Not sure how many of you guys have noticed, but Blink 2.1 firmware is rolling out now. My Blink is now running 2.1.20120404B E1.10.
I had one of the early Blinks that got "stuck" upgrading to 2.0 firmware with the error "Version 2.0 Update Failed: Invalid MMC card ID detected.".
My Blink has always worked mostly OK (never a blink charge problem in a year), except that the wifi connection stopped working so I "hard" wired it using a wireless bridge and that it often lost charge data.
I sent an email to Blink Thursday and today a tech came out to swap the flash card and check the unit over.
Things I've learned:
1. Tech wasn't sure what was wrong with the bad flash cards - but the replacement card was the same size (2GB)
2. The 2.0 firmware update can cause false alarms with the self-test routines if the current sensor is positioned too close to the input jumper blocks as they pick up extra noise. Apparently the 2.0 firmware checked current more frequently (his words) which can cause the issue.
3. Removed the RFID reader - wasn't sure what the real reason behind this was, but since it's not needed for residential units anway...
4. Wifi is generally just flaky. The Wifi antenna is tiny and sometimes the plug loosens up. Only works reliable up to about 30 ft when it works and is sensitive to Wifi security settings. He thinks its there could be a firmware issue given the number of units he's seen where the wifi used to work but stopped. In generally best to just go with PLC or Wifi bridge to resolve the issue.
5. Each unit has a Sprint CDMA cellular unit in it.
We'll see how reliable it is! So far it seems that the touch screen / UI is more responsive than the old version and there are a few small changes to the UI, but otherwise that's it.
I had one of the early Blinks that got "stuck" upgrading to 2.0 firmware with the error "Version 2.0 Update Failed: Invalid MMC card ID detected.".
My Blink has always worked mostly OK (never a blink charge problem in a year), except that the wifi connection stopped working so I "hard" wired it using a wireless bridge and that it often lost charge data.
I sent an email to Blink Thursday and today a tech came out to swap the flash card and check the unit over.
Things I've learned:
1. Tech wasn't sure what was wrong with the bad flash cards - but the replacement card was the same size (2GB)
2. The 2.0 firmware update can cause false alarms with the self-test routines if the current sensor is positioned too close to the input jumper blocks as they pick up extra noise. Apparently the 2.0 firmware checked current more frequently (his words) which can cause the issue.
3. Removed the RFID reader - wasn't sure what the real reason behind this was, but since it's not needed for residential units anway...
4. Wifi is generally just flaky. The Wifi antenna is tiny and sometimes the plug loosens up. Only works reliable up to about 30 ft when it works and is sensitive to Wifi security settings. He thinks its there could be a firmware issue given the number of units he's seen where the wifi used to work but stopped. In generally best to just go with PLC or Wifi bridge to resolve the issue.
5. Each unit has a Sprint CDMA cellular unit in it.
We'll see how reliable it is! So far it seems that the touch screen / UI is more responsive than the old version and there are a few small changes to the UI, but otherwise that's it.