Mobius, got the time?

[JHSteepat]

Got back from a trip. Tank looks fine, but doing a walkthrough at 11pm, I see my awc running. Went into Mobius and saw it was on its normal schedule for the 8am to noon awc, and the time was 9:43am…….i guess no harm no foul.

Mobius settings actually ask me if I want to reset time to current time….why?

I feel like I went back in time to 1995 (old guy here). In 2024, we expect simple things like keeping time TO JUST WORK.

May be there’s a reason the app doesn’t check the time say once a week??? Why is this something I have to handle manually? Shouldn’t you just tell the app your time zone and forget it? Or am I taking out a 4 hour flight delay on an easy target?

 

[apb03]

It's a bug that Ecotech just can't seem to fix. It's not so simple because these devices do not have access to the internet so they cannot sync time.

Thankfully, my time issue was fixed in a patch last year but I know of people that still randomly encounter the date skew bug.

I'd report it to ecotech and just plan on fixing the time every once in a while.

 

[JHSteepat]

Oh yes, no internet. I guess so long as theres no need for action at a specific time this is harmless, just something to add to my weekly to do list.

 

[apb03]

It can be really annoying for sure. One day you notice the lights aren't on, log into Mobius and it thinks the year is 2057 or something.

I've spoken to a distributor about it and it's a well known issue at Ecotech, but for some reason they can never squash it.

Just add Wifi you bozos.

 

[BeanAnimal]

It's a bug that Ecotech just can't seem to fix. It's not so simple because these devices do not have access to the internet so they cannot sync time.

It is simple - the RTC setup they are using onboard these devices is poorly implemented (hardware, firmware or both).

But you are correct in that these devices run on their own internal clocks once set when you are connected. Time drifts on each device. I assume they talk to each other and the master in the group periodically tells each device what time to adjust to.

If the master drifts, then they all drift. When you connect back up the master notices the time difference between your phone or computer ( the new temporary master) and prompts you if you want to sync up.

I assume people with Apex don’t have this issue as the Apex is Internet connected and is the “master”.

I assume the “fix” for stand alone Mobius devices is a hardware redesign. Not going to happen and does nothing to fix existing devices.

The next easiest fix... A new bare bones Mobius device that is Ethernet/Wi-Fi connected and has an RTC and NPT client. It would behave act as the time master. I assume that the Mobius firmware on stand alone devices could be altered to use this as the time source. But alas, I assume they don’t care enough to develop such a device and adapt all firmware to utilize it. They would rather you buy an Apex.

Enjoy…

 

[apb03]

It is simple - the RTC setup they are using onboard these devices is poorly implemented (hardware, firmware or both).

But you are correct in that these devices run on their own internal clocks once set when you are connected. Time drifts on each device. I assume they talk to each other and the master in the group periodically tells each device what time to adjust to.

If the master drifts, then they all drift. When you connect back up the master notices the time difference between your phone or computer ( the new temporary master) and prompts you if you want to sync up.

I assume people with Apex don’t have this issue as the Apex is Internet connected and is the “master”.

I assume the “fix” for stand alarms Mobius devices is a hardware redesign. Not going to happen and does nothing to fix existing devices.

The next easiest fix... A new bare bones Mobius device that is Ethernet/Wi-Fi connected and has an RTC and NPT client. It would behave act as the time master. I assume that the Mobius firmware on stand alone devices could be altered to use this as the time source. But alas, I assume they don’t care enough to develop such a device and adapt all firmware to utilize it. They would rather you buy an Apex.

Enjoy…

Well said, I couldn't agree more.

 

[Dragen Fiend]

It is simple - the RTC setup they are using onboard these devices is poorly implemented (hardware, firmware or both).

But you are correct in that these devices run on their own internal clocks once set when you are connected. Time drifts on each device. I assume they talk to each other and the master in the group periodically tells each device what time to adjust to.

If the master drifts, then they all drift. When you connect back up the master notices the time difference between your phone or computer ( the new temporary master) and prompts you if you want to sync up.

I assume people with Apex don’t have this issue as the Apex is Internet connected and is the “master”.

I assume the “fix” for stand alarms Mobius devices is a hardware redesign. Not going to happen and does nothing to fix existing devices.

The next easiest fix... A new bare bones Mobius device that is Ethernet/Wi-Fi connected and has an RTC and NPT client. It would behave act as the time master. I assume that the Mobius firmware on stand alone devices could be altered to use this as the time source. But alas, I assume they don’t care enough to develop such a device and adapt all firmware to utilize it. They would rather you buy an Apex.

Enjoy…

Its interesting how this is an actual issue considering how easy it is to implement RTC in this day an age.

 

[apb03]

Its interesting how this is an actual issue considering how easy it is to implement RTC in this day an age.

