Frustration is setting in....

[BeanAnimal]

@noopsyche

This site is officially listed as a contact point for your company.

Browsing through this sponsor forum I see numerous unanswered questions (mine included) directed at you or your company going back months. Your profile indicates that you spend time on this site daily but you appear to pick and choose what you are willing to answer.

If this is the wrong venue, please direct me to the proper channel for direct communication and support of your products.

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

@noopsyche

This site is officially listed as a contact point for your company.

Browsing through this sponsor forum I see numerous unanswered questions (mine included) directed at you or your company going back months. Your profile indicates that you spend time on this site daily but you appear to pick and choose what you are willing to answer.

If this is the wrong venue, please direct me to the proper channel for direct communication and support of your products.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Out of curiosity..what are your questions? I have an older version (the non wifi type). People here are suprisingly helpful.

There are questions in several threads that can really only be answered by the vendor, whom appears to login daily but only selectively responds.

-Wifi connectivity problems
-QR code technical questions
-Current revision hardware jumping out of schedule to manual
-etc.

 

[vetteguy53081]

There are questions in several threads that can really only be answered by the vendor, whom appears to login daily but only selectively responds.

-Wifi connectivity problems
-QR code technical questions
-Current revision hardware jumping out of schedule to manual
-etc.

noopsyche is very good about responding but do it at night as they are in China time zone. I get 100% reply when I make an inquiry

 

[BeanAnimal]

noopsyche is very good about responding but do it at night as they are in China time zone. I get 100% reply when I make an inquiry

Yep - I understand where the product and support comes from as well as the general holiday work schedule in China and how timezones work

 

[GuppyHJD]

It has absolutely no bearing on this conversation.

BeanAnimal,
What lights do you have?

 

[BeanAnimal]

K7 Pro III - shipped a few weeks before Christmas.

Not over tank yet - debating trying to return or give away if I can't return. I think the lights are OK but am not overly pleased with the customer service and support interaction.

I contacted support directly and their response to my Wifi connectivity issue was as follows:

After the lighting is tested and passed, the shipment will be arranged, so there may not be a lighting problem. Many people were able to connect to the LAN connection quickly, but some people could not connect. Sorry, we don't know what's wrong with the user's like your home WiFi or mobile phone settings.

I get it - they can't troubleshoot every idiot's network issues. But at the same time, there are numerous unanswered/unresolved posts in this forum indicating that people are having issues with the Wifi (LAN mode) connectivity. I am clearly not on an island, as well my profession is/was networking and IT infrastructure... as well as being an avid electronics hobbyist who has built several IoT devices from the ground up.

The part that puzzles me more than anything is that NS logs in here EVERY day and whistles right past questions/problems that they don't feel like answering, even after being tagged directly. Their prerogative of course, but this forum is listed on their website as a point of contact.

It is not the Wifi issue that is the deal breaker for me (if there is one). It is the 30,000 foot view that this is pretty rough around the edges and only a step removed from buying an unknown product from AE and hoping for the best.

All of that said the price is far below that of EcoTech - and the Radion (and other products) have their own set of bugs/issues/etc. So I am trying to keep expectations in check, especially given the full context.

In my case, I don't absolutely NEED wifi, as once these are set, they should be forget. However, there are several reports of people having their lights continually jump out of auto schedule into manual mode. So wondering how often i will actually have to connect, etc. That and the wifi mode was a selling point

As well, I have asked directly (ignored thus far) for some detail regarding QR codes - as the schedule interface in the application is cumbersome. I threw together a quick tool so that I could easily setup my profiles by importing adjusting and exporting QR codes.. but can't finish it without a few simple answers. Of course, they may not be willing to give them, but just flat out ignoring the direct questions is frustrating too.

Anyway - back to work. Will decide what to do with these later this week. I may place one over the tank next to the Radions, just to see how it fares one way or the other.

 

[Sleeping Giant]

K7 Pro III - shipped a few weeks before Christmas.

Not over tank yet - debating trying to return or give away if I can't return. I think the lights are OK but am not overly pleased with the customer service and support interaction.

I contacted support directly and their response to my Wifi connectivity issue was as follows:



I get it - they can't troubleshoot every idiot's network issues. But at the same time, there are numerous unanswered/unresolved posts in this forum indicating that people are having issues with the Wifi (LAN mode) connectivity. I am clearly not on an island, as well my profession is/was networking and IT infrastructure... as well as being an avid electronics hobbyist who has built several IoT devices from the ground up.

The part that puzzles me more than anything is that NS logs in here EVERY day and whistles right past questions/problems that they don't feel like answering, even after being tagged directly. Their prerogative of course, but this forum is listed on their website as a point of contact.

It is not the Wifi issue that is the deal breaker for me (if there is one). It is the 30,000 foot view that this is pretty rough around the edges and only a step removed from buying an unknown product from AE and hoping for the best.

All of that said the price is far below that of EcoTech - and the Radion (and other products) have their own set of bugs/issues/etc. So I am trying to keep expectations in check, especially given the full context.

