Hey @conorlap, thanks for the heads-up! I am going in my router to block them now!
What a disappointing move from TP-Link!
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As a workaround for now, I’ve setup multiple routines on my Alexa app to switch on/off the various plugs etc. Then I created multiple scripts within HA to call the routines. At least this way I can get my automations up and running again!
Example script:
alias: Hall Camera Off
sequence:
- service: media_player.play_media
data:
media_content_id: hallcameraoff
media_content_type: routine
entity_id: media_player.living_room_echo_dot
mode: single
Again… FU TP-Link!!
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My Sonoff S26’s arrived today along with a USB to serial converter. I am very impressed with the Sonoffs. Build quality is excellent. They have a plastic ring around the back to increase the spacing from the edge to the terminals for safety. They also have a break down the board (gap) between where the high voltage is and the low voltage (ESP side). From a safety point of view very well thought out.
Easy to flash with ESPhome soldering 4 wires.
These will replace the TPlinks which i no longer am able to control via HA (which will end up being giving to a family member as a simple plug in timer).
The question is, is it certified by your country’s authortities as legal for use?
This is what I am seeing.
I have 4 x HW 2.1, FW 1.5.10 that are perfect, and my 2 x HW 4.1 on FW 1.10.0 have fallen off.
Are the v4.1 you all have a UK type plug? The three EU plugs I have are v4.0 and I can’t seem to find a 4.1 version with EU plug.
Is the bad firmware released only for the UK plugs or is it global for v4.0 and up? If that is the case we should inform other members NOT to buy these devices for Home Assistant integration!
Anyway, I hope that TP-LINK realises its mistake and release a new firmware that reopens port 9999.
Perhaps we should keep pounding them with complaints for this!
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At the moment only 4.1 is known to have this firmware version but it wouldn’t surprise me if they make the same change to other plugs as it was to fix a reported security vulnerability (which reported the unauthenticated local control as a vulnerability).
It looks like there is still a local interface on port 80 via a web server, It looks like it now works similar to Tapo plugs do where it uses some kind of encryption, it may be possible to update the integration to support this but I’m not sure on that, it looked like some progress was being made on various interfaces to the plugs on a couple github comments I read for various projects.
As for HW 4.1 being UK only that’s possible but I don’t know for sure the support site does some revisions are region specific and it goes all the way upto 7 I think it was.
Tp-Link are notorious for having different revisions on the same product which can end up being nothing like each other internally, they can end up being completely different SOCs.
I did ask Tp-link support if they are planning to roll out this update/change to other devices and also if there’s an official API/SDK that could be used to restore the functionality.
I don’t honestly expect to get anything useful from them but it’s worth a shot.
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My UK units are 2.1 and 4.1. It’s possible that the EU units could be 2.0 and 4.0.
I have 6 UK plugs and all 3 of my 4.1 hardware dropped off over the course of a few days. My other units are 1.0 and 2.1 and they are currently still working.
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Are you able to block those remaining devices from accessing the net? It might be advisable until TP-Link let us know if they are rolling out this “improvement” to the older units too.
Just to share that my HS100 is also not reachable through Home Assistant.
Have three HS100, Hardware Version: 2.0. Two with Firmware 1.5.4 and one with 1.5.6. (All not working)
Looks like there is a PR in progress to move from the port 9999 protocol to the port 80 with encryption one
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I just bought a HS100 in Germany, it is HW v4.0, two things:
- Latest FW here is 1.1.5 which is still working with HA. (So I blocked them from internet access in my router)
- During setup you can add it to your wifi and block it before it does the FW update (I just checked).
So as long as you can get your hands on old stock it should keep on working if you can prevent them from reaching the internet and learning about new FW (which apparently is not yet provided in Central Europe).
If the python-kasa project integrates the new connection method I would hope that the TP Link HA Integration will be using that as well. For the time being avoid any updates.
I saw similar behaviour with 3x HS110 that I had still in boxes after getting last year around Black Friday. All hardware v2.1 and I added them in Kasa app (Android) and when it showed on network it asked to update firmware. I hard closed out the Android app and then blocked on router and all were found in HA. I already had 2x old ones on hardware v1.0 which were still working.
One thing to mention is that the box says 3 years warranty. Not likely to get any joy from a warranty claim but might be worth everyone flooding TP-Link with support claims for warranty returns.
My Kasa devices also stopping working under HA. They do work well under Homebridge (Homebridge Tplink Smarthome plugin) and they can be used with HA using the HA HomeKit controller. This is the workaround that I found to continue using them with HA. (I run HA and Homebride on the same Raspberry Pi).
One thing to mention is that the box says 3 years warranty. Not likely to get any joy from a warranty claim but might be worth everyone flooding TP-Link with support claims for warranty returns.
Aside from blocking their resources for legit claims I don’t believe this would do any good - they for sure will not roll back a firmware change because a fraction of their customers are unhappy.
Good news everyone! They plan to reverse course and are offering a downgrade procedure in the meantime:
https://community.tp-link.com/en/home/forum/topic/237614
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@generic - this does sound like very good news. Any details on the downgrade process? (no information in the link).
Well, it’s a community manager providing a specific downgrade option for the FW - I haven’t read anything about reversing course or adopting any of the (very good) recommendations made in the post. So my hopes are on the current (apparently promising) efforts to reverse engineer the new approach.
@NamCisum
I’m the author of the post on the TP-link community 
She DM’ed me apologizing and stating that their engineering team is working on a “solution”. Calling Home Assistant an “unauthorized application” has ceased at least.
I hope they take my examples and suggestions to heart…
You’re totally right that the reverse engineering of the new local control API needs to continue and a backup solution via their cloud API needs to be matured (I would hate if it gets to the point of using their cloud API)…
I also have a post on their community requesting MFA/2FA on their Omada controller product line that seems to have attracted attention.
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