 25, 2018, 02:20:03 PM »
Then I presume current sensors would not be seen by the Elite's display and their data would not be forwarded to MyAcurite. If this is the case would the Access be able to work in conjunction with the Elite's display so current sensor's would still function, or will there be a new generation of sensors?

The Access can be used alongside with the Elite.  The Access would handle the 433MHz devices, and the Elite the 915Mhz.

The change in frequency doesn't mean the Altas Elite couldn't be supported by myAcurite.  myAcurite doesn't care about the radio frequency used.  You would just have two devices reporting to myAcurite instead of one.

I haven't heard anything about a new generation of 915Mhz sensors (other than the Atlas Elite itself), but I would guess that's a possibility.

Offline daman

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Re: Acurite plans to drop support for SmartHUB August 31, 2018.
« Reply #76 on: February 25, 2018, 03:47:38 PM »
Then I presume current sensors would not be seen by the Elite's display and their data would not be forwarded to MyAcurite. If this is the case would the Access be able to work in conjunction with the Elite's display so current sensor's would still function, or will there be a new generation of sensors?

The Access can be used alongside with the Elite.  The Access would handle the 433MHz devices, and the Elite the 915Mhz.

The change in frequency doesn't mean the Altas Elite couldn't be supported by myAcurite.  myAcurite doesn't care about the radio frequency used.  You would just have two devices reporting to myAcurite instead of one.

I haven't heard anything about a new generation of 915Mhz sensors (other than the Atlas Elite itself), but I would guess that's a possibility.
Sooo.... both the Accsess(obviously)sensors and the Elite will be able to report to myAcurite page and WU, one account?
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Offline nincehelser

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Re: Acurite plans to drop support for SmartHUB August 31, 2018.
« Reply #77 on: February 25, 2018, 04:19:01 PM »

Sooo.... both the Accsess(obviously)sensors and the Elite will be able to report to myAcurite page and WU, one account?

I can't say that it will.  I can only say that it is possible that it can.

myAcurite currently supports 3 different types of reporting devices (Access, SmartHUB, PC Connect).  There's no obvious reason another couldn't be added.

Also, since last year you can report to one WU Station ID for each reporting device (i.e. Access or SmartHUB) under the same account.

Offline daman

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Re: Acurite plans to drop support for SmartHUB August 31, 2018.
« Reply #78 on: February 25, 2018, 04:31:24 PM »

Sooo.... both the Accsess(obviously)sensors and the Elite will be able to report to myAcurite page and WU, one account?

I can't say that it will.  I can only say that it is possible that it can.

myAcurite currently supports 3 different types of reporting devices (Access, SmartHUB, PC Connect).  There's no obvious reason another couldn't be added.

Also, since last year you can report to one WU Station ID for each reporting device (i.e. Access or SmartHUB) under the same account.
Ok so at the moment the Elite will only be able to report to WU or no? just trying to get on the same page here.
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Offline nincehelser

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Re: Acurite plans to drop support for SmartHUB August 31, 2018.
« Reply #79 on: February 25, 2018, 04:34:29 PM »

Ok so at the moment the Elite will only be able to report to WU or no? just trying to get on the same page here.

It will definitely report to wunderground.  There wouldn't be much call for it if didn't.

Offline daman

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Re: Acurite plans to drop support for SmartHUB August 31, 2018.
« Reply #80 on: February 25, 2018, 06:37:38 PM »

Ok so at the moment the Elite will only be able to report to WU or no? just trying to get on the same page here.

It will definitely report to wunderground.  There wouldn't be much call for it if didn't.
Yup thanks!
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Offline daman

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Re: Acurite plans to drop support for SmartHUB August 31, 2018.
« Reply #81 on: February 27, 2018, 11:56:44 AM »
I just received the official email of EOL for the AcuRite hub, they must have caught flaq for not sending one out.

