Hi,
I have lately been looking smart plug that works outdoor and can withstand cold (up to -20) that works with wifi (Zigbee do not have needed range for me) and would be easily integrated to HA. So far I have not really found plug that fits my needs but would someone maybe here have any recommendations or suggestions?
Wyze Plug Outdoor with Tasmota
Rated to -4°F (-20°C) to 120°F (48.9°C)
If Zigbee does not work, then its unlikely that Wifi will.
They use the same frequency and often have the same transmit power, since that is regulated by laws and the max limit is quite easy to reach.
The Zigbee should actually be the better of the two, because of the possibility that some of the standard devices can work as repeaters, where as Wifi does not have this feature in standard devices.
Maybe you can find a Zigbee device with a repeater function and place it closest to the location you need coverage over.
If not, then you need to find a device with another frequency. Lower frequency usually means longer range.
Of course this also means a receiver/gateway is needed for the chosen frequency.
Actually I need to use wifi because my ubiquiti wifi 6 access point can trasmit wifi waaay longer (50-100 meters) than I could ever with my Slaesh’s CC2652RB stick. I did find wifi outdoor plug from local market and for now I got it working as I planned.
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Please share what you got, it may help others looking for the same solution!
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I have not done plug but have done sensors. I have a fibaro leak sensor hooked up to a reed switch on the mailbox for almost 2 years. It has worked -20 to +110F. Completely exposed to weather. Hard on batteries but works. I have shelly motion sensor on front porch installed about 3 week and so far has been working fine. Protected from weather.
Of course the stick have lousy range with that antenna.
The idea with a zigbee network is to use the repeater function on the plugged in devices.
The stick just need to reach that device and then that device will retransmit it further.
Glad you got it to work though.
I’m still left wondering what make & model outdoor WiFi plug he got that works
I got this one about 2 years ago and has worked flawlessly.
So I got basic Wifi plug from local store ( Emax WiFi älypistorasia ulkokäyttöön IP44 | Motonet Oy) that was tuya compatible. Then followed these PREREQUISITES: Tuya - Home Assistant (home-assistant.io). After those had been done I just added device using Tuya Smart Life App and few second later it was in HA.
My car park is maybe 50-100 meters away from home Wifi access point but this plug works fine. Last night and morning it started to warm my car perfectly fine at 5:45 am and stopped 08:00 (btw this morning it was -20°C). You probably do not get hand to that plug but I think Tuya can work almost with all wifi plug.
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Tuya is just the software it runs on.
The important feature is really the hardware and especially the antenna design.
An acces point can be a bit bulky and with big antennas, so it can transmit far, but the smart plugs often needs to be somewhat small and a small antenna makes it hard to get good transmit conditions.