I’ve purchased some cheap WooX smart sockets to compliment a couple of Tuya sockets I already had. Am I right in saying that some of these cheaper sockets have pretty poor Wi-Fi implementations? I know a lot about Wi-Fi (work in IT/networking) so I know how rapidly Wi-Fi signals can attenuate in buildings esp. those with thick walls or Kingspan insulation. I’ve spent many a happy hour wandering around monitoring Wi-Fi strength
I’ve noticed that the WooX plugs struggle with their Wi-Fi connection and often drop offline so can’t be remotely controlled/monitored. Not overly worried about it but this weekend I happen to have a UniFi AC mesh device for a client. I’m not familiar with this particularly model so decided to configure it at home before installing. I took the opportunity to do some tests.
This is the “lab”! Access point there on the left, stack of sockets on the floor nearby and a server just off to the right. The ones on the floor report good signal (should think so too, they’re 1m away). The server one is poor - UniFi controller reports -73dB which matches poor. Okay so there’s a table, that radiator might not help but the wall is “only” brick. I’ve put my mobile on top of the Wi-Fi socket and it’s got a signal of -57dB. If you’ve ever dabbled in Wi-Fi signals, you know there is a big difference between -57db and -73db.
So kind of backing up my proposal the WooX sockets have a pretty naff Wi-Fi implementation. They’re single channel (MIMO 1x1) but that’s fine. Plus the supplemental question I guess of any recommendations for Wi-Fi sockets with better Wi-Fi?
-30 to -70 is a real optimal range with the latter being the cut off limit for me, so if they are loosing connection when other devices are not then yes its an issue with the hardware and firmware of those sockets.
I personally use zigbee for all my devices via the plugs, light switches and an aquara t2 relay at an external power socket with matter over wifi based power boards for everything else and they have good connection back to my instance.
Also since you are using unifi make sure to keep iot devices locked to a 2.4Ghz band as there have been issues with wifi 7 based AP’s that are only 5 and 6ghz supporting.
The UniFi devices are Wi-Fi 5 and only visiting for the weekend. My home network is a single Mikrotik Wi-Fi 6 AX (hAP ax2) and I’m more than aware that Mikrotik really struggles with their W-Fi implementations. I’ve spent days tweaking. Once upon a time, I thought Mikrotik could be a real contender in the networking market - RouterOS is incredibly powerful. But they’ve lost their way IMO with poor Wi-Fi implementation, not price competitive anymore and lack of cloud controller. But I digress…
Hence the reason I took the opportunity of having these Unifi devices at home to do some testing. I’ve stuck another spare Mikrotik AX in there which is limited to 2.4GHz but is 1Gbps network - will do some further testing with that.
Will have a look at them - I like the idea of them meshing, that would certainly help poor main Wi-Fi connectivity. As most Wi-Fi devices have transmitters and receivers, I guess that meshing is possible with most devices. I’ve never fully understood the boundaries between what’s done on the chipset or what’s done with firmware.
Have you any experience with Zigbee switches for 3-way circuits? I’ve used WiFi switches in the past that I’ve flashed with Tasmota but the vendor doesn’t make them any more.
Create Automations:
Navigate to ‘Configuration’ → ‘Automations’.
Set up a new automation for each desired action (switch on and off).
Utilize a ‘State Trigger’ to respond to changes in switch states, with an ‘Action’ to adjust the states of the corresponding switches accordingly.
Automation Flow Examples in Home Assistant
Trigger: When Switch 1 state changes to ON.
Action: Set Switch 2 state to ON.
Trigger: When Switch 1 state changes to OFF.
Action: Set Switch 2 state to OFF.
And similar rules for any additional switches involved in a 3-way configuration.
I use this method to have the button (setup as an input boolean helper) on my streamdeck turn to on state when my bedside lamps are on via motion detection and off when they are off so I have both motion and toggle control of the lamps.
All of them are the 1 gang with a 2 gang for the kitchen and light next to it in the lounge room with how the wiring is in my home and it only being a 2 wire setup at each point for live and active.
