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Amazon Is Making It Easier To Set Up New IoT Gadgets (theverge.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the frustration-free dept.

At an event yesterday where the company unveiled a range of new Echo smart speakers and other Alexa-enabled devices, the company announced a new way to easily set up internet of things (IoT) devices. The Verge reports: Called Wi-Fi Simple Setup, the system will use Amazon's Wi-Fi Lockers to store your Wi-Fi credentials and share them with compatible smart home devices. Amazon is debuting this tech with TP-Link and Eero, with the idea that customers can reuse network credentials in order to set up new devices. This means devices will connect on their own instead of you having to manually set up each smart product. According to Amazon, it's as easy as plugging in a Wi-Fi Simple Setup-enabled device. The device will automatically look for the Wi-Fi Simple Setup Network and connect once it receives encrypted credentials. Amazon says the process should take no longer than 30 seconds. The ecommerce company also announced a "plug-and-play smart home kit called Alexa Connect Kit. "It starts with a module that has Bluetooth LE and Wi-Fi and a real-time OS that companies can put in their products in order to make them smart," reports The Verge.

14 of 48 comments (clear)

  1. The thing I fear by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    I can just see within five years I may not be able to buy any home appliance that is not "smart" and connected, with some of them trying ever so hard to connect even if against my will.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re: The thing I fear by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      error: can't connect to license server. shutting down.

    2. Re:The thing I fear by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I can just see within five years I may not be able to buy any home appliance that is not "smart" and connected, with some of them trying ever so hard to connect even if against my will.

      I do not worry about this. I already turned down a wifi-enabled dishwasher. ("You can start it from your phone! " "I, and how many hackers?")

      You see, chips are not free. Appliances comes in a spectrum: From dirt cheap, to sturdy quality. Those going for "cheap" will get the non-Internet devices, because manufacturers underbidding each other can shave off some cost by not having that wifi chipset. A toaster is so simple a device, so this will make a difference on the price tag. (Or on the corporate profit.) Even if they insist on wifi, it will only be midrange and up. Dirt cheap plastic items for the poorer will be without.

      Also, most appliances are simple from an engineering standpoint. If nobody will sell me an internet-free toaster, I can make my own. Won't look pretty, but it'll work. I cannot make a dishwasher myself. But I know my electronics. So I can take any existing diswasher, and rip out the electronic controls. Then I can make it work just fine with my own electronics. No wifi then. A motor, a heater, and some pumps & valves - not at all hard to control with an arduino. If this is not an option for you, pay someone like me to "mod" your appliances for you. Go to a maker fair - anyone there could do it.

  2. How about no? by Shikaku · · Score: 1

    I could pull a huge number of examples but you can just scroll through https://twitter.com/internetof... and see why this is a bad idea.

  3. AWS IoT is mostly secure by mveloso · · Score: 1

    If you look at their implementation, it's a lot more secure than most implementations. Client-certificate based authentication, provisioning, etc.

    The only thing it can't do is prevent connections from devices with expired certificates ie: you can't prevent them from trying to connect.

    It's up to you to do signed firmware etc, but from a communications infrastructure and management point of view they're better than what you can do in a reasonable amount of time.

    1. Re:AWS IoT is mostly secure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Ah the ol' "you're safer under the protection of the Mafia" schtick.

    2. Re:AWS IoT is mostly secure by gtall · · Score: 1

      The other thing it cannot protect against is Amazon siphoning any data these widgets can collect about your personal life...so that you may be fully monetized for wealth and enjoyment.

  4. So Easy! by spaceman375 · · Score: 1

    Gee, a simple device (or app on my phone) just a little too close to my neighbor's house, and suddenly I am on his internal network? Hacking & other mischief will be so easy now! Thanx Amazon!

    --
    On the one hand you take life too seriously, and on the other, you do not take playful existence seriously enough. Seth
  5. Possibilities by Synonymous+Homonym · · Score: 1

    If me and my neighbour each have one WiFi locker, and one of us brings a new device, will it receive the credentials to both our wireless local area networks?

    Can this be used for connection sharing and bandwidth bundling?

  6. Aw HELL no by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    Make it more secure first!

    Please!

    For the love of $deity!

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  7. Another Reason I Like My Complex Network by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    People sometimes ask why I make my home network so complicated. Why have so many VLANs and ACLs and SSIDs...

    Well, because of shit like this. There's no need for Echo to be able to talk to ANYTHING on my network. Echo VLAN. My home automation system should be isolated too. There's no need for it's regular UPnP scanning to itemize all devices on my network and upload it to some vendors insecure cloud server. But, it needs to talk to a couple of other local devices. HA VLAN. Tablets and laptops... Guests...

    Everybody's wall off. Why? Because of stuff like this. It's no longer possible to know what all your OSes and IoT devices are doing behind your back. There's no telling if the next thermostat update is going to compromise my network or start spying on me in yet another unanticipated way. I want the promised conveniences but, I'm unwilling to let any and everyone have unfettered access to my stuff.

  8. Alexa Microwave by freeze128 · · Score: 1

    I looked at the Alexa enabled microwave. It's cheap (under $100), but only 700Watts. "Alexa, reheat my coffee". "Your coffee will be hot in 12 minutes". It's faster to just reheat it on the stove yourself.

  9. Sell it to me by TJHook3r · · Score: 1

    I'm lacking in imagination obviously but apart from a smart speaker (that saves me typing) I cannot think of any IoT gadget that isn't going to be landfill within 2 years.

  10. Have they thought this thru by Dorianny · · Score: 1
    I can see this working wonderfully in NYC apartments.

    Hey neighbor mind turning my lights off