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

I just finished up setting up the TP-Link Smart Plug so that it would control a bright sun simulating lamp in my living room using my Amazon Dot and Alexa to control it by voice. Since the set up is very fresh in my mind I thought Id write a quick review. I will update this review later if I have any problems with the switch. The process is a little bit tedious. First you plug the TP Link Smart plug into an outlet. Then you must go to your android or iOS phone and download the Kasa app. This app is about 30 MB on an android phone. Next you go through a set up procedure which in my case failed the first time because I had entered the wrong Wi-Fi password for my home network which was completely my fault. When I corrected the error the switch connected with my phone. New problem. For some reason the App refused to allow me to set the device for remote control, which is absolutely necessary in order to use Alexa. It kept thinking that I hadnt verified my email, even though I had. Finally, after trying several things unsuccessfully, I logged out of the app, and I logged back in. This fixed the remote control setting problem. Now I was able to go to the Alexa app on my phone, and add the Kasa skill. Next I went to SmartHome section in Alexa app, and ran Discover Devices, and the Alexa app was able to find the TP-Link Switch. I added the Switch to one of my groups, and now Alexa turns on the Daylight light when I say Alexa, Turn on Sunlight. Nice!!! I may end up moving the switch to my coffee maker, so in the morning I can say Alexa, turn on Coffee in order to make coffee. So in conclusion I gave this four stars because I knocked off one star for the slightly tedious set up. Also, if I hadnt logged out and logged back in, Im pretty confident that the App never would have allowed me to set the switch for remote control. This should be better documented. We will see how the switch works over time. Ive owned previous Wemo smart switches which constantly forgot their programming so I am hoping that this one will be stable over time.

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.

Works as intended which is always a good thing. The only negative Ive found is that once you connect it to one device it and decide to use it with something else it does not want to connect with it. That is a problem. If you leave the same device connected all the time it should work great.

* Edit: updated to add extra stars because TP-Link support has been very helpful and I resolved the issue with them Ive had the same exact problem as Tom happen with mine, it consistently drops off the network. See Toms comment on the link below: http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-Amazon-Electronics-Anywhere-HS100/product-reviews/B0178IC734/ref=cm_cr_dp_qt_hist_one?ie=UTF8&filterByStar=one_star&showViewpoints=0 I can watch it on the Kasa app, it will drop off from availability in Kasa something like 70% of the time Im looking at it. Going to try to reinstall the Kasa app like customer support has suggested, but if this doesnt work Id really like to get this working instead of returning it and waiting for another. Here is my situation: - Smart Plug is connected to my 2.4GHz connection. - SSID is hidden but I got Kasa to connect by temporarily showing the network SSID, connecting, then re-hiding the SSID. - This connection is secured by WPA2-AES and is using 802.11 b, g, and n protocols (all of which are supposedly supported by the HS100). - DHCP has more than enough IP address allocation for this device to join the network. - HS100 is plugged in directly below the shelf where the router sits. This means it is about a foot away from the router and rules out any chance that out of range errors are valid. Possible issues: - If any ports need to be opened to allow this traffic through the router, I have not been informed about them (there shouldnt be anyway). - Are the TP-Link servers experiencing connectivity issues on their end? If the plug is unable to reach them because their servers are having problems, that would explain why I keep seeing Local only when I want to use the Remote services. - The app seems to be not quite 100% polished, could there be some flawed logic in it? I did notice a spelling mistake of youre instead of youre, are there other things that need to be fixed in the app? I will continue working with customer support on this, and will change my review if we get it working.

After being a little hesitant about trying home automation things in my house, I decided to buy the amazon echo. It was over from there. I added a few of these smart plugs to the house and they work perfectly. Setup was a breeze. It took less than 5 minutes to be connected to my router and on the home network. It will require you to create a account with TP-Link but these days everything does. The app is simple to use and is designed to work instantaneously when you hit the on and off button. Tons of custom settings if you want to get into timers and other security features. You can keep adding more smart plugs to the same account without any trouble. I wish these smart plugs would shrink in size a little but all in due time. I am glad to see TP-Link is starting to come down in price. Honestly that was the only thing holding me back from more of these guys. Price needs to drop to make a viable option for everything to have a smart plug. After setup and plugged it in and named it and setup it on the app, of course I decided to use it with the Amazon Echo. Discovery on the Alexa app went perfect. It discovered all the smart plugs and that was it. After that using the Echo to control the plugs was as easy as say Alexa turn on family room lights. Works flawlessly, perfectly every time. I wish everything could work perfectly together like these two products. Highly recommended for not on controlling smart plugs with a app but if you have a Echo a must to have.....

