Ubiquiti Networks mFi mPower Wi-Fi Power Strip Review
by Ganesh T S on November 21, 2013 3:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Home Automation
- Wi-Fi
- Ubiquiti Networks
- IoT
Inside the mPower
The mPower can be accessed and controlled via SSH even without linking it with a mFi host. In this case, the SSH login credentials are the default (ubnt/ubnt). The mPower unit runs Linux under its hood, with BusyBox providing much of the needed access functionality. The unit uses the Dropbear SSH server service. Accessing the unit over SSH gives us some insight into the core platform.
The mPower uses the Atheros AR9330 Hornet platform (more commonly found in wireless access points / low end routers such as this one) for its networking functionality and host CPU. The unit has 16 MB of RAM. The more interesting aspect is the chip used for collecting the electrical parameters. Ubiquiti takes pride in the fact that the electrical statistics are gathered by utility-grade ICs rather than the ADCs employed by other competing solutions. The mPower uses the Prolific PL7223 for gathering the electrical parameters. The PL7223 is apparently popular in these circles, as it also finds a place in GainSpan's SmartPlug kit. At this price point, it would be unfair to expect solid-state relays. So, we do have the clicking sounds when outlets are turned on or off.
FCC reports for all of Ubiquiti's products are linked on this page. We could have torn down the mPower unit ourselves, but, with the details of the platform evident from gaining SSH access, we leave it to the photographs provided in the FCC submission. They are reproduced in the gallery below.
In the next section, we will look into taking advantage of SSH for the development of custom applications.
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dac7nco - Friday, November 22, 2013 - link
Oh; these UPS systems manage a fair job of power consumation; it's why they sell so well. 2,500+ 4/5/9U UPS had better be measuring it's own power! Most of these will tell you re: power-draw from their peripheral AC ports. Things like printers should be on non-UPS AC ports; I have a (small) 12U rack, with a 4U desktop, a 2U Co-processor for offline jobs, a 4U storage/NAS system and a 2U cyberpower 1,650-Watt UPS. This Cyberpower UPS will run these things for about 2-hours.ganeshts - Friday, November 22, 2013 - link
Can you link me to this exact Cyberpower model which can tell the power draw on the peripheral AC ports ?dac7nco - Friday, November 22, 2013 - link
http://www.cyberpowersystems.com/products/ups-syst...dac7nco - Friday, November 22, 2013 - link
http://cdn4.tinkertry.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/...Jaybus - Tuesday, November 26, 2013 - link
These UPSs monitor individual outlets and can be controlled via Ethernet, serial, or USB, but afaik they cannot switch individual outlets. They power on or off all outlets simultaneously. To get individually switched outlets requires a switched PDU, which is substantially more cost. The mPower can work as a much cheaper PDU.processinfo - Friday, November 22, 2013 - link
How much power it is using by itself?ganeshts - Sunday, November 24, 2013 - link
Around 1 W with things at idle, but the network interface up.CBRworm - Friday, November 22, 2013 - link
I think devices like this are great, certainly an emerging market which I appreciate being reviewed. I have been using ubiquiti devices for many years and have found them to be mostly solid hardware with software that may be lacking.I would like to get my hands on a few of these to play with, currently I also use Kill-A-Watts to measure power consumption and the only power control devices are things I hacked together being driven through a parallel port. These devices would be great for me to turn off devices in other areas of the house - like the upstairs TV and/or Xbox at dinner/bed time. Christmas lights and other lights around the house would also be good. I love being able to turn the thermostats up and down from my phone - this would be a great extension of that.
As for the UPS's. The batteries for my UPS's are in line with the cost of the Pro device. While the UPS is useful for helping with some management features on computer hardware, 90% of the uses for this device would not be well suited by a UPS with management packages.
mhammett - Friday, November 22, 2013 - link
A couple things...1) UBNT's history has not been the enterprise space, but in the service provider market. The bulk of their revenue still comes from service providers.
2) The mFi line is targeted towards building automation, not standard consumer home automation.
3) mFi is a whole line of products, not just this device. That said, they still don't have the devices that I am looking for.
4) I don't know if you can run the devices without the controller software, but why would you want to? The software is the best part of the whole thing. You have dozens of these devices and have scripts on the server that read the data that the system collects and can make decisions based upon them.
5) I was a beta tester for mFi, though I don't have a history with building automation systems. In my testing, it has been a good system. It will be a great system when they release the deices I asked for. ;-)
ganeshts - Friday, November 22, 2013 - link
Thanks for your thoughts. Can you let me know what devices you are looking for? I am pretty sure a mFi Thermostat would be well received.. Just wondering what else people want out there.Yes, you can run the devices without the controller software. For our usecase, we don't want the hassle of running a VM or server hosting the mFi controller -- just need the ability to turn on and off an outlet and do real-time power measurement on the outlets. Yes, if you need the rules, you should use the mFi controller -- but, if they are simple, they could be handled by scripts running on a PC or even on the mPower itself (in certain cases).