(2018 Newest) WiFi Smart Plug Alexa Google Home Remote Control Plug Socket with Timer for Smart Home

I've got a number of different brands of smart sockets, using different technologies, but favouring the wifi connected models, I wanted to try out these plugs as they were cheap and I'd heard they could be "hacked" with third party firmware quite easily.Build Quality: The build quality appears to be quite good - of course wanting to hack the device, I ended up opening it so could check out the electronics, quality of soldering etc. and it all looks pretty decent. The solder joints are nice and clean, and thick where it matters (e.g. on the 220-240v lines) and the PCB is nice and tidy which is nice to see from such a cheap Chinese device. Being a device you plug in to mains electric, this is very comforting as the last thing you want is a device going up in flames because something goes catastrophically wrong internally.Software: I had no intention of using the provided app, but ended up installing it and trying it out anyway. I've read a lot of negative reports about these Chinese devices making a lot of calls out of your network and (on Android at least) requiring permissions which a device like this just has no business of having (calls, texts etc.) but using the iOS client I cannot comment on this. The app looks decent to be fair, and having my SSID and password, the device connected very quickly, first time, and responded very quickly to status changes - tapping the button in the app immediately turned the switch on/off and likewise the hardware button on the device immediately updated the app. That's where my testing ended as I had no interest in using the original software.Hacking: If you want to install third party firmware (and there are two main offerings, Sonoff-Tasmota and Espurna - Google them, they are both on GitHub). I have recently switched from Sonoff-Tasmota to Espurna as the interface is nicer and they seem to support more hardware, especially these cheap generic devices that are flooding Amazon. Once you've chosen your firmware provider, you will need a USB to Serial adapter - these can be had for about a fiver on Amazon. You'll also need a mini USB cable to connect it to your computer (Mac or PC both supported) and some wires and pins to connect the serial device to the plug socket - all of this is available for pennies on Amazon).Opening the device was child's play - remove the screw in the center of the 3 pins, remove the small cover around the pins and then unscrew the four remaining screws. The cover pops off relatively easy but take care as there a daughter board connected to the cover you are removing. Inside, on the back of the cover you just prised open, you will find a row of 5 pads - this is the serial header to which you will connect the USB to TTL adapter. The pins are (from the outer edge inwards) as follows;1=RX,2=TX,3=GND,4=BOOT0,5=5VThese need to be connected to four of the six pins on the serial device as follows (left to right when looking at the device with the pins at the top and the chip beneath, USB cable trailing to the bottom)Pin 1 on the serial device to pin 3 on the plug (GND to GND)Pin 3 on the serial device to pin 5 on the plug (VCC to 5V)Pin 4 on the serial device to pin 1 on the plug (TX to RX)Pin 5 on the serial device to pin 2 on the plug (RX to TX)You will also need a trailing wire connected to pin 4 on the plug which you need to temporarily short to ground as you plug the USB cable into your PC - release the short after about 2 seconds then commence flashing.With that in place, all there is to do is ensure you are compiling for the right destination (refer to the firmware websites for details), unplug the USB to serial adapter, short pin 4 on the plug to ground and plug the USB cable back in - release after two seconds and click on the upload button in the Arduino client - if all goes well, the chip will be detected and the firmware uploaded.You can then configure the firmware as per the firmware maintainers instructions.It takes about 10 minutes to set everything up and about 30 seconds to flash the firmware - once the custom firmware is loaded, you don't need to use the serial device as you can upload binary firmware packages to the web UI to update the plug going forwards.My plug is now up and running with Alexa integration (detected by Alexa as a WeMo switch), Domoticz integration and also the MQTT (Mosquito) client ready for whatever job it ends up doing - probably being hidden in the loft with a Sonos Connect:AMP connected to it allowing me to power down/reset the device remotely if required.Very happy with the purchase and now I know it can be hacked, I'll no doubt order a couple more.

Bought three of these devices, and so far they are working a treat! The only niggle, as such, is that the app you need to download requires your mobile number and your internal WiFi password as part of the configuration side. To a problem for me passing these details to a server in China, but some folk have a bit of an issue when it comes to protecting their identity and location! I am using these devices with Alexa, and being honest, I had issues getting Alexa to work with these devices, but it was down to ME and NOT the devices!When you set them up on your phone, that's that side done, and you can forget all about it afterwards unless you don't use Alexa etc, and then you need to use the app to turn the things off and on. You then have to go into your Alexa app and set up a group with your devices in there. I have a group called ROOM, that contains plug 1 2 and 3. All I have to do after that is say, Alexa, turn room on or off and they all do as they are told! The only issue I have at times in Alexa not understanding my accent, so that's got nothing to do with the devices! So, for the moment I am more than happy with these, oh and one more thing, the wifi is on 2.4GHz channel only, so if you only have a 5GHz WiFi connection it will not work. I am using UNiFi AP-AC-PRO access points that handle both channels, so all linked in and worked first​ time for me.

Read this if you want to use with a BT Home Hub!My first time with an Alexa compatible WiFi Socket.It connected quickly and effortlessly to my Netgear Extender - but not the same experience when I relocated it and tried to connect to the BT Home Hub.The solution - you need to use the Home Hub's Web Interface to separate the 2G and 5G bands - once you do that it connects and works just fine. Apparently something to do with the Home Hub using a common SSID which confuses this socket as it only operates on 2GI hope that saves someone many hours of frustration, and this issue, for what is a very common home router in the UK, is why I have only rated 4 stars

A Google Home Marvel!! This little chappie will switch on and off reliably with Google Home Mini. Steeting isn't too bad and took 5 minutes with my Samsung S5. I downloaded the app smart life which the same as Efamily that is in the instructions. You will need the phone on the internet and then go into the phone settings WIFI and click on smart network switch to maintain stable internet connection. Set up in the Smart Life app and find the plug signal in the list of available wifi sources. Then open the Home app add the new appliance and find in the list Smart Life, connect by clicking on it. It works best if your phone uses chrome. That's basically it!!It switches on and off very quickly on command! Julius Cesar never had it so good.

When they work, they're pretty good. But are so easy to break, as they're very cheaply made. Have had 10 of these with about 7 becoming useless after 1 or 2 months.AVOID these and go for an actual make. These are a complete waste of money...

Very pleased with this plug I’ve bought it 5 times now as I’ve added more Alexa controlled devices and lighting for different rooms, very easy to set up via the app it links to the Alexa app and you can name your lights (Alexa turn hollies room on)

I've had 5 of these over several years albeit sold under different brand names and I use them to control multiple table/standard lamps. I control them from my phone using the efamily cloud app which works well. Never had any problems with any of them.

So it did work really well but not now, the eFamilyCloud app isn’t available on apple so can’t connect to the plugs via phone? What can I do?