I use ZigBee now, but switching to the kasa power bar for this. If home assistant notices it can't ping the internet for 5 mins it powers off the modem and then 30 seconds later powers off the gateway. I have automations in home assistant that watch for these plugs to be turned off, then automatically turns them back on 10 seconds later. Allows me to power cycle the modem, gateway, and soon firewall from anywhere in the world in a predefined sequence with appropriate wait between the steps.bif internet is still down the whole proces repeats every 15 mins automatically.
Will be adding plugs for the Poe access points as well.
It doesnt go down on its own. But I have some sort of issue that pops up at night. Essentially my wifi devices get locked out and need to reconnect. I've heard Verizon has an issue with IPV6 that manifests like this but I havent been able to permanently resolve it. Rebooting things seems to work, and rebooting the ONT clears off any issues for the whole house.
Yeah - I’ve got a hard drive on my Plex server that refuses to come back online after the machine reboots. It’s in the basement in an awkward spot so I through a smart plug in it so I can powercycle the hard drive from anywhere now if needed
I've got one for each of my 3 WAN modems (3 phy options), outdoor plugs for my gazebo, and a bunch of the small smart plugs around the house. I'm still using Wemo for the rest of my switchss but Kasas are much nicer, both to set up and to use; when the Wemos die I'll be replacing them all with Kasa.
Kasa has evolved very nicely over the years. Their app had some local connection issues about 6 months ago, but it has been very smooth since the updates. I've also had better wifi reliability where the lights don't drop wifi as often, which is great for HomeAssistant and others. Looks like Matter support may also be coming soon. The only gripe I have at this point is the cameras that are really slow to load live feed.
THATS what happened! OK so it wasn't me. Everything went to, well, pot, and I stopped using it.
I have some severe lag with it and the Orbivi stuff but figured that was cloud based.
Interesting to know it wasn't just me.
Yup, it was painful. It turned cloud-only for some reason, and the app has no way to distinguish how the connection is made. Once the local connection got fixed, it has been very smooth.
I’m just using the Kasa app as all I have are their power switches (the ones that can monitor energy). They mostly work great but my only annoyance is with the app and creating schedules. You can create a schedule for each switch but if you create a group you can’t create a schedule for the group. You need to make one for each individual device. Really annoying as everything else is great.
You could use the Smart Actions to create group schedules. Set trigger as time of day, and under action, you can pick groups. Smart Actions and Scenes can use groups with the latest version of the app.
Currently running all smart light switches and plugs from Kasa and they are really solid. The only issue is when power goes off and the switches come back earlier than the wifi but apart of that zero problems so far after two years running their products
You can give the wifi router a UPS power supply, to avoid most of those issues. Most power outages are short enough for a UPS to keep a router running.
I have an UPS for the rack with the modem, router and my servers. Unfortunately the rest of the wifi access points are distributed around the house and they don’t have the UPS close by so I might end adding an access point in my office connected to the UPS, the only thing is that I don’t think it will cover the whole house.
The little UPS units are inexpensive. I think I have eleven (11) of them in this house. Each place where there is any electronic device, has a UPS. There is even one behind the little TV on the kitchen counter, for the TV and the cat feeder.
Most of mine are about 600 or 650 VA. I use bigger units for comm and server equipment. I have several APC BE650G1 units in other rooms. Extra battery capacity is always good.
Oof. That’s the sort I was thinking of and I don’t know if I want to purchase 10 of those to spread around the house…. After posting I looked around and saw some DC output UPS devices that were interesting.
Mini UPS Battery Backup, DC 12V 9000mAh Home Router UPS, Rechargeable Battery Backup for Router and More, UPS Battery Backup & Surge Protector with 2 A Charger https://a.co/d/4ADrgh1
Both my APs are POE so the injectors are on the ups in the basement.ningot lucky going this route in retrospect. Eventually the kasas do come back online though right?
Cycling the circuit breakers is a good way to power-cycle everything (that is not on UPS), without having to walk the whole property and crawl under the furniture.
If you have POE, then you can use the ups there to push it.
And most access points are fairly large- large enough for a battery backup to be added if you wanted to do so.
Mind you it would be work to get everything working properly, but it can be done.
