Ecosmart Live is utter garbage

[Potatohead]

I have owned four Vortechs and a Reeflink going on four years now. I don't think I have ever been able to log into their site, modify my program, and program it to the pumps in a linear fashion, ever. It's always some type of waiting for ESL to come online, followed by unplugging my Reeflink and router thirteen times, followed by holding my tongue in my right cheek while pulling my left earlobe... Honestly it's a joke how bad it is. I have tried from different devices as well as hardwiring my laptop to the Reeflink. I haven't changed my program in probably 18 months because of this hassle, until a few days ago I decided to, and I still to this point after trying several times for days, have not been able to program it to my pumps.

I know someone is going to respond and say it works 100% for them no problem, that's great. For me it is total junk and meanwhile I can log into my GHL Doser every single time, from any device, anywhere in the world.

If it wasn't for no cords, the ease of cleaning and not wanting to modify my screen top I would have dumped these things a long time ago. It's hard to justify this type of crap performance from about $2k in powerheads when I could have something else which flows more and just simply works for 1/2 that or less.

Rant off

 

[Quietman]

Thanks....kept wondering if I should invest in one. The interface with my Radion is sufficient via USB, but a bit clunky. It uses EcoSmart Live too, just not wireless. I didn't think it'd be better via wireless. Appreciate the confirmation.

 

[JoshH]

I'm hoping that there new Mobius interface fixes all of this Reeflink stuff I keep reading...

 

[scubasteve020]

As a software engineer I can highly agree that the tech they are using on the site is quite out dated haha

 

[Potatohead]

I think the last time I did this I factory reset the ReefLink and started the whole install process again. Thing is I can log into ESL and connect to the RL. However when I go to the Vortech tab it's in offline mode 95% of the time. Then when the planets align and I get the program button, when I click it, I get the spinning wheel of crushed dreams for like five minutes. Its almost like the RL won't communicate through RF to the pumps anymore or something. Also the RL has the red light at ten o'clock which I believe to mean it can't communicate with ESL.

 

[maroun.c]

Believe it also has to do with internet providers. I have 2 different internet providers at home and on one of them two RL I have would never connect even. On the second one I get the flaky connection at times. But overall at worse case scenarios a simple router and reeflink disconnect reconnect makes it work for me.
Weirdly RL when it works can also control my lights in the basement through 40 cm of reinforced cement and at some.distance as well.
I bought the apex module to control the lights but haven't had the time to install it yet.

 

[ReefRondo]

It works for me but not every time and can get incredibly frustrating. Such a shame that some of the best lights and pumps on the market just don’t have the software they deserve.

 

[Deezill]

I too have had problems and mine is brand new. I agree with Potatohead. I have been collecting gear for my system for some time only to find out how flawed the reeflink is. Maybe Mobius will work better.

 

[VA5]

Radions work very well with reef link. My vortechs work well although the setting of the modes is not user friendly. The vectra works the least well.
I remember it was frustrating to set up and there is still a manual set up pop up I can not get rid of.
As far as the actual hardware I believe ecotech is the best. Also the staff is very friendly if you ever need to call.
I believe they are updating their platform with the release of their new siding pumps

 

[Nereaga]

I have a Gen3 Radion and I love it. Ecotech Live works well enough to set up the light on a schedule and start growing corals. I have reading the negative reviews on the Reeflink. Seems that connectivity is an issue. Did you make sure that you turned off your wifi auto connection? That seems to be an easy fix for most people.

Ill wait for the new Mobius setup. You cant beat Ecotech products though, far superior, especially their customer service is second to none, imo.

 

[dank reefer]

The Mobius app will allow you to connect via BT to the device if its capable to control them.

But I agree that ESL (especially on a mobile device) is garbage.

I have separate tanks using radions, and it's a PITA to adjust schedules/intensities using the app. I recently upped the intensity on my softie tank, and realized a week or 2 later that it had raised the intensity on my frag tank as well. If I want to preview a schedule on 1 tank, no matter what I do it will run the preview on both tanks.

Someone on the AI Facebook group was able to decompile the newest AI app and saw that there were profiles for the Radions written in it. And I am hoping that they unlock it so that you can control the radions using the AI app as to ke it's a way better app.

 

[bacc2bacc]

I’ve heard tons of horror stories regarding ecotechs customer service. That alone will sway me away from their products.

 

[siggy]

You cant beat Ecotech products though, far superior

I’ve heard tons of horror stories regarding ecotechs customer service

That's what I like about this site, you will get the skinny on just about everything. You just have to take it all with a grain of salt I too had a tough time with my lights and ended up using an old laptop to finally get them programmed.
Does anyone know when Möbius will launch?

 

[Rybren]

FWIW, I've found that ESL doesn't play nice with Firefox, but have had no issues with Chrome (which is one of the two browsers they recommend using; Firefox isn't one of them)

 

[ESH]

The only issue I’ve had with mine is the random “offline” moments I will get when trying to make changes. I found this more frequently when I tried to run the reef link on WiFi. I run mine connected to an Ethernet cable plugged directly into my router, and so it’s become its own stand alone WiFi network for 12 devices, split across two floors. Works really well now. It took me a while to figure out programming on my phone but works well for me. What more will mobius add that I’m not already getting?

 

[Fishingandreefing]

I literately slipped what you were writing and I already knew. Yup, mine got disconnected constantly and that stupid reeflink is still blinking none stop.

I mean, it’s a shame that they considered themself top of the line company in this community and has such problem.

come on ecotech, quick county money and step up that IT game!

 

[Fishingandreefing]

“Skipped”

 

[Mical]

Tried this? -> https://support.ecotechmarine.com/h...-me-I-m-in-Offline-mode-or-running-very-slow-

 

[JoshH]

The only issue I’ve had with mine is the random “offline” moments I will get when trying to make changes. I found this more frequently when I tried to run the reef link on WiFi. I run mine connected to an Ethernet cable plugged directly into my router, and so it’s become its own stand alone WiFi network for 12 devices, split across two floors. Works really well now. It took me a while to figure out programming on my phone but works well for me. What more will mobius add that I’m not already getting?

It's really not going to be of much help in your case as your system works. Mobius is really just a Reef Link replacment that works off bluetooth instead of wifi

 

[Robert M]

My Ecosmart Live stopped working altogether when I upgraded my Mac OSX laptop to the latest OS (Catalina). Seems that Ecosmart Live requires a version of Java that’s so old I can no longer install it. If you plan to use Ecosmart Live with an up-to-date Mac, maybe hold off until Ecosmart is updated to a modern programming stack or they fix this bug.

Fortunately I got my lights setup before upgrading my OS... just hope I never have to reset them.