@HoosierKettle , i totally get what your saying, allow me to back pedal a bit. All I'm saying is that the wi-fi is informational only.. now if we had wi-fi enabled dampers and automatic coal feeders, wi-fi would be awesome, just that by the time the changes are happening, it's probably too late if you're not close by. The kettles and WSM's really are almost set it and forget it, but if the wi-fi is whats adding a $100 to the price, not so much worth it...
Think it just depends on your environment. Regular RF / bluetooth units have pretty useless range in my case even though I'm usually not more than a short walk away. I do have really great wifi coverage though so I can get a rock solid connection through that. They cost a fair a bit more and need to charge but I don't have too much of a choice. On the other hand they aren't so great if I'm away from wifi, so I have a smoke as well which has been a really handy unit