Kasa Smart HS100 WiFi Smart Plug, Classic 1-Pack, White

Before we get into what I dont like about this, it should be known that I love this plug. We use it on a bedside lamp combined with an Echo, and Alexa turns our light on and off every morning and evening without fumbling for the pull chain. Its great. I just have seen a few ways it could be better. Software can be a bit finicky - has a tendency to reset with a power loss, but not every power loss. And even then you just need to reintialize - all of the data is still saved about the device name. After initial setup, the next one I use will be much easier (already having an account, having the phone app, etc.). Naming was easy, and the app even comes with little icons to remind you what is plugged into the outlet. Biggest issue, and the only reason were not at 5 stars is the plug covers both wall outlets. The housing is too big on the bottom to allow even an ungrounded connection beneath it. You could get short, grounded extension cables (6 or 12) to overcome this, but it starts to become ridiculous. Fortunately the plug we use only had the lamp on it, but its still annoying. Would also be nice if the plug was actually on one of the sides instead of head-in. Naturally, this unit sticks out from the wall, but then once you have your switched device plugged in, the wires extend pretty far. If the switched device plugged into the side, you could avoid the wires coming out several inches from the wall. Maybe thats another reason to get the short extension cord. So plan for this to be in a hidden location where you only need to have one device plugged in, and its a winner.

<Update 6.20.2016> I love these units & cannot wait (though Im going to have to anyway) for the HS200 TP Link Smart Switch (In-wall light switch) to come to the market per their latest software update note under the Whats New. Ive had my first TP Link Smart Plug (see the original post below) for about 6 weeks now, my second for about 4 weeks & they are working flawlessly. As mentioned in my OP, I wanted a unit for my entertainment center & have since received & installed it. Drove my college student (whos home for the summer) nuts as the power was not on in the mornings. For the 4 weeks since having the second unit (I called it the TV power), she could not figure out how to get power to the TV. She finally unplugged the power strip from the smart plug & plugged it directly into the wall below the HS100. So I finally showed the family how to work them (mainly just so they wouldnt keep unplugging & plugging in the power chords). On another note, I finally received my Amazon Echo (just in time for Fathers day, wahoo!) and so I now have the Smart Plugs hooked up to the World Wide Web, the Internet super highway, the Internet of Things, etc., etc. I understand the frustrations some people have posted regarding the connection to the Echo & I believe I have figured out why. Amazons Alexa App is in need of some serious TLC. TP Links Kasa App is doing what its suppose to do. In my original post, I had a small issue with connectivity of the software to the units which still exists but not near as rough since the latest software update. Still, when youre not connected to your LAN (because youve been away or simply have the WiFi / Data off) & want to adjust something in the schedules or simply turn the lamp on, connecting wirelessly sometimes has a hiccup. Each unit has to ping constantly (every 1.5 to 2 seconds as it was explained to me) to your LAN to let the router know the unit is there. When you connect your phone to the LAN, you may just connect in between those pings in which case the software on the phone may come back & say There are no connected devices. It does offer a pre-configured devices ribbon which you can select to initiate the units connectivity through the smart phone (see the uploaded pics). After selecting the ribbon, you have to select the little plus button on the right of each device until you have the no unsaved devices screen, then your units are active for you (5 stars now that I understand the software & realize that most of the frustrations are not the fault of TP Link). After I finally created an account with TP Link (all you need is an email address & a password, no personal information is required) I went back into the Kasa App & set the first unit to remote. In the Alexa App, I had to select the Skills in the menu & do a search for Kasa (there are over 123 PAGES of skills & no file management system in the Alexa App). After getting Kasa as a skill & initiating it, I then had to go to the Smart Home in the menu & select the Kasa skill to find the HS100 Smart Plug. This is where the frustrations started for me. The skill was not there. I know I had found it & selected the skill & initiated it but it was not