Yeah, this is my main gripe with Ecotech. Most of my issues have been minor, unforced errors like this clock issue. Their hardware looks and feels premium, but execution is lacking. I've also had multiple Versas stop working for no reason, which affects my confidence.

I've decided to transition out of their ecosystem slowly.

 

[BeanAnimal]

It’s interesting how this is an actual issue considering how easy it is to implement RTC in this day an age.

The RTC hardware may be okay, but I would guess that there is either a glitch due to poor circuit design or a firmware issue that can’t be resolved without hardware revisions.

These things use a rather messy Bluetooth mesh to talk to each other. There is CRC error correction, but who knows how robust the actual underlying protocol is for fallback logic when CRCs fail. I would also assume code space is limited and therefore it may be “yeah that sucks, but we don’t have space for more robust logic”

It could also be as simple as they just don’t care, as the fix is too much work across the ecosystem vs the number of complaints and the real “fix” being to upsell you an Apex.

They are owned and operated by a venture capital group who invested for profit, not because they like fish or want you to have cook products.

 

[exnisstech]

They are owned and operated by a venture capital group who invested for profit, not because they like fish or want you to have cook products

It has been my feeling all along that they couldn't care less about mobius and the time issue and it is why I will no longer invest in thier system. Mobius switched back to 2010 the last time it acted up on me.

 

[apb03]

It has been my feeling all along that they couldn't care less about mobius and the time issue and it is why I will no longer invest in thier system. Mobius switched back to 2010 the last time it acted up on me.

It certainly has a feeling of a dead platform.

I spent many thousands of dollars, and it angers me to think about it.

 

[X-37B]

The only reason I use Mobius, or any Ecotech device, is I have 5 gen 5 xr15's from another build and im using 2 on my frag system. I did buy them all used and saved $'s and with 3 spairs im set as long as Mobius is around.
I do like the light though.

I have noticed the time being off but I will just live with it at this point.

 

[BeanAnimal]

It certainly has a feeling of a dead platform.

I spent many thousands of dollars, and it angers me to think about it.

I have over 5k in GHL and while it is better in some aspects, it too has warts. The dashboard is a throwback from early JQ Ajax front ends and is decade overdue for rework and it will likely never happen.

Given the open ended problems with most of these companies’ products, I think they are are struggling and profit only comes by lack of expenditure on improvements.

 

[theatrus]

I have over 5k in GHL and while it is better in some aspects, it too has warts. The dashboard is a throwback from early JQ Ajax front ends and is decade overdue for rework and it will likely never happen.

Given the open ended problems with most of these companies’ products, I think they are are struggling and profit only comes by lack of expenditure on improvements.

Building and investing in this space is hard. Its expensive to make this type of product, maintain it, and continuously update it. Consumer devices often miss the "maintain" step. And that all said and done, while there is a pretty healthy per unit margin, the volume isn't massive enough so you end up either contracting out the work as you need it, or have a very very small team doing everything.

 

[JHSteepat]

Given the open ended problems with most of these companies’ products, I think they are struggling and profit only comes by lack of expenditure on improvements.

I was going to say something along that line earlier. Despite our love for the hobby, reefing is a miniscule market compared to, say, smartphones, thermostats, and robot vacuums. I feel that without parent companies and investment groups' blessing, they don't have the $$ to contract engineers for anything but product-killing bugs and competitive new product development to maintain or grow market share.

 

[JHSteepat]

+1 for Ecotech. Replied extremely quickly. That said I don’t know if the following permanently fixes the issue of time verification.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I was going to say something along that line earlier. Despite our love for the hobby, reefing is a miniscule market compared to, say, smartphones, thermostats, and robot vacuums. I feel that without parent companies and investment groups' blessing, they don't have the $$ to contract engineers for anything but product-killing bugs and competitive new product development to maintain or grow market share.

Exactly - it is a double edges sword. Without companies like Bertram - many of the products that they rolled up under them would have ceased to exist. At the same time, the rollup is on the condition of profit. They spread their resource over what they own and cut as much cost as they can to keep the whole thing profitable with some individual items accounting for losses but bolstering the brand.

 

[BeanAnimal]

+1 for Ecotech. Replied extremely quickly. That said I don’t know if the following permanently fixes the issue of time verification.

No it does not fix the issue. They are just telling you to sync the clocks.
"My Oven and VCR are blinking time" - "Thanks, reset the time"
Next time the power goes out, you have to do it again.

 

[JHSteepat]

No it does not fix the issue. They are just telling you to sync the clocks.
"My Oven and VCR are blinking time" - "Thanks, reset the time"
Next time the power goes out, you have to do it again.

At least they got back to me......