People who have entrusted the home automation of their home to Orange will have to find another solution. The operator will stop its Connected Home service in January 2023, which will make some devices completely unusable.
Decidedly, Orange is not doing well in the field of home automation, he who nevertheless seeks by all means that his role is not confined to the Internet and telephony! After the bitter failure of home live and early abandonment of her pregnant Connected DjingoI’s-operatoris about to say goodbye to Maison Connectée, an offer to which its customers could subscribe simply by paying for connected objects – some of which are manufactured by Orange and work with their own protocol – associated with an in-house application that controls them centrally. An offer supposed to offer its users a “easier house to live in” with “connected objects that make your life easier”as the site indicates, and which will end on January 15, 2023. The persons concerned are notified by e-mail of the situation. Orange refuses to say how many customers and devices are affected, but admits that its proportion of services related to connected objects is “very weak”as reported cfu–What to choose. Blame it on an already very crowded market, insufficiently advanced functions and an unprofitable offer.
Connected Home: a foreseeable end
As a reminder, Orange decided in April 2019 to enter the home automation market with a service called Maison Connectée – who took over from home live. This service, available on Livebox 4 and 5allow users to install connected objects at home and control them remotely via the Android and iOS application of the same name. It supports devices standards from well-known brands such as connected bulbs from Philips Hue), cameras and opening detectors D-Linkweather stations and thermostat Netatmoelectric shutters Somfyor the Wi-Fi sockets tuya and Bosch. But Connected Home also offers support for home connected objects based on technology ULE (Ultra Low Energy)itself associated with the proprietary protocol DECTalso used for fixed cordless telephones. There are connected light bulbs awoxopening, movement and water leak detectors, a connected switch and a smart plug.
The problem is that the new Livebox 6 does not support the DECTwhich means that the operator’s connected objects can no longer connect to it. The end of Connected Home was therefore quite predictable. With the end of the service in January 2023, they will simply stop working, including for people still using a Livebox 4 or 5. The other devices of different brands will continue to work, but they will no longer be centralized in the Orange application, it will be necessary to go through those of the respective manufacturers or through other services, such as HomeKit and matter.
Home Objects Connected : a refund under conditions
With the shutdown of Connected Home, Orange invites all users to bring devices back to the store home so that they are recycled. Customers will be reimbursed, but under certain conditions. First of all, their purchase will have to be ulterior as of January 15, 2021 – Orange respects here its legal guarantee of conformity, which is two years. Those who bought their devices before then can therefore sit on their money. Customers eligible for reimbursement must complete an online form before January 14, 2024, enclosing the proof of purchase. However, you will have to be patient, as requests will only be processed at the end of the service, within a period of up to eight weeks.
Orange probably stops Maison Connected because the service is not very profitable. Apart from the sale of the devices, it does not bring in any money. The operator will probably focus more on its protected house activity. Dedicated to surveillance, and supported by several advertising campaigns on television, this formula works via a subscription of €29.99/month for an apartment and €39.99/month for a house – rates that increased shortly after the service was introduced. And that’s not counting the options with smoke detectors – at €2.50/month –cameras – at €5/month– and the remotes – at €1.5/month – which cause the bill to rise very quickly…