I have read a few topics on this but wondering if if there is an update or something better to use.
I’m looking for a physical button to turn on/off various lights and trigger automations etc. I have seen everyone suggesting zigbee or other tech’s but these don’t work for me in my setup.
My HA is running on a virtual machine (so adding usb devices is a pain and breaks my virtual machine on reboots etc.) Its also sitting in my study (converted from my garage) so its all sealed with thick walls so signal as super bad getting out of there!
Therefore i’m looking for physical buttons that don’t require a hub or usb dongle or anything like that. But something that can directly interact with HA via wifi. I can do bluetooth if necessary i have esphome setup for my room thermostats so can add another if required.
My recommendation would be the “Shelly Button White”. (“White” series is their wi-fi gear, “Blue” is Bluetooth, etc.) I haven’t used Shelly buttons myself, but I’ve got very high regard for Shelly equipment, due to other folks that I know with excellent track record using Shelly.
Shelly Button White is available in black or white colored housings, should be available for $25 at Home Depot, or is currently available direct from us.shelly.com for $6.50 ( !! ).
There are other wi-fi smart buttons, from people like Wiz and Moes. Which are likely quite decent. Moes has multi-button units available.
There are also smart buttons that run on Matter, but not necessarily thru wi-fi. (I’ve got a smart button using Matter thru Thread --which needs a “hub”. But most of my buttons are Zigbee.)
But overall, the Shelly buttons sound good for your usage. Especially given the brand reputation and the current pricing.
I use the Kinivo USB Bluetooth Adapter for PC BTD400 (Bluetooth 4.0 Dongle Receiver, Low Energy) in proxmox. It has a great range. Reboots, because of proxmox, will disconnect the usb adapter. You can fix this by shuting down the vm and then booting it up instead of rebooting. I had simular issues with VMware with usb devices passed through, mostly external drives.
I have the Shelly black button and have several complaints. Mainly that it is not responsive 90% of the time. If it is plugged in to power it is about 50% responsive. I will add that putting a usb blue tooth dongle in the Pi helped the range. The button is currently seen in my HA that is running on Proxmox, so I don’t know what is wrong with it. If the HA is not set for active scanning, it doesn’t show up at all.
With Tim.Plas post, stating the “White Series is Wifi” I will give that a try and see if it is better.
As others have said - Shelly button is what you’re looking for. I have several scattered around and they always work and (rechargeable) battery lasts forever because it just sleeps until you press it.
I can recommend the Shelly Button 1 as I have one as my doorbell button connected to my instance over Wifi, the actions are triggered via MQTT where as the battery state is the only thing that shows up via the shelly integration directly for me.
It’s been reliable for well over a year so far in this configuration otherwise.
The $6 item is just an enclosure for a Shell1 or 1PM that you wire inline on a power cord and would also require buying the actual relay as well. The Button 1 is a battery powered device - I think that’s what you’re after.
Oh that’s disappointing. Yeah, I guess I can see the use case for that enclosure, to make Shelly 1 or 1PM relay into a smart switch on a power cord. Not very well explained on their web site. Thanks for the clarification.
So yeah, Shelly Button 1 for you. Apologies for the confusion. Still will satisfy the requirement, but unfortunately not as cheaply as I thought.
