Aethon Labs

The Opportunity: Pioneering IoT for Underexplored Use Cases

Aethon Labs is an IoT design and engineering firm dedicated to developing connected products that improve everyday life. From the Sutro smart pool and spa monitoring system to Fluux, a dual smartphone-and-vape charger that also tracks and reduces vape usage, the team focuses on creating habit-changing devices and new user experiences.

“We’re particularly interested in underexplored use cases,” says Himanshu Shah, CEO of Aethon Labs. “Whether it’s helping people monitor pool chemistry, change health habits, or improve elder care, our goal is to build devices that make a measurable difference.”

In addition to consumer electronics, Aethon Labs is also developing healthcare solutions, such as a device to help elderly users predict and prevent falls before they happen.

“Soracom’s commitment to getting projects live really stood out. They gave us both the tools and the expertise we needed to troubleshoot at the packet level.”

Himanshu Shah

CEO

Aethon Labs

The Solution: From LTE Frustrations to IoT-Ready Connectivity

The company first connected with Soracom during development of the Sutro smart pool monitor, which uses LTE as a backup when Wi-Fi is unavailable. However, the LTE connections frequently dropped, leaving devices unresponsive.

“On Wi-Fi everything worked perfectly, but LTE connections kept timing out,” recalls Shah. “We knew it wasn’t a server issue, but diagnosing cellular behavior is usually tricky without the right tools.”

Working with the Soracom Solutions Architecture team, Aethon Labs set up a Virtual Private Gateway to capture packets directly from the cellular connection. This revealed that the server was not closing sockets properly, causing TCP requests to time out. With this insight, the team worked with their cloud partner to resolve the issue.

“It was a great lesson in the difference between basic cellular connectivity and connectivity designed for IoT,” says Shah. “Soracom didn’t just provide a SIM, they helped us solve the problem.”

Why Soracom: A Partner for Problem-Solving

Beyond providing connectivity, Soracom’s architecture and team offered the diagnostic capabilities Aethon Labs needed to get devices online and keep them there.

“Soracom’s commitment to getting projects live really stood out,” says Shah. “They gave us both the tools and the expertise we needed to troubleshoot at the packet level.”

This IoT-first approach allows Aethon Labs to move quickly from prototype to deployment, knowing that they can identify and fix issues without weeks of guesswork.

The Outcome: New Products, Broader Impact

Building on its experience with connected hardware, Aethon Labs is now developing IoT Doctor, a software product that helps companies managing IoT fleets to track, diagnose, and maintain devices in the field. Initially designed for engineers, IoT Doctor now offers integrations with Slack, Zapier, and other platforms, making it useful for sales, marketing, and manufacturing teams.

The company is also working on a content initiative to share its expertise in bringing connected products to market – a kind of “Lonely Planet” guide for IoT development.

“We’ve learned a lot about the path from idea to deployed device,” says Shah. “By making that knowledge accessible, we can help more teams succeed.”