back to article That's not a TP-Link access point, it's a… vacuum?

At first glance, TP-Link's Tapo RV10 looks a bit like a fallen Omada access point that's now leaking a mysterious substance on the floor. In reality, the white and black plastic puck is the company's entry into the robotic vacuum and mop arena. While TP-Link is best known for its wireless networking and switching equipment, it …

  1. Ball boy Silver badge

    Vaccumming up for you

    Oh good: another IoT device that people will either forget to update regularly or won't get any security updates after a year or two.

    Then it'll not only clean your floors, it'll most likely start Hoovering up your data as well!

    1. ITMA Silver badge
      Devil

      Re: Vaccumming up for you

      "Then it'll not only clean your floors"

      It will probably not even do that....

      1. jake Silver badge

        Re: Vaccumming up for you

        "It will probably not even do that....'

        Indeed. Ever use a mop[0] without cleaning it every other pass (or so)? These things don't so much mop things up as smear them all over the floor ... unless you hover[1] over it and clean it when necessary, which kind of makes the wet capability worse than useless.

        [0] I'm talking to the adults in the audience; you Millennials and later can get back to your lattes.

        [1] Note spelling.

        1. phuzz Silver badge

          Re: Vaccumming up for you

          I'm talking to the adults in the audience; you Millennials and later can get back to your lattes.

          You realise some of us millennials are in our 40's now? So yes, we know what mops are.

          1. Hubert Cumberdale Silver badge

            Re: Vaccumming up for you

            Quite. It's Gen Z we need to be snarky about now.

          2. ITMA Silver badge
            Devil

            Re: Vaccumming up for you

            "So yes, we know what mops are..."

            No, those are called toupees LOL

  2. b0llchit Silver badge
    Facepalm

    Networked vacuum... It sucks [the computers and network dry].

    What will be the next trend? Flying vacuums? ChatVacu'uhum AI based cleaning?

  3. xyz Silver badge

    I have a perfectly serviceable...

    Girlfriend for that sort of stuff.... JOKING!!!

    1. b0llchit Silver badge
      Coat

      Re: I have a perfectly serviceable...

      I may want to attach to her service channel. At what frequency is her network operating?

      s/her/his/g or s/her/its/g for gender equality according to your preference

    2. jake Silver badge

      Re: I have a perfectly serviceable...

      "Girlfriend"

      That's what they are trying to make you. A girl robot.

      Poor bastard.

  4. elsergiovolador Silver badge

    Control room

    (Operator 1) The subject has entered the building. We have just picked up his steps from an Echo device in the flat 2, 3 and 5.

    (Operator 2) Vibration sensor on the window in flat 7 was triggered too!

    (Operator 1) I can hear cat scratching the door through Echo device on flat 9. Cat thinks he is a postman!

    (Operator 3) What would postman be doing on the first floor? Stairs to them are like a garlic to vampire!

    (Operator 4) It looks like lady at flat 9 may be having a little romance!

    (Operator 1) Folks, just focus alright! We heard doors closing from baby monitor in Flat 17 and from Echo device in flat 19.

    (Operator 2) Yes, we think he is in flat 18! What do we have there?

    (Operator 4) We have a contact with a vacuum! Trying backdoor 5.

    (Operator 1) Oh man, quick quick. Let's try to trip him. I have visuals from Samsung telly. He is undressing and put a package on the table!

    (Operator 4) I am in! Switching on the vacuum!

    (Operator 1) Full speed forward! Full speed forward!

    (Operator 2) OOOOOhhh yeah the bastard is down!

    (Operator 3) F*ck, he hit the corner of the table. There is blood!

    (Operator 4) Speaking of blood, I think we ran out of hydrogen dioxide. Do you know where can I buy it close by?

    (Operator 3) Oh shut up you twt. You killed him!

    (Operator 1) Is there anything we can play a sound there with?

    (Operator 4) There is a bluetooth speaker, just got in. Ok this is our chance to bring him back to life.

    (Operator 3) Oh boy oh boy, do it!

    (Operator 4) Playing Gold!

    (Operator 3) Spandau Ballet always works. He is moving! He is grabbing the package!

    (Operator 2) Guys, sorry I dozed off. What's the state of play?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Control room

      Very good !!!

      :)

      BTW:

      How is the Screenwriting side hustle going ???

      :)

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It's just a pity...

    .... id doesn't double as a moving access point. When not cleaning, it should monitor for devices with bad WiFi and move closer enough to act as a mesh node to improve the connection.

    (maybe I should have patented this before writing it here...)

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Does it actually clean edges and corners ?

