Aria WiFi setup details
We purchased the Aria scale in December, 2013, from Amazon. Prior to the purchase, from reading the reviews, it seems that some users had Wi-Fi setup problems. In trying to find out more from Fitbit's general Aria product page, there was very little other than stating that it is "easy" to setup. Out of the box, there is very little information about the setup other than to go to the Fitbit's web site. We did not have a setup problem, but I thought Fitbit's web site was very poor at explaining the setup requirement and process other than saying it is easy (which is probably true for most but not all users). So here are some info to help others understand the setup process and decide if this is the right scale for them.<br /><br />WiFi setup requirement:<br />1 - your home Wi-Fi must support 802.11b (it is a much older version of WiFi protocol); most new WiFi router setup commonly will default to be backward compatible with 802.11b/g/n; but if you had changed it to g or n only, then this won't work.<br />2 - Initial setup will require a device on the same home WiFi network. For many users, this will be your laptop or smart phone. If you use your PC, it must have the same WiFi access and its Ethernet cable (if connected) will need to be disconnected.<br />3 - make sure you already have a FitBit.com account so it can store your WiFi setup information later<br /><br />WiFi general setup process:<br />1 - put the scale into its setup mode (by removing the battery for at least 10 sec, or insert a pin via the scale's bottom hole); this setup mode allows the scale to broadcast its own WiFi network so your computing device can connect to the scale and send your home WiFi information to it.<br />2 - use your computing device and go to Fitbit's website to download a setup application<br />3 - the application will detect the current home WiFi network name and ask you for its password<br />4 - the WiFi information is then sent to your FitBit.com account<br />5 - the same WiFi setup information is also sent to the scale (via the scale's internally broadcasted WiFi network); you'll need to make sure your computing device is near the scale so as to reach the scale's WiFi network.<br />6 - once the scale receive the setup information, it will then switch its WiFi mode so as to connect to your home WiFi network (instead of broadcasting its own network).<br /><br />To support multiple weighing users:<br />- each user will initially show up as a Guest in your FitBit account's weight measurement<br />- if the user wants to track his/her weight, a FitBit account will be required<br />- you can send the user an invite<br />- once the user accepts the invite, you can then link up the newly measured Guest weight to the invited accounts. You only need to do this once for each new user. After that, the weight will be automatically linked to the proper user based upon previous weights and %body fat.<br /><br />Weight measuring process: the LCD will display the weight, followed by body fat %, your recognized account name abbreviation (or Guest, if not recognized), and then the upload process to sync with Fitbit. If synchronized successfully to Fitbit, it will display a check mark.<br /><br />My setup information:<br />- scale is on the 2nd floor master bath room<br />- home WiFi is located on the first floor towards the ceiling approximately 25 feet away from the scale<br />- WiFi router used is a D-Link DIR 655 (purchased in 5/2010) configured to run 802.11b/g/n<br />- the computing device used during the setup is an Asus laptop running Windows 7 Professional and Internet Explorer 11<br />- the initial setup was done in the Kitchen where both the laptop and the scale are within 15 feet of the WiFi access point<br />- after the initial setup, the scale was then moved to the 2nd floor master bathroom<br /><br />Overall, the device is working well. I had a lot of uncertainty going into the setup due to the lack of Fitbit's documentation. Some of that information is available on their website's support page, but you'll need to dig deep to find them. For this reason, I've downgraded the rating to 4 stars (instead of 5).
Rating: 4 stars