Tempted to pick up the dimmable model for the bathroom. The light makes a nice night light and the dim is nice for the midnight run to the bathroom. Don’t really need the smarts and don’t like that the smarts aren’t HomeKit compatible. Anyone have these?
@airmo I installed a dimmable for my bathroom shower last night – works well, and actually fills out the space more (and more flush) than my Leviton switches. I’ve now got my shower light set to 1% brightness from 6pm-6am and it’s an excellent night light!
@airmo it might seem like a bit much for many people but if you’re taking the smarthome plunge it’s really worth getting a raspberry pi and throwing home assistant on it. It will allow you to bridge all your non-HomeKit stuff to HomeKit saving you a small fortune. Lots of tutorials on YouTube.
Most recent Amzn U.S. review is 3day short if 2 years old and product is currently unavailable and they are not sure when it will be in stock again.
Is the app still available and receiving support. I ask because many years ago I bought coloring changing bulbs with speaker from here and now you can’t get the app anymore so we keep the old cell phone around the app is on just to use that bulb, which is seldom now that the kiddo is off at college.
@dtwsportsfan Yep, app is still alive and working very well - no issues at all with my setup and control of these switches or the light bulbs we sold a little bit ago.
It is worth noting, these products (and the plugs over on SideDeal Today), all run standard ESP chips for their wifi/smart controls, and can be flashed with ESPHome or Tasmota for entirely local control within something like Home Assistant. In for two packs of each!
@ThatOneRoadie
Yes. The Original fcc pictures shows an ESP. https://fccid.io/2AB22-ESWD16
But many manufactures silently updated the design and replaced the ESP8266/ESP8285 with a cheaper (and better) non-ESP TYWE2S.
The fact that this switch uses the ESP-01F instead of the easier to replace ESP-02S gives hope that this is still the case. The fact that Amazon doesn’t have it anymore also points to the strong possibility that meh got some new old-stock.
ESP-01F is also a nice format. It doesn’t have the cumbersome edge connector and pins are easy accessible even if you can’t do OTA.
If this deal had come a couple years ago, I would have stocked up on these.
But I don’t think it is something to stock-pile: ESP8266 SDK won’t be updated much longer, unlikely it will get WPA3. Newer modules have bluetooth, and I assume that in the next few years HA will switch to BLE meshes.
@pakopako
If you want a device you can reflash with tasmota or something similar and than use it on the lan an ESP µChip is ideal.
But some of the Chinese manufacturers started making devices with ESPs in them and then switched to different chips without changing the model number or anything, not even the FCC description, making reflashing more difficult.
I tried an educated guess, that this brand never did that.
And as for future proofing: ESP32 will be able to do WPA3, ESP8266 most likely won’t get that and is stuck at WPA2. But tasmota is patched against the KRACK attack and I got my smart things on a separate network, so not too big of a deal.
The other thing: newer chips have BLE. I assume that eventually a low energy BLE decentralized network will give people better coverage while also slightly reducing power (or maybe not, because the chips are also becoming more powerful). If your current wifi coverage is okay, also a non-issue.
@ThatOneRoadie@werehatrack
Sounds like there hasn’t been any progress getting the dimmer to work on the ESWD16-R4P switch in the past 4 years unless I missed something, which is kind of a bummer because using it and the built-in RGB LED would be nice.
@ThatOneRoadie If the flash to Tasmota works for this, then I will get the smart plugs from SideDeal.
If I get the smart plugs and they are not flashable to Tasmota, then at least the physical button makes them useful for manual control of stuff on power strips.
I have smart switches and plugs all over my home. The low voltage landscape lighting too. The outside lights are set to come on 30 minutes after sunset and shut off 5 hours later. The inside lights are not in auto on programming except an entry light that comes on when I turn off the wake alarm beside my bed.
When we leave for several days I do set lights to turn on and off in different rooms at different times to create an illusion of someone at home. Oh, the porch light comes on 30 minutes after sunset and off 30 minutes before sunrise.
@mshipp@troy@werehatrack Ever get tempted to smash everything and rebuild? (It’s really not possible, but it’s nice to dream)
A friend of mine actually pulled a Monopoly; wound up owning an entire city block and would demolish a house every year forcing his tenant to move… To the brand new modern house next door. It will take over a decade to get every house into this millennium, and after that, he plans on doing it again (there will always be one house under demolition) so everything’s always modern. Surprisingly this level of upkeep was only possible after getting every house on the block (otherwise the negotiation of demolition and the rental income would cover the construction).
Anyone else not getting just cuz they are all in on zwave and zigbee still? I realize they can coexist but have heard horror stories about WiFi based smart devices clogging up home networks. The Zs work on other bandwidths.
@edsa They’re light switches that connect to your wifi network. You can then control the switches with your phone or with your voice with Aleza or Google. You can also set your switches to a schedule or sync them with sunrise/sunset. Of course, you can also use them as regular old dumb switches.