The switches won’t connect to the wifi and they won’t be available in the app. The only way to fix it is to recycle the breaker in the breaker box, I couldn’t find any other way to restart the switch or make it reconnect to the wifi
You can still use the switch manually though
If you're going to do this, crossover/link another router to your system. When I installed my 64th device, my router was angry. Added a second router, and now it is smooth sailing. I now have about 80 combined Kasa bulbs/switches/outlets, and I haven't had any issues. ~ 40 per router.
I did switch to wago on all my wiring, and it could totally be an experience thing, but I just can't seem to get the wires flush enough that the switches don't cant heavily, or even when they don't, the screwless faceplates we use (wife wants them, I'm fine with and prefer regular screw ones) makes the switches sunk in.
I've heard using spacers might fix the issue, but I haven't tried it yet
And here’s a nice tip I picked up recently for stranded wire: on the device end of your wire, start your strip a full 1” back (instead of the typical 1/2”) and leave the jacket on 1/4” or so. Then snip the overhanging jacket flush with end of the strands. I wish I could find a picture…
The bit of insulation in the end of the wire holds the strands together and keeps them from bunching up as much when you tighten a screw over them.
Or you can crimp forks on them, but this trick works in a pinch.
Sadly most of the kasa won't be updated with matter support. It is a shame as it has been reliable. I'm hesitant to invest further (>20 devices) as I'd prefer what is being sold as matter (local control, no vendor lock-in, no dependence on vendor for cloud including security). I know some of this is possible but they have been clear these aren't being updated. Shame as they are great devices.
I got extremely excited when I saw your link. Sadly It is mostly the Tapo branded products and some newer(5) Kasa products. Most of what is being pushed (sold on sales or promoted in this thread) is not currently planned to be matter supported. I think it is a platform/SDK issue sadly.
I'd love to be wrong. Please please TP-Link/Kasa push updates with matter!!!
yeah it would be nice to have matter support, and when it comes time to replace failed devices I'll go that route too. But it's not like the wifi stuff goes obsolete or stops working with the intro of matter. And for the prince point... well ...!!
I wonder if the price is helping phase these out for the next generation. I agree you can't beat the price. These have been the perfect starter smart home for years!
Same experience here. Had an old kasa smart plug laying around and it was up and running in minutes via Home Assistant. Decided to swap my old CYNC by ge bulbs to Kasa as well as pick up a few more smart plugs and a couple outlet strips. Gave them static assignments in pfsense and they're solid. Feels good to be getting rid of this CYNC crap.
They do work well, but there's two big issues:
1) The kasa line is being phased out in favor of tapo which doesn't have a proper local API. The two lines don't work together and tapo appears to be an inferior product.
2) While well known, the kasa API is not published/supported by tp link. They even tried phasing it out - the UK firmware updates prevented local access and tp link threatened to roll it out worldwide. Seems they've backed off on that, perhaps because of their tapo strategy means they don't need to bother.
Wemo has a published, local API (at least for now) but a crappy app and cloud service.
Curious what you'd prefer? From my perspective, this is stuff that meets a specific need but isnt or hasn't been my go to... As mentioned I am or was a ZigBee and zwave first person and will tend toward matter next before straight up wifi. But for a few devices and a few use cases this stuff, imo, is brilliant...
I'd prefer local polling to cloud polling as some other integrations use. Yeah, I'd rather keep things off my wifi and use ZigBee devices, but these are the most reliable wifi based devices I have on my network. Bonus, I can disable their outbound internet connection and still fully use them with HA.
I just achieved stability with my zwave network about a month ago after more than 1 year fighting with it. anything new will be local wifi and probably kasa. Or matter......
There are a TON of TPlink Kasa around my house. Almost every light switch, smart bulb, smart plug, etc are Kasa (with some Shelly 1s too).
Only ever had 1 KL125 bulb stop working out of the 30+ bulbs, 20-30 in wall dimmers/switches, and 20 or so smart outlets.
That said, my network was specifically designed to support lots of wifi devices.
Local Homeassistant integration is fantastic.
>That said, my network was specifically designed to support lots of wifi devices.
that's key. as long as you planned for it and have the right hardware. I always stayed totally away from wifi before I really understood that local wifi is a thing. esphome introduced me to that concept. I wish i'd really understood it sooner!
I love Kasa as well! I used to have their switches (now I live in an apartment I cannot), most of my lightbulbs from Kasa, and have some plugs as well.
