I can see the firmware version when logging into the iHost… Why do I have to link it to eWeLink account just to be able to update firmware?
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Because we reuse the original OTA service and firmware version management system at present, iHost must be linked to the eWeLink account and connected to the eWeLink server to query and download the latest firmware version.
After linking the eWeLink account, the device will not synchronize any local device information and data to the eWeLink cloud except for querying and downloading the firmware. If you are worried about the data security of connecting to the cloud, you can download and update the firmware, then unlink the eWeLink account so that the device will disconnect from the server. Unlinking the eWeLink account will not affect any existing functions of the device.
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This is currently not possible because iHost reuses the original eWeLink platform’s OTA system - a system that needs to manage firmware distribution, cache and CDN acceleration by region, grayscale distribution and version management - so it is impossible for OTA function to operate out of the cloud.
In addition, the firmware version number you see displayed is not from the cloud - it is in the firmware database. Unless you link it to an eWeLink account, the device cannot connect to the OTA server and will not check whether there is a newer version of the firmware that can be updated.
Most platforms provide an “upload” option so I could download the latest firmware from eWeLink website and then upload manually into the iHost device.
We will not provide the ability to download and install firmware independently. Firmware updates for devices can only be achieved via cloud OTA.
That means the iHost does not operate that locally as advertised…
I believe there should be another way to achieve the same features without an account requirement. I agree with @TommyNZ that a manual upload feature is the best to be cloud independent.