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Ted PennerFlag for United States of America

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Wifi wall outlet

I is it possible to turn a wall outlet on/off by way of a cell phone app?

My initial thinking was to have a device that lived between the outlet and the wall.  It would have an IPV6 address and I would be able to enable or disable whatever was plugged into it via the cell phone.  

Does this sort of thing exist.  I would need many of them and they would have various uses.

Assistance is greatly appreciated.
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Brian Matis
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Let's continue this discussion.

My first use would be to allow a gate to open into my back yard.

Before I decide what hardware would be best for that, I need to find an ultra-cheap outlet that allows this, and have a clear understanding of the software that is used for it.

1)  Is there open-source software that not tied to any particular device?
2)  What are the non vendor specific keywords that describe this technology?
Home Automation is the term I've generally used for this type of thing. As for Open Source, just found OpenHab that might be worth checking out:
http://www.openhab.org/index.html
Outstanding!

Openhab apparently interfaces with anything.

So far the best price per outlet on a wifi outlet is called WeMo by Belkin and is at Amazon also and has free shipping for Amazon Prime members  http://www.amazon.com/WeMo-Electronics-Anywhere-Automation-Smartphones/dp/B00BB2MMNE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1428361260&sr=8-1&keywords=wifi+wall+outlet

With Amazon, they always give you a free return shipping label online with every order.

$42.68 including shipping is still a little high for me.
Found a competitor on Amazon that might fit your budget better: $27.98 + shipping (not sure on shipping because I've got Amazon Prime which makes it free):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IWHDAKA

Reviews look pretty good for it too.
Outstanding!

I just bought it.
That's a big deal.  If there is a generic app that it currently being released that can control these, then this solution could potentially change allot of things for us.
Now our next step would be to find cheap locks that could work simply by cutting or supplying power to them.

Kevo is the big name in the space and won't work on a gate entrance.  It's also $200, but if we could resolve finding inexpensive locks that worked by either restricting or providing power, then we have a really cool solution for small businesses.