FlairPuck Wireless Thermostat Companion Product to Flair Smart Vents or a standalone Mini Split Controller

My original review is below below the line break. But I wanted to update this since buying a second one and using the first one now for a few months. I still haven't tried to connect to my Google home system. Just being able to use the app alone is enough for me. I really hate "talking" to my google home speaker more times than I have to. Every light switch and outlet in my home now is practically google home enabled. So it gets tiresome and most times I'd rather just use the app to push a digital button and know what I chose for an option is going to be executed.As I said, the first one I installed works great. Setup should NOT be done through the app. Go to their website to do it. Sign up for your account there, log in, and add the device via your web browser. (Use a laptop or desktop THAT HAS WIRELESS - if you don't have one, borrow one from a friend just to get the setup done. After that, the app works great). This was no different with my 2nd puck being added. I used my laptop and set it up without a problem. I created a new room, and I created a new mini-split, then added that mini-split to the newly created room. Tested and verified the new puck controls the mini-split without issue.I did notice one small flaw, and it's not likely to ever be corrected regardless of firmware updates and such. While my first Flair puck responds within 3-5 seconds of choosing settings on the app (or in the browser), the 2nd Flair puck I installed takes nearly 30-40 full seconds to respond. Having a background in both computers and RF I think I know why this is happening. Your first puck is set up as the "gateway." (Unless you purchase the specific gateway device from them that's not a puck - which isn't needed.) Every subsequent puck you add after that is just a "puck" device and it's only way to get the commands sent to it is from the 1st puck acting as the gateway. This adds quite a bit of delay to 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. pucks added when you make changes to the settings. 30+ seconds for your mini-split to get the command you put in the app is pretty lengthy. I wonder if adding the 2nd puck as yet another gateway would fix this - though that might not work, or even create issues having more than one Flair gateway running at a time. Either way it does work and if there's some more seconds between remotely turning it on/off I don't care as long as it actually does it. So long as it doesn't become 5-10 minutes! As I said in my original review I planned on buying more of these. I have 5 mini-split head units total. I have 3 more to go and they will all get one eventually. I just hope the company doesn't go under because all communication requires their backend system remain up and running, and WITHOUT charging you. If they do go belly up, I ask that they please release an API so that people can still use their very expensive equipment with "Home Assistant" which is a self-hosted smart home software that's free and can run on even just a cheap raspberry pi. I had a "wink" branded system years ago that was sold through Home Depot. I bought light switches, outlets, even 3 deadbolt door locks all on their system that promised "NO FEES - EVER." Well, they reneged on that 2 years into my using it. Wanted to start collecting $15 a month subscription. I ripped every single outlet and switch out of my wall and torched the equipment on my driveway with a blow torch I was so angry they pulled that carp.And again, if you cannot get it connected... it's NOT the equipment. It's you.#1 - DO NOT USE THE APP for setup, regardless of included instructions.#2 - Use their website for setup (see my original review text below for it, or google it)#3 - Stop looking at the strangely low rating here on this, and the negative Nancy's who say it's garbage, it most certainly is not!_____________________________________________________________________________________________I'm no rookie when it comes to RF or Wi-Fi networks. I have been involved in this technology for 25 years for work. No matter what I did I could not get this Puck to connect to my Wi-Fi. bottom line is the app sucks for setting it up. Skip the entire setup process within the app. set up via the web instead. first, make yourself a flair account. afterwards go to my.flair.co (NOT .com) And log in there. do this on either a laptop or a computer with Wi-Fi. The device must have Wi-Fi as you will need to temporarily connect to a temporary Network that the flair puck creates for the purposes of setup. once you get to the point where it wants you to search for the flare puck, it will instruct you to make your computer Wi-Fi connect directly to the flair Puck temporary Network. once you do this, a pop-up window will come up and search for wireless networks. here you pick the wireless network you want to connect to and enter the password. once you are done, it will direct you to reconnect your computer to your normal Wi-Fi and continue the setup process. again, do not use the app on your mobile device to do the setup. You're asking for frustration and failure. If you don't have a laptop, borrow somebody's! I am happily sitting under my Mitsubishi mini split which I can control now from the app. I have not yet tested Google home speaker integration. however, my son likes to make his bedroom like a bear cave with full blast fans speed and the lowest temperature. now I can simply open an app after he's fallen asleep and lower The fan speed and put the temperature at a more reasonable 67 or 68°. once the puck is set up. it works flawlessly. I have five mini splits all by Mitsubishi. I absolutely will be buying at least two more of these. I'm just waiting to make sure it works well for a week first. eventually I will have one puck per mini split. Mitsubishi makes a direct control module that plugs into a daughter board inside each mini split, but it has terrible reviews and does not work very well. Thank you flair .

