Xiaomi Aqara Wall Switch (single / double) decoupled mode support

[hijinx (James)]

I never had a problem w gearbest, but I am sure that all shops make mistakes sometimes.
Personally I think they are one of the best “direct from china” suppliers.
That said I would not plan to make an expensive purchase (e.g. >$100) from them or any other “direct from china” supplier due to possible customs issues (UK customs stop high value parcels and charge you. they always stop from reliable carriers that you’d want to use for expensive items).

[Cain]

They’ve usually been okay, I’ve ordered quite a few things through them but each order seems to take longer and longer to arrive. They’ve only just shipped my latest order which I paid expedited delivery for 3 weeks ago.

[Alllfff]

Rex
Would this work?

Smart 2 way switches with ordinary smart wall switches

Great idea! I’ve got two of these! Always wondered if there was a way around it! I’ve now resorted to wiring the WiFi bulbs so they are always on and used Xiaomi wireless switches instead. Don’t like that I wouldn’t be able to switch my lights on if home assistant went down though!

I’m looking for a solution to my issue in the hallway where some smarty pants sparky used the neutral wire for a different light so now the hallway light works only when my two switches (normal old school switches) are both on.
As you, using aqara/Xiaomi switches, ideally I would like the on/off state to be synced. But I don’t mind if one aware is master and one slave. But will the slave stay powered if the master is used to switch the light off?

I hope this all makes sense. Thank you for your help and explanations.

[ReX]

What he did is using one switch as actual switch and one as slave wireless toggle (in decoupled mode) - shortcutting the circuit behind the slave switch. I am doing the exact same thing for two of my circuits, but without the neutral line: one of the two switches of the 3-way circuit is also a double switch, so I made it slave decoupled, bypassed it and powered from the other circuit.

Keep in mind that when you decouple a wired switch the automation must be coded in the Xiaomi app because the click event is not supported by HA.

In your case the easiest way to do (I had to do it myself in one of the 3-way circuit that had no double switch), is to use an actual switch a wireless switch (battery operated) that toggles the master. You won’t be able to sync two switches in series (also because they will mutually cut the power).

[kostya (Konstantin)]

Is the decoupled mode still not supported/provided? I ordered a bunch of Aqara switches but then realized that half of my lamps are “smart” and half are “dump” in the same room and not having the ability to control all of them through HASS (I’d need decoupled mode for the smart ones) is a buzzkill so cancelled the order and now looking into other option now…

[lonebaggie]

I run Aqura smart wall switch ( no neutral ) with 6 tradfri smart bulbs in 2 x 3 bulb chandeliers as Aquara does not support dimming lights.

Without decoupled mode it has been a challenge see.

Test if Tradfri light is available/reachable?

My issue is trying to keep the tradfri lights in sync. They are my main living room lights lights ( 6 bulbs) so I have a physical switch, so they behave as normal lights in case all my HA fails. I need to know what states the lights are in so I can delay any commands sent until they are ready. Sending command to early means some bulbs do not get dim commands and ends up in a mess I too would like HA to state when unavailable. My main interface is Alexa so I can at least get alexa to state vi…

The issue is when power is lost or restored to “smart bulbs” it takes them time to re-establish sync with HA.
The only other option is leave the power permanently on and turn them off and on via HA via a wireless switch.
Unfortunately if HA or wireless switch fail , lights dont work . Not an option . Had this setup and it has failed in the living room . Not good

[ReX]

There were multiple gateway updates recently. Any chance the decoupled mode has been added?

[emontes]

I couldn’t see anything on the change logs but I believe this hasn’t been done yet.

[sendorm]

Hello, something to clarify, none of the switches are in decoupled mode in my setup. Both switches are in normal mode. The main switch does the turning on an off but the second switch is not in decoupled mode. It just fuels the automation which toggles the main switch.
No need for the addition of decoupled mode to HASS for the setup to work.
The automation is as follows:

- id: Auto42
  alias: Toggle Hall Light
  hide_entity: false
  trigger:
    platform: state
    entity_id: switch.wall_switch_ln_158dxxxxxxxxxx #slave
  action:
    service: switch.toggle
    entity_id: switch.wall_switch_158dxxxxxxxxxx #main

[zakineze99]

You dont need “decoupled” mode. You only need one of the switches (in double switch) to actually switch on/off your “dumb” light and the other one doesnt have to be connected at all, it will still report State… so you can use it in “decoupled” mode via automations. Thats what I do. In my double switch, the right switch turns on/off my dumb kitchen light, and the left one toggles my Yeelight Bulbs and a Strip based on the State of that switch (on/off).

