How to receive Qingping air monitor lite data through wi-fi not bluetooth

Configuration
1

I have setup my Qingping following the instructions in the documentation https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/qingping/ and it kind of works, but it seems to send data via Bluetooth only as can be seen on the screenshot. This isn’t any good. As soon as I move the unit into another room, the signal drops as expected and I get interruptions. What I need is a data connection through wifi not Bluetooth.

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(Btw I have installed the Qingping app on my iPhone and it works reliably there, utilising the wifi signal. It is not connected to HomeKit.)

I have spend hours reading through discussions and instructions but I am non the wiser.

How can I get HA to connect to my Qingping Air Monitor Lite through Wi-Fi? Any help would be appreciated.

2

You have two options:

Option 1:

It looks like the Qingping integration only uses Bluetooth.

You can add ESPHome Bluetooth proxies to your wifi network to extend Bluetooth coverage.

See: Bluetooth Proxy — ESPHome

And: Ready-Made Projects — ESPHome

Also this is worth a read: Qingping devices not showing up with bluetooth proxy · Issue #112502 · home-assistant/core · GitHub

Option 2:

To use wifi instead of Bluetooth set the device up as a HomeKit Device instead of using the Qingping integration:

In my limited experience with Homekit devices (basically only Lifx) I found they have less functionality than using a core integration. I do not have these Qingping devices though so you will have to try it and see what is available via Homekit.

3

Thank you so much for your quick response, tom_l. This has been extremely clear and valuable information, much appreciated.

I ended up going with your Option 2 and followed this section: ADDING A HOMEKIT DEVICE VIA APPLE THREAD BORDER ROUTER. I don’t think I spent more than 5 minutes on it (unlike with all my original attempts) and the result is better than ever before, plus I could pull out the Bluetooth dongle out again :slight_smile:

1 Like
4

Hey, does this 2. option only work when there is a thread border router in the network?