If I use the Kasa app or the physical switch to turn the lights off/on there is a massive, like minutes, delay before the state is updated in HA. If I use HA to turn off/on the light it works fine and updates instantly.
I was planning to buy 60+ Kasa light switches for my new house, but this is making me rethink that. Does anyone know of a fix for this? Specifically a fix that does not require a cloud connection.
From doing more reading, it looks like my issue is likely that the tplink integration uses local polling to update the state of the switch. Is there a way to increase the polling frequency?
The Kasa devices are inexpensive, and they do sorta work OK, but they don’t have a history of reliability. They can be finicky about the quality of the network connection, and they seem to sometimes lag (not minutes like you’ve seen, but a second or two.) They’re a bit of a pain to set up, and require a connection to the TP-Link servers to configure, and maybe even to operate. The HA integration hasn’t always been well-supported. The vendor has introduced changes to prevent local control, and there’s no guarantee they won’t do that again.
I know this is a late response to this post but this is for someone reading this in the future. While I agree with @CaptTom CaptTom about Kasa light dimmer and switches being a second or two late in response, I would like to add a bit more.
I have use Kasa switches for 2 years now. I have about 35 in my house. You do have to set them up from the app but once done, HA can interact with them locally. They have been solid for me, apart from my complain about local polling causing my automations to be a few seconds slow. They are cheap and personally, I like the look with no visible branding. The light dimmers are also nice with double tap to slow dim off (double tap not available in HA only on the switch itself). If you are on a budget and replacing 60+ switches like the OP @bphillips921 here, I don’t think there is a better deal out there. Just my 2 cents, but to each their own. I hope OP you can share what you ended up buying and how is it working for you.
I’ll add an update too. We built our house and moved in about 9 months ago. I ended up with 92 combined single-pole, three-way, and dimmer Kasa switches. I absolutely love them! If I were to do it again I wouldn’t even research anything else, I’d just buy the Kasa switches. They are inexpensive, look great, maintain a solid connection, and don’t rely on the cloud.
Yes, they are local polling, so HA may take 5-ish seconds to update when the switch is used manually, but that hasn’t been an issue for me. The only time it might be an issue is if you need an immediate automation based on the switch state. Although not a great solution, there is a work-around for that. If you had a switch that needed to update HA instantly, maybe use something different on that one switch. But I have yet to find a need for that.
I documented my entire smart home build if anyone is interested.
It’s great to hear some folks have had good luck with them. However, they remain on my “do not buy” list for all the reasons I outlined, above.
The big deal breaker is my total lack of trust in the vendor. They tried to kill local control once, and I have no confidence they won’t try again.
To be fair, this is the same problem I have with most WiFi solutions. You’re dependent on the manufacturer’s eternal support, and they can push out a firmware update which bricks all your devices. Likewise, the HA integration developer could lose interest, leaving an orphaned integration.
My strong preference is Zigbee right now. I’m sure Z-Wave would also work. Local control is baked into those protocols. No worries about manufacturer support going forward. It’ll be interesting to see what becomes of Matter; that might become a good option in the future.
Hey thanks for linking the workaround. I just implemented it. Its better but still can’t beat local push. I am satisfied however.
Checked your home build out. I was literally drooling with all the sensors you put in. Definitely something I can refer back and convince other people “LOOK I AM NOT CRAZY, EVERYONE IS DOING IT!”