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My dishwasher won’t start until I let it update its firmware over the WiFi

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Re: My dishwasher won’t start until I let it update its firmware over the WiFi

#111
post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The Wi-Fi is useful [...] Performs updates, etc. Ah yes, get wifi so your dishwasher can get security updates, which you need because your dishwasher is on wifi.

Updates improve wash efficiency, etc. Not just security updates. Maybe a new cleaning powder comes with a new algo. Maybe there's a better dosing for certain levels of water hardness. But the gist is that it updates the whole module. I'm fine with this, Miele are like Bosch in that they look after the hardware they sell for decades rather than considering it deprecated the day it leaves a shop floor.

Do they? Because that's literally the only kind of update I'd be interested in. If they actually regularly improve the way the dishwasher washes dishes, then that justifies the connectivity, but if these updates are rare, then I don't really care about them.

Re: My dishwasher won’t start until I let it update its firmware over the WiFi

#114

I can understand the appeal of most smart devices, but since a dishwasher can’t yet load and unload itself, what is the point of an internet connected dishwasher? You have to have physically loaded it. Why not just push the start button then?

Notifications is the big reason: because cycle times are usually just estimates, you can't just set a timer for when it'll be done.

[deleted]

Re: My dishwasher won’t start until I let it update its firmware over the WiFi

#115
Call me a luddite but my dishwasher has an on / off button, a mode selector, and a start delay and that's all I need.

I'm not going to attack people that feel like a smart dishwasher is useful for them, just that, it's not for me.

I do have a smart thermostat, but I don't pay its annual subscription fees because I don't use the features it enables. I do appreciate its daily temperature, humidity, and heating graphs though.

Re: My dishwasher won’t start until I let it update its firmware over the WiFi

#116
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No software is perfect when shipped Why not? Or rather, why do we accept this as the norm? A dishwasher isn't that complex, it should be possible to prove the firmware error-free.

The wifi isn't there for the firmware, it's there for the wifi functionality (Don't ask why it needs wifi functoinality, I can't answer). But once you do have wifi functionality so you have wifi hardware, then the thing needs patching and upgrades too. Maybe some server address has changed, maybe a security fix, etc. And obviously if you have wifi hardware, it's the easy way to upgrade the software. So the question I…

Precisely. The reason it needs a firmware upgrade is that the manufacturer made the choice to make it so needlessly complicated that it ... needs a firmware upgrade.

Re: My dishwasher won’t start until I let it update its firmware over the WiFi

#117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yes, clearly it is the user's fault that their dishwasher wont work without an update.

As the GGP said, the menu can be exited without updating by scrolling down. The interface isn't intuitive, but it's not a hard block.

Agree, but I think there are a number of us that don't want a menu that needs exiting on our dishwasher.

Re: My dishwasher won’t start until I let it update its firmware over the WiFi

#118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd have given the poster the benefit of the doubt but then they come out with hate-inciting nonsense trash like this: https://twitter.com/isislovecruft/status/1487947782585417728 I don't even know what to make of that anymore. Just because it's self-deprecating doesn't make it okay.

...do you feel attacked by the word 'nerd'? I mean the tweet is putting the blame at the wrong people (it's a business decision after all), but I wouldn't go as far as call it "hate-inciting nonsense". You're not under attack.

I have a problem with the top reply being about bullying.

Re: My dishwasher won’t start until I let it update its firmware over the WiFi

#119

I can understand the appeal of most smart devices, but since a dishwasher can’t yet load and unload itself, what is the point of an internet connected dishwasher? You have to have physically loaded it. Why not just push the start button then?

Here's one idea: sensor-based washing. I doubt anyone is currently doing this, but the idea can at least hold water (ba-dum-tss).

You'd keep the dumb maximum spray-area approach for the pre-wash & rinse cycles, but replace the main wash cycle with a "smart-nozzle" approach that uses a radar (or some other non-optical sensor) to detect surfaces and apply a directed spray.

Theoretically, that would save on energy costs/impact (heating water costs way more than running a SoC/radar), even if the overall wash quality wouldn't really be improved much in most cases. Plus... the technology would be super marketable, imagine the commercials!

Re: My dishwasher won’t start until I let it update its firmware over the WiFi

#120
post #47
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have one it’s great. The ability to start it, and confirm it’s started is a game changer. Especially because it’s preloaded with the chemicals. We don’t want to start it until we’re sure all the floating dishes actually got loaded. There’s a stray dish, a glass, life’s just a little chaotic getting dinner cleaned up and everyone to bed. We forget or we hit start but someone else opens it to add something. Without…

Wouldn't a simple LED indicator have the same result? My "dumb" dishwasher has a small light it shines on the floor when it's on. Also, if I set it up and close it without actually starting it, it beeps to let me know.

The only improvement on that which I've seen is a dishwasher which projects the runtime left onto the floor (instead of just a off/on light).
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