I have been tearing my hair out researching switches/wiring to try and figure out how to integrate/automate our outdoor porch lights in HA.
Long story short, there are two 3-way switches at the ends of the string (switch in garage is line, switch by front door is load), with FIVE 4-way switches in between. They are wired according to this diagram:
I’ve looked into Zigbee/Wifi switches, and their associated remotes, and they all top out no more than 5 accompanying remotes. I looked into the various Shelly products, and I don’t think I’d be able to wire it the way I want.
What it amounts to, is that I’m trying to wire whatever the solution is - so that all the switches operate as if they were normal switches (my in-laws live across the street, and they still haven’t figured out how to use my no-touch faucet in the sink, and it’s been 5 years), but that they can be controlled via HA as well.
Any suggestions/recommendations? I’m looking at only zigbee and wifi, with local control (either via natively, ZHA, Homekit, etc).
So, after more metering of our wires, I found that the wiring diagram above was partially incorrect. The power from the panel went to the lights, down to the first three-way, then out to all the four-way, and finally into the second three-way. However, the hot line from the lights to the first three-way was tied into the white wire of a 3-conductor romex (which is to code for wiring a switch in between lights). So, long story short - my switches were functionally the same as the wiring diagram in this post: Shelly1, local MQTT with HA, 3-way light switch - #35 by etxttul
However, in the box for the first three-way, I had line, load and neutral without having to run any new ones. So, I now have a Shelly 1 wired up in edge mode - and everything is working 4.0. I can draw out diagrams if anyone is looking for a non-standard/but to code wiring situation with multiple four ways…
Note, this is OK with US Electrical code. There s piece of black electrical tape on the white wire in the first box. This tells the electrician that it is repurposed. All of the switches are switching the hot lead, and you can have as many 4-way switches (S2) as you like between the 3-way switches.
