Tp Link With Harmony
I recently bought a tp-link smart outlet so i can attach it to my lamp. I went with that over bulb just because the bulbs max is 60watt and i just have 1 lamp in my living room with a 100watt bulb which is enough.(however i guess i am planning to buy more lamps/lighting for all my rooms in the future so i will go with bulbs).
It all starts with Homebridge!If you want to link up non-HomeKit-enabled smart products to your HomeKit-enabled setup, you're going to need to install Homebridge.Homebridge is a NodeJS server that acts as a HomeKit-enabled bridge, connecting non-HomeKit-enabled products to HomeKit. Once you've set up a Homebridge server, you can download plugins for non-HomeKit-enabled devices in order to access them with the iOS Home app and control them using your voice with Siri.I've put together a detailed guide to help you get Homebridge up and running. You can check that out here. The Logitech Harmony Hub is a $70 device that will solve all your lost-remote problems. This hub replaces up to eight remotes, letting you control your television, fans, sound system, Sonos speakers, and more with a simple swipe or tap. If you find yourself juggling between the set-top box remote, the television remote, the soundbar controls, and the joystick for your robotic butler (sure, yeah, that's a thing), you need the Logitech Harmony Hub.
It also works with Amazon Alexa so if you've got an Echo or two in the house, you've got a voice-controlled universal remote.When, you can control the Harmony Hub with the Home app for iOS and your voice using Siri. The Homebridge plugin converts Harmony Hub activities (watch tv, play Xbox, etc.) into HomeKit-enabled switches. You say, 'Hey Siri, turn on Watch TV' and your Harmony Hub will execute that activity.It's not entirely elegant phrasing-wise, but that's one of the trade-offs of using a DIY/homebrew system like Homebridge. Having a Harmony Hub that works with HomeKit is pretty awesome — I can put up with weirdly worded Siri commands. This $25 plug from TP-Link is compact, reliable, and inexpensive! It also works with Amazon Alexa and the Google Assistant, so I was able to control the connected lamp using my Amazon Echo and Google Home.
The plug's only downside, for me, was that it didn't work with Apple HomeKit so I went searching for a way to connect it! Fun fact: The Kasa smart Wi-Fi plug mini was the first smart accessories I linked to HomeKit using Homebridge. It's the reason I discovered Homebridge.When, you'll be able to toggle power for TP-Link's smart plugs and monitor energy use as well as toggle power for TP-Link's smart bulbs and adjust color and brightness.
The Homebridge plugin works with the following TP-Link smart accessories:. Plugs: HS100, HS105, HS110, HS200. Bulbs: LB100, LB110, LB120, LB130, LB200, LB230.
Nest is a bit infamous among HomeKit enthusiasts due to its lack of support for HomeKit. There's some business logic to the situation, sure (Google owns Nest), but it doesn't stop folks from incessantly tweeting at Nest, hoping against hope that they'll persuade Nest to add HomeKit support. With, you can rest your tweeting fingers and add HomeKit support all on your own.The plugin works with Nest's thermostats, cameras, and the Nest Protect smoke and CO alarm. It's a little more complicated than some of the other plugins on the list, but you can pridefully and smugly smirk at Nest when you've got everything up and running.The will help you save money on your energy bill and it'll look damn good on your wall. It comes in four colors — white, copper, black, and stainless steel — and the adjustment ring around the outside of the device is made of metal. It's a smart thermostat that learns as you use it, meaning it'll help recommend better heating and cooling settings to cut back on costs.
It can be controlled using the Nest app, Amazon Alexa, and Siri (if you use Homebridge). It can also adjust the temperature based on your location — i.e. Turning down when you leave your home — and lets you set up a heating and cooling schedule.The features a 130º 1080p camera, microphone, and speaker, so you can watch, listen, and talk with the device. Using the Nest Cam's eight infrared LEDs and a special filter, it also offers night vision.
The Nest Cam comes with a mountable magnetic base and an incredibly long cord. As for software, its got location-based activation and notifications, so you can set the camera to turn on when you leave home and turn off when you return.The is a Wi-Fi connected monitor that keeps an eye out for emergencies. It senses smoke and dangerous levels of carbon monoxide and, like a traditional smoke detector, will alert you in an emergency. It automatically tests itself, it works as a subtle night light, it can tell the difference between steam and smoke (you'd be surprised how many smoke detectors are bad at this), and it integrates with other Nest products. Sure, you can buy the new to add HomeKit support to your WeMo devices or you can use the entirely free Homebridge to do it, instead. Granted, the bridge is going to offer a much more elegant experience, but let me just repeat that one word again: free.The lets you use loads of WeMo smart accessories:.
WeMo Switch. WeMo Light Switch.
WeMo Dimmer. WeMo Insight Switch. WeMo Bulb. WeMo Maker. WeMo Motion.
WeMo NetCamAs one of WeMo's most popular smart home products, the $30 WeMo Mini Smart Plug, works as you'd expect. You can use the WeMo app, Amazon Alexa, the Google Assistant, or Siri (with the Homebridge plugin) to toggle power for anything you plug into it. Netatmo's $150 weather station is quite the powerful tool for tracking hyper-local weather and environmental data.