listed. So I went back to the list & did another search for the Kasa (its on like page 71 & each time you go into the list, it starts on page 1). After the third time & about an hour plus, I discovered a search box where I could type the name Kasa & search & it would find about half a dozen skills to choose from, duh! What an idiot. Lucky we have the skills name otherwise its a page by page search until you find what your looking for. Anyway, I digress. The skill was not showing up in the Alexas Smart Home directory. I was about to put the phone down & walk away before something got seriously injured when I realized I had a couple updates to finish on my phone. One of these updates was a 34 megabyte update. Ive read that if you have a decent size (dont ask me what decent size means, I figured 20 meg or better) update, you should reboot your system after updating. So after my update I rebooted my phone & figured ok, Im cooled down a bit, Ill try the Alexa App one more time. Opening the App, I went straight to the Smart Home directory & whadyaknow, the Kasa skill was there. Finally, a step forward. Opening the skill, I can now (finally) have the Kasa skill find the HS100 Smart Plug. Picking the find devices gave me an immediate you have no internet connection message. Then I walked away! This is a long story but I promise it has a happy ending (well, sort of). A few hours of thinking about it I came back to try again. I figured perhaps because the HS100s connect via 2.4 GHz & the Echo connects to the more active 5 GHz, the two are not communicating. So I purposely connected my phone to the 2.4 GHz, opened the Kasa app & verified I could connect to each of my Smart Plugs. Then while leaving the Kasa app open, I went back into the Amazon Alexa app, into the Smart Home directory, & picked the find devices once again. The you have no internet connection message immediately popped up. So I figured the only way I could find the skill to begin with was to reboot the phone so I rebooted once again. I forgot to connect to the 2.4 GHz & open the Kasa app to verify my units were accessible, I just went straight to the Alexa app and after picking the find devices button it came back with a message, searching for devices. This can take up to 20 seconds. Wahoo! It worked, I found my HS100 named the Lamp. Now there are three ways of turning the Lamp on. I can say Alexa, turn on the lamp and Alexa says, ok and the lamp comes on. I can push the power button on the front of the unit and the lamp comes on. And I can wait for the scheduled time and the lamp comes on. These units are AWESOME!!! Of course I had set only the Lamp to remote in the Kasa app so I had to go back to the Kasa app & change the TV power to remote so I could find it in the Alexa app. I had to go through rebooting the phone a couple more times to get my second unit connected with the Echo but I am now connected & my college kid is happy to say Alexa, turn on the TV power so she can watch a movie instead of getting a summer job, ggrrr! ____Original Post____ This is a true product review & I paid full price for the TP Link Smart Plug (HS100, no Energy Monitoring) unit. So with that said, let me tell you my current thoughts on this product after playing with it a mere four days. I dont yet have an echo (its on order) but am preparing for its arrival. So in the mean time I figured Id try this on my local LAN before submitting my so called Smart house to the wiles of the internet. The unit itself is easy enough to work with. You can use it as a single outlet power switch & simply push the button to turn it on and off, much like a six outlet power strip with a switch, but this would be a single outlet. But I want a timer control switch that will automatically turn on at a certain time & off at a certain time & I want to (in the future) have that timer & simply override it with a phrase, Alexa, turn on the lamp. So I needed to connect it to the LAN for starters. After following the instructions for downloading the software (Kasa for Mobile) from Google play I began my assault. My phone automatically connects to my 5 GHz WiFi so I had to manually change it to the 2.4 GHz as this frequency is the only one this Smart plug will work with currently. Reasons are listed on the website (tp-link.us) Now there are two buttons on this unit; a small button on the very top with a light grey gear icon on it is for its configuration (visibility) when connecting to your phone via the local LAN and the other button in the front just above the outlet is a two tone LED light/power button. This is the button you push to simply turn the power strip on/off. This button flashes orange/green when you first plug it in which tells you its ready to begin the connection phase. The app found the plug pretty quickly & began asking me the