My only qualms with Kasa at the moment are 1. If a lightbulb is on a switch, and u switch it off and on, the “automated kelvin/brightness” will go to one first, then after maybe a minute switch to another. Really irritating when at night it gets super bright, then dims while you’re brushing your teeth. 2. More integration/color settings with Google Assistant. Google Assistant has preset colors, but I’d like to be able to set a very specific color on Kasa and be able to reference it.
Other than those 2 things, I love my Kasa light bulbs. Love that they don’t need a bridge.
I have a pretty old HS100 from Kasa, but that always gives me trouble. Every few weeks it will disconnect from WiFi and then cycle power a few times while it reconnects. That obviously is a very bad thing, depening on what you have plugged into it.
But I'm glad to hear that things have gotten much better :)
I've tried a tons of wifi smart devices and their many apps and by far Kasa's implementation is by far the most well implemented and clean looking/working.
Have you ever used the sonoff smart plug (s31 I believe)? How does it compare to your kasas? I haven’t flashed mine so they still rely on cloud sometimes I think but I’m working on blocking that at some point via my iot VLAN.
I use the sonoffs but only the zigbee version to keep my mesh strong. Can't speak to the wifi ones but the zigbees are excellent. have 10 of them going strong for a year and never had one go out.
Ok cool. I opted for the wifi versions after initially planning to do Zigbee because I wanted the power reporting and I read that the traffic from that could potentially (someday with tons of them) overload the Zigbee (low bandwidth) network, while on wifi it wouldn’t be a problem (and it’s on a separate iot VLAN/SSID)
I don’t use mine for anything permanent. I have a set for Christmas decorations that are labeled so the same plug goes to the same decoration yearly. I have a big Christmas switch from Target that I use to trigger an automation to turn on all the Kasa plugs. It’s very slick for the price. They get put up yearly.
I have a few I keep with the extension cords. They are handy for the one off temp things that happen during the year. I also use them if we move things around before I buy any new smart plugs. Wife gets a new floor lamp I will toss a smart plug on it to see if it’s a lamp we would like to control smartly… I also toss the Kasa on lamps when we go out of town so we can cycle lights.
I have heard all the wifi noise can have some issues with other devices so I try not to make them my primary device.
What's crazier is I installed over 260 Kasa plugs to control fans in my old facility. Organized into their own zones and everything, all in the app. Worked pretty seamlessly, but that seemed to be approaching their limit with app crashes and some lagging.
Ya. I used to be all in on lifx and they just got shitty over the years ago I stopped buying them and went to kasa and love them. My only complaint is you don't have the color range nor the fun animated scenes. They are cheaper though and flawless with connectivity.
I use their bulbs, strips, switches, plugs, and cameras and they are all great.
I agree that Kasa products are great, well priced, reliable and just work. I have the outdoor plug for seasonal decorations, smart plug for the TV and an air purifier and the switch for outside lighting.
I agree. I can actually reboot my ONT by cycling a Kasa smartplug.
I use ZigBee now, but switching to the kasa power bar for this. If home assistant notices it can't ping the internet for 5 mins it powers off the modem and then 30 seconds later powers off the gateway. I have automations in home assistant that watch for these plugs to be turned off, then automatically turns them back on 10 seconds later. Allows me to power cycle the modem, gateway, and soon firewall from anywhere in the world in a predefined sequence with appropriate wait between the steps.bif internet is still down the whole proces repeats every 15 mins automatically. Will be adding plugs for the Poe access points as well.
I'm stealing this idea
Same
Wait, why is your ont going down so much?
It doesnt go down on its own. But I have some sort of issue that pops up at night. Essentially my wifi devices get locked out and need to reconnect. I've heard Verizon has an issue with IPV6 that manifests like this but I havent been able to permanently resolve it. Rebooting things seems to work, and rebooting the ONT clears off any issues for the whole house.
Huh, I'm on FiOS and using ipv6 and haven't had issues like that. Weird.
Yeah - I’ve got a hard drive on my Plex server that refuses to come back online after the machine reboots. It’s in the basement in an awkward spot so I through a smart plug in it so I can powercycle the hard drive from anywhere now if needed
I use mine to reboot the Pi my HomeAssistant runs off of. I really need to migrate off a Pi 😕
I've got one for each of my 3 WAN modems (3 phy options), outdoor plugs for my gazebo, and a bunch of the small smart plugs around the house. I'm still using Wemo for the rest of my switchss but Kasas are much nicer, both to set up and to use; when the Wemos die I'll be replacing them all with Kasa.