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Offline BeaverMeadow

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Re: Acurite plans to drop support for SmartHUB August 31, 2018.
« Reply #82 on: February 28, 2018, 12:47:11 PM »
I just received the official email of EOL for the AcuRite hub, they must have caught flaq for not sending one out.

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I think they are just covering themselves against liability regarding under-warranty SmartHubs that would have ceased to work on Sept. 1, 2018.

Offline joegr

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Re: Acurite plans to drop support for SmartHUB August 31, 2018.
« Reply #83 on: February 28, 2018, 02:02:32 PM »
I just received the official email of EOL for the AcuRite hub, they must have caught flaq for not sending one out.

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I think they are just covering themselves against liability regarding under-warranty SmartHubs that would have ceased to work on Sept. 1, 2018.

I believe so.  It's amazing that it took their customers to point it out to them before they thought about it.

Offline johndoe2018242018

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Re: Acurite plans to drop support for SmartHUB August 31, 2018.
« Reply #84 on: March 03, 2018, 07:26:22 AM »
Look for the prices of your products to go up, and your service level to go down.  The company laid off a bunch of employees this past week. It is the 2nd time in the past year they have done it. They were not a big company before, and they just reduced their staff to about half. My cousin was one of the people who got let go. They can't talk about it or they lose their severance package. If I was you I would start looking at other brands because it sounds like the company is slowly going down the toilet.


I expect most of it is going to blow over quick.  For some reason the same reaction isn't happening on the Facebook forums.

^^It's happening. 

I also sent a complaint to BBB asking for their help getting my recent purchase refunded.

IMHO, units in warranty should be upgraded for free.  For units outside of warranty their offer seems reasonable.

Acurite is still selling 5 in 1 kits on Amazon with the smart hub!! These SKU's should be cancelled immediately!!


I really don't see a technical showstopper on why smart hub and access hub can't co-exist other then the "hacks" at Cheney are too stupid to implement it.

Offline johndoe2018242018

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Re: Acurite plans to drop support for SmartHUB August 31, 2018.
« Reply #85 on: March 03, 2018, 07:33:01 AM »
They just did a 2nd round of letting people go in the last year. The price of your product is going to go up, and your level of support is going to go down. They have cut their staff in half. That will affect every area of the company including their call center which was not very big in the first place. It had about 12 desks in it the last time I was in their building. My cousin was let go by this company, and is not able to talk about it with anyone from the company.  The consumer is now going to have to pay for the cuts they made. Good Luck to you all.

So this means that you MUST upgrade?  Or are they saying no future support?

That's not entirely clear.  My reading leads me to believe they will stop accepting data, but there are a few (very few) that disagree.

I wouldn't be surprised if they backed off that position based on the current uproar on the support board, kind of like the way wunderground backed off on discontinuing web cams.

I am beginning to be quite concerned for this decision, and believe based on the feedback on their help forum that backing down might not be the worst idea at this point. I don't think Cheney would have anticipated for people to be this upset when they were figuring out their future model.

I did some googling, and Chaney is one company in a group of privately help companies (Primex). I get the feeling that a business plan was made for Acurite to meet marketing and sales targets (like finally starting to sell the Atlas line; how long have they been talking about this?) and they felt they had to do things like dump the smart hub.

They are behind their schedule so that's why the notice was so abrupt. And the people making the decisions are not technically versed or hobbyists, they are likely some kind of business turnaround types and they don't care about getting people angry. They think they will get lots of new customers with their great new products, that their old customers will have no other place to go anyway, and that the old customers should be satisfied with their $90 coupons. There may be some more discounts and Loyalty programs, but I  think the smart hub end of support is baked into the plan by now.
I'm not trying to defend them, just saying that business is business. My 2 cents.

