Amazon Smart Plugs

[LostOnTheLine (Leon Noël)]

So, while I haven’t found a solution yet I did notice some things that I DO know that aren’t here.
1.) The HD34BX uses Bluetooth for pairing, as far as I can tell it does not respond to commands by Bluetooth (not that that’s at all useful anyway) but needs to establish a Bluetooth connection to pair, then by Bluetooth establishes the WiFi connection. I’ve tried pairing as a Bluetooth device to no success but I’m sure there’s a way, I just started looking myself

[ryanwnzl (Ryan Wenzel)]

I recently moved from SmartThings (ST) to HomeAssistant (HA) and am still migrating my devices. I had some of the HD34BX smart plugs as they were only $5 and sync well with Alexa (before I had ST). To get them in ST I created a virtual switch (VS) in ST. Then in Alexa create routines to sync the VS with the plug (2 routines needed- Alexa app will not be in sync if using VS to turn on light). Bit cludgy but worked pretty quick.
Now that I have moved to HA, the ST VS can be detected by HA and works in there as well. Another layer of mess, but works pretty fast still.
I would be interested if there is a way to control this switch directly and get ST out of loop, but this is a fix that works for me now.

[vitoralvimb (Vitor Alvim)]

I believe Amazon Plug is not using ESP chip, so is not possible to flash Tasmota firmware. Then, won’t be possible to integrate directly on HASS.

I found it:

WN4520L Wireless Module User Manual LITE-ON Technology .

If I am not wrong, the RTL8821CSH is the main chip inside the plug.

[Godis1coolguy]

How do you get Alexa to see your input boolean? Does that require a Cloud subscription or a specific integration?

[MRV (Michael)]

Do a search for Alexa Home Assistant for the various ways of connecting them.

I personally use Haaska, which is free.

[FrancYescO (Francesco)]

so basically there is no way to directly integrate this plug… the input_boolean wokaround sometime is desynced with the real state of the plug, ie when turning off the plug from the button on it…

[tim.plas]

I’m also looking for a way to integrate Amazon Smart Plug with Home Assistant as well. My smart plug was actually free ($0.00), when I bought an Echo device.

I do have the device online thru Alexa, and that works OK. But would really like HA control. Will have to see if it shows up when I implement Alexa Media Player, for 2-way communication between Alexa and HA.

Meanwhile of course, this smart plug wants to talk to the Internet. I’ve got several spare smart plugs which do NOT need Internet (Zigbee, ESPHome). So for now, this one is staying offline, in a drawer, unless really needed. Didn’t cost me anything but a few minutes of my time.

[hassiopi]

I documented my solution to control amazon smart plugs via HA (without using nabu casa) here:

How to control Amazon smart plugs from Home Assistant (via emulated_hue and alexa media player)

Well, thanks to various posts from this community, I finally figured out how to control Amazon smart plugs from Home Assistant (without going through nabu casa). I’m using the Alexa Media Player (downloaded from HACS) to trigger the routines in Alexa, in conjunction with emulated_hue to maintain the states between Alexa and HA. Here’s my setup (in hopes that it’ll help some newbie like me with the same predicament): Create an emulated_hue input_boolean entity which is exposed to Alexa. Add th…

Hope that helps!

[tim.plas]

Nice! Looks like decent solution. Thanks.

[MisterTFM (THOMAS F MELNIK)]

Is there a way for HA to see the status of the Amazon plug, if it is turned on and off via the plugs mechanical switch?

[hassiopi]

Yes, I can use the physical button on the Amazon plug and the HA will reflect the status - see my post #3 in the thread:

How to control Amazon smart plugs from Home Assistant (via emulated_hue and alexa media player)

Just saw that in my Alexa app (version 2.2.469668.0, Dec 1, 2022), I can trigger routines based on the Amazon smart devices (but still cannot trigger on HA devices exposed to Alexa). This means that I can set a pair of routines to trigger on the states of the actual plug to control the HA virtual switches. (In other words this is for the Alexa to HA direction. ) In Alexa app, add routine: “When this happens”: “Plug for LR light” → Turned On “Add action”: LR light → On Add another routine fo…

Here’s how the Alexa “routine” looks like where the “physical” switch toggles the “virtual” switch:

“Plug for LR light” - the “physical” Amazon plug controlling the LR light
“LR light” - the “virtual” emulated_hue entity from HA that is exposed to Alexa

Add another Alexa routine for the “off” trigger.