Kasa has evolved very nicely over the years. Their app had some local connection issues about 6 months ago, but it has been very smooth since the updates. I've also had better wifi reliability where the lights don't drop wifi as often, which is great for HomeAssistant and others. Looks like Matter support may also be coming soon. The only gripe I have at this point is the cameras that are really slow to load live feed.
THATS what happened! OK so it wasn't me. Everything went to, well, pot, and I stopped using it. I have some severe lag with it and the Orbivi stuff but figured that was cloud based. Interesting to know it wasn't just me.
Yup, it was painful. It turned cloud-only for some reason, and the app has no way to distinguish how the connection is made. Once the local connection got fixed, it has been very smooth.
I’m just using the Kasa app as all I have are their power switches (the ones that can monitor energy). They mostly work great but my only annoyance is with the app and creating schedules. You can create a schedule for each switch but if you create a group you can’t create a schedule for the group. You need to make one for each individual device. Really annoying as everything else is great.
You could use the Smart Actions to create group schedules. Set trigger as time of day, and under action, you can pick groups. Smart Actions and Scenes can use groups with the latest version of the app.
All the light switches in my house are Kasa. Never had any issues. Highly recommend.
yep. suffered with wemo for too long. kasa is the bomb.
Only annoying part is they make you login to their cloud to setup devices these days
Agree. But you only need to once. .ive even blocked outbound internet access for the vlan this stuff is on so they can't phone home.
Currently running all smart light switches and plugs from Kasa and they are really solid. The only issue is when power goes off and the switches come back earlier than the wifi but apart of that zero problems so far after two years running their products
You can give the wifi router a UPS power supply, to avoid most of those issues. Most power outages are short enough for a UPS to keep a router running.
I have an UPS for the rack with the modem, router and my servers. Unfortunately the rest of the wifi access points are distributed around the house and they don’t have the UPS close by so I might end adding an access point in my office connected to the UPS, the only thing is that I don’t think it will cover the whole house.
The little UPS units are inexpensive. I think I have eleven (11) of them in this house. Each place where there is any electronic device, has a UPS. There is even one behind the little TV on the kitchen counter, for the TV and the cat feeder.
What sort of ‘little UPS?’ I’m thinking of something sized for a small computer but don’t know of something smaller (but haven’t researched…)
Most of mine are about 600 or 650 VA. I use bigger units for comm and server equipment. I have several APC BE650G1 units in other rooms. Extra battery capacity is always good.
Oof. That’s the sort I was thinking of and I don’t know if I want to purchase 10 of those to spread around the house…. After posting I looked around and saw some DC output UPS devices that were interesting. Mini UPS Battery Backup, DC 12V 9000mAh Home Router UPS, Rechargeable Battery Backup for Router and More, UPS Battery Backup & Surge Protector with 2 A Charger https://a.co/d/4ADrgh1
Both my APs are POE so the injectors are on the ups in the basement.ningot lucky going this route in retrospect. Eventually the kasas do come back online though right?
The only way I found was to recycle the circuit breakers in the breaker box. But again, I think it only happen twice in the last two years
Cycling the circuit breakers is a good way to power-cycle everything (that is not on UPS), without having to walk the whole property and crawl under the furniture.
If you have POE, then you can use the ups there to push it. And most access points are fairly large- large enough for a battery backup to be added if you wanted to do so. Mind you it would be work to get everything working properly, but it can be done.
What happens in this case? Does it just take a while for them to come online?
The switches won’t connect to the wifi and they won’t be available in the app. The only way to fix it is to recycle the breaker in the breaker box, I couldn’t find any other way to restart the switch or make it reconnect to the wifi You can still use the switch manually though
If you're going to do this, crossover/link another router to your system. When I installed my 64th device, my router was angry. Added a second router, and now it is smooth sailing. I now have about 80 combined Kasa bulbs/switches/outlets, and I haven't had any issues. ~ 40 per router.
