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

April 3 Update. Seldom do I give up. So, after I wrote this review I: - deleted the Kasa App - reset each of my three Smart Plugs to Factory - power on reset of my iphone (6s) - install Kasa App - set up each smart plug per guided instructions - power on reset my iphone And...yes. The Away function works for all three plugs now! The sunrise/sunset still doesnt but thats a documented item so it is a just a bit of discord in the documentation. I can also say that the Away function actually is working, lights are off and on in a good way. Upping a Star. These plugs come beautifully and wastefully packaged. They are very well made, and as attractive as a largish power plug can be. They do hog up outlet space, you can squeeze a three prong grounded plug into the open outlet, but it is right against the Smart Plugs bottom. The LED indicator lights are a nice, visible green but dont light up an entire room at night, good! Installation is easy, the Kasa app walks you thru the process and it worked fine for all three of the plugs I purchased. For me, there was an uncomfortable amount of time from when the installation was complete until the app came back and said things where ready to use, and the first time I tried to cycle each outlet, no communication. After that, immediate on and offs upon command. So good! Integration with the Amazon Echo is easy, and it works reliably and quickly. I named my Smart Plugs Lamp, Lamp 1, Lamp 2 and Alexa wouldnt cycle the plugs with those names, so I changed the names to simpler ones and it now works perfectly. OK, beyond that. The scheduled times, and the countdown timers work fine and are nice features. However, the Away function only starts on one of the plugs. Two of the plugs wont start Away, rather they say unknown error. I deleted and reinstalled the Kasa app, I reset and reinstalled the plugs, same issue. It seems like the Kasa app wont support multiple Away settings on a single account? Other issue: there are instructions online to set up the Away function from Sunset to Sunrise, which would be a nice feature but it also does not work as the Away feature needs to be in the same day...you cant go dusk to dawn with the random Away function. Overall, a good product. It is newer and TP-Link is a good company, so I expect a few software upgrades and theyll work out the issues Ive found so far. I would like to see TP-Link work with Amazon on Frustration Free eco-friendly packaging, really no reason to have as much plastic and paperboard go into protecting this product.

REVIEW FOR TP-LINK SMART PLUG (HS100) A FEW FRUSTRATING MOMENTS SETTING UP, BUT WORKS GREAT ONE I FIGURED OUT THE APP. USAGE: Replacement for manual Christmas tree timer. It took me a while to set these up, more than I care to admit. However, once I understood how the android app worked, it was OK. I can’t tell you exactly when it clicked how the interface worked. Once the device is found and connected, you click on the device (nothing seems to happen), but there is a “settings icon” that appears in the upper right corner. That is where you go to rename the device, change the icon, set up the stand alone timer schedule. I assumed it was app settings, not device settings. After that realization everything was fine. PRO’s: - Affordable ~ $20 on sale. - Quick to react to commands - Easy to use after learning curve - No problems with Alexa compatibility at all. - Can set up a schedule (from the phone app) that is stored locally in the unit so it does not require a hub to manage the schedule. - No Hub Required. CON’s: - Big (covers both plugs no way around it) - Only supports 2Ghz WiFi (I had to re-enable it on my router just for these plugs) - Does not Dim, but I knew that going in. SIDE NOTE: - After a power outage it does not automatically figure out the state it is supposed to be in. It waits until the next scheduled event. So if the power was out when it was supposed to turn on the lights, and it missed that event, then they just don’t come on until next time. As Christmas wraps up, I plan to repurpose these for use on some table lamps where I just want on/off and not dimming. One thing to keep in mind is that the manual on/off is on the plug so if you put a lamp on a schedule but you want to override the schedule then you need to use an app or Alexa to turn it back on, or climb around the floor to hit the manual switch. So I won’t widely deploy these for every day usage. For my normal house lights I’ll use Lutron. Why 5 stars ? Well in general, they just seem to work as expected and for the price point they do exactly what I wanted. (A modern replacement for an ancient mechanical light timer). Anything else I can get them to do (such as Alexa integration, etc) is just a bonus in my mind. I will also use the random schedule feature when I travel from home.

