HI. New to Bond Bridge and just purchased however a little concerned that inventory seems to be out everywhere - in general what’s the opinion about Bond and the company that owns it - long term viable platform or concerns about support and new product development? Just curious so I know what I’m getting into?
Michael
Welcome, Michael!
The Bond ecosystem seems to be in a good position to stay relevant, and also slowly expand / partner with more manufacturers.
The Bond Bridge is their first party catch-all device to retrofit existing RF and IR devices in your home, and additionally they license / partner with manufacturers to embed Smart by Bond compatible receivers in ceiling fans (including, I believe, some models carried in big-box stores).
The other nice part of this ecosystem is the local-first API - meaning that if for some reason the company was acquired or unable to continue supporting their products (as much as I hope that never happens!), the existing Bond and Smart by Bond devices would
largely continue to function as-is, though of course features would be frozen at then-current states.
Integrations with professional plugins, community developed modules, or strange DIY Frankenstein solutions are all fairly available, depending on your needs.
Some of the company’s developers and staff do check in on these forums often enough to keep in touch with us (the customers and eager beta testers), as well.
I’d say more so if you are techie. I use the API to communicate with my bond for the most part and so far firmware updates are at your discretion so if you are using that and the platform goes down I think it will still work. If you aren’t the app is still really nice and so is the google home integration if you use that.
I love mine and can’t think of a better solution. I’ve really enjoyed this product.
I’d second the approach they have taken with local integration. I have a Hubitat hub which has a community developed driver that allows local integration with the Bond Bridge. Aside from the day to day benefits of all the Comm’s being local, it does safeguard against any unforeseen changes that could occur.
Sorry for the inventory issues. Not to get into details, but we actually have plenty of inventory, but due to pandemic issues there’s certain bottlenecks on the retail side to actually fulfill orders to you!
As of today, best purchase option seems to be buying on Home Depot: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Bond-Smart-Wi-Fi-Ceiling-Fan-Remote-Hub-BD-1000/302904473
All
Thank you for the great feedback. Really appreciate the in depth response and detail as well as explanation on inventory issues. Great to see a vibrant community around this platform.
Over two months with a bricked Bond. Support sent another Bond but it bricked itself the same way and all support ever says is that they are “working” on it. Be careful, this product is starting to feel like a paid alpha.
Sounds like you are having bad luck. I am on the OG snowbird bond and it has been running over a year with no issues at all. That is not a common thread I have seen on this forum or others that talk about it.
I am putting more stress on it than most I expect, with a bunch of Somfy shades in addition two two fans. Supposedly within the device limits, but I expect some devices may have lower limits.