It was not ping, but the button.
The switch solution is not drepecated, but a button solution was added.
Maybe trying to use both an YAML switch and an YAML button at one point give me and error I interpreted as the YAMl switch being drepecated.
Are you sure the IP address iin the host key s still correct.
All it does is give the integration a host to pung to see if the device is on, which might be the reason why it this k it is not available.