BOND | Add Wifi to Ceiling Fan, Fireplace or Motorized shades | Works with Alexa, Google Home | Remote Control with App | Works with iPhone or Android

I had been wanting to connect my fireplace and the large fan on my screen porch to my existing home automation for a while. My original plan was to use the dry connect wires for the fireplace to rig up a switch for it, but that wouldn't have given me full function over the additional features like the lighting and flame level, etc., which I get with the remote. Added to that was the fact that the terminals were quite difficult to reach so I wasn't really looking forward to the required effort. I also had a large fan on the screen porch and I was going to use a Innovelli Z-wave fan/light switch, but that meant moving a table and getting out the ladder to replace the existing remote receiver in the ceiling and that didn't excite me much either.Then, I found out about Bond Bridge and, while the reviews were a little spotty, and my fireplace remote was not listed as supported, I checked the FCC ID and found that it operated in the supported frequency range so I thought I'd give it a shot. Well, I'm sure glad I did because, so far, it seems to work perfectly.Now, that's not to say that I didn't have a few bumps along the way, especially with the fireplace remote. The remote has controls to of course turn the fireplace on/off, but also the lighting functions and flame height, etc., however, this is a touch remote and it doesn't exactly translate directly to buttons. Also, the first few attempts to program the remote to even do simple functions like on/off didn't work. The device showed as accepted, but then I couldn't control the device, however, I then noticed that the learned frequency was listed as 304 Mhz, when the FCC docs say 303.8Mhz. Not much difference and I thought it could be a rounding issue, but decided to use advanced settings and manually specify the 303.8Mhz for learning and indeed, after that, learning went pretty well.Once I had on/off working well, I decided to try the lights and flame level and, while it took a little bit of trial and error, I eventually managed to get the light to work, and to program low/medium/high levels for the flame by using the remote to set level 1, 4, and 7.My ceiling fan is manufactured by Craftmade and it was much easier because it's remote was in the database. As soon as programmed the first function to set fan to high speed it recognized it and let me select a test a predefined remote and it worked perfectly.Integration with Alexas and Home Assistant was super easy and, before long, I was calling out to Alexa to turn on the fireplace and set flame level, etc. Same with the fan, could easily select the three speeds and turn the light on and off.One thing I can't really say much about how much area it will cover as I notice quite a few complaints about not covering a large enough area, in my case the two devices are only about 15 feet apart, separated by a brick wall, but I had a perfect area to hide it directly in between.Of course, only time will tell how reliable this device will be, that's really the telling factor for any home automation device IMO, but so far, so good. It'll get a good workout with the fan for the summer, and then the fireplace in the fall/winter and then we'll know more about that.

2- 15 Year Old Somfy Motorized Outdoor Solar Shades - automating a majority of my house with Google Home as Primary Control on IPad. Bridge was extremely fast and easy to configure and add devices too. Was also able to control 3 Hunter Outdoor Fans. Setting schedules was easy. Then easy to add into my Google Home. One of easiest Home Automation Products I have used. Great price point too. Thanks to Bloomin Blinds for recommending. Awesome Product!

This really should be a 3.5 star rating, but I rounded up to 4.I want to preface this review with talking about BOND's excellent customer service. When I received my BOND, I had a pretty annoying problem with it. Every time I unplugged the device to move it, it wouldn't turn back on again without doing a full factory reset. I contacted BOND via chat on their website (on a weekend) and after a few troubleshooting steps, I was immediately offered a replacement unit without paying a cent (not even a credit card hold). They shipped out a replacement using expedited shipping and it got to me in about 3 days. The next day, I got an email from their CS team asking if the new unit fixed the problem and if I had any other issues. Overall fantastic customer service and resolved my problem in a very short amount of time and effort.Now onto the actual product.SETUP:+ The BOND App is good and easy to use. Finding the BOND was easy and quick+ The actual "learning" of remotes is quick and easy (for the most part)- A prompt should be given at the beginning of setup to make sure the remote your programming has a fresh battery. That seemed to solve all my problems when the BOND wouldn't recognize a remote's signals (even if that remote worked just fine to control the fan).USE:+ Haven't had the app crash on me+ Control is fast and the app is well designed.- Dimming the fan lights is annoying. There has to be a better way rather than holding the button and hoping it's actually dimming. (this is hard because there's a 1-2 second delay from when you press the button and when the fan actually does something)SMART HOME INTEGRATION:+ Google Assistant and Alexa work out of the box.- HomeKit isn't supported, neither are Wink or SmartThings. This really should have been completed prior to releasing BOND.PROBLEMS/BUGS:- Google Assistant has some very strange voice commands that I had to figure out by myself since there is no help article (that I could find).If I say "Set the fan speed to 2", that doesn't work. But if I say "Set the fan speed to medium", Google replies with "Okay, I set the fan speed to 2". What? Why doesn't saying "2" work then?- Dimming the lights doesn't work through Google Assistant. I can turn it on and off, but can't dim. Unless there's a command that I'm missing. BOND really needs to have a Google Asisstant/Alexa "cheat sheet" readily available on their website or app.- Light control doesn't seem to work through Google Assistant's "Rooms" feature. For example, if I add the fan to my "Living Room" room, and say "turn off the lights in the living room", it turns off all my other smart lights except the fan light. If I use the BOND app itself, it works fine. Not sure if this is a BOND issue or a Google issue, but I'll mention it anyway.Overall, this is still a good product. If it was closer to $50, I would easily give it 5 stars. But for $100, I expected a little better integration with the major smart home apps (Wink, SmartThings, HomeKit, etc). That being said, if BOND does release Garage Door support soon, I think that would make this product worth $100, even in it's current state.

After 3 years of frustration with The Shade Store’s proprietary hub, which was nearly impossible to set up, frequently lost configuration, and finally stopped working, I found the Bond Hub, and it’s been a game-changer.Setup was really easy. The Bond Hub’s app guided me through every step (I used the Rollease Acmeda option) and within minutes, my shades were up and running. Unlike the proprietary hub, there was no guessing or endless resets. Even better, it integrates seamlessly with HomeKit which allows me to control my shades with Siri or set routines.Reliability has been the biggest improvement. With the Shade Store hub, I constantly dealt with connectivity issues. The Bond Hub, however, has been rock-solid. It stays connected, responds instantly, and hasn’t needed a single reset since setup.The second biggest selling point is that the price is similar to The Shade Store’s own hub but the Bond Hub offers far superior value. It’s user-friendly, reliable, and compatible with a broader range of systems, making it a no-brainer replacement.