Wemo Light Switch (Works w/ Alexa)

I needed a switch that would control my outdoor porch and landscaping lights which are operated by two separate switches inside the house. Specifically, I wanted the lights to come on at dusk, but only stay on for a set number of hours. In theory, this device will do that. It tracks the time of dawn/dusk in your area via it's internet connection and will adjust accordingly. Thus I bought two of these switches. Like many in this category (programmable switches) the switch itself is a bulky device and, while the installation was fairly straight forward in terms of wiring etc, it took a significant amount of time getting the two switches to fit into the box with all of the other wiring and the two other switches that were there (it's a "4 gang" box). Once installed, the two switches were found quickly by my Android phone and initial setup was straight forward, per the instructions. It took a few resets that were not expected, but overall setup was about 20 min. Both switches worked as expected the first day. The next day, the first time I opened the WEMO app on my phone, I was notified that a firmware update was needed for the switches (not any update to the app). I did not do it right off the bat, but soon realized that this firmware update screen was going to be there each and every time I opened the app until the update had been done. With electronic devices, a firmware update is not an unreasonable or unexpected eventuality, so I went ahead with it. Both devices failed after the "update." The lights would only flicker on then off if the switch was manually pressed and neither could not be actuated via the app (if the app could even see the switches, which, at this point, was intermittent). In addition, every three to five minutes, the lights the switches were connected to would spontaneously "flicker" on for a second then go off. I tried all of the restarting/resetting options on the Belkin website (none made any difference) and cycled the power at the breaker box. . .all to no avail. I was leaving town, so I switched the power off at the breaker for two days (to prevent the lights from intermittently flickering day and night while we were gone). When I turned the power back on upon our return, both switches reverted to normal function and would work by either manually pressing the switches or by using the Android app. Approximately two to three hours later though (and without any further intervention from me), I noticed that the lights were off when they should have been on), but flickering again. . .same problem as before. I repeated this cycle of cutting the power at the breaker box for two days and had the same results when powered back on. The support experience with Belkin was an abysmal and highly frustrating few hours of my life. Suffice it to say that the website where the "premium support" phone number is supposed to be listed was a broken link. I finally found a different number (through an obscure link on the site). I was able to reach a person but, after 10 minutes of them "verifying my phone number" etc, I was told they don't handle the WEMO devices (despite the fact that the page that had the number I was calling had pictures of all of the wemo devices on it). The person actually gave me a different number to call (instead of transferring me) and told me I'd have to call that number and queue up again. I called that number, using the options he told me and got only a loud tone (no answer, no recording, no human). I tried several times, all with the same result and even stayed on the line for several minutes to see if anything would happen (nothing did). I called the number back and tried different options, this resulted in me being hung up on by the surly woman who answered the phone. I finally called back one last time and actually got the first guy I had spoken to again. I told him what had happened since I had spoken to him last. At this point, he kind of switched gears and began trying to be helpful to me. However, the end of the story is that, as best they could tell, the firmware update had ruined my devices. The technician actually suggested that I only do firmware updates via a hardwire and not using wifi. . .though this is common sense, this is a ridiculous assertion with this particular product as it is a light switch with no traditional input/output options for connection to a computer or router such as USB, LAN, etc. They'd send me replacements, but I WOULD still have to call the WEMO people, go through all of this again, then receive new devices and physically reinstall them. And, for what? To have another firmware update ruin those devices? Not to mention the fact that the number to the WEMO folks results in a loud tone with no human answering. No thanks. I cut my losses and returned the devices. If and when these devices (or devices such as these) fully mature and they are able to function as advertised, they will be a truly great home automation device. These belkin light switches are NOT ready for prime time. And, for my part, I'll be looking to a different manufacturer for any future such products as Belkin, in my experience, are willing to push inferior products to the market and are ENTIRELY unable to support them.