questions needed to control this plug like what to call it (important to name it something unique to the situation). I called it the lamp. What, Its the only lamp in my family room & I dont intend on connecting any other lamps in the house to the Echo so ... Alexa, turn on the lamp will work very nicely. I can go back & change the name of the plug if I need to. The app then asked for the password to my LAN so my phone can connect to the plug. This is where I screwed everything up cause I couldnt remember what the password was. After resetting the plug a couple times (I now know the reset button works) I got the unit setup & the lamp was on. The software, while easy enough to understand is a bit too simplistic in its presentation which leads to a little frustration in finding what you are searching for. Lemme esplain. I wanted the plug as a timer so I needed to get a schedule setup. You need to tap on the lamp on the left side of the apps screen as the right side is the power switch for controlling the plug via phone. Then you have to pic the three little dots to open a menu so you can pic the schedule selection button. I suppose this is necessary cause if you have several plugs, you will need to determine which one you are working with and there are a few options in menu as well. So I set the schedule for an early morning on & mid morning off, Monday thru Friday. Then created a second schedule for Sunset on & late evening off, Monday thru Sunday. Now mind you this is connected to the local LAN which means if you want a current Sunset time, you have to have your phone connected to the unit to get it as the current Sunset changes daily & the unit needs a connection to the Internet to get that time. Duh! No wonder the lamp was coming on early, the Sunset time was current when I programmed it but is now later than when the lamp comes on as my phone is not connected to the LAN to feed the unit the current Sunset time. :-P A bit of a frustration is when you have a cloudy or stormy afternoon & it gets dark well before sunset. So I wanted to override the current setting & turn the lamp on. Well low & behold when I opened the app, it said there were no current devices configured, would you like to configure one now? Then a little popup display said You have had a previous unit configured which you can access after setting up a new device. After several minutes of getting out of the app, going back in, getting out, disconnecting the phone from the LAN, reconnecting, disconnecting, rebooting the phone, reconnecting, I was ready to unplug the unit & plug the lamp into the wall socket. I thought, All I want to do is turn on the lamp. How lazy am I that I cant reach up and turn the knob, I have to have a Smart Plug. BUT, I wanted the Smart Plug for the timer function. So I was going to Add Device for the fourth time. After picking the Smart Plug icon & giving it a name (the lamp, how original) the app found my previous device & the schedule I was able to turn on the lamp (losing 1 star for this). Havent had an issue with it since but its been a mere four days. On another note, I want to comment on others posts regarding this unit. There is a question/post about why it will not turn on a TV. Unless you have one of those old tube style TVs with a manual toggle switch that you can keep in the ON position, this will not turn on a TV. This Smart Plug is designed to simply deliver power to the TV. As I mentioned earlier, in its most basic form this unit is a one outlet power strip, that is all. The specifications of this unit are for a 100-120 Volt AC outlet with a 15amp load maximum. I have not overloaded this unit to see what would happen but my current wiring for my entertainment system (TV, DVD Player, Wii, etc) are all on one six outlet power strip on a 15amp breaker & they have not tripped the breaker yet. With that said, there is a lot of residual power being leaked by these devices while in a dormant state. I plan to order another TP-Link Smart Plug and schedule a time for these devices to receive power so they can be used. They will be off during the night & when Im away from the home, powered when I am home so I can use them. Another post or two or four mentions this unit is large & covers both wall outlets. While technically this is true, this is also technically not true. This unit has a lip on the back side where the prongs plug into the wall. A standard two prong plug can fit nicely under this unit & both seat perfectly (see the pics I loaded) while anything larger will not. You just have to plug the two prong plug into the bottom outlet first, then plug this unit into the top outlet. In the pics, I have my iClever 6 port charging station plugged into the bottom outlet (need constant power to a charging station) & the lamp via the Smart Plug in the top outlet.