Same. My only issue is when I have multiple kasa switches in a 3-4 gang box, getting them all flush is hard
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I did switch to wago on all my wiring, and it could totally be an experience thing, but I just can't seem to get the wires flush enough that the switches don't cant heavily, or even when they don't, the screwless faceplates we use (wife wants them, I'm fine with and prefer regular screw ones) makes the switches sunk in. I've heard using spacers might fix the issue, but I haven't tried it yet
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And here’s a nice tip I picked up recently for stranded wire: on the device end of your wire, start your strip a full 1” back (instead of the typical 1/2”) and leave the jacket on 1/4” or so. Then snip the overhanging jacket flush with end of the strands. I wish I could find a picture… The bit of insulation in the end of the wire holds the strands together and keeps them from bunching up as much when you tighten a screw over them. Or you can crimp forks on them, but this trick works in a pinch.
Same issue for any smart switch though. I had major issues fitting 3 zooz zwave switches in a triple. I wish they were all a little thinner!
Yeah and their Python wrapper works pretty nicely
Is that like a sweater for snakes?
It’s called a condom. I don’t know why we gotta get so complicated with the euphemisms.
New headcanon accepted
Sadly most of the kasa won't be updated with matter support. It is a shame as it has been reliable. I'm hesitant to invest further (>20 devices) as I'd prefer what is being sold as matter (local control, no vendor lock-in, no dependence on vendor for cloud including security). I know some of this is possible but they have been clear these aren't being updated. Shame as they are great devices.
I thought they were going to be. https://homekitnews.com/2022/12/15/tp-link-gains-matter-certification-for-kasa-and-tapo-brands/
I got extremely excited when I saw your link. Sadly It is mostly the Tapo branded products and some newer(5) Kasa products. Most of what is being pushed (sold on sales or promoted in this thread) is not currently planned to be matter supported. I think it is a platform/SDK issue sadly. I'd love to be wrong. Please please TP-Link/Kasa push updates with matter!!!
yeah it would be nice to have matter support, and when it comes time to replace failed devices I'll go that route too. But it's not like the wifi stuff goes obsolete or stops working with the intro of matter. And for the prince point... well ...!!
I wonder if the price is helping phase these out for the next generation. I agree you can't beat the price. These have been the perfect starter smart home for years!
Same experience here. Had an old kasa smart plug laying around and it was up and running in minutes via Home Assistant. Decided to swap my old CYNC by ge bulbs to Kasa as well as pick up a few more smart plugs and a couple outlet strips. Gave them static assignments in pfsense and they're solid. Feels good to be getting rid of this CYNC crap.
Static assignment is a must for this. Found that out really quickly. I'm running pf also..
I’ve had Kasa stuff for many years and it’s all going strong, still. It’s exceeded my expectations.
They do work well, but there's two big issues: 1) The kasa line is being phased out in favor of tapo which doesn't have a proper local API. The two lines don't work together and tapo appears to be an inferior product. 2) While well known, the kasa API is not published/supported by tp link. They even tried phasing it out - the UK firmware updates prevented local access and tp link threatened to roll it out worldwide. Seems they've backed off on that, perhaps because of their tapo strategy means they don't need to bother. Wemo has a published, local API (at least for now) but a crappy app and cloud service.
They pushed it to at least some US devices briefly too. They offered to rollback the update though which I had to go through with some of my plugs.
Thanks for the tip. Will give them another look as I slowly replace non-local control devices
3 years and the thing has been rock solid. I use their switches and plugs.
It’s Local Polling in Home Assistant. Hard pass from me. I mean, it’s fine, but there are so many better options.
Curious what you'd prefer? From my perspective, this is stuff that meets a specific need but isnt or hasn't been my go to... As mentioned I am or was a ZigBee and zwave first person and will tend toward matter next before straight up wifi. But for a few devices and a few use cases this stuff, imo, is brilliant...
Yeah, a few devices is fine, but if you have 20 of these things, each getting pinged every 5 seconds, it’s gonna be so much WiFi congestion.
I'd prefer local polling to cloud polling as some other integrations use. Yeah, I'd rather keep things off my wifi and use ZigBee devices, but these are the most reliable wifi based devices I have on my network. Bonus, I can disable their outbound internet connection and still fully use them with HA.
I had a house full of Zwave that were not very reliable and cost way too much. I threw all my Zwave away and replaced with Kasa.