[MisterTFM (THOMAS F MELNIK)]

I think I have it setup correctly. When I toggle from HA the plug toggles. When I use the physical switch on plug, HA entity doesn’t change.

[hassiopi]

@MisterTFM

I think I have it setup correctly. When I toggle from HA the plug toggles. When I use the physical switch on plug, HA entity doesn’t change.

Looks correct… what happens when you play the above routine? (3 dots at upper right corner > “Play Routine”)?

Also, I assume you also have an “OFF” routine for the above?

And you have set up the Alexa Media Player automation triggers in HA?

Make sure you don’t have any typos in the automation triggers - I had made mistakes when copying ON script to OFF script and forgetting to change ON to OFF…

[MisterTFM (THOMAS F MELNIK)]

@hassiopi

Looks correct… what happens when you play the above routine? (3 dots at upper right corner > “Play Routine”)?

Playing the routines cycles the plug but HA input_boolean doesn’t change.

Yes, I also have an OFF routine

Automations:

[hassiopi]

Looks good too…

How about the Alexa side of the voice trigger?

I have something like this:

And a corresponding one for “OFF”.

Note that the voice command triggers an action on the “actual/physical” plug.

Also, it seems like your “actual/physical” and “virtual” plugs are both named “Garage Plug” so it’s hard to tell which is which.

[hassiopi]

@MisterTFM

I think I have it setup correctly. When I toggle from HA the plug toggles. When I use the physical switch on plug, HA entity doesn’t change.

In the above Alexa routine, is the action (“ALEXA WILL”) performed on the “actual/physical” plug or the “virtual” emulated_hue light? (You have both named as “Garage plug” so it’s hard to tell which is which.)

For the above routine, make sure the action is performed on the “virtual” plug - select Smart Home > Lights > Garage plug (which is the one you exposed to Alexa via emulated hue).

[MisterTFM (THOMAS F MELNIK)]

“For the above routine, make sure the action is performed on the “virtual” plug - select Smart Home > Lights > Garage plug (which is the one you exposed to Alexa via emulated hue).”

when I select Smart Home > my only choice is PLUGS, there is no choice for LIGHTS

[hassiopi]

Did Alexa discover the emulated_hue entity that you set above in HA configuration.yaml?

To discover the device, in Alexa app:
“+” (top right corner) > Device > Other (bottom) > “Can’t find…” > “Not Sure?”

then it will say “Alexa is looking for devices to connect…”

If your emulated_hue is set up correctly, it should appear under “Lights” group in Alexa app, and if you go into its settings, it should say “Royal Philips Electronics smart device” in the Description field:

[MisterTFM (THOMAS F MELNIK)]

"Did Alexa discover the emulated_hue entity that you set above in HA configuration.yaml?

To discover the device, in Alexa app:
“+” (top right corner) > Device > Other (bottom) > “Can’t find…” > “Not Sure?”

then it will say “Alexa is looking for devices to connect…”

Can’t get Alexa to discover the emulated_hue entity..

```
emulated_hue:
  host_ip: http://192.168.1.150
  listen_port: 80
```

(host_ip address should be the address of HA computer, correct? )

Do I need an Amazon Echo powered ON?

[MisterTFM (THOMAS F MELNIK)]

Everything working now, after I powered up my Amazon Echo, I was able to discover the LR light and several other devices, IE printers and a Roku TV.

Now I can control plug from HA via automations and by toggling the input_boolean on the HA card.

AND if I toggle the physical switch on the plug, the status is reflected on HA.

It was a struggle to get working, but SUCCESS.

A big thanks for helping me. @hassiopi