Sometimes we clearly invest in tech that does NOT make our lives easier. Im in the 1% demo for tech savvy - in short 2 comp sci degrees, Crestron Smart Home - 1 full GHz broadband - you get the picture. If your home has more than (1) SSID - i.e. guest network or any private networks for anything from a NAS, Print Server, Airplay - and so on - this may not be the right choice. 1st only 2.4ghz - know that up front. So if youre using a 5 ghz network solely (or as much as possible) - no dice. Plus what do you get with a device that is typically place very low on the wall and has the most picky reception ever - connectivity issues. If I spent one more minute configuring or reconfiguring these plugs - I will throw them in the lake! Not saying only 2.4ghz is a new thing - many devices such as smart thermostats and more will only use it due to range - 2.4 flat out goes through walls better - I get it! But many of us have dual band (or beyond) routers right - so if sitting here wasting time on a Friday Night messing with these plugs is not your idea of fun - skip this one! Oh wait instead of getting up to turn something off I will jump from my preferred iPhone Network (5ghz) cause its f a s t e r - and skip over to the 2.4ghz and to make sitting on my butt for 4 minutes monkeying around with these plugs my preference over getting up! One solution is to find the brand of old school A/C on and off plug adapters here on Amazon (best seller starting with E) with the simple white remote with number 1-5. Guess what when you kill power to them - #1 they kill the nominal drain to your appliance super well and #2 I read they had a 100 line of sight range.... But it wasnt until I purchased it that I realized they are low cost RF Remotes. That means radio-frequency - or dont have to point like a sharpshooter or worry if the plug adapter is low on your wall or behind a piece of furniture - imagine that! Basically if you are in the largest room (and beyond) of your home and the plug is hidden - no problem! Further the plugs (bought the 5 plug adapter kit for $29 here - yes (5) of them for the cost of one TP-Link - and some person whose actually done customer service actually printed numbers 1-5 on them and the small convenient remote (they gave 2 with purchase) has one vertical row 1-5 for ON and beside it one vertical row of OFF numbered 1-5. No configuring - no jumping wifi networks - and no muttering four letter words to yourself because youre gonna have to sit through the TP-Link app wizard or find your phone to reconfigure these. If youve read this far - Im amazed - so for you - YES they are Amazon Echo Compatible - oh joy! got me with that too - in for three of them for about $100. So when youre sitting there repeating the name of the device to Echo or you hear it tell you one more time that I cant find the device wrong name that Echo reiterates like it need to spell or have Ivy League Phonetics on Adams Network or Sorry Im having trouble right now, what is the name of the device youre looking for - and ps - Echo was still at volume 8 - because its best as your alarm clock - or youre scrambling for another remote so Echo can understand you which interrupts your game or movie. Ugggggh - honestly Im writing this narrative to save you the pain of spending your money to have these oversized disasters not work consistently or easily. PS - its not joy to maybe find a 2nd plug that can squeeze to the point of breaking something just to share a 2-outlet space for this near baseball sized adapter. If its not ungrounded (2-prong) or takes any liberties deviating from the smallest footprint possible - this big guy is the only thing that your 2-outlet space is gonna host! Ive wasted 15 minute chunks regularly over a few months before I spent $29 bucks for the 5 adapter E-brand with 100 radio frequency remote with zero programming, zero wifi and zero BS....... I submit this knowing I sound like a serious hater - but I know that some Amazonions will thank me!

OK, my error in not reading the reviews before I ordered this. I needed another DOT and fell the the promotion to purchase a smart plug at the same time for $35. Since the Dot is $30, the plug was only $5 so I thought I would give it a try. Bad move. If you are thinking on purchasing any TP LInk product check out their forums page first and you will see frustrated people trying to get this thing to work on their network. Since I cant post the forum link directly, try searching for tp-link forum and you should find it. Ive tried restarting the setup process several times, clearing things, changing settings, etc. and nothing seems to make this plug work on my network. You must enable remote control for the device in order for Alexa to recognize the plug. The problem is, I cannot turn on the remote control setting. The app keeps telling me the plug has no internet connection. The problem seems to be getting the smart plug to work with my router. I see several messages about people buying a new router to get this plug to work properly. Then I see instructions for fooling around with router settings etc. etc. etc. Im not about to purchase a new router because this device cannot work properly with the one I have (only a couple of years old). Ill probably not return this as it does work with the phone app, but that is not what I wanted (I wanted it to work with Alexa). At this point I am completely turned off on these smart plugs. Ill do some searching to see if there are other devices that work properly, but you would think that something that is marketed by Amazon as working with Alexa would actually work but I guess not. UPDATE OK, I opened the package at 11 am this morning. It is now 7:45 pm and I just got this device to work with Alexa. I figure I have spent at least 5 hours searching for the solution, which I found on the forum website. Maybe you will have better luck with the setup of this so-called smart plug but dont count on it. The problem is definitely related to the router that is in use. If you have the wrong one, then you are going to have problems. Because of the setup issues I still leave the rating as 1 star. UPDATE 2 days later OK, I would now give this device minus 5 stars as it stopped working with Alexa today and back to the old problem. No new equipment installed, I havent changed any settings on Alexa, Router or the device. It just decided to give up on its own. UPDATE 12 days later I pretty much gave up getting Alexa to control this device. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didnt. The problem is, Alexa would frequently not tell you if it was successful or not when asking to turn off the plug. I wanted the plug to control my stereo so I wouldnt have to turn it off manually. It got to the point where I had to go check to see if it turned off. Now, what good is that? As I stated before, it works fine with my phone but having Alexa CONSISTENTLY control this device is impossible as it keeps loosing its integration with Alexa. I did receive a nice email from Amazon with suggestions on how to set it up. Of course, I have already gone through those procedures too many times to bother trying them again. These devices remind me of the bad old days when trying to setup a PC. Seems that companies continue to make the same errors over and over again.

