PumpSpy WiFi Sump Pump Smart Outlet with Sump Pump Water Level Sensor, 24/7Monitoring & Alerts, Works with any 120V Sump Pump, Has Additional Outlet for Backup System For Sump Pump, White

I purchased notwithstanding several negative reviews hoping that the company had the kinks worked out. Nope. Powered it on and the smart app will not/does not connect to the outlet. Numerous attempts and restarts with nothing but frustration. I called tech support and the person on the phone was very nice and suggested that an app update would fix the issue, but I could easily tell that wasnt the case. The system works on initial setup by publishing a local wireless access point with the SSD, PumpSpy. When you start the configuration the app asks you to confirm that the yellow ring on the outlet is lit, indicating that the unit is advertising its WiFi hotspot. What should happen is the app sees the PumpSpy hotspot, associates with it and then has you configure the smart outlet to use your local home WiFi. After that it just becomes a WiFi client on your network. But the initial configuration is critical: If it fails then you just have a dumb plug. What was happening was I see the yellow ring, the app sees the hotspot and associates with it. And... thats it. The PumpSpy hotspot is supposed to run a DHCP service and assign your phone an IP address so you can connect to the outlet and run the setup. I was able to confirm that the unit fails to assign an IP address and the setup times out and fails. No IP address means no setup. The mobile app has nothing to do with it. There is even a manual instruction on the website for configuring the device without using the mobile app which entails connecting to the PumpSpy hotspot and navigating the the units local website: 10.10.115.1/config/scan_page_outer.html But, since the phone never gets an IP address from the hot spot it cant go to the URL. I emailed tech support and they confirmed my analysis suggested doing a hard reset of the device, but after numerous retries the same failed results. Unreal. This the most basic requirement for a smart device. I have cheap light bulbs and smart outlets that cost a fraction of this plug and they work flawlessly. This unit fails right out of the gate. My broader concern after reading the other reviews is that there is a systemic quality control problem such that even if I returned & replaced the unit I had no confidence that it would work or last for the years I expect. Shame. I really wanted to like this. I returned it the same day and ordered the Moen Sump Pump monitor. It costs slight less, appears to have better reviews and the Moen customer support is top notch.

Others have indicated challenges setting up the WiFi connection but I did not experience any issues. I set it up using an iPhone 8 running iOS 12 and it took about 5 minutes to get it online. The instructions were short and easy to follow. I also found it reconnects to WiFi quickly (within 1 minute) when unplugging and replugging back in. Plugging the device into the GFI outlet is as simple as it can get although the alignment of the center hole to secure to the outlet/junction box didn’t align with my outlet (maybe it’s my particular outlet?) Not sure if others have had this problem but it is secure without it and don’t feel there is any likely risk of it falling out. As others have indicated the outlet you plug your pump into (on the device) is ‘loose’ so you’ll likely need to use some electrical tape or zip tie to make sure it doesn’t fall out. I’m running a two pump setup so the main pump gets plugged into the ‘monitored’ outlet of the device to get data on number of cycles run and run time; I found the app to refresh with cycle data almost instantly after the pump cycles off. The high water sensor is mounted above the main pump float level and slightly below the battery backup pump sensor level and when testing I found the phone app alert to come through basically instantly. I’ve found the alerts (high water, normal water, lost power, power restored) from the phone app to be basically instantaneous. You can also setup text message alerts, which are redundant with the phone app alerts, but I found them to be on a lag compared to the app alerts at times but good feature if you want to alert other cell phones that don’t/can’t have the phone app. I tested a loss of power to router (i.e. no WiFi) scenario and it took about 10 minutes to receive the alert that there was no connectivity (the alert is triggered because the manufacuter’s server hasn’t received a communication from the device). Others have indicated issues with the connectivity after having it installed for some time, too early for me to tell but I’ll update my review if I experience that down the road. Overall I like that this device will alert me instantly when the power to the outlet is out (if the GFI trips) and when the water level breaches the high level sensor (say if my main pump fails) because both of these scenarios would indicate my battery backup pump is running and that means I have a window of time to get things back online. I also like that it will alert me within a reasonable time (10 minutes) when the device doesn’t report into the manufacturer’s servers because it likely indicates a full house power outage and that my battery backup pump is running. I didn’t give it 5 stars because of the shortcomings with the mounting hole (to the outlet) and because of the loose fit of the pump plug into the device.

Overall this is a good product and I would purchase again. I did have the same connectivity issues, noted by others. System didnt want to connect to internet with 3-4 bars- I purchased a WIFI booster and it connected without issues. PROs: does what is says- monitors sump pump activity and alarms very quickly and reliably. CONs: the outlets are not tight- primary sump pump has no issues--back up sump pump has a heavy plug which has worked out of the outlet...a zip tie fixed this. Side note: this was installed on a new build house, which flooded prior to closing, when power was lost. So, I know the basement will flood if there isnt a workable pump system. I complained to the builder about the constant activation of the sump and was disregarded- I used this system via the app to show the builder that my pump was activating 2500+ times a day and discharging up to 27K gallons of water (Yes!!!!). The builder came out and found that a discharge line they installed was essentially recirculating water to the foundation. This wouldve burned out the primary pump and flooded my basement. This product, while expensive, does what its supposed to do.

