I have finally succeeded in connecting (two) RM4 mini’s to Home Assistant.
Here is a mini-guide on how to do it, my understanding of a SUCCESSFUL connection process is that:
- Install the BroadLink App on your phone.
- Plug in the RM4 and it creates a new WIFI network called: BroadLink_WiFi_Device
- Switch your phone to the WIFI network that the mini creates.
- Open the BroadLink App.
- Start the “Add Device” flow inside the App.
- You will be prompted for your WIFI SSID and password.
- The app sends those details to the mini.
- The Mini then connects to your home WIFI.
- The App AUTOMATICALLY switches your phone to the same WIFI network.
- The Phone/App and Mini do a final handshake to complete the setup.
In my case that final step failed multiple times (and after some googling it appears a lot of other people get the same error), roughly “Setup Failed, contact support”.
The problem is not actually the mini - it’s your phone.
Specifically your phone is connecting to a different network, so it isn’t able to complete the final handshake with the mini.
To prevent that from happening you need to:
Disable All WIFI except for one 2.4GHz Network
Log into your router and disable the other networks that your phone could potentially connect to. The one you leave on must be on the 2.4 GHz band since that is the only band that the mini can connect to.
Disable Cellular data service on your phone
By doing that your phone will only have a WIFI data connection that it can use.
Ensure your phone can AUTOMATICALLY connect to the 2.4 GHz network
The app will need to do this during the setup so you must save the password in the phone.
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You should be able to complete the setup and get your RM4 onto your WIFI.
Once you have connected all your RM4 mini’s to your WIFI you can re-enable the other WIFI bands and turn Cellular data back on, on your phone these issues only occur during the “Add Device” step.
The next step is to unlock the each device.
Click on the 3 dots in the top right of the app:
That will show you details about the device, first unlock the device using the slider (highlighted at the bottom):
Then click on “Device info” to see details of the device:
That shows you the MAC and IP address of the device.
Technically you only need the IP address, however its possible the IP will change when the DHCP lease expires. So a better option is to add the MAC address to your routers “Static Leases” list so that the mini always gets the same IP address.
Once you have added the MAC to your router you can power cycle (pull out the power cord and plug it back in) the mini, in order to force it to pick up your new IP address.
You can verify the new IP using the app on your phone or you can simply ping the IP - an unlocked mini will respond to pings.
Finally in Home Assistant, add the “Broadlink” integration.
Then add the Mini by clicking on “Add Entry” and entering the IP address of the RM4 mini.
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