UPDATE: back to five stars because these just wirk! i bought some ekticity ones to compare amd i couldnt get them to configure at all! order two more of these same day delivery and they went in like buttah. im happy npw. gave this 3stars because it WAS 5stars, until i had to deal with customer service, which was <1star, to say the least. i got a new router, got it all set up, it wouldnt find my smart plug. followed the instructions, which were just a futile loop, a dozen times, then came here, where it advertises customer support 24/7 with no link where to get it. googled their web page, held a reasonable anount of time, finally connected to a girl who had absolutely no idea what she was doing, and barely spoke english. spent a futile half hour during which i told her what i was doing step by step, instead of the other way around, and finally asked to speak to someone else. there was no one else. supervisor. hold. horrible music. i tried reconnecting a couple more times, nada. then i got the bright idea to set up another, brand new plug which i was planning on doing next, anyway, and voila! it picked up the new router fine. went back to reconfigure that old one and voila! it now picked up the new router fine. she came back on the line to tell me the supervisor was too busy, and i very slowly explained to her what i had done. i have very little confidence that she understood. takeaway: IF YOU WANT TO CHANGE THE ROUTER ON ONE OF THESE PLUGS, YOU FIRST HAVE TO SET UP A WHOLE BRAND NEW ONE. it will then pick up the new router settings and connect to it automaticaly when you go back and re-set up the old one. this has obvious advantages, to them, and very blatant disadvantages to the consumer. i have been buying these one at a time as i convert each room to smart and had planned to buy several more. now i will buy another brand.

UPDATE: 7/11/2016 TP Link tried very hard to help me with the issue. I was in the middle of an interstate move so they had to close the case and I was to get back to them. I have not, because I dont need to. I plugged the switch that was giving me hell in my apartment, into an outlet in the home that Ive moved into and by luck or whatever, identical setup, nothing, and I do mean NOTHING in terms of settings have been changed or altered, and it operates fine. Normally the switch might work fine for a day or 2 and then pull its shenanigans and not work after that for no good reason. This is no longer the case. Ive had it going for about a week now and it hasnt faltered. I dont know if the issue could have been wifi interference (apt had many, many, many wifi signals. In my current home, Im only seeing 3 or so that dont belong to me and theyre very low; could have been power outlet issues though I tried several outlets and I tried moving the plug close to my router as mentioned below). So, sorry! I cant help anyone having the same or similar issues. I checked the firmware and it hasnt update. Really, nothing has changed except the environment in my case. The apartment I moved out of is a couple hundred square feet smaller too, so its not like I moved into a smaller place and this could be somewhat of an explanation. I cant explain it. Anyway, without any fixing, it seems to be working fine. Fair is fair, Im eating crow and retracting my post below. Ive taken a single star off because I had issues in the first place that were out of my control. This means that this just isnt a 5 star product. Not for me. A 5 star product for me works out of the box, thats when I love a product. Since it didnt work in whatever the scenario, it means that this could potentially occur to someone else. If I could take 1/2 of a star, thats what I would have done. Since I cant, Im giving it 4 stars. In the end, I like the product and I believe that you will too as long as it works as it should. _______________________________________________________________________ Just doesnt work for me. Setup is very simple, the product just doesnt seem to stay connected to my WiFi for some reason. For informational purposes, I own a Netgear X6 Scarab router. 2.4 Ghz wifi is rated at 100% in my bedroom, where I have one of the plugs. I also have a Netgear WNDR4000 which I use as well so that I dont saturate the X6s 2.4 Ghz band. Its also rated at 100% in my bedroom. They are on different channels and I have tried both networks to test the switches. The issue occurs on both. The switch only works at 2.4Ghz. Its a real mystery as to why it doesnt stay connected. Initially, I go through the ropes and set it up and it works perfectly for a day or so and then, randomly at some point after that, the light will go red and nothing can connect to it, not the app and not Alexa, obviously. Ill reboot it and it goes right back to red. I have to actually factory reset and set it up again to get it to work. The idea is great and due to good reviews, I purchased 3 of these. My idea was to put 2 in our bedroom, one for me, one for my wife and link them in a group. When she needs her light, she can just tell Alexa. When I need my light same thing. Sometimes when were both scrambling to get ready in the morning, both lights are on, so I or she can say Alexa, turn bedroom lights off and thats that. Our lights are on tall Chesters beside the bed so wed have to get up to switch them on and off otherwise or use remote wired switches. One of the switches is also in the living room so we can turn a light on from the bedroom before we walk out there if one of us wants to chill out for a while, catching up on some TV late night/early morning (generally me). Ive tried moving the switch to within a foot of the router and it does the same thing. Ive tried a Firmware Update, but there arent any currently. Ive tried rebooting my routers though I refuse to blame them. I mean 1. I can understand 1 router, but Ive tried 2 of them; its highly unlikely that 2 of my routers are at some fault especially when 2. No other product on the network has had any issues whatsoever and I have 25 wireless devices on the network. I would love to assign them a static IP but cant. Either way, I monitor my network and its not like theres anything trying to take their IP addresses. Even after they are reset, they get the same addresses again. Suffice it to say, Im at a loss here and disappointed big time. Ill keep them and hope that a firmware update comes that fixes them, but at this point I will neither endorse nor recommend them to anyone. If anything changes, I will definitely be back. +1 for the feature set, +1 for ease of setup, -3 for just not working.