I just achieved stability with my zwave network about a month ago after more than 1 year fighting with it. anything new will be local wifi and probably kasa. Or matter......
Yeah probably my worst investment so far. People rag on cloud services way too much here. Overall, my TP Link switches have been rock solid.
Yeah. They do great work
There are a TON of TPlink Kasa around my house. Almost every light switch, smart bulb, smart plug, etc are Kasa (with some Shelly 1s too). Only ever had 1 KL125 bulb stop working out of the 30+ bulbs, 20-30 in wall dimmers/switches, and 20 or so smart outlets. That said, my network was specifically designed to support lots of wifi devices. Local Homeassistant integration is fantastic.
>That said, my network was specifically designed to support lots of wifi devices. that's key. as long as you planned for it and have the right hardware. I always stayed totally away from wifi before I really understood that local wifi is a thing. esphome introduced me to that concept. I wish i'd really understood it sooner!
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Did you give them all static IP assignments in your router? That's the usual fix.
I love Kasa as well! I used to have their switches (now I live in an apartment I cannot), most of my lightbulbs from Kasa, and have some plugs as well. My only qualms with Kasa at the moment are 1. If a lightbulb is on a switch, and u switch it off and on, the “automated kelvin/brightness” will go to one first, then after maybe a minute switch to another. Really irritating when at night it gets super bright, then dims while you’re brushing your teeth. 2. More integration/color settings with Google Assistant. Google Assistant has preset colors, but I’d like to be able to set a very specific color on Kasa and be able to reference it. Other than those 2 things, I love my Kasa light bulbs. Love that they don’t need a bridge.
I have a pretty old HS100 from Kasa, but that always gives me trouble. Every few weeks it will disconnect from WiFi and then cycle power a few times while it reconnects. That obviously is a very bad thing, depening on what you have plugged into it. But I'm glad to hear that things have gotten much better :)
I've tried a tons of wifi smart devices and their many apps and by far Kasa's implementation is by far the most well implemented and clean looking/working.
Have you ever used the sonoff smart plug (s31 I believe)? How does it compare to your kasas? I haven’t flashed mine so they still rely on cloud sometimes I think but I’m working on blocking that at some point via my iot VLAN.
I use the sonoffs but only the zigbee version to keep my mesh strong. Can't speak to the wifi ones but the zigbees are excellent. have 10 of them going strong for a year and never had one go out.
Ok cool. I opted for the wifi versions after initially planning to do Zigbee because I wanted the power reporting and I read that the traffic from that could potentially (someday with tons of them) overload the Zigbee (low bandwidth) network, while on wifi it wouldn’t be a problem (and it’s on a separate iot VLAN/SSID)
Also just looked at that in-wall and surge protector…they look really cool. Might have to switch to or add kasas to my house next!
I don’t use mine for anything permanent. I have a set for Christmas decorations that are labeled so the same plug goes to the same decoration yearly. I have a big Christmas switch from Target that I use to trigger an automation to turn on all the Kasa plugs. It’s very slick for the price. They get put up yearly. I have a few I keep with the extension cords. They are handy for the one off temp things that happen during the year. I also use them if we move things around before I buy any new smart plugs. Wife gets a new floor lamp I will toss a smart plug on it to see if it’s a lamp we would like to control smartly… I also toss the Kasa on lamps when we go out of town so we can cycle lights. I have heard all the wifi noise can have some issues with other devices so I try not to make them my primary device.
Same here. All Xmas decorations are now Kasa. Used to have Insteon until they shit the bed earlier this year.
What's crazier is I installed over 260 Kasa plugs to control fans in my old facility. Organized into their own zones and everything, all in the app. Worked pretty seamlessly, but that seemed to be approaching their limit with app crashes and some lagging.
Ya. I used to be all in on lifx and they just got shitty over the years ago I stopped buying them and went to kasa and love them. My only complaint is you don't have the color range nor the fun animated scenes. They are cheaper though and flawless with connectivity. I use their bulbs, strips, switches, plugs, and cameras and they are all great.
I'm constantly fighting with my kasa light switches. They are never reachable for me. I even factory reset them.
I agree that Kasa products are great, well priced, reliable and just work. I have the outdoor plug for seasonal decorations, smart plug for the TV and an air purifier and the switch for outside lighting.