Blog

I started out with https://nedisusersblog.com some years ago.

Nedis is a dutch company selling Tuya´s rebranded IOT´s in the European market. I thought that I would stop writing their blog, and focusing wholy on the Tuya blog, as Nedis only markets parts of Tuyas wide product catalog rebranded.

I have changed my mind. Tuya is totally uninterested in supporting their own products to me to write about, or to endusers who needs support.

They have an app that supports most of their product. Nedis uses that app, but has developed it and constantly adds features to it. Tuya does NOT support nor add features to their.

So even if the IOT-product is marked “Tuya” and not “Nedis” I highly recommend to use the Nedis-app, whenever it works with the IOT.

Tuyas app is worse, much worse, its focus is like Tuyas focus always is SELLING, not supporting the user. Watch their terrible openingscreen below and comaper it to Nedis user friendly overview above!

Qlima – the heatpump/AC makers – previously had their own development of the controlling app called “Nethome plus” Its based on the same code developed by Vulcansoftware for Tuya and then further developed. Its an excellent app! Since about a year Qlima-pumps are sold with the mark Tuya on their boxes. The wifi-stick included is blocked from working with “Nethome plus” and only works with the Tuya app. That app is worthless! The manuals still refers to Nethome plus and does not help the user at all. The app is hard to navigate and use and lacks totally the function “FP” which is the 8-10C FrostProtection setting, to be used in f.ex. a summerhouse during wintertime when You are not there.

Tuyas terrible app below, without the possibility to engage the FP “FrostProtection” and terrible looks.

Tuya does not even respond to e-mails to their so called support, about this matter. I reported this both to them and their danish agent for Scandinavia well over a year ago, without any change.

Below is Qlimas old good looking app including FP “FrostProtection”, that Tuya is blocking the use of on Qlima-pumps delivered with Tuya marking and Tuya Wifi-stick. So beware of boxes with the Tuya-logo on!

Qlimas old app as shown below, even includes good diagnosis of the pump, warning You well in advance of upcoming problems. Something the Tuya app of course is blocking.

The chinese needs to get their act together! or stop selling their own branded IOT´s!

I certainly DON´T RECOMMEND TUYA to anybody!

Buy Nedis instead or look elsewhere….

Samsung seems to be first out to have IOT´s certified for the Matter-standard.

https://www.theverge.com/2022/10/13/23400462/samsung-smartthings-matter-upgrade-hubs

The Matter-standard is essential for the future of IOT´s. We can´t have a situation where every producer needs its own app to be handled.

https://www.wired.com/story/what-is-matter/

Tuya is a VERY large chinese vendor of IOT´s. They are so big that they are a defacto standard today, but still open for change as being members of the organization that drives the Matter-standard.

I have had many problems with losing contact with my IOT´s especially cameras. I had to delete them in the mobile-app and then adding them again, to re-establish the connection.

It seems that using dynamic IP´s is the cause. The server – usually Your router – sets a time when to renew the IP-adress it assigned a client when it connects with “dynamic IP”, until then it will connect with the same IP for a client, like a laptop, a TV-box or an IOT. Some clients binds via the router to some remote server when installed, like when using the Nedis or Tuya-app. So when the router assigns a new IP dynamically after the decided time with a specific IP, the remote server will not find it again.

The remedy is to use “fixed IP” instead of “dynamic IP” for clients that have problems of being “lost”.

Try this link for an explanation on fixed vs dynamic IP.

I had problems especially with a range extender working in between the router and the cameras. By entering the range extenders setup and changing to a fixed IP, the problems disappeared. But using fixed IP´s is a good remedy whenever You are loosing the connections with Your clients (things in Your network).

The standards objective is to make common ground for IOT´s from different manufacturers. Thus making it possible to mix IOT´s from all the participants of the standard in ONE app.

Tuya has been member for some time of the CSA, which is the group that oversees the work on this important standard.

The work has been delayed again and again by adding new feautures and uses, mainly by new capabilities of hardware and chipsets, that was not foreseen from the beginning, as well as new platforms for the apps, Android, IOS, Windows, Linux, and Tizen.

The date for the release of v 1.0 of the standard and its SDK´s is now second half of 2022.

Meanwhile Tuya is the defacto-standard just by its enormous precense in products of today.

Wheater Tuyas products will be upgraded to the Matter-standard in the future OR the Tuya specifics will live on in paralel to the Matter- standard in the older Tuya-product is written in the stars.

You can read further on this here.

I found this product as an alternative to Zigbee connected sensors. I have no Zigbee-router between the Zigbee Bluetooth-protocol and the usual Wifi-protocol, and didn´t like the idea of having to invest 50€ in one at the moment.

People have told me that Wifi-sensors EAT battery and that the Zigbee Bluetooth was much less battery hungry. That might be true, but I have had this sensor now, since almost a year and never hade to change the three AA-cells even once.

The sensor was easy to set up by inserting the batteries, starting the Tuya-app, clicking on the “+” for adding a device, choosing “sensors” and then “Temperature and humidity sensor – Wifi”. Filling in the name of my WiFi network (You need to actually be connceted with Your mobile to the network You want to install the sensor on AND have the “mobile data” turned OFF, so that ONLY ONE IP-network – the Wifi-network – is active, the sensor can´t bind its IP to the mobile network as it has no 3G/4G/5G capability). Mind You that these products can ONLY be connected to 2.4GHz Wifi, so DON´T select a 5GHz Wifi, even if You have one available. Fill in the password of this Wifi and press “Next”. If You keep both the mobile and the sensor reasonable close to the Wifi-router, it should install in a snap. If it doesn´t, the usual suspects are: sensor and mobile not on the same Wifi-network OR wrong password OR to far away from the router for installation. Once installed the sensor can function at greater disance, so You can move it to the desired position.