I bought this TP-link smart plug for a lamp in the corner of my bedroom. I like the location of the soft lighting when I am reading or watching tv in bed but it got annoying to have to get up and switch it off when I got drowsy. I got the TP-link plug before I got the Amazon Echo so I set it up with the Kasa app which I placed on my Android tablets and phone. The app immediately found the device and connected to my wifi network with the option to give the plug a personalized name. When I would log onto the app, I was presented with a power button next to that name, so it was just a tap on that to turn it off or on. I was quite happy with that. Once I got my Echo, I switched over to using the plug with that. Again, the plug was quickly detected and so very simple to use. I was happy using the app but the Echo raised the bar and it is so nice to be able to just voice my request rather than reaching for a phone or tablet app. The plug is large which may be a concern depending on the size of any other plugs that need to be placed next to it. I have it plugged into a surge suppressor where I have outlets that I do not use, so it is not a problem for me. I plan to purchase more TP-Link plugs since I am quickly becoming addicted to having Alexa’s quick response to my requests for turning it on or off.

My husband and I love these smart plugs. We purchased them right after we purchased our Echo Dot. I thought it might be nice to be able to ask Alexa to turn lights on and off. We have 2 set up in our living room for our two lamps. I did not realize how valuable these were until the first night my daughter would not go to sleep. When she cant sleep, we come sit in the rocking chair in our living room. I asked Alexa to turn on the lights as we came down stairs, we grabbed a blanket, got all settled, then I asked Alexa to turn off the light. It was perfect; no fumbling with covers in the dark. Then we purchased 2 more for our sons room. We have a TV in his room for him to watch Netflix. He has the habit of staying up all night watching TV, so we were looking for a solution to cut the power to his TV at a certain time at night. We had purchased a surge protector that had a timer, but you had to set the on and off for the same time every day. For some reason when the power would be restored to the TV, the TV would turn on. This meant that the TV could be on all day while no one was home. We also have string lights taped to his ceiling that were on a timer. After those solutions didnt work out so well, we purchased 2 smart plugs. I can set it up so his TV turns on early on Saturday - Monday, late afternoon Tuesday - Friday. I can also set it that it turns off earlier during week nights than on weekends. My biggest favorite is that my son has not figured out it is controlled by an app on my phone. The other night, it was past the time that his TV was off, but he wanted to finish watching his show. I was able to grab my phone and set a 30 minute timer so the outlet would turn off in 30 minutes. No crawling behind dressers, just a click on my app. Its also perfect that we have this string lights set up. I have them set to turn on at 8 and off at 10. But with the app, I can turn them on earlier, turn them off later, change the on time or the off time. It has definitely made parenting so much easier. Im looking at getting some of these for my daughters room.

The ONLY reason that I bought this was because it was about a $5 add on to an Echo Dot. It was a PITA to find the correct app, as on the Apple store, it kept taking me to some Kentucky Assoc (KASA). I found the app thru the TP-LINK website, but it wasnt easy to find. I own 4 WION plugs, and I found them to be easy to set up. I am still working on the TP Smart Wi-Fi Plug. I have found the KASA app to be extremely buggy, and have had it freeze several times in the first hour that I have tried to figure it out. I have been on chat 2x w customer service. They refer me to articles on their website. The articles arent nearly as good as they s/b! I CAN PROMISE that after this, I will NEVER buy another TP-LINK device. I own 4 Nest cameras, 2 SONOS ONE speakers, and the 4 WION plugs. Those were all very easy to get up and running. This plug...not so much. Even if the app didnt lock up, it looks like it was written for children w stupid ICONS that I have NO IDEA why they EVEN have such. I GOT it to install on my iPhone. I THINK that I might have the app working on both devices, but I fret it locking up. EVEN if it works as its supposed to, this exercise has been way more than it should have been. So...yes...I think it might be working now; I still would never purchase any device that runs the LP Kasa app. And, I havent tried to connect it to Alexa yet. Will try tomorrow. After another 30 min to an hour, the app locked up on my iPad. I have turned it off to see if that helps. I CANNOT get the app to install on my iPhone because it doesnt recognize that I already have such plug ON my Wi-Fi. It keeps asking me to connect to the TP-LINK first, which of course I did when I installed the app on my iPad. Thus, I have an app that is locking up on my iPad and wont open on my iPhone. AMAZON, how much $$ will I get back if I send the plug back. I like the plug, but not the app!!! I find the app to be lousy in a word. The plug looks fine. I will probably get it to do what I want, but it could have been WAY more user friendly. If I change my mind, I will update this review. I like the plug, it is nicely made. I cant yet say much good about the app. It is confusing at best. Likewise, the locking up is concerning if that happens w regularity. The app seems better on my iPhone than my iPad. Id perhaps call this 2 stars because of the plug. THE BIG ISSUE is the instructions are NOT helpful AT ALL. I FINALLY got it working, and today...it seems fine. I DO LIKE the plug, and I could sit down and write FAR better instructions. Such were pitiful. But for that Id rate a 4. SINCE MY FIRST PURCHASE I HAVE BOUGHT 2 MORE OF THE PLUGS...and the TP-LINK Smart Plug, which I had an electrician wire. Once having figured out where the App was and how to use it, I like the plugs and the switch.

