YoLink Smart Home Starter Kit Hub & Water Leak Sensor 4-Pack, SMS/Text, Email & Push Notifications, LoRa Up to 1/4 Mile Open-Air Range, w/Alexa, IFTTT, Home Assistant

So many other ‘connected’ devices have difficulty with distances. I had a Z-Wave based system that was unreliable because nodes would randomly disconnect due to poor signal strength due to distance or interference (every time it rained, my system went down). YoLink uses LoRa technology which has fantastic range capability up to 1/4 mile and this solves the disconnection problem completely. They integrate Semtech’s LoRa RF Module. Everything is ultra low power so sensors can run on batteries for many, many months. The whole YoLink system depends on a YoLink hub, that receives/transmits LoRa signals from/to various sensors and actuators. The hub is connected to the internet through your WiFi or ethernet system. An app, residing on your smartphone, is used to control and monitor all devices connected to the hub and even tells you how each sensors battery is doing. I have several YoLink modules (garage door kit, moisture sensor, motion sensor, siren). They have all been VERY easy to set up. I would say that compared to other technologies (ZigBee, Z-Wave, …) Yo Link’s implementation using LoRa paired with their app has greatly reduced issues with initial setup. The garage door controller kit took all of about 5 minutes to install and test. The garage is detached from my house and is a bit of hike from the house. The LoRa radio shows ‘good’ signal availability at the hub in spite of the distance. I simply could not have done this with almost any other technology. The app is integrated with with IFTTT which allows you to create smart automations that can integrate with the Alexa personal assistant. This is a very nice capability to have. I had one small issue with the motion sensor (setting the sensitivity) and was really pleased with how quickly and efficiently their technical support dealt with that minor issue. We were having some work done at our house and a contractor had stored material in the garage. I was able to remotely open the garage to give him access to the material and then remotely close the garage when he was finished. The app also warns you when the garage door has been left open after a timeout. If you’re the kind of person who worries about whether you shut the stove off, you’ll appreciate the YoLink Garage Kit (door position sensor, door opener Controller). The controller is, in essence, an app controlled relay that emulates pressing the button that usually opens the garage door. It’s foolproof! The modules are made of good quality plastic and some are even weather sealed (moisture sensor for example). My experience with YoLink has been excellent. The LoRa radio modules do exactly what YoLink says they do: allow communication over long distances that other technologies cannot deal with. Low power is another very critical feature of their modules. It means you don’t have to change batteries very often. My system has been ultra reliable and easy to use. I admit, though, that some of the messages that the app shows are not what anyone would call ‘grammatically correct English’. Also, the colors (pastel shades) chosen for the graphics in the app are low contrast and difficult to see in bright sunlight. Overall, I give YoLink 5 stars. Great apps, great prices, great support, great features. It just works!

Being an electronics engineer, I am more often critical of such systems, but these designers are smart. The sensors are designed well, solid, and very reliable. Most importantly the range is superb. They advertise 1/4 mile to make it sound like a long way, but frankly that is 1300 feet without barriers. Still, I get great signals on all 12 of my water leak sensors throughout a large home. I experimented by placing one sensor in a lawn sprinkler box which is 1 foot underground and about 500 feet from the hub. Still, the signal reports “Good”. The gate sensor also works great.Also, the price is decent considering the technology.It is purported that the batteries will last several years. I am a bit doubtful because a typical alkaline battery will have about a 2 or 3 years shelf life even with no energy being used. I noticed the batteries are cheap no-name brands. I’ll see how long they last. Replacing them in the water sensors can be a pain since you would have to dig out a tiny little rubber dot in all 4 corners with an ice pick just to get to the also tiny screws. Not a quick or easy task.The only thing I wish was better is the app. It has some design fallacies I don’t like. Example. To create an “automation” that allows a water leak sensor to send an alert to my phone or to the sprinkler, I have to create an automation for each of my 12 water sensors. It would be nice to allow attaching all sensors (of the same type) to just one automation so it will be easier to edit if needed. That brings up another point: There is no way to review the settings of an automation that I can find. So how do I know what is the behavior of a setting? No way to review or edit one. To make a change, I have to delete a behavior and recreate a new one.the app forces to enter a password or use face recognition every time I open the app. Frankly, if I have to enter a password to get into my phone, then I don’t want to have to do it again every time I open the app. There should be a way to ignore doing it for situations of no security importance.Bottom line is that the combination of the app and hardware work well and work reliably together. It is also very fast and really easy to set up the devices to sync with the app. Nice job overall. I look to use some of their many other devices.

