Gadgets
Roomba has a new feature that tells you how bad your Wi-Fi really is
Remember when a vacuum was just a vacuum?
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Roomba’s will be getting a new feature within its iRobot app later this month that will essentially build a map of your home’s Wi-Fi coverage. What this means is that your robotic vacuum will be able to design a map based off of indoor signals. This will help eliminate any weak or dead zones in your house where the Roomba cannot reach. The Wi-Fi map will be useful for people who are trying to figure out which rooms have weak connections, and if a new Wi-Fi router or extender is needed.
With the Wi-Fi feature, iRobot will collect Wi-Fi readings as it goes around your house and builds a floor plan. Users will be able to switch between the Wi-Fi generated map and iRobot’s Clean Map feature, which shows what areas were already cleaned.
This feature is only available through an opt-in beta program that will be available in the US starting around in mid-January. There will only be a limited amount of spots available for the program, and not all requests will be met.
In 2017 iRobot launched new Roomba models with Wi-Fi and introduced IFTTT (if this, then that) functionality to the line.