Click on the now installed sensor in the app and You should have a similar screen as below. You can switch between temp/humidty at will and see the graph of readings below.

The reason that this WiFi-sensor preserves batteries quite well, seems to be that its NOT sending its readings as a push message all the time, but rather only as a pull message when You ask it of its readings through the app. That is if You dont ask it to set an alarm, like: “IF temp falls below 10 C THEN push alarm message to the Tuya-app in the mobile”. Then of course its SHOULD push a message, IF this happens often it might drain Your batteries.

Also I have found these push mesages, that seems to go through Tuyas servers before reaching Your mobile, to be a bit unreliable, sometimes they do and sometimes the do not act as instructed. So don´t use these push alarms if You really need to know.

As You can see it has both the Smart Life and Tuya Smart app logos. They work fine with both AND with Nedis Smart Life app too. As well as with Siri, Alexa and Google Home however this I have not tested.

I will rate this product 85/100 for pricing, ease of installation, ease of use and battery life, only minus is unreliablity of alarm messages.

I recently understood that Nedis is an IoT (InternetofThings) OEM-label. (OriginalEquipmentManufacturer – meaning that Nedis buys other manufacturers products putting their own label on them).

Most Nedis IOT´s is products from Tuya, who supplies Nedis with many, if not all of their Smart Home products, as well as the Smart Living-app.

As Tuya sells this OEM-concept of hardware and app, to many other labels, it means that Nedis IoT´s and some other OEM-products could be compatible, even before standards as the Matter-standard. It all has to do with HOW the various labels implement the API´s they get from Tuya. Most labels wants their own look and sometimes their own special functions to stand out from their competition, sometimes this makes their products not compatible with other labels. Whereas some of these products work just fine together, it is not guaranteed.

Tuya is a member of the old “Zigbee Alliance” developing the Zigbee standard (Nedis has 5 IOT´s with Zigbee and many more with WiFi), this Alliance is now transformed into the “Connectivity Standards Alliance“. This Alliance has hundreds of members (but Nedis is not one) an develops both Zigbee and Matter standards for product compatability between different vendors IoT-products.

Therefore the standards of Zigbee and Matter is not really a Nedis issue.

I have made contact with the Tuya organization now, to better understand this standard problem and possibly influence until the Matter-standard has impact. I have been met in a very positive way so far. It seems this is an issue the blog will come back to frequently.

Tuya is the only IOT-manufacturer big enough to be a de facto standard, sort of…

There is an international standard-group of hundreds of manufacturers of IOT´s including Tyua, so how does the work progress and what would it mean to present and future Tuya IOT´s?

Links to this standard-group:

Build with Matter

Matter on Wiki

Starting this evening – there is no access, at least for me and my account of the IOT´s via my Android-app?

Anybody else who has this problem?

Checking with my two other Android-devices with the Nedis-app installed to the same account. Tells me I am logged out. Logging in gives the errormessage “server busy”.

But I still get push-notices and alarms from the IOT´s set to send messages when triggered.

The problem is reported to Nedis-support.

*******Update*********

Following came from Nedis support just now:

Sales Support Center / Technical Support

Oct 4, 2021, 8:59 GMT+2 Thank you for your reply.

There was a large server issue last night
Everything is back up and running since 03:00hr CET
If you are having trouble connecting try restarting the app and your devices.

Kind regards

I have had problems now and then with the two cameras I have of this model. First they worked fine for over a year (except that they did NOT accept any extra memory cards), then after a firmware update “to correct problems with the battery” some time ago, they worked fine until batterylevel came down to under 80%. Then they hanged and would not take resets or anything else. Just not contactable through the app anymore.

Only way I found around it was to let them be until the battery was drained to 0%, then they turned off by them selves and could be reinstalled after charging again.

Now I decided to make a report to Nedis-support, they imm. recognized it as a battery problem and helped me to make a reclamation to my swedish vendor.

I am just curios on how a battery could go from excellent new condition to worn out in about 4 charges from 30 to 100%?? And why they both showed this problem soon after the firmware update?

All said, I was happy about how Nedis-support helped me to reclaim. Thank You!

If I get new ones (new model) or a repayment is not clear yet, that seems to be up to my vendor. We will see.

Any body else that has the same problem with this camera?

Just got the Nedis WIFICI11CWT camera, for 100€ for a five pack, at an offer, its full HD 1920×1080, has night vision, microSD-memcardslot, and possible push alarms for sound and movement, two way sound, an included netadapter AND a temp and humidity sensor! At THAT price its a bargain! I have NO idea how its possible to produce, sell and distriubute such a product at that price!

I didn´t realise that the sensor was not built in and had to be inserted as a 2 cm extension at the end of the “cable” wich is both a possible support and the USB-connection. The cable is “bendable” to the shape You like, from straight (with an included wall mounting clip), to being a stand as shown in the pic below.

You use the “cable” as a stand as in the pic below, OR click it in place with an included wallmounted cable mount.

Nedis support helped me understand that the sensor was not built in and had to be inserted as an extra (but was included in the pack).

The only drawbacks I can find, is that the angle of vision is only 110 degrees, the usual problem with that the microSD-memory does NOT work reliable and that the IR-lamp for nightvision, when it tuns on, triggers my PIR-sensor of the alarm in my garage!!?

But at this price it was a bargain. I will use it extensively. Please feel free to write about how YOU use it!

Because of the extremly low price at about 100€ for a five pack in my case, I value this camera at 70/100 for low price, pic-quality, included temp&humidity sensor, the usual problem with not accepting mem cards for recordings and 55/100 when taking the less than perfect app into account.