Review Summary – AwesomeI recently purchased the YoLink Hub and Water Sensor pack on Amazon and the YoLink 3/4 motorized water/gas valve shut off from their direct site.  All products worked fantastically. I was not thrilled with the idea of yet another hub in my Smart Home but the reviews (and no availability of SmartThings water sensors) led me to try YL and I am so glad I did. I love this brand now: set up was faster than zwave/zigbee, works without internet, and flawless integration with Amazon’s Alexa.  5 Stars hands down and another 5 for the future – make sure to follow them on FB. Below are some other things I would like to share. When to buy water sensors – Every time someone shares a wet storyA couple of years ago, my cousin’s house flooded after his girls filled the sink with water (washing their face like they down in the movies) and then left for school… He had to live at my parent’s lake cottage for the winter (~3mo) in upstate NY.  Family of 4, dog, and cat in a 2 bedroom ranch with no laundry.  At that time, I decided that since their deductible was $500, I was going to spend that much on a solution: a dozen ST water sensors and a Dome bolt-on valve control. Every time I have a water issue, a close call, or hear a story about someone who had an issue – I buy a few more.  The latest was a co-worker whose parents went to Florida for the winter.  Apparently, a bird died in their HVAC exhaust pipe, slide down, and errored out the furnace (CO2 protection feature). Since they had no smart devices to warn them about the cold house, the pipes burst and no one knew.  When they came back 3 weeks later… eww.  That’s when I found and joined the YoLink system! Use Cases – Start low in each roomI am not a plumber or insurance claims agent: these are just my thoughts that work with my house. I first started out with 1 water sensor in each bathroom. I put them by the toilet with the thought that if a sink also had an issue, at some point it would make it out of the cabinet and onto the floor and get to the sensor.  It won’t help with small leaks that will just go through the cabinet and into the floor/ceiling etc, but it’s a start since water damage can happen almost anywhere.  You can always go back and add another to each room (see above “when to buy”).  I had an issue where my hard water was leaving sediment in my washing machine’s solenoid causing it to stay in the open position.  We came home to a door-open front-end machine almost ready to spill over.  Now we have a sensor in the laundry room.  We had high water pressure in our house which was causing our on-demand tankless heater pressure relief valve to started to let out a steady stream. We had a sensor there to cut off the water and save the day. I now have a pressure regulator (WATTS) and water e-treat (WATTS) system! Speaking of which, not that I don’t trust my plumbing work – but the areas I was working with, I put a kids snow sled under my work when I was done to collect any water and put a sensor in it.  No leaks BTW! Speaking of the sled to collect water – I use decorative square planters to put my bedroom and living room humidifiers in during the Winter with a water bud in each. Last winter, the side of one of the humidifiers broke and messed up my living room hardwood floors.  I use a shoe/boot tray for the cat’s water fountain and a sensor just in case they knock it over. I actually do the same with my hot-water tank too – ensures it will hit the senor and buys a few minutes between the valve shutting, water leaving the system (pipes above), and someone to get there.  Last ThoughtsI am excited to build on the YoLink system, I plan on picking up an alarm and some of their other unique products coming out – smoke alarm, CO2 alarm, outdoor alarm, outdoor motion sensor, outdoor contact sensor, etc.  Pretty exciting stuff. BTW, I was not paid in any way for this review, and I am not new to the smart home space – I use everything in my house Tuya, ST, LIFX, Hue (which sucks – Paul Hibbert is correct on that) so I am not just blown away with the novelty of this, I think its a great brand that has a lot of potential with the LoRa.  

Before getting a Yolink starter kit a couple years back we had discovered our flooring looked a little discolored and traced it back to the back of our refrigerator which was concealing a slow leak behind a 3 wall nook. It was quite startling to see and we had no idea this had been going on.That’s when we began researching a low cost way to alert us if a leak is detected. So we now have these detectors behind the fridge, under the sink and under the washing machine. Just yesterday, I got a text. It said a leak is detected ‘Kitchen Sink’. I opened it to see the very beginnings of a water leak. I think with the weather going from freezing to warmer temps that the pipes gradually came loose. I was able to clean up the leak with a couple of paper towels and then tightened the nut on the pipe and now things are back to normal. If I get another alert then I’ll probably call the plumber. But the point is that these units work and unless you are willing to spot check under the sink, behind the fridge and other areas leaks could happen, then these low cost units are worth it.

First of all, it’s incredibly easy to setup yet flexible, just by using the app. Create an account, be sure to add your mobile number if you want sms alerts. Once you add the devices with whatever room and device names you wish, simply configure a notification/action plan you want and assign the devices. You can have multiple plans and assign the devices to whichever you want with any mix of actions, app, email and sms alerts. Invite anyone you wish to have access to your account to either manage or just receive alerts. Especially useful when you’re going out of town and have a nearby neighbor, friend or family member watching your house that can respond when alerted. Also actions can shut the water off if you buy a supported automated shutoff valve (which I have not yet, will report back when I do).