With help from the Tasmota forums and my Italian friend Antonio, I’ve learned some very useful stuff to share, in the last couple of days. Automatic router Re-Booter using Tasmota and Sonoff BASIC or Similar I have a 5G router which then feeds a normal router (we have no fibre…
Category: General
More cheap AliExpress Zigbee Switches and Repeatability
Ok, so from time to time, AliExpress have cheap Zigbee and WiFi switches for sale – all seems good.. I purchased two Zigbee units along with an unrelated item, all of which arrived in one package, delivered this week (5 day delivery to Spain) and tested today. One is marked…
Easy Home Assistant Random Timer
AS regular readers know I live mainly in Spain and have a home in the UK, visited less frequently. As I demonstrated previously I initially put a few light controls in the UK using Sonoff as a Zigbee coordinator, the downside being that not all of my stuff is Sonoff…
Extended Gripe and Info – USB Leads
Like many of you, I have countless USB leads of various types – and more and more USB-C leads (USB-A at one end, USB-C at the other – or USB-C at both ends). This is not new but I’ve been getting increasingly annoyed with two things: (a) discovering – despite…
Shelly H&T – a Year Later
Back in early March 2023 I wrote about the Shelly Door/Window sensor and remarked on it’s use of twin CR123A batteries – I remember commenting about the size of them. At the same time I BRIEFLY mentioned the Shelley H&T – a pretty-looking but otherwise non-descript temperature and humidity sensor.…
TUYA and the iHORN T3 (Zigbee) Smart Home Kit
Quick update: This article was written in September 2022 and the iHorn LH-961ZB movement sensor has been sitting on a shelf under my desk since then, seeing quite a few movements per day. Regardless of my comments below, this sensor has been working all this time, 100% with Zigbee2MQTT, not…
SONOFF POW RING – What’s THAT?
Well, it’s new and it’s from Sonoff of the famous Sonoff BASIC IOT controller which I’ve written about many times. Many of you will know that Sonoff are known for far more than their original simple-but-effective-and-cheap mains power WiFi controller. SO, let’s take a look at this new device that…
Surface Pro 4 – Windows 11 or NOT?
Reddit and other locations are full of conflicting stories about the venerable Microsoft Surface 4 Pro concerning upgrading to Windows 11 – mostly from people who’ve not actually tried the conversion. I noted a number of writers saying they’d never trust Microsoft again and how betrayed they felt. Here is…
TOPGRO Mini Gaming PC i9-9880H NVIDIA GTX1650
I recently bought the above-named PC from Amazon.es to replace my Mini PC which has performed well but not a lot of use for games. The TOPGRO machine cost me €969 (no screen or keyboard, just the base unit) and came complete with 32GB of DDR4 RAM and 1TB of…
Cheap Sonoff-lookalike BASICs and Aubess Zigbee
No doubt I’m not the only one, despite being a long-term Sonoff BASIC user, who’s noticed that AliExpress and Temu have what look like cheap Sonoff knock-offs running as low on Temu as €2.00 on special offer and not much more on AlieExpress. Good deal? Well, for the sake of…
Another Tasmota APP for Android
From time to time I get ESP8266/ESP32 control units for example Sonoff BASIC lookalikes – basic mains control boards – which I usually de-Smartlife and convert to Tasmota – also Tasmota-pre-fitted bulbs – and more often than not, I end up with more than I need. Sometimes, dirt-cheap Sonoff-BASIC look-alikes…
Christmas Already? SONOFF Goodies and WLED Lighting
Well, not quite and I always thought people put their lights up from December 1.. but, not to be left behind… thanks to WLED, Tasmota and my cheapy projector – it’s a start…. and if WLED interests you – check out the WLED MoonModules project. This post December 20, 2023…
Algolaser 5.5w DIY Laser Engraver Kit
Some months ago, Algolaser contacted me re: their 20w laser engraver – and while I still plan to progress this in the future, for now they asked me if I’d build and review their DIY Engraver KIT with the 5.5w laser. As you’ll see looking around the blog, I’ve reviewed…
Meross Product Update MSS315 Smart Plug
The Meross MSS315 Matter Smart Wi-Fi Plug with Energy Monitor (EU Version) is a handy smart plug, not a lot to differentiate it from other, similar products but over time I’ve found the Meross products to be good. Initially when my MSS315 arrived, I simply got no-where setting it up…
Chrome Create Shortcut or Not?
I’m trying to pin Google Calendar to my taskbar and I keep seeing references on the web to this: That sounds easy but my recently updated Chrome on my recently updated Windows 11 Pro PC no longer has that option: Here’s the thing: you can do this in Microsoft Edge…
The Brand New Sonoff iPlug S60TPF type F/E WiFi Smart Plug
You could be forgiven for thinking I just did a write-up on Sonoff – I did – but then realised I’d released it too early as two of the products therein are not released until December 20, 2023 – apologies for that – meanwhile, the new WiFi Smart Plug is…
Rechargeable Hoofun Air Duster from Amazon
No, not an ad, not expected to write about – my last air duster simply stopped working yesterday and so I had to urgently buy another – couldn’t clean out the vacuum without one and by this morning the filter was caked. Which vacuum – this one. Which old blower?…
ChatGPT BooBoos (guest appearance from Bard)
A pal of mine just messaged me to say he’d asked ChatGPT to write a script to check network drives for space and usage – and it worked. Brilliant I thought – so off I went to ask ChatGPT to write a python script to check for loss of Internet…
Sonoff iPlug S60TPG UK Smart Plug
Officially launched November 11, 2023, iTEAD (Sonoff) recently sent this UK-fitting smartplug to me. Looking quickly through the specification, it of course works with Google Home and Alexa. The reference to “Type G” will be for the UK, I’ve no doubt they’ll have EU and USA versions. On the side…
Tuya Smart Knob from AliExpress
I’m not convinced. Here it is… my new Tuya Smart Knob from AliExpress. No doubt about it, the device LOOKS good. Press, rotate, press and rotate, long press etc. This handy “Zigbee + Bluetooth low energy” multifunction button looks wonderful at first glance and is supported by Zigbee2MQTT. Installation was…