I was very impressed with this product. I have written very few reviews of products but I felt compelled to relate my experience. Setup was incredibly easy. Download the app, go through the very simple instructions there. 15 minutes after opening the box it was working perfectly. I used the timer feature several times and it worked great. I have it set to turn on every weeknight at the same time, and so far (last night), that worked as well. I love that it stores all schedules, network information, and away mode setup directly on the device, so even if the app is not running, or you even move the plug to a different outlet, all your settings will be maintained. Away mode lets you set up certain times (including the possibility of sunset to sunrise or vice versa) where the plug will turn on and off randomly, so if a light (or TV) is attached to the plug and it is visible from a window, it will look like someone is home. Havent used this yet, but it looks like a great feature. I just set this up yesterday, so I dont have a lot of experience with it yet, but so far it has worked perfectly. The only downsides I have found so far, is that the plug is a little bulky, although its not really a problem (If you have it plugged into the top plug in a normal 2 plug outlet, it wont block the bottom plug). Also, if you are trying to trigger the plug from the app while you are not on the same network as the plug, it might take as long as 10 seconds the very first time. Every subsequent press of the power button will be nearly instantaneous. If you are connected to the same network, there are no delays.

As with nearly every Amazon purchase Ive made, this arrived timely. I was able to install the Kasa app on my Samsung Galaxy S5 without any trouble, but activating the plug wasnt frustration-free. Following the instructions on my Samsung, I was able to complete all but the last installation step. After three unsuccessful attempts to connect the plug, I contacted customer service. The recording assured me I was number one in line for a representative but I still waited a few moments for someone to speak with me. I clearly explained my difficulty (unable to connect to Wi-Fi) and the steps Id taken. The rep asked me to reset the plug, and then I was met with silence. After six minutes, I disconnected and called back (hallelujah! I was number one in line again!), and repeated what had happened on my first call. The rep dug through some instruction sheets, had me repeat the same steps for the fourth time, then said that my best option was to return the plug for a replacement. I persisted on my own and found a tip: link the smart plug while its in an outlet near your Wi-Fi router, then move it to your desired location. I did that, and voila! installation complete. Next step: go into the Alexa app, select Smart Home and then your device links and enable the plug. No problems there, either. Absolutely yes, it works with the Echo device. So why four stars and not five? First, customer service was not helpful. I easily found the tip that resulted in success, it seems that customer service could have done the same instead of suggesting I exchange the plug. And second, regardless of the March 10 comment from Kasa (see Earthlings review), the smart plug DOES block the second outlet. As much as Id enjoy having the majority of my electrical devices on a smart plug, I dont like the idea of blocking two outlets with one device.