[ReX]

@zakineze99

In my double switch, the left switch turns on/off my dumb kitchen light, and the right one toggles my Yeelight Bulbs and a Strip based on the State of that switch (on/off).

Just remember to turn off the slave/dumb/decoupled switch when the light goes off from the master (e.g. I don’t see this in the automation from @sendorm).

If you don’t do that, the electromagnet of the relay of this switch could remain excited for a very long time (whenever the light is off) and these relays are not intended to work in this mode (will fry soon).

[sendorm]

That might be a good idea to turn if off. But from my setup it seems that the slave is “off” most off the time. Need to check. Thanks for the suggestion.

[zakineze99]

Im using my aqara for almost 1 year and I never had a problem with decoupled switch ON while master is OFF. I appreciate your advice but considering how cheap this switch is even if it eventually burns out I will just replace it.

Example (for turn ON automation):

- id: left_wall_switch_livingroom_ON
  alias: LivingRoom Wall Switch ON
  initial_state: 'on'
  trigger:
    platform: state
    entity_id: switch.wall_switch_left_158d0003151695
    from: 'off'
    to: 'on'
  action:
    - service: light.turn_on
      entity_id: light.yeelight-bulb
    - service: light.turn_on
      entity_id: light.strip

For Turn OFF:

- id: left_wall_switch_livingroom_OFF
  alias: LivingRoom Wall Switch OFF
  initial_state: 'on'
  trigger:
    platform: state
    entity_id: switch.wall_switch_left_158d0003151695
    from: 'on'
    to: 'off'
  action:
    - service: light.turn_off
      entity_id: light.yeelight-bulb
    - service: light.turn_off
      entity_id: light.strip

[ReX]

I have recently renovated the house and installed about 40 Aqara switches, almost half of them need to work in pair. The sole idea of replacing the switches due to a failure kills me ;-).

Indeed the other factor is also the power consumption and heating. The relay installed is high quality from Panasonic, but still it is not a device intended to stay normally on.

[simichoil (Venelin Simidchiev)]

Hi @ReX

Did you manage to get working the 2 Aqara switches in pair ?

I am also building our new home - and bought all the Aqara switches (i ordered all with Neutral Line)

I want to be able to control one lamp in a corridor - from the two end - something like this :

Is there any way to make this work ?

Thanks

[ReX]

I eventually decided to handle the three way switches as Xiaomi suggests: one switch is the master (and physically turns on/off the light) and the other(s) are slaves: connected in decoupled mode to the master via a Xiaomi rule/automation.

All the other options I’ve tried didn’t work properly.

[simichoil (Venelin Simidchiev)]

Hi @ReX

Could you please share what is the automation/rule looking like ?

In this case if the master is OFF - then the Slave will not be able to control, right ?

Thanks in advance for the support.

[Milan_Milunovic]

Hello guys. I’m not using the home assistant app, but mi home only. I have reached a point from where I can’t find a solution. I would like to use aqara wall switches to make smart lights and also to control my external shades. With lights they work perfectly but shades are the problem. I need to program the switch not to be able to have left and right turn on at the same time. To explain. I need a function, when I activate the left switch button to firsf turn off the right switch button, and then turn on left, and oposite. When I do this with mi home app, it simply doesn’t work. It seems it looses conection and sometimes it activates left and right side at the same time. Is there someone here who could help me?

[intositeme]

Would like to find out more about decoupled mode. Currently have smart lights connected to the switches.
Am i right to assume its possible to have the switch in decouple mode and the relay always on, cause abive post mentioned something about relays burning out?

Also am using conbee2 n zigbee2mqtt.

Thanks

[sk229]

@intositeme

Would like to find out more about decoupled mode. Currently have smart lights connected to the switches.
Am i right to assume its possible to have the switch in decouple mode and the relay always on, cause abive post mentioned something about relays burning out?

Any luck finding a good solution?