Is nobody concerned with all the connectivity issues people report in Amazon reviews? In my experience with Wi-Fi switches (multiple manufacturers) it is the biggest problem. Then when they fall off the network, it’s such a PITA to reconnect them. And of course, you won’t realize it has happened until you actually need it to be connected.
Someone convince me that this isn’t an issue with these switches.
Specs
Product: 4-Pack: Etekcity Smart Switches
Model: ESWL01-R4P, ESWD16-R4P
Condition: New
What’s Included?
Price Comparison
Was $68-$96 (for 4) at Amazon
Non-Dimmable
Dimmable
Warranty
90 days
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Jan 27 - Tuesday, Jan 28
This deal is flippin’ awe some!
@yakkoTDI clever use of the space so the stupid Meh aweso
e reply bot doesn’t mock you
@dpease @yakkoTDI Viola! Shinola! Capicola! AWESOME
POPSOCKETS! SPROCKETS! DAVY CROCKETT! AWESOME!
Tempted to pick up the dimmable model for the bathroom. The light makes a nice night light and the dim is nice for the midnight run to the bathroom. Don’t really need the smarts and don’t like that the smarts aren’t HomeKit compatible. Anyone have these?
@airmo I installed a dimmable for my bathroom shower last night – works well, and actually fills out the space more (and more flush) than my Leviton switches. I’ve now got my shower light set to 1% brightness from 6pm-6am and it’s an excellent night light!
@airmo @troy
But you got a loose screw(s) there!
@airmo @rjquillin thats because I’m going back in and installing a couple more
@airmo @troy does it work for any light the switch is connected to? This isn’t a way to control Hue lights, right?
@gwrankin Yep! As long as it’s a dimmable bulb. It will control a Hue bulb like any other bulb, but it will not perform any special Hue features
@airmo it might seem like a bit much for many people but if you’re taking the smarthome plunge it’s really worth getting a raspberry pi and throwing home assistant on it. It will allow you to bridge all your non-HomeKit stuff to HomeKit saving you a small fortune. Lots of tutorials on YouTube.
We’ll see if I ever get around to installing these…
/giphy gabby-yippy-mockingbird
/image gabby-yippy-mockingbird
/showme gabby-yippy-mockingbird
@shahnm
/8ball Will shahnm actually install these?
As I see it, yes
No flipping way.
How EMI/RFI quiet are these?
@rjquillin I don’t detect any noise on the one I have installed
@rjquillin I don’t detect any noise on the one @troy has installed either.
Most recent Amzn U.S. review is 3day short if 2 years old and product is currently unavailable and they are not sure when it will be in stock again.
Is the app still available and receiving support. I ask because many years ago I bought coloring changing bulbs with speaker from here and now you can’t get the app anymore so we keep the old cell phone around the app is on just to use that bulb, which is seldom now that the kiddo is off at college.
@dtwsportsfan Yep, app is still alive and working very well - no issues at all with my setup and control of these switches or the light bulbs we sold a little bit ago.
@dtwsportsfan VeSync app is used for other devices as well. The air fryer I got on meh over the holidays also uses that app.
@dtwsportsfan I use this app with a bathroom scale to record my weight in Apple Health.
It is worth noting, these products (and the plugs over on SideDeal Today), all run standard ESP chips for their wifi/smart controls, and can be flashed with ESPHome or Tasmota for entirely local control within something like Home Assistant. In for two packs of each!
@ThatOneRoadie what fun is that? those Romanian crypto coins aren’t gonna mine themselves…
@ThatOneRoadie
Yes. The Original fcc pictures shows an ESP.
https://fccid.io/2AB22-ESWD16
But many manufactures silently updated the design and replaced the ESP8266/ESP8285 with a cheaper (and better) non-ESP TYWE2S.
The fact that this switch uses the ESP-01F instead of the easier to replace ESP-02S gives hope that this is still the case. The fact that Amazon doesn’t have it anymore also points to the strong possibility that meh got some new old-stock.
ESP-01F is also a nice format. It doesn’t have the cumbersome edge connector and pins are easy accessible even if you can’t do OTA.
If this deal had come a couple years ago, I would have stocked up on these.
But I don’t think it is something to stock-pile: ESP8266 SDK won’t be updated much longer, unlikely it will get WPA3. Newer modules have bluetooth, and I assume that in the next few years HA will switch to BLE meshes.
@danpritts @ThatOneRoadie
@ThatOneRoadie You had me at Tasmota …
@ThatOneRoadie Pointers to the tech, pls?
@ThatOneRoadie Also, can that be done with the smart sockets?
@formfeed for LAN home control, would those upgrades even matter?
@werehatrack Wi-Fi Switches (non-dimmer): https://hackaday.com/2019/04/22/hack-my-house-ul-certification-and-turning-the-lights-on-with-an-esp8266/
And smart plugs: https://www.coreforge.com/blog/2023/11/flash-etekcity-plugs-esw01-with-esphome/
Procedure is similar for the dimmer switches but ESPHome doesn’t quite have the dimmer programming right yet.