Offline txbayou

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Re: Acurite plans to drop support for SmartHUB August 31, 2018.
« Reply #86 on: March 03, 2018, 08:52:17 AM »
johndoe2018242018's posts remind me of why I've been having the feeling that the Acurite co. is in what is sometimes euphemistically called "restructuring":
1. the long delay in bringing the Atlas product to market
2. the fumbled abrupt EOL of the smarthub
3. the many complaints on their support page of unanswered phone calls, emails, unfulfilled orders, etc.

At the same time we are bombarded with a dizzying variety of sales and special offers, which all have to be studied in detail to make sure you are getting what you think you'll be getting.

I'd be very hesitant to spend $$$ on the Atlas when it finally comes out.

Offline nincehelser

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Re: Acurite plans to drop support for SmartHUB August 31, 2018.
« Reply #87 on: March 03, 2018, 08:59:38 AM »
"JohnDoe" is posting as "JohnSmith" over on the support board, posting essentially the same verbiage now 46 times this morning.  #-o

Offline DoctorKnow

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Re: Acurite plans to drop support for SmartHUB August 31, 2018.
« Reply #88 on: March 03, 2018, 09:29:37 AM »
Is this person posting real info, or is it made up? Proof?

Offline nincehelser

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Re: Acurite plans to drop support for SmartHUB August 31, 2018.
« Reply #89 on: March 03, 2018, 09:33:26 AM »
Is this person posting real info, or is it made up? Proof?

I'd wait for some confirmation.  This sounds more like a bot to me.  We'll see if it starts to engage in actual conversation with anyone.


Offline vreihen

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Offline John Z

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Re: Acurite plans to drop support for SmartHUB August 31, 2018.
« Reply #91 on: March 03, 2018, 10:51:09 AM »
vreihen,
Kudos for the Wisconsin DWD link. That is good solid info.

Offline Mchd17

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Re: Acurite plans to drop support for SmartHUB August 31, 2018.
« Reply #92 on: March 03, 2018, 11:58:03 AM »
I am very new here and don't know most of you, but here is my 2 cents. I recieved my acurite 5 in 1 for christmas. I have always been interested in weather and this is my first station. I did not like how Acurite cancelled the smarthub, made you purchase the Access, then says smarthub will work for another year. Not a way to treat customers. I do not like the fact that Acurite has not released their Atlas series. In the back of my mind i think, this company has an overstock on 5in1's and displays. That's the reason why they have not released the Atlas, they know nobody will buy them after the release of the Atlas. They have been having good sale prices on the 5in1's, trying to get rid of their overstock. When I ordered the Access, it took DAYS before recieving shipping information. Not a way to treat paying customers that are looking forward to something they purchased. Do they only have 1 person working in shipping? Their suppport forum is a joke. Their phone system is a joke, i tried them several times, never returned my call. I have walked away from Acurite and have ordered a Davis, hoping i don't ever look back. Davis will be here in 4 days, woohoo! Thanks for letting me vent and I am not trying to start a debate with anybody.

Offline waiukuweather

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Re: Acurite plans to drop support for SmartHUB August 31, 2018.
« Reply #93 on: March 03, 2018, 12:54:37 PM »
Davis is an excellent choice

Offline txbayou

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Re: Acurite plans to drop support for SmartHUB August 31, 2018.
« Reply #94 on: March 03, 2018, 01:03:17 PM »
Whether John Smith/John Doe is a troll or not, IMO Acurite sure seems to be having organizational issues at this time and they have a lot of miffed (former) customers.

As far as their marketing strategy goes, I have mentioned in jest in a couple of posts  that I used my $90 coupon to buy a bundle consisting of an access hub and a 5/1 sensor, for a final price of $61 or maybe it was $63. Good part: i got the discounted access. Goofy part: this means I picked up a spare 5/1 for around $20, which is nice since I have a dirt cheap backup unit, but it also makes me much less willing to ever pay more for one again in the future.

Reminds me of my favorite internet security software. I paid full price the very first time, thereafter it was "free after rebate." When that company stopped doing rebates, and made the discounts much less steep, I went to another brand, after finding another one with acceptable performance. That's my approach to things.

