The Summer I MacGyvered a Smart Bug Repeller and Saved $700
As a software guy, hardware hacking has long appealed to me. Until recently I just never took the plunge past goofing off with an Arduino starter kit. I like to think it was just a lack of a good use case, maybe it was fear. Regardless, no hardware hacking for me.
My lack of use case changed last spring when our family moved to a new house. My neighbor must have had a marsh or something because we were getting absolutely destroyed by mosquitoes every time we stepped outside. One day, I decided enough was enough and attempted to throw money at the problem. So, I turned to Wirecutter to find a solution.
It’s a sophisticated product. You set up a series of repellers in your backyard and control them with an app. The app allows you to turn the repellers on and off, put them on a schedule or timer, and even check the level of repellent. Unfortunately, this all came at a price: $800.
By the next summer, I was ready to invest in the $800 system. I needed the smart version with the colorful lights and WiFi connection. So I went to the website to buy it: But by now it was out of stock! On top of that, there were a bunch of negative reviews about how janky the app was, how the repellers didn’t connect to 5G Wi-Fi, and so on.