I purchased the puck, as it was stated, it could run my mini split. I also had hopes of one day adding the registers to my home.When I received the device, the first surprise was that the device would need to be plugged into a wall outlet. I was under the impression I was purchasing a wireless device. after scrolling back through their website I did find mention that the first device would need to be wired. surprise. after some more reading it seems that if my devices are more than 50 feet apart I will need more wired pucks. so if I were to add floor registers being more than 50 feet away from my mini split, I will have another wired puck in my home connected to an outlet.I set it up, the mini split beeped indicating it was receiving data from puck and I thought all was set and I was good to go. I was wrong and far from being good to go.Now I have had this puck "running" my mini split for 3 weeks and here is what I have seen.the setpoint indicated on my mini split never changes away from its last setpoint it received from its factory remote. so is the mini split really running to the setpoint displayed on the puck? ehhh, we may never know.I first noticed that the puck temperature reading varied substantially from other devices I had in the room. so I linked one of my ecobee temp sensors to the flair app so I could watch them side by side. I have seen the temp displayed on the puck vs the temp the puck is showing in the app be different by more than 2 degrees. I have seen the puck vary temp by almost 5 in just a couple minutes. I have seen the temp on the puck vary up and down while the temp from my ecobee sensor holds steady. there is what flair is calling a calibration for the temp sensor in the app. it appears to be nothing more than an offset setting to me than anything else. I've set it up and down in both directions with little satisfaction that it is displaying a relevant temperature. I have had to place it directly in front of the mini split to get any kind of reading close to what devices 10 feet away are reading. Support says It has a defective temp sensor and they will replace, but there are a slew of other problems.the unit runs 24/7 and only shuts off to run the defrost cycle.is it really running to the setpoint of the puck. I have no proof or confirmation that it is. it has reached the desired temp only a couple of times but continues to run. puck is set at 72 for heating and the app says it's reading 73.5 but the unit continues to run in heat. definitely don't believe I am saving any money. some days it gets to temp, some days it just hovers around 70 degrees. again is it really running to the setpoint on the puck? don't know, the unit is displaying 70 as the setpoint when the puck is set to 72. who knows? I don't!if this is the best the puck can do with my mini split do I really have faith it could do any better with their registers? I'm not wasting anymore money to find out, that is for sure.there are settings in the app, where I can ignore the temp from the puck and use the temp from another device. So I did that. Ignored the puck and used temp reading from the ecobee sensor, but still have the same result. does my mini split even know about this app? I don't think it does. I think it is still running of the built in temp sensor, but the only proof I have is it definitely doesn't seem to be running from the temp shown in the app.I have already exuded more energy is running tests and trying to confirm if this thing even works than I ever would have by clicking the remote up and down a couple of degrees each day.does the refresh button on the app work? I speculate it does not. again I have no proof, but I have never seen anything change after pressing it. it doesn't even do the little spinning thing that almost every web based page or site does to make you think something is happening.I had the home/away on initially but the geofence is so small it just wasn't practical. if the puck does work then it will change to your setpoints every time you leave the house. going to the corner store. setpoint is gonna change. going for a walk. setpoint is gonna change. going to the grocery store for an hour? your setpoint is gonna change and you are coming back to a cold or hot house.every couple of days the app will become unresponsive on my phone and I will have to close it out completely, which is usually followed by having to login with my credentials again despite the fact the 'remember me' box is checked.All in all,1. does it run the the setpoint on the puck? I have no proof that it does.2. does it shutoff at the setpoint on the puck? I've never seen it happen3. Is the puck really controlling my mini split. in manual mode I can turn it on and off. in auto? I have no proof that it does.4. Is it a wired eye sore in the corner of my room that can't even display an accurate temperature. Yes5. Can you calibrate the temperature? looks like an offset to me.6. can you change the size of your geofence? nope7. if the heating temperature setpoint is 72, what temperature will the unit shut off at? best I can tell is77.8. does the refresh button work. I don't believe it does.9. definitely doesn't remember meSave your money.