Hi,
I want to put some buttons around the house that I can use as a way to turn on switches through HA. Are there any buttons that don’t need a hub, ie. wifi??
If I need a hub any recommendations.? I was thinking of Samsung SmartThings Hub with button.? Is it bad or good??
Any other setups I should consider.?
Brett
I am using 433MHz buttons like these
With 2 of these bridges in my house to cover everything.
Once you have these you find more use like the simple remote buttons which I use to switch my garden water pump.
Advantage of 433MHz over WiFi is that the battery lasts longer.
If you do want wifi buttons you could use an esp01 connected to as standard wall switch. In that case you also need a power supply though.
1 Like
Snap I just order these a week ago going use then in the bedroom to turn side light and roof light on off
I was in your exact situation! I mulled it over for MONTHS. In the end I went with Xiaomi mijia door/window sensors with zigbee2mqtt. Couldn’t be happier. I’ve ‘hacked’ the door/window sensors by removing the reed sensor and soldering on new wires to the contacts and then I just use the new wires connected to whatever button I choose. Works great. Really reliable.
2 Likes
These look good. How are they powered?
12V 27A battery according to the page
Thanks, they are on their way
I have some of these. They look okay (not great, but good enough). However, they are a bit spotty in operation. Despite being very close to my receiver, sometimes I need to press the button more than once for it to be received, and it helps to hold the button down for a bit longer than a quick “click” to get them to work. But, once you get used to how to press them, they work pretty well.
I’m a fan of the SmartThings button (I have three of them). I previously used mine with a SmartThings hub and now transitioned to using it with the HSBZB-1 for fully local control. It’s worked great either way and the temperature sensor built in is a nice perk.
If you want a really cheap solution and don’t mind a 2-3 second delay, you can use Amazon Dash buttons and the Hassio add-on Dasshio. The button uses your Wi-Fi network to send an ARP packet , which the add-on is constantly scanning for.
It’s possible this add-on stops working in the future, but for $2-3 per button, it is one of the cheapest solutions you will find.
Cons:
- Takes 2-3 seconds to respond.
- Cannot rapidly press the button. There is a minimum timeout that is configurable on the Hassio add-on, but the lowest timeout is one second.
- May not work on x86 devices (I think the add-on was designed to work with ARM devices like Raspberry Pi)
Unfortunately, the Dash Button is no longer being sold:
Xiaomi wireless buttons. The nice thing about them is that it supports click, double click and long click.
4 Likes
I was hoping eBay would be selling these for cheap, but they are even more expensive on eBay than Amazon. I’m glad I stocked up during the $1 sale…
I wish I had…
I second the Xiaomi Aqara Buttons - the ones I received actually support up to 4 ‘clicks’, but who can remember what all four of them are supposed to be doing then 
I’m in the process of moving everything away from Amazon Dash because they are
a) too unreliable,
b) run out of battery within a year (then you have to either replace them or cut them open, and
c) require a ‘delay’ of about 20sec to avoid multiple initiations of the same event which is especially annoying with toggle actions and you then have to wait 20sec to turn the light on after you accidentally turned it off.
1 Like
I also use the Xiaomi Wirelesss Buttons (round ones) which as mentioned above support single, double click and long press. I also use the gateway as my doorbell chime so it has a purpose other than just receiving the signals from the wireless buttons (1 button is my doorbell).
I also agree with the xiaomi buttons. I have a few of them around the house and they’re very reliable. Ive gone the zigbee2mqtt route, the tutorials we’re very easy to follow and I’m glad I did it. The door sensors work great as well.
I use one beside my bed. One tap toggles the lamp, two taps turns off everything in the house.
I also use one outside for my doorbell, hasn’t seem to be impacted by rain.
Sounds like they might be made a lot similar to the xiaomi buttons, just on the 433MHz spectrum. The xiamo buttons are also surprisingly small, similar in size just square. Coin battery as well.
Two of my three dash buttons have battery issues I think. Can get them set up anymore. This https://github.com/Nekmo/amazon-dash is what I use with the buttons.