Before I start – I THINK this is Sonoff’s new website link – live today Jun 30, 2025. In the past I’ve had most Sonoff cameras which tend to be quality but basic compared to other cameras I have – but initial impressions – this looks good. See photos –…
Switchbot Air Purifier Table
Hands-on review of the Switchbot Air Purifier Table – combining quiet air cleaning with a stylish design and smart app control.
Switchbot – the Big Update
I’ve written lots of articles about Switchbot and their hubs in here. To date the best has been HUB 2 – nice little hub with temperature and humidity display – BUT it’s a bit flimsy and tends to fall over easily. I have two of them. Of course I COULD…
An Orange Pi Week – Part 2
See PART 1 for the RV2.. The RV I didn’t do a lot with – as I was having such a fun time with the local AI on the RV2 – and my friend Antonio asked me if he could have the RV. This is his story…. Everything below is…
Switchbot Hub Mini vs Hub 2
Hmm, Switchbot just sent me the Hub Mini – nice enough, simple box with recessed microUSB connector – comes complete with power supply. When it arrived, the light was flashing so I thought “no need to press any buttons here to pair”. Wrong – I had to press the button…
Reolink Elite WiFi Dual-Lens Camera
No ordinary Security camera, this one. The Reolink Elite WiFi has TWO lenses and operates on either 2.4Ghz WiFi or 5Ghz WiFi. It works using it’s own power supply which outputs 12vDC. The lead (12v) is quite long but Reolink supply an extension lead for larger installations. In most of…
Meross MS100F Temperature/Humidity Sensor
I’ve had this for a while – didn’t do anything when I pressed it’s tiny side button – then I looked at the instructions and it needs the little Meross HUB to work… so I put it to one side for a matter of months – then last week contacted…
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…
Super Mini ESP32-S3, Broadband Testing and more
I recently flashed a pair of Super-Mini ESP32-S3 boards using the online Tasmota flasher here. As I had no need for Bluetooth I went straight for the standard Tasmota (ENGLISH) option – which for anyone who doesn’t know, somehow works automatically for both ESP8266 and some ESP32 boards (ESP32-C2, C3,…
Tasmota Smartplugs
Why Tasmota smartplugs? Well, I have lots of Smartplugs – Tuya, Sonoff and others on WiFi and several on Zigbee. Being unable to open these plug up and reprogram easily means you’re stuck with what you get. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve used many and I quite like the Sonoff…
An Orange Pi Week
It’s been a while since I’ve had any Orange Pi products (earlier) (even earlier) to play with, but last week in the mail arrived a package comprising Orange Pi RV, Orange Pi RV2, a “5.1v5A GAN” USB-C power supply and a small packet which took me a few minutes to…
Meross Smart Switch, Presence Sensor and More
Every so often I get a bunch of stuff from Meross (no payment or commitment – just stuff to play with) and today in the post, a package via CTT courier arrived. I opened up the package and… Meross Smart WiFi Switch MSS815 If you’re new to Meross – another…
3M VHB Tape – The name’s Bond – James Bond
Sorry – couldn’t resist it. I saw a YouTube video yesterday where a guy was griping about LED STRIP and the rubbish adhesive on most of it – my thoughts exactly. He thoughly recommended 3M’s VHB foam tape (Very High Bond – that keeps making me laugh) – and he…
Home Assistant at long last BUST?
Sorry, I could not resist at least one of those stupid end-of-the-world headlines so popular with children disguised as adults who seem to dominate YouTube…. So the very much abbreviated story is this: Months ago, I put Home Assistant on a cheap miniPC for speeding up my HAOS installation –…
Automatic DHCP and Home Automation
This is SO obvious once you grasp the idea – for some reason it missed me for the longest time. Let’s say you have a load of devices on your home control network… we’ll ignore Zigbee devices here as they don’t have IP addresses – as they work on a…
Aqara G4 Video Doorbell and FP2 Presense Sensor – Updated
Hands-on review of the Aqara G4 Smart Video Doorbell and FP2 Presence Sensor, with long-term updates through August 2025. Covers battery life, SD card storage, firmware quirks, Home Assistant integration, and the surprising WiFi 6 limitation on the FP2 sensor.
Home Assistant Tuya Socket Woes
In my Home Assistant set-up – HAOS on a mini-PC, documented elsewhere in here, I have an AliExpress-sourced cheap WiFi Tuya (Smartlife) socket controlling a salt light and as it is part of my livingroom lighting set – I have an HA entity change helper turning the socket entity into…