This review is for an item I just received. The setup is straightforward, TP-Link include a small card that takes you through the basics of setting up the switch on your home network. It took a lot longer to move the couch and physically install the switch than it did to do the network setup. To setup the device you do need a smart phone or tablet to instal the KASA app. Not sure why they call it KASA. The KASA app searches for devices and runs through the setup onto your WIFi. I checked for new Firmware using the KASA app but it the unit I received was up to date. Wemo devices need updating frequently, maybe TP-Link have simply got this right. Alexa integration worked first time without issues and has been solid since. TP-Link instructions on the web have you use the Alexa app on your phone to detect the devices, you can in fact do this by voice command by saying, Alexa, discover devices, wish the instructions had incuded the voice command. I attached two living room lamps to this one smart switch and it works fine. Using a smart switch without the need for a hub is a much simpler and cheaper way to control lamps than getting smart bulbs plus a hub. I was successful in controlling the switch away from home using my phone, but I found it doesnt work consistently like it does when at home. Id occasionally get a could not connect message. Waiting 10 seconds or so resolved the issue. It is possible to establish scheduled on/off events for each of your switches at different times of day and days of the week. It has an away Mode but this was kinda useless. You can say you will be away from 9am to 6pm for instance and schedules are modified, however much more useful would be an away mode over multiple days for when you are away on vacation. I was surprised that managing your switches cannot be done on the web. The Phone app works fine, but the limited screen size limits how much they can get on the scree at once. Id like the ability to manage the switch(s) from a web page. The Amazon Echo has both app and web page control, TP-Link need to do the same.

I bought one and liked it so much, I went out and bought several more. It was equally easy to set up either using the included Kasa app, which was very intuitive and great for easy scheduling and simply turning on and off. But I really purchased it for the Amazon Echo integration and this was seamless. I admit, I couldnt get it to work at first so I called TP LInk customer support which was excellent and they lead me through the problem very quickly. When I bought more, I again couldnt remember and this time I called Amazon Echo customer support. They too were able to quickly help. Both times the problem was that I forgot to check off that I wanted remote access enabled. I use these on several devices but mainly for my AC units. I didnt think it would work since they are all digital but they do - The AC units (which are all 5 years old and from several different makers including both off-brands and major brand names) are designed to recognize when the power has been cut and will turn back on once the power has been restored, making these smart plugs ideal to use for scheduling purposes. The only con is that they take up both sockets which is problematic. Even on most power strips. The solution for myself was to buy a 10 pack of these short extension cords which were on sale for $13.99 and were great for these and many other devices that take up too much room on a power strip: https://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Extension-Listed-Upgraded-Version/dp/B00CEJW0WQ

The short version.....these work great and these should be your choice in Smart Plugs. Longer Version: When I started out with the home automation stuff, after purchasing an Echo, my first purchases were the Wemo plugs......that was a mistake. I have written a review on those and they have only gotten worse since I wrote it, due to Wemo updates which have only served to make both the plugs and App less usable. As far as the TP-Link plugs (and I have also purchased and installed TP-Link Switches), these work great and, while the App could be a little more user friendly, thus only 4 Stars, they so far out-distance the Wemo stuff that the decision on which to buy is, in my opinion, a no-brainer. The set-up process is, I guess, standard for these types of devices, but it worked flawlessly with each of the 4 plugs and 5 switches I have purchased. They are reliable and I have had absolutely no issues with them as far as function and reliability. As I said, the App is a bit clunky and could be more usable, but it is not THAT bad and, again, completely blows away Wemos in functionality. They also all work flawlessly with my Amazon Echo with minimal delay. As a matter of fact, I have made the decision to replace the 3 original Wemo plugs I bought with TP-Link plugs because the Wemos have become unusable in 80% of their function and completely unusable for a lot of uses for which I purchased them. I apologize if this seems more like a comparison report, but I figure that if you are reading the reviews, you are trying to decide which Smart Plug brand to purchase. TP-Links would be my very clear recommendation.

