Just looking at replacing my non-certified, probably not safe implementation of switches with something more insurance worthy.
I have been looking at Orvibo switches - seems reasonably priced and has HASS support. Are there any other options for an aussie switch?
the orvibo seem to fit the bill pretty well!
cheers,
Palitu
Keep in mind that recently orvibo s20 smart sockets have been found to pose serious risks by the european commision. Details here: http://www.cnx-software.com/2016/04/29/the-european-version-of-orvibo-wiwo-s20-smart-socket-has-been-found-to-pose-a-serious-risk/
Make sure the switches are ok before jumping onto the orvibo ship 
Thanks - i am getting the Australian version which has the earth pin - i will open it up to see what it looks like inside, as well as testing earth continuity through the earth pin/socket.
cheers
I really doubt there is continuity, but it doesn’t hurt to test. I have the european version and there’s ground only on the back where it’s pins are and not on the front. Also, I have three of them, and they all whistle, probably due to some crappy capacitor. It’s not an issue on hallways or living rooms, but it’s annoying in the bedroom.
I am looking for something that is certified for switching 240VAC, which I can control, either by itself (the orvibo) or by attaching my own microcontroller to it.
I currently have home made solution which I have wired myself, even on the 240 side which is obviously not certified/legal…
I received my Orvibo switch (AU plug yesterday) and i am impressed!
decent built quality and appearance, and it just worked when attached to my WiFi.
Impressed with HA too, i had it integrated and running a pump within 10 minutes! will keep you updated on how it goes, but definitely an economical way of automating plugs/sockets.
As Palitu I have been looking for cheap smart switches or outlets, preferably ones that use WiFi since it is an ubiquitous technology and will probably stay for a while. I have seen Orvibo and Weemo switches which are $25 and $35 each on Amazon, but is there any cheaper option or should I consider doing a DIY smart switch?
Amazon has lots of cheap smart wifi switches between $16-$30. All probably of questionable build and safety (though speaking as a person who has Orvibos). But you probably won’t get HASS support out of the box with many of those. But building your own probably won’t be any safer unless you’re a pro, since you’ll be messing with mains power.
I just bought another 3 orvibo switches from BangGood. ~$22AUD each. I tested the earth pin and it is connected.
I am really impressed with these, they are a great build quality and are cheap! I would definitely recommend them (at least the AU versions).
I had built my own, but due to insurance reasons, i went for a COTS product. definitely worth the paying $20 bucks for.
any option to look for energy consumption?
and no need for Orvibo ZigBee hub, correct?
Only on and off for mine (s20), works over Wifi - no hub.
They seem to do an awful lot of phoning home and if you reboot the router or the power goes out it then you need to power cycle to get them back on the network.
what do you mean with “phoning home”, I don/t understand the meaning.
How long is the power cycle to get them back? And in the meantime I am assuming they are in the off state, correct? Will they recover automatically last state (if it was on, power on again)?
Thinking between these and HS110 of tp-link. Or other?
The S20 communicates information of some sort with wiwo.orvibo.com. I have it blocked at the router so maybe that causes it to keep trying. Thinking about it perhaps it’s the way the phone app works, I don’t have the app installed so it didn’t occur to me until now.
As long as it takes to either unplug and plug back in, or flick the switch on the wall if you can reach it. You just need to make them re initiate the network connection. They retain state, and work fine via manual commands they just lose network connectivity.
If you just want to automate switching power on and off I would get one of these and try it out, not very expensive and always handy to have. Tp-link plugs are not available in Australia so I have no idea but they appear to be 5 x the price.
I havent looked at what they are communicating back home, and i never have an issue with them reconnecting after the Wifi is reset.
They have been solid, just set em up once with the app, and add it to HASS.
I am also using the Sonoffs with custom firmware (Arendst on github). However, these are “electrician install” sort of switches.
Have you been finding the S20s reliable? I often have a few that dont respond occasionally…
I am using the Orvibo for quite a long time now. They work pretty well when used with Home Assistant. However, initially for couple of days I was pissed off when I had to use with the WiWo App. So many reconnects and overall a crappy app I would say.
However, the operation of this switch from HA is very reliable in my case but now a days I get a lot of errors in log. Though the device is responding fine from HA but a numerous error logs are somewhat annoying. But I am hopeful that this issue would be solved soon as this is a known issue. Recently, I am planning to use the Sonoff Switches which are now even cheaper and easily re-programmable and most importantly can be used via MQTT. And I read a lot of good review that the MQTT operation is quite reliable. Before jumping and switching to a different hardware, I tried to flash the firmware in Orvibo but unfortunately from a lot of Googling, I came to know that Orvibo uses HF-LB100 WiFi module which is not very easy to reprogram.
So, if anyone is looking for a new cheap WiFi switch, I believe Sonoff S20 could be the way to go. Orvibo S20 is no means a bad switch to my experience but the logs are annoying.
Thats a very old info, the new B25-EU plug is fully conform to any safety standard