See updates at the end – this is an original article I started in June 2023 – updated at the end in June 2025. I’m finding the brand new Switchbot Outdoor Spotlight Camera to be quite exciting. I have a pair of them with separately supplied solar panels. Elsewhere on…
Month: June 2025
Cheap AliExpress Zigbee SmartPlugs
I’ve had mixed results with WIFI plugs from AliExpress – but I could not help myself when an offer of €3.79 for a Zigbee smartplug if-you-buy-3 came along. Would they be any good? To look at these plugs, they seem high enough quality with a nice orange rim (not illuminated)…
And As Promised – the IoTorero Products
I’m a lot better informed now – the company formerly called ATHOM now have IoTorero (get it? Iot) branding on their smartplug boxes – and I now have three different types. The boxes all have the same product number on them (confusingly) – Model PG01 – but on the actual…
Iotorero/Athom AliExpress Smart plug
After an interesting week that included one of my smartplugs failing (turning on a loud fan at midnight) I’m pleased to say the above-named plug has arrived. The troublesome plug was a Meross MSS310 – though as it turns out, after I decided to investigate cosmic rays, the supposedly duff…
ESP8266, Tasmota and a Cautionary Tale about AI
I’ll not re-iterate detail about the work on a ping tester I’ve been slaving over, using up all my spare time for the past week as it is in the previous blog entry, but here are thoughts worth showing re: the experience. So, several things… the ESP8266, long claimed to…