I switched to a single router and reconfigured it, but my living room lights are too close together so it doesn’t work in that room. The hall where this motion sensor would be most useful only worked when I increased the sensitivity to maximum, and even then, it was inconsistent. If I go through a hallway, the lights usually come on as soon as I reach the end of the hallway.
SpaceSense works best in dining rooms and kitchens—but again, I had to increase the sensitivity for it to work properly, which meant my cats activated the lights, too. On the other hand, it also proved very annoying when the lights would go off if you were in the room but didn’t move much, such as when I was sitting at my desk, peeling potatoes or washing dishes.
After some tweaking in the Wiz V2 app, SpaceSense started to work a little better, but the app was still buggy. Sometimes it’s not possible to save the settings I’ve changed, and there’s often a delay between me touching something and the light reacting. if anyone do turn on the light switch (it’s hard not to do that with years of muscle memory), they accidentally switch it to the off position (my family is upset about this).
SpaceSense could be worthwhile in large office buildings, windowless bathrooms, and for those who struggle with conventional switches. It can be helpful for kids who wake up at night to go to the bathroom or when you come home to a dark hallway carrying large grocery bags. An alternative is motion sensors, but they don’t work well for all spaces. You can also have security camera lights up, but SpaceSense is better for privacy because nothing is logged and all processing happens locally.
I fully expect SpaceSense to improve over time and your mileage will vary depending on Wi-Fi conduit, the construction of your house, the location and number of Wiz lights you have. But for now, the inconvenience of the light not turning on immediately and going off while I’m still in the room outweighs the inconvenience of flipping the switch.
Gear Readers Special Offer: Get One 1 year subscription to WIRED for $5 ($25 off). This includes unlimited access to WIRED.com and our print magazine (if you will). Sign up to help fund the work we do every day.