@pakopako
If you want a device you can reflash with tasmota or something similar and than use it on the lan an ESP µChip is ideal.
But some of the Chinese manufacturers started making devices with ESPs in them and then switched to different chips without changing the model number or anything, not even the FCC description, making reflashing more difficult.
I tried an educated guess, that this brand never did that.
And as for future proofing: ESP32 will be able to do WPA3, ESP8266 most likely won’t get that and is stuck at WPA2. But tasmota is patched against the KRACK attack and I got my smart things on a separate network, so not too big of a deal.
The other thing: newer chips have BLE. I assume that eventually a low energy BLE decentralized network will give people better coverage while also slightly reducing power (or maybe not, because the chips are also becoming more powerful). If your current wifi coverage is okay, also a non-issue.
@ThatOneRoadie @werehatrack
AAGH!
That guy at coreforge.com flashes the opened plug while it is plugged in. Please don’t!
You can provide power to the chip without plugging the whole thing in.
https://devices.esphome.io/devices/Etekcity-Voltson-ESW01-USA-R6P
Don’t know if anyone managed to reflash it without opening it.
@ThatOneRoadie @werehatrack
Sounds like there hasn’t been any progress getting the dimmer to work on the ESWD16-R4P switch in the past 4 years unless I missed something, which is kind of a bummer because using it and the built-in RGB LED would be nice.
@ThatOneRoadie If the flash to Tasmota works for this, then I will get the smart plugs from SideDeal.
If I get the smart plugs and they are not flashable to Tasmota, then at least the physical button makes them useful for manual control of stuff on power strips.
I got a set of each. I have a fireplace that starts with a light switch - now I can feel like Austin Powers! (that’ll be a non-dimmable switch).
/giphy outspoken-narcissistic-rifle
“viola” – again? I guess we pay for deals, not copy editors…
@andymand
Quel dommage
@andymand
Viola!
@andymand @PocketBrain @chienfou
Quale formaggio!
Dang it, I just bought a 3-gang of smart switches. Paid more than this for 'em, too!
I have smart switches and plugs all over my home. The low voltage landscape lighting too. The outside lights are set to come on 30 minutes after sunset and shut off 5 hours later. The inside lights are not in auto on programming except an entry light that comes on when I turn off the wake alarm beside my bed.
When we leave for several days I do set lights to turn on and off in different rooms at different times to create an illusion of someone at home. Oh, the porch light comes on 30 minutes after sunset and off 30 minutes before sunrise.
Do these require a neutral wire for installation?
@mshipp Looks like it from the 6th image.
KuoH
@mshipp Yes they do
@mshipp @troy Probably need a Real Ground as well, which this 1958 house doth not have.
@mshipp @troy @werehatrack Ever get tempted to smash everything and rebuild? (It’s really not possible, but it’s nice to dream)
A friend of mine actually pulled a Monopoly; wound up owning an entire city block and would demolish a house every year forcing his tenant to move… To the brand new modern house next door. It will take over a decade to get every house into this millennium, and after that, he plans on doing it again (there will always be one house under demolition) so everything’s always modern. Surprisingly this level of upkeep was only possible after getting every house on the block (otherwise the negotiation of demolition and the rental income would cover the construction).
I would buy this if I hadn’t spent so much lately. These look a good deal.
Not what I was expecting today… I was expecting to see a Mehrathon… It feels like there is one brewing in the air.
@OnionSoup Not usually this early in the week…
We’re about to buy our first house, perfect time for these to show up. Here’s hoping I have the energy to install these following the closing process!
/giphy tactical-deafening-platinum
Anyone else not getting just cuz they are all in on zwave and zigbee still? I realize they can coexist but have heard horror stories about WiFi based smart devices clogging up home networks. The Zs work on other bandwidths.
I don’t understand this product.
@edsa They’re light switches that connect to your wifi network. You can then control the switches with your phone or with your voice with Aleza or Google. You can also set your switches to a schedule or sync them with sunrise/sunset. Of course, you can also use them as regular old dumb switches.
@edsa @troy Aleza, cool. Does it work with Siree too?
KuoH
@edsa @troy Is there a version that works with a’Lizzo? I’d scoop that because my daughter went to high school with her.
Is nobody concerned with all the connectivity issues people report in Amazon reviews? In my experience with Wi-Fi switches (multiple manufacturers) it is the biggest problem. Then when they fall off the network, it’s such a PITA to reconnect them. And of course, you won’t realize it has happened until you actually need it to be connected.
Someone convince me that this isn’t an issue with these switches.
primo-spectacular-kiwi :
/giphy wet-nutty-punishment
/showme wet-nutty-punishment
Something went terribly wrong. Please try again.
/showme ostentatious-haphazard-riddle
/giphy blunt-myopic-pork