Update 11/2022 They restored the pump cycle history and updated the iOS app interface recently. I like it just fine ( again). The notifications of internet loss and restore , high level etc are very reliable and useful. Expensive… but it’s a great product. They removed the 60 day in latest app release. Now you have no idea how your pump is operating or how much water it is processing. Their tech support will not respond to requests concerning this issue. Total fraud and now a useless product. Do Not Buy !!!!

The customer service is pretty good. HOWEVER, I bought two, and both had a red ring within the year. They did replace both, but the worst part is the app, hands down. It randomly loses all of your information. You have to constantly check on it to ensure that it is working or else you may not be notified of pump failures. This kind of defeats the purpose of pump monitoring, if I have to do monitoring of my pump monitoring. You no longer receive texts of failures, it only allows emails, which is only as fast as your email sync. PumpSpy app randomly decided to no longer work, and I just happened to find out that it switched to Smart Power 24/7. On paper, it is a good product with great customer service. In execution, especially the app and notification, it is awful, and causes almost as much concern as no pump monitoring at all.

Ive had two outlets over the course of 4 years and havent had any real issues, but when I did have some bumps in the road, customer service was great. App is good and allows free (no monthly fee) monitoring and allows you to add multiple e-mail/SMS recipients, the no monthly fee part is the best.

As someone with serious basement/sump anxiety, I was elated to find out that there was now a product that would allow me to monitor the system in real time from a mobile app. I purchased the device and set it up with no trouble. It worked perfectly for about six weeks and I was very impressed by the monitoring capabilities. I then needed to briefly disconnect from power only to find out that the unit would not turn back on. I was quite distressed because we were getting clobbered with rain and I had to leave my home for several days over the holidays. Another new unit would not have arrived in time. I contacted PumpSpy support via email that night (after business hours) and received a reply (before business hours) the next morning. Unfortunately, there was no quick fix for my unit but I was immediately offered a replacement. I asked if it could be be priority shipped at my expense if necessary. They replied that the unit would be shipped overnight at their expense. And it was. Wow. When the new unit arrived I noticed that it had updated firmware which apparently corrected the problem with my first unit but also changed the way the pumps run-time data was presented. Truthfully, the new format was better for the majority of their customers but my system is atypical - my pump normally runs for several minutes (not seconds) when activated. I mentioned this to the folks at PumpSpy and shortly thereafter received a reply stating that another run-time format change would be made that likely satisfies all parties. And it was. Very Wow. Bottom line: This is a fantastic device for those who need it. The data and that it provides is impressive if you obsess over this stuff like I do. Honestly, I feel like they developed this product just for me. On top of that, the support has been outstanding. They actually respond directly to user feedback. Great product. Great support. Well done PumpSpy.

We finished our basement last year, and prior to that we took all the necessary steps to ensure our basement stayed dry... waterproofed the walls with a french drain, scoped all lines, replaced our sump pump and back up sump. We thought we were safe. However, our sump pump and back up has failed on us several times since (once was due to the float getting hung up and us unplugging the pump while we waited for the plumber - and then failed to check on it). Thankfully we were able to catch the overflow both times before they were severe, but we felt very fortunate that we were able to do so. To give us peace of mind, we finally invested in what we should have several years ago. I installed this myself in 10 minutes, in heels. So easy to setup. I had the outlet, water sensor, and wifi all completed and operational in no time at all. Its working flawlessly so far. I let the well fill to the point of setting off the sensor to test it and it sent me the alert immediately. Wish we wouldve purchased this years ago!

It’s hit and miss. Readings aren’t accurate, but at at least let’s me know there is power.

Well, the device itself works great. I get push notifications when events occur. Thats the good, the not so good is that you cannot install the device on your wifi network with any Android device. You need to install with an Apple device and then it will appear on your Android device. Unfortunately, once you have the app up and running, it is really hit or miss if you can open it and have it connect to your PumpSpy device. Really frustrating. The push notifications seem to always work but the device sets 300 minutes as the threshold where it announces the pump is running too long. My pump usually runs for 330 minutes to empty my sump. It would be nice to be able to set a custom threshold that makes sense for your particular system. So, while this product is a great concept and it seems to work for Apple devices the software is buggy to the point where it really diminishes the value of the price and time investment in installing. Would not recommend. Many, many folks confirm the software is poor or totally non-functional. Not worth the time I have to spend to re-install the app over and over again.