In my case, I don't absolutely NEED wifi, as once these are set, they should be forget. However, there are several reports of people having their lights continually jump out of auto schedule into manual mode. So wondering how often i will actually have to connect, etc. That and the wifi mode was a selling point

As well, I have asked directly (ignored thus far) for some detail regarding QR codes - as the schedule interface in the application is cumbersome. I threw together a quick tool so that I could easily setup my profiles by importing adjusting and exporting QR codes.. but can't finish it without a few simple answers. Of course, they may not be willing to give them, but just flat out ignoring the direct questions is frustrating too.

Anyway - back to work. Will decide what to do with these later this week. I may place one over the tank next to the Radions, just to see how it fares one way or the other.

I'll take a giveaway anyway

 

[BeanAnimal]

I'll take a giveaway anyway

It will come down to be the annoyance level or lack thereof... If I have to fiddle with these daily or weekly, etc. to keep them behaving as expected then they will be gone. If I can set them up (even with some frustration) and walk away from them for 3-5 years - then they will stay.

I have always enjoyed tinkering with things and problem solving... At this juncture in life, I have zero tolerance for it with regard to my reef. The fact that I have not done a single water change in 4-5 years should speak volumes

As buggy as I thought the Radion G2 and software was - once set, I have not touched the lights for 5+ years, a single time. If it takes another $3K to do that as opposed to $700 or whatever... then that is what I will do. This was a $600 gamble that I am still hoping will work out.

 

[mbonus]

I've been watching this as well. I am in a similar boat - I have an aging Radion G3 XR30 over my 30 gal tank and it has been set once and forget (other than stupid daylight savings)

I am figuring the xr30 par values are declining due to age and have been researching alternatives. This once seemed to check most of the boxes but maybe not if it is going to be wonky like jumping out of schedules etc. I sure don't have time for that...

 

[ScottD]

I’ve been watching this as well bean animal and have been waiting for a response on a question I asked as well. After seeing the issues others are having and how you’re being ignored, I’ll be looking else where now. Probably will be picking up some of the new AI blade lights instead. If you can’t get answers before purchasing a product I have no confidence I’ll get any support after purchasing.

@noopsyche

 

[BeanAnimal]

I (honestly) don’t get it.. I am truly baffled. They sign into this site every single day and flat out ignore direct questions and tags from numerous people. Maybe there is a perfectly good explanation…‍

 

[829282610]

They don’t care. That’s why no reply. They sell these things like hot cakes I’m sure. Why you would give Yourself the headaches that come along with these lights/company is beyond me. you get what you pay for in most instances. With a little research behind your decisions You would have seen the red flags. Imo

I would return it asap and go elsewhere. Customer service is pretty crap most places now a days. Isn’t this the Chinese made light/app that people were worried about privacy? Not to mention all the other jenky issues.

 

[Tamberav]

Return it and check out Reefi lights

I had the same problem with a Clearview form here... they just ignored the thread and hope it goes away.

 

[BeanAnimal]

They don’t care. That’s why no reply. They sell these things like hot cakes I’m sure. Why you would give Yourself the headaches that come along with these lights/company is beyond me. you get what you pay for in most instances. With a little research behind your decisions You would have seen the red flags. Imo

I would return it asap and go elsewhere. Customer service is pretty crap most places now a days. Isn’t this the Chinese made light/app that people were worried about privacy? Not to mention all the other jenky issues.

Saw the red flags for sure… took the gamble anyway. It’s $500 bucks…
Privacy - yeah red flags there too… that is what outbound firewalls are for.

The jenky part is what will break it for me. If they can’t stay in schedule once set, then I have no use for them.

Returns… betting there is no chance short of Amex dispute.

Not giving up yet.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I have the answers that I have been waiting for. So still willing to give these the benefit of the doubt.

For those struggling with Wi-Fi… I will find some answers soon And assume that the chosen chipset and certain vendors handshakes are not playing nicely. 2.4GHz has changed a lot over the last decade and many modern APs offer a lot of new features (roaming and other exoic enhancements to plane Jane 802.11) that can make connectivity to striped down IoT devices challenging.

I was able to get connected to an old Ruckus AP and a 8 year old Linksys. Will get some Wi-Fi packet tools setup when I get a chance and see where the connection to the other devices is failing.

 

[GuppyHJD]

BeanAnimal,
I am not exactly in the same situation as you.
You have the newer version of light. You have a Wifi option. I guess - be careful what you wish for. The V2 controller is very clunky at best.
I won an Noopsyche K2 Pro II light about 2 yrs ago from a contest here on R2R. I was just setting up a new tank so I was very happy to receive the light/bracket and controller. Due to the size of my tank I needed a second light so I ordered one from the US distributor when they were in business (they are not any longer).
I setup the lights and my tank progressed thru the various stages. In time I changed the program/settings and my lights had problems running in automatic schedule mode. I contacted the US distributor, and he walked me thru resetting the lights.
This happened another time with the same results.
Then in Nov 2022 when the Daylight Savings changed, I changed the time on my controller and the lights were back to their old tricks. This time I had nobody to contact. I contacted a few people on R2R and asked for help, but several were no longer using their lights. I did contact Noopsyche on Facebook and we had a significant translation problem but eventually I figured out how to reset the lights and controller back to factory settings. Then got a new program in them for a schedule. My lights are working at this point.
I agree with your concerns about the customer service and support of these lights.
I can say, I have been able to grow corals with these lights.
Good luck.