TP-Link Launches Matter-Certified Kasa Smart Plug With Energy Monitoring

[Samurai]

Wifi is better but not much. Once you start getting several devices, especially since these are 2.4 only, you start getting latency and congestion.

Thread works on a different frequency and was designed for this, it’s always been the best option.

I have over 70 HomeKit WiFi devices that work perfectly. Not to mention another 35 non HomeKit WiFi devices. No latency. No congestion.

 

[name99]

The stuff is amateurish if installed by an amateur, as most of this stuff is today.

Most hobbiests are looking for a low-cost system and when they just barly get it to work they stop. But if you buy parts and test them over time and only use these tested parts And you design with the idea that "stuff fails" you can do well today.

SOme hints:
1) Philips Hue and Lutron Caseta are "bomb proof" product lines.
2) Homekit is only good for connecting to Siri. Don't depend on it.
3) User need switches they can touch but most of the time motion sensors should do the work.
4) NEVER use anything that depends on "The Cloud".
5) Home Assistant (not Apple Home) is the best integration platform by a huge amount

You and I clearly have different ideas about what "Automation" means...

I ONLY care about HomeKit insofar as it allows me to automate – ie set up rules for how each element of the house is to behave dependent on sensors and time. Every time I have looked at alternatives to this (like Home Assistant) they strike me as even more (hard as it is to believe) amateurish and incompetent than HomeKit Automation. And every time I try to investigate further I meet a brick wall of incomprehension that seems to think all I should care about is either voice assistants, or wide device interop.
Not thanks!
I'll take Home Assistant seriously when it takes automation seriously.

You cannot do anything seriously interesting or useful within either just Caseta or Hue (eg change blinds based on Sun Altitude AND degree of cloud cover) so it's unimportant how bulletproof they are. You have to use a cross platform automation platform, and Homekit still seems the best of an (all terrible) bunch.

 

[TrenttonY]

Man… reading these comments it’s like there’s some sort of $0.99 light switch disinformation campaign against using a smart home and plugs…

I think there's a $30 smart plug propaganda campaign against using a no-cost built-in light switch...

 

[j3tang]

Can someone elaborate on what the issue is with matter over bluetooth?

 

[MadeTheSwitch]

Can someone elaborate on what the issue is with matter over bluetooth?

Bluetooth is not as reliable or far reaching in a lot of cases. Wifi/thread are seen as more reliable protocols although Bluetooth is often used for setting things up as distance tends to not be an issue in such cases.

 

[name99]

Can someone elaborate on what the issue is with matter over bluetooth?

Bluetooth is too short range compared to the size of a house AND it doesn't have any standardized way of extending the range (unlike WiFi or the mesh-hopping of something like zigbee or thread).

 

[j3tang]

Thanks, my thoughts were that Bluetooth was for setting it up but it connecting via other means like wifi.

So what you’re saying is you can’t control the plug without being fairly close by? That’s a rather odd choice by TP Link.

 

[Aichon]

So what you’re saying is you can’t control the plug without being fairly close by? That’s a rather odd choice by TP Link.

It apparently supports control via Wifi (contrary to my earlier comment that got a lot of upvotes). The article's writeup left me thinking it was Bluetooth-only, but subsequent comments and TP-Link's own material make it clear that Bluetooth is just used for setup. Wifi is used for control.