These things are awesome! I tend to not review as much anymore because...well...it is a time suck and priorities have doing other things. But in this case I feel compelled as I noticed the most helpful critical reviews had scared off a few would be purchases in describing issues when using high wattage. In my home I generally have lamp lighting and these things allow me to will lights on with must my voice (Echo Required) or the Kasa app manually or via the schedule. I also have gone a little overboard with Echos and Dots that allow me to speak just about anywhere and turn up the heat or have lights on and off. I am in the tech business, so this is the kind of thing that happens... But I just want to let people know that I have had no issues at all with these things...well...occasionally Alexa needs to be told twice to turn something on or off...but that is very much the exception. And my experience is with over 17 of these units...I did take advantage of the holiday pricing to ramp up...lol. With regard to wireless connectivity...I use this with my drive lights where the outlet is some 50 ft or so from the access point with no issues I had to purchase oversized outlet covers for the drive lights and the xmas lights I installed...but it is totally cool to have them all come on at the same moment via different outlets.. Their form factor could use some improvement, as you have to have a fairly small plug to use on the other outlet...as larger ones will not fit...about the only bone I have to pick. And what is great about these vs. wireless switches is they are mobile and my investment goes with me if I have to move. Cheers.

After reading a lot of reviews, most purchasers have this product (HS100 TP-Link Smart Plug) interface with other voice command devices. I purchased for a specific purpose. I have two separate controllers for outdoor landscape lights. Due to the configuration of my home and outside, I have two separate sets and the units that control them are located inside (garage and the basement). Therefore, the HS100 would not be exposed to outside. When I bought the two controllers I could have had them app controlled but that would have been $200 extra per unit. The units come with a simple pin timer. However, the times are hard to set to come on at the the same time and then the times typically gain or lose time. I started to research the smart plugs to see if I can use those rather than the timers. I put the smart plugs in the units and they appear to work. I have the lights off during the holidays. I tested them with holiday lights in the house that were on timer and both sets of lights for each timer come on at the same time. The current manual pull pin times have gained about 15 minutes in less than a month. Setup of the plugs - actual it is easy if you follow the directions. Of course, I did not. When I created my account and password, I kept using the new password when it was asking to connect to my wireless network. If you have to call support...good luck. They are oversees (maybe China) and rush to get you off the phone. However, it was my error. Scheduling - again it would have been faster to follow the directions, but you can figure it out. I linked both units to the app and both are set off and on at the same time each day. So far, no issues. For both of these times I have been home. I am going to test what happens when I am not at home for these times and also when my phone is powered off at these times. I will keep you posted. Away - they have a nice feature that lets the time vary when the unit powers on. This is so the connected light is not coming on at the exact same time each evening. I am not sure I will purchase more. I would like them at the holidays as I have lights on 6 different times. It would be nice to have them all on the same cycle and exact time. Not sure it is worth the price to be using them about a month a year.