If Acurite hopes to hold on to me as a customer by convincing me to upgrade to a much higher priced product line, let's just say I'm not convinced yet.

I also find it ironic that I have made 2 purchases in 2 years to keep my basic station online. Total $160 and could have easily been more if I were not a "shopper". Had I known that I might well have spent my money on a different brand.

my 2 cents.



Offline davefr

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Re: Acurite plans to drop support for SmartHUB August 31, 2018.
« Reply #95 on: March 03, 2018, 01:46:56 PM »
Davis is an excellent choice

Davis probably has the best sensors but the rest of their lineup is a Kludge.

Their consoles look like they're from the 1970's.  (lack of color displays, lack of WiFi). I haven't seen anything new and innovative from Davis this entire decade.

If you want to connect one of their consoles to a router you have to buy a separate IP dongle for >$200 and string ethernet cable from the console to the router.  Or buy another overpriced console to place near the router. 

At least Acurite has had good ideas. It's their poor product quality and execution that's their downfall.

Offline waiukuweather

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Re: Acurite plans to drop support for SmartHUB August 31, 2018.
« Reply #96 on: March 03, 2018, 01:49:15 PM »
but you do not have to look at the console
(I never look at mine)
instead you look at the data either on a tablet/ipda/laptop/pc screen/web page etc etc

Offline johndoe2018242018

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Re: Acurite plans to drop support for SmartHUB August 31, 2018.
« Reply #97 on: March 03, 2018, 06:06:24 PM »
Here is your proof.

Today, the company made the difficult decision to right-size our organization to better position ourselves in a very dynamic economic environment. We took this step to align our company for long term viability and continued profitable growth. This is consistent with our communications at All Employee Meetings on being focused on delivering solutions and services with highly predictable, recurring revenue, not just products.
 
In order to achieve this, we are reallocating and reducing our people resources to eliminate duplication of efforts through the consolidation process and increasing our investments in two areas:
 
Building our PFOC family of brands through our Omnichannel approach and via our channel partners and end consumers.
Developing new, higher margin solutions with recurring revenue for both the B2B & B2C markets globally. 
 
These are difficult decisions and impact people throughout our company. We will continue to strive towards living our values while helping the PFOC achieve a future with more stable, predictable revenue growth in a very dynamic business environment.
 
I have the utmost confidence in our ability to navigate the changes in the commercial environments in which we operate and to be successful in the future. If you have any question please feel free to reach out to any executive, operating or leadership team member for clarifications.
 
Paul Shekoski
Chief Executive Officer

Offline alanb

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Re: Acurite plans to drop support for SmartHUB August 31, 2018.
« Reply #98 on: March 03, 2018, 07:03:15 PM »
To me, the one bullet point that says it all is this one: "Developing new, higher margin solutions with recurring revenue for both the B2B & B2C markets globally."

"Higher margin with recurring revenue" is not generated by selling a $150 5n1 that stands alone and lasts for several years. Now a $300 Atlas 7/8 or a $600 Elite might meet the "higher margins" goal, but where does the "recurring revenue" play in? Draw your own conclusions.
« Last Edit: March 03, 2018, 07:08:39 PM by alanb »
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Offline davefr

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Re: Acurite plans to drop support for SmartHUB August 31, 2018.
« Reply #99 on: March 03, 2018, 07:19:57 PM »
To me, the one bullet point that says it all is this one: "Developing new, higher margin solutions with recurring revenue for both the B2B & B2C markets globally."

"Higher margin with recurring revenue" is not generated by selling a $150 5n1 that stands alone and lasts for several years. Now a $300 Atlas 7/8 or a $600 Elite might meet the "higher margins" goal, but where does the "recurring revenue" play in? Draw your own conclusions.

Sounds like they want to charge a hosting fee for data uploads to WU, etc.?? But how can they since their competitors don't?

Does Acurite represent a large % of Primex?

 

anything