The outdoor module tracks temperature, humidity, air quality, barometric pressure, and even provides a weather forecast. The indoor module tracks temperature, humidity, air quality, CO₂ levels, and sound. If you're a data nerd who'd rather not get their forecast from the nightly news or an app, Netatmo's weather station is the all-in-one solution to track, analyze, and monitor your weather and your environment.When, you'll be able to monitor all of the sensors that come with the indoor and outdoor modules.
That means you can ask Siri, 'What's the air quality like outside?' And it'll be able to give you the real-time reading.
A leader in wireless networking products, TP-Link has naturally drifted toward producing a line of smart home products over the past few years. Among their most popular devices is the TP-Link Smart Wi-Fi Plug which comes in a standard version (HS100) and one that provides energy monitoring (HS110). This simple device allows you to turn dumb items in your home into semi-smart ones that can be controlled remotely without a central hub.We were not that impressed with the overall design of the TP-Link Smart Wi-Fi Plug.
The front face is a dull white oval with a gray area around the plug. A button sits near top that has two small LEDs signalling that it’s connected to your home’s Wi-Fi and that the outlet is either on or off. The problem arises in how bulky the device is (note that TP-Link does now offer a mini version called the ).
It comes out close to 3 inches from the wall and obstructs the other outlet. If it’s going to be that large, we’d prefer it going a bit further and offering two plugs to control. And to top it off, the LEDs on the device are always on. It’s not terribly bright but if you’re using this in a bedroom where you demand complete darkness, it can be annoying to see the little green light piercing through the room.While the design left us shrugging our shoulders, the overall performance was much more uplifting. Setup requires installing TP-Link’s app named Kasa which is available on both Android and iOS. The app can be used for not just the smart plug but any smart home device sold by TP-Link.
It walks you through connecting the device which requires first connecting your phone to the plug’s private network and then providing it with your Wi-Fi credentials. TP-Link is rather unique in that they allow you the option to setup the device only for local use if you want (say you just want to have it work as a sleep timer for a fan as you fall asleep). But for most of us, a smart plug’s benefit is in it’s ability to be controlled anywhere we can connect to the internet.
For that, you’ll need to setup a cloud account with TP-Link which they’ll walk you through during the setup process. Overall the setup took around 15 minutes and did include us having to re-add the device when it didn’t connect properly the first time.Once connected, the Kasa app was a delight to use. It was simple to setup names and even custom icons for the plug.
For instance, if you’re using the plug for your Christmas lights, there is a little Christmas tree icon for that. And if you’ve got multiple TP-Link products, it lists them all with the on/off button next to it so you can manage everything on one screen. Features such as scheduling, away mode, and a sleep timer were prominently displayed and easy to configure. Giving the app permission for your location will even allow it to pinpoint sunrise and sunset for you automatically.
For those with multiple TP-Link devices, you can get into setting up “scenes”. This allows you to configure scenarios where the devices work in tandem with one another. For instance you may want to set a “bedtime” scene that will shut off all the lights at once.
Tp Link Us Support
Amazon.comFrom a hardware standpoint, TP-Link Smart Plug held it’s own. Lag was non-existent turning on and off attached devices. The plug can handle up to 1800 watts and 15 amps of current. This is considerably more than budget options like the Geeni Energi allow. It also should be safe for use with a modern space heater or window air conditioner unit.
Tp Link Wireless Configuration
When attached appliances are off, it only draws about 0.6 watts in its standby state. Firmware updates do seem to be happening on a regular basis which eases security concerns. Perhaps the only real miss is it not working with 802.11ac networks. This leaves you with 2.4GHz as your only option.For those looking for voice control, the smart plug is compatible with both Amazon Alexa and Google Home. You’ll need to enable the skill with Amazon (search TP-Link Kasa) or add the device under the Home Control section on the Google Assistant. Both options require logging in with your TP-Link cloud account that you likely created during the installation.
In our testing with both smart speakers, the plug connected and worked flawlessly. For IFTTT aficionados, Kasa is currently in beta stages of integration but looks promising. Unfortunately there is no Apple HomeKit support at the moment.As we mentioned earlier, the TP-Link Smart Plug comes in two different models. The HS100 which is the standard smart plug and the HS110 which provides energy monitoring (and runs about $5 more). The only other difference is the HS110 comes in a fully white exterior. As for the energy monitoring, it worked fine in our testing.
The data is fairly rudimentary and there unfortunately isn’t an option to export the data for use elsewhere. Unless you have a specific device that you really feel the need to monitor, we just don’t see the value in it. ConclusionThe TP-Link Smart Wi-Fi Plug (HS100) works perfectly fine and is backed by a leader in wireless technology. It’s integration with both Amazon and Google provide voice controls and it’s Kasa app has a friendlier user interface than its counterparts. Unfortunately, it’s bulky design that blocks the adjacent outlet and beams a green light is a problem for us. We’d rather pay a few extra bucks for the that has an updated design that only occupies one socket.
But if socket space is not a concern for you and you’re on a tight budget, this is a perfectly acceptable smart plug to help begin your odyssey into home automation.ASIN: B0178IC734UPC: 03.