I have several of the HS100, with the oldest now having been in use for over 14 months. They work well with my Amazon Echo units, although there are the occasional hiccups, the most frequent I expect are on the Amazon side. In order of frequency, the most common problem is telling the Echo to turn on or off a switch, and it responds with OK, but the switch doesnt take the appropriate action. Given my experience with the Echo and a couple of other smart devices, it seems the Echo simply sends the command without confirming it was received at the other end. As the app for the product gives clear feedback on the status of a switch, it is clear this should be possible, but either the Alexa API doesnt implement such a function or 3 different vendors have chosen not to utilize it. A less frequent, but perhaps more annoying problem Ive encountered lately is that when going from the living room the the bathroom, I tell my Echo, turn on bathroom (which is using a TP-Link wall switch) followed by turn off lamp as I approach the bathroom. For some reason it sometimes turns off the bathroom instead of the lamp in the living room, despite lamp and bathroom not sounding similar. While that issue is clearly on the Amazon Alexa side, it bears mentioned, as many buyers of this product will be using it with an Echo. The least frequent issue is the dreaded TP-Link is not responding. Thankfully, this happens rarely, although Ive noticed the single HS110 seems to be more prone to it than the other units, despite being only 8 feet from my router. I suspect that unit might have a defect, however, as it also sometimes has an issue with a device Ive just turned off coming back on (and sometimes then switching back off again after a bit, and sometimes repeating the cycle for a while). Although I have limited experience with it, the app seems to be quite reliable for control. As noted earlier, it gives feedback as to the current status of a switch. I also confirmed that unlike some apps (like the one for a couple of Voltson smart switches sold on Amazon by Etekcity), the Kasa app for the TP-Link switches works even without an internet connection. If you have an outlet in a location that is inconvenient to access, this benefit is not to be underestimated. On the matter of accessing the outlet, that highlights one of the benefits of the TP-Link vs. many other smart outlets: The manual switch is easy to see and access. In comparison to the other type smart switch I use (mentioned in the previous paragraph) which has a small unlighted button the same color as the body of the switch and located below the plug, the TP-Links lighted switch placed above is easy to find even in the dark and easy to access. The biggest downside of the TP-Link is its size. In standard outlet, even when placed in the upper socket, plugging anything into the lower one is problematic. I found I could plug in some standard plugs, but only if I pulled the TP-Link out at least slightly while doing so, and again while removing the plug. (The TP-Link could be fully plugged in while the plug was in place). I strongly suggest anyone using a TP-Link HS100 or HS110 consider investing in either of these outlet expanders:

* 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.

Arrived well packaged. took about 10 min from the time packaged was received until Alexa was turning my light on and off :) Downloaded the app simple enough..created an account with email and password. Plugged in the smart plug, app found it, left the app, let phone connect to the plug under wifi settings, back into app and added my wifi password, plugged in lamp, added device in the alexa app...and that was it, unbelievably easy to do. currently I am using Alexa on my fireTV..the echo doesnt arrive until next week. its all the same cloud so I am sure it will be no different. I highly recommend this product as I will be buying more here in the future..Only reason I dont have a houseful right now, is that the wife limits what I can spend on my techy stuff...ha ha ha Only thing that remains to be seen is longevity of the plug, but for now..well done TP-link.. its easy and it works! UPDATE: liked the first one so much ordered and received a 2nd one. Setup was even quicker.. Unbox, plug in, open kasa app, finds device, exit app, connect to device in wifi settings on phone. Go back into app, device ready to use. Go into Alexa app, discover new device, add device to the group I previously created and done! Whole process took 5-7 minutes. Alexa can now turn on/off both bedroom lamps or just one lamp at a time. I can also use the kasa app if I wish. NOTE: so it does and does not cover both plugs in a standard socket. A 2 prong (non grounded) plug will work but a 3 prong (grounded) plug will not fit in the same receptacle as this device.

This is my second Wi-Fi plug (the other one is an Insignia) and found that this one was even easier and faster to set up. I got my husband a coffee/espresso/cappuccino machine for Christmas and decided to hook up that bad boy to this plug. The machine needs a couple minutes to switch on and heat up and now we can do it from the comfort of our own bed. Plus, we sometimes forget to turn it off and could turn it off via the app from the car. It took less than 10 minutes to set up with both Google Home and Alexa. We live in a small enough home, so one assistant would be able hear us from a nearby room but fix this problem by using both. Now, we can simply say Hey Google, turn on the coffee machine or Alexa, turn on the coffee machine depending on where we are in the house. One thing I wasnt too fond of is that its quite bulky, so make sure to plug in the top outlet so that you dont lose one. Since ours isnt covered by furniture and plugged in above our kitchen counter, its pretty much guaranteed to be seen by everyone due to its size. What I like: Set up was a breeze with both Google Home and Alexa. What I dont like: Its big and bulky.