Wifi LED tubes like netLED are not only coming, they’re inevitable

By on Feb 02, 2012

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If you think that wifi enabled LED bulbs are outlandish, consider that ten years ago it would have been hard to believe that all of our home, auto and aquarium lights would be replaced by LEDs, and we’re just around the corner from that future now. The new NetLED bulbs appear to have a familiar T8 or T10 form factor so they can easily be installed into the ubiquitous fluorescent lights of office buildings and homes.

A basic four foot NetLED tube costs about $180, a little less cost but probably not as powerful as SunBrite LED tubes. The $180 NetLED tube is dimmable but it needs to be daisy chained to a single $260 version of the tube with built in wifi that can independently control tubes over a wireless network at the touch of an iPhone or iPad application. Alghough NetLED is launching in Japan, the graceland of electronics and gadgets, something tells us we’ll soon be seeing some very similar iPhone controlled LED features from Sunbrite sooner than later. [Gizmodo]

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  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_XMBVIE5PJXMAMZJSENESFNWBKA Joe

    Outlandish? Not a chance.. Awesome… YES!

  • http://twitter.com/reefgizmo Reef Gizmo

    As I tweeted, I wonder why WiFi (802.11) is the platform becoming popular to control LEDs? Manufacturers should look at ZigBee. They are low powered and more fault tolerant especially on a mesh type of network — multiple modules connected to the same network. 

    For the hobby, imagine wireless ZigBee enabled probes, pumps, outlets, etc.

    More info: ZigBee compared with other wireless standards: bit.ly/yiWZDS 

    Who can make this happen first? @ecoxotic? @ecotechmarine?

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_XMBVIE5PJXMAMZJSENESFNWBKA Joe

    I was thinking this would be more for office lighting vs reef lighting, which is why I like 802.11 better than ZigBee. We already have 802.11 coverage in the 40+ buildings we have.

    I agree Zigbee sounds like a better option for Reefing Wifi devices.

  • Anonymous

    most reefkeeping homes already have a wifi network in place so it makes sense to just jump on what already exists. Not to mention web interfaces are agnostic of what phone or OS you are trying to use it with, hence the problem right now for Mac users trying to use Ecotech’s Radion config software. 

  • http://twitter.com/reefgizmo Reef Gizmo

    Ah yes — WiFi will always be there to access the devices from the internet or from smartphones/tablets. 

    Usually, there’s a main controller (just like that black box in the vid at 1:32 mark) that acts as the main gateway/hub to control the other devices in the mesh. For the consumers, they don’t need to know or care what the main controller uses to wirelessly communicate to the other devices in the mesh. ZigBee will just be far more efficient.

    The main controller is then connected to the network via Ethernet or WiFi so you can send instructions to the wireless Zigbee-enabled devices.

    Yes, the main controller should be running it’s own mini web server so you can configure everything via any browser/platform (similar to the Neptune Apex).

  • http://twitter.com/LEDrental LED Rentals

    Leds make a great choice. low energy consumption. less heat and longer life. I work in the led industry in my companys research and development department .