NOOB here and I would like to turn my HomeAssitant into a Universal Remote Control. Is there an addition to the HA that is USB enabled that can act as a Universal Transceiver for both IR and RF? Everything that I have found so far starts with a build your own device or seems to only be IR compatible? I am envisioning that it could control all of my devices that are not smart but are remote control enabled. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
This one
Agreed. I have a single Broadlink RM4 PRO which easily covers the whole house (for RF - IR has to be line of sight, obviously). The connection to HA is Wi-Fi rather than USB, so you can site it anywhere you like, and if you use the HA integration rather than the Broadlink app it doesn’t require an internet connection. Setting up is a bit fiddly, but very reliable once it’s running.
To control IR devices in different rooms the Broadlink RM4 Mini, which is IR only, is cheaper.
I should have asked if there are any IR\RF Transceiver that plugs into a USB port?
“A bit fiddly”? That is an understatement. From the manual, “Make
sure your Wi-Fi network is 2.4GHz and password contains no more than 32
non-special characters. Make sure there are not too many devices in network
(no more than 15 normally including Phones Pads, Laptops…}”
Is all of the above true or is there any secrets to getting it working?
Fresh from Broadlink Support. Laugh of the day. “and the password must not more than16 characters.” ROFL
(1) Please input the correct WiFi password.
(2) Your WiFi name and password cannot contain spaces and special characters (including decimal points, etc.), and the password must not more than16 characters.
(3) Check whether the number of current routing Clients is already full or not, and power off the router, try to restart it in 5 minutes.
(4) Do not enable MAC address filtering and AP isolation, and do not open the Firewall.
(5) Only 2.4G network is supported, 5G is not supported. If the router is dual-band, please temporarily turn off the 5G signal and try again.
(6) Please do not set the IP binding.
(7) Ensure the DHCP service of the router is enabled.
(8) Try to change the channel different from the current channel.
(9) If you set AP relay mode, it will configure fails.
(10) Before configuring the device into the WiFi router, please turn off the 4G network signal of the mobile phone.
To be honest, I was thinking of later on, when you have to teach the thing each command individually in HA. That can take several hours, particularly if you then go on to create switches.
Thinking about it, though, I’m not sure whether what you are asking for is feasible. As I said earlier, you can have one RF controller to cover an entire house, but IR is line of sight, so all your devices would have to be in one room. If you want a USB device plugged into your RPi (?), they’d all have to be in the same room as your HA setup. OK for a bedsit, perhaps.
Or Perfect for a Theater room with Projector, XBOX, Shield, Portable AC\Heat, AVR and Dish. 6 remotes and growing and of course the remotes are a mix of IR and RF.
Wow! Go for it. 