    Don't get me wrong, I have a Euvacs Deebot, and it had completely changed housework (daily hoovering is now a thing, rather than weekly, and every pass picks up dust).

    But you still need a handheld to go over the edges and corners.

    I like the mapping though - although I wish it could be done on a grown up website, not a primary school app.

    1. Chris Gray 1
      Meh

      Re: Does it actually clean edges and corners ?

      I used to have a near-original Roomba. It eventually broke down; iRobot basically replaced it for free, and it went for a while again, but then it had other problems, so I forgot about it.

      I now live in a place which by British standards is ridiculously huge. There is mostly just me here - no pets, etc. It takes me about an hour to do the floors (just finished, actually), but it takes nearly 2 hours to do the dusting. I don't want something to do floors, I want something that can dust! Carefully! Very carefully!

      1. DS999 Silver badge
        Angel

        Re: Does it actually clean edges and corners ?

        I want something that can dust!

        New from iRobot, the Doomba, the dusting version of the Roomba! It flies around your house dangling dusters (insert pic that shows something that looks like a Predator's head floating around your house) which thanks to the charge from the propeller blades will attract all the dust from anything it comes into contact with.

        Warning: Please safely store any Ming vases and lock your cats in the bathroom before setting it loose!

      2. jake Silver badge

        Re: Does it actually clean edges and corners ?

        "I want something that can dust! Carefully! Very carefully!"

        If you don't have central HVAC, a simple AC unit (either window mounted or portable) will happily pull dust out of the air for hours on end. Move the temperature control to a point where the AC compressor doesn't need to run, and the things sip power. You can also use a standard 19 inch box fan with a furnace filter duct-taped/bungeed to the intake side. The 20'x20" fit near perfectly. Either way, if the sound annoys you, turn it on whenever you leave. It's amazing how much crap these things will pull out of the air. You can get varying filter capability, depending on your personal needs (pollen is larger than smoke, for example).

        Don't forget to clean or replace the dust filter periodically. Remember, when cleaning a dust filter, backflush it!

        Note that the finer the filter, the less air it will allow to pass. The answer is to increase the number of square inches of filter. Simply get 5 filters, tape them together in a cube with the intake side of the fan as the 6th side. This worked for an asthmatic friend of mine when this part of California was under a constant cloud of heavy smoke due to wildfires.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Does it actually clean edges and corners ?

      You are looking at the same pic we all are

      Its round

  7. PRR Silver badge
    Big Brother

    rooty-roots

    > true to TP-Link's roots, it communicates over Wi-Fi.

    IIRC, TP-Link's roots go back to Twisted Pair (hence TP) network cards. And 10baseT hubs. I had one and flogged it for a decade. (Quit only when I noticed it was slower than my DSL.) Good stuff. Several years before Wi-Fi standards and considerably before popular-price Wi-Fi gear.

    Now I want to add TP cable to my 1957 Electrolux G auto-eject sucker.... Maybe it can web-order its own bags? (I bought a hundred and the box is still near full.)

    1. bazza Silver badge

      Re: rooty-roots

      Good stuff indeed. I've had (and still buy) TP-Link stuff and it's all just worked, been reliable, done the job, worked pretty well, good value. No-brainer as far as I'm concerned. A $200 robot vac is something I'd probably spring for, if it became available in the UK.

      StarTech is the other - if I need to connect something to something, they've likely got the adapter or interface or cable for it. They've never let me down either.

      1. Stork

        Re: rooty-roots

        I have got too many grey hairs from TP-Link APs. We had a tourist property with seven cottages and a similar number of APs, and some of them developed Alzheimer’s and forgot their settings. At first all was fine, a couple of hours after not so much.

    2. Fruit and Nutcase Silver badge
      Alert

      Re: rooty-roots

      If Dyson made routers...

      Perish the thought

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Four suction modes and includes a mop

    1. Little Mouse

      That's called "Plausible Deniability"

      "Four suction modes and a tissue dispenser" would be so much more difficult to justify.

  9. chuckufarley Silver badge
    Coffee/keyboard

    No lasers?

    My god, how long do I have to wait for frikkin LASERS?

  10. Anonymous South African Coward Silver badge

    Now we wait for Electrolux to join the fun.

    "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux"...

  11. Leber

    I do wish these manufacturers would have a think about new technologies or protocols coming out like "Matter" for example I don't need another app. I need to control all my devices from a singular location and preferably local.

  12. Barry Rueger

    Meow!

    Only one question: what happens when it runs over a cat turd?

    1. Anomalous Cowturd
      Holmes

      Re: Meow!

      You train the cat's replacement not to shit on the floor.

      Icon says it all.

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