I cant imagine life without this plug. It brings the future and the present together and I live in a world where Benjamin Franklin would be so jealous. I can start off by telling you why I purchase this. The main reasons are because it integrates with Alexa and its smart. Does it work well with Alexa? 95% of the time yes. Is it smart? If I take advantage of the mobile apps capability then yes. This device only works if you can manage to leave the the device you want to plug in always on. For example, leave the switch on for a lamp to be able to control its power with the smart plug. This is a pretty fat plug that is going to cover up two of your regular outlets. One way around this is to purchase a small surge protector and plug this smart plug into one of the surge protectors outlet. This way you can still have a couple of free outlets. Of course after you find an outlet for this smart plug, you also need the mobile application on iOS and Android to set up the plug. Set up is very easy and takes up to a minute. After you finish setting up, prepare for a new beginning to a better life. The plug has an easy to reach button thats fun to click to decide whether to provide power or not to the plug. Its easier to click this button rather than finding the switch on your lamp. Another feature is to be able to turn the power on or off using the mobile app. It only takes a few simple presses to find your smart plug in the app and then click the power button. Theres also a scheduler and a timer to have even more control over the plug using time. The plug can also periodically turn on and off to trick people into thinking youre home. I mean how else are you supposed to sneak away without fooling that crazy friend of yours? I cant talk about the smart plug without talking about its friends, the app and Alexa. The app is very easy to use and designed very nicely. It takes up to a minute to learn where everything is located in the app such as where are the features. And Alexa... She plays well with this plug. Theres a couple of need to know commands and those are turn on device name and turn off device name. Thats it! Easy to use. What do I use it for though? I mostly use it for light control. I have a lamp hooked up to the plug and I dont even bother using my ceiling lights anymore. Thats too much work to get up out of my cozy office chair, walk probably 6 feet, and smack the switch to turn on/off the ceiling lights. Nahhhh this is the 21st century and we need to enjoy it. I use my voice to command my servant if I need light. I use my app to command my servant if I need light. That lamp doesnt own me anymore. I dont go to the lamp and ask it for light. I tell that lamp I want light. I tell it to turn on. I tell it to turn off. This is my house and that lamp works for me! Thats how you use the plug!

I purchased the TP-Link HS100 Smart Plug from Amazon and paid $19.99. This was my first step into home automation and a bit of an experiment to see if it would be helpful to me. Right now, I use the Smart Plug to power on and off a lamp in my bedroom, and I control it with the kasa app on my Android phone and with an Echo Dot. Overall the device works extremely well--both with the kasa app and the Echo Dot. A few miscellaneous notes: * Setting up the Smart Plug to work with my Echo Dot was a little complicated (at least for me), but, once set up, it has worked flawlessly. I will primarily use the Echo Dot to control the Smart Plug but I like having the ability to use the Kasa app when I find that more convenient. * The kasa app is easy to use and has many helpful device management and scheduling features. * The Smart Plug only supports the 2.4GHz WiFi band, and I thought I would have to switch my phone to that frequency. This hasnt been the case. * The maximum power rating is 1.8KW, which is enough to allow me to use it with a moderately-sized Lasko floor heater. Im waiting for the Smart Plug to go on sale again so I can purchase one for this use. Anyways, because of the somewhat complicated setup with my Echo Dot, Ive given the Smart Plug 4 stars rather than 5.

So far being we have only owned these less than a week and the wife and I are liking using these Wi-Fi Plugs. We have one in the master bedroom at the end of the hall and I have a floor lamp in the corner that we are using one plug there. And wow how nice it is to be able to talk to “Alexa” and say Alexa turn on master bedroom lamp from in the living room. And WOW you hear her say Ok, yeah lets you know she’s working for you. It’s sort of dark as we get to the end of the hall and with the floor lamp on it shines just right out into the hall to see good enough in the end of the hall and lights up the bedroom door way for you so you won‘t trip over something by chance. Never though being 61 years old I’d be one to have Alexa and smart Wi-Fi Plugs and Switches which their next on the list of Alexa’s things for an old dog. But I have ordered some more plugs already after less than a week of owning these which aren’t hard to program to Alexa and make your life some what easier, yeah never thought I’d have Alexa but here I am with the wife (60) and we think some thing like this for older people (older than us) can be helpful. There’s not a whole lot more to write about the plugs accept they work with Alexa and are working as they should and we’ll be buying more of these to use though out the house for sure. We see places in the living room, kitchen, laundry room, garage, and like I said I’m looking into switches to install in the house, even my outdoor shed my Wi-Fi reaches far out of the house to my one work shed. So if your on the fence of what are the best Plugs to buy so far I think these are very worthy to look into, priced in line with others and got them with the black Friday deal when buying Alexa thanks to my wife wanting Alexa and the plugs were like a deal with Alexa. Thanks for reading and hope I helped someone tonight. Good Evening !