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TP-Link Bulbs Acting Up


Time2Jet

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For whatever reason, all of the TP-Link Bulbs on my system are flakey. Not sure if this is driver related considering they work perfectly fine from the Kasa App or Alexa. I’m using Alan’s driver (guessing it’s current) and am on OS3.1

 

When I attempt to turn the bulbs off or on, they typically blink on the first attempt, but typically respond properly by the third press.

 

Thanks in advance for the input. I replaced a bunch of Hue bulbs because of connectivity, nothing to do with C4. I remember those working really nicely with C4. Just had a heck of a time getting them to stay connected because of the layout of my home and location of the bridge.

 

 

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Most likely cause is connectivity issues between Control4 and the bulbs.

having said that blinking is weird so might mean it is working but you have some sort of weird programming that is causing non desirable behaviour.

get your dealer to submit a ticket to driverCentral for assistance.

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Thank you@alanchow

I guess blinking is not what I am saying. For instance, if I use an SR260 or the C4 app to turn off, they’ll flash off once, but stay on. The state icon on the SR or C4 APP stays at “on” as well, until
They finally respond. This applies to all, but more so certain ones. After 2-4 attempts, they eventually stay off. They respond perfectly to Alexa and the actual Kasa app. The driver is set up properly for each bulb incident.




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18 minutes ago, time2jet said:

Thank you@alanchow

I guess blinking is not what I am saying. For instance, if I use an SR260 or the C4 app to turn off, they’ll flash off once, but stay on. The state icon on the SR or C4 APP stays at “on” as well, until
They finally respond. This applies to all, but more so certain ones. After 2-4 attempts, they eventually stay off. They respond perfectly to Alexa and the actual Kasa app. The driver is set up properly for each bulb incident.




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Sounds like some sort of intermittent network problem between the controller and the bulbs.

Can only speculate as its hard to troubleshoot without access to your system and without working with your dealer.

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  • 4 weeks later...

So, I have to say... I didn’t get the answer I was hoping for, but the Chowmain tech support was very responsive. Excellent, in fact. .

So here’s what I learned ...The SR remotes send a “toggle” command only. Not an “off” or “on”. I’m told the Hue bulbs and C4 dimmers work the same as the TP bulbs from the SR remotes. I thought I had Hue bulbs in one of my projects, but maybe not.

I find it hard to believe that I can turn on and off a Caseta switch, dimmer etc, with an SR remote, but have to resort to the keypad “0” to turn off a bulb. Just seemed much more intuitive before. Not sure why I feel like I used to be able to turn off and on a bulb from the SR menu using solely “select”.





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So all

...are there any bulb solutions or drivers that will not only show their state (on or off) on an SR remote, but also turn off and on with a standard highlight and “select”?

I am now thinking about maybe using Caseta outlets (guessing these would work) with dumb dimmable bulbs in lieu of smart bulbs). But then I’d not be able to control anything via C4 with a device ID over 50. (Current C4 Caseta driver device ID limit.... PS - will this ever get updated by C4?).




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  • 2 weeks later...

I’m just miffed that you cannot turn a TP-Link bulb “on” or “off” intuitively (in the lighting menu) via an SR remote (without pressing a number key), but that’s apparently the state of the driver. Not criticizing the driver, just thought differently. I actually really thought Hue was different, but Alan says all bulbs are the same. What about using TP mini plugs instead of bulbs? I don’t care about dimming or colors just care that the plug shows up in a lighting menu and turns things off or on via the SR remotes. I don’t want to buy them and find out I can only control via apps.

I need this to be simple and controllable via SR’s for now.


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I guess I don't understand what you're trying to do.  I don't have TP-Link bulbs, but I do have TP-Link smart plugs.

I have a few lights (Christmas tree, dumb lamps) plugged into them.  I am able to use "Select" on my SR260 to turn them on and off (the icon on the SR260 gives me feedback as well) through the Lighting menu.

To make this work, you will need to use the Chowmain Outlet Light driver which is included with the other TP-Link drivers.

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I guess I don't understand what you're trying to do.  I don't have TP-Link bulbs, but I do have TP-Link smart plugs.
I have a few lights (Christmas tree, dumb lamps) plugged into them.  I am able to use "Select" on my SR260 to turn them on and off (the icon on the SR260 gives me feedback as well) through the Lighting menu.
To make this work, you will need to use the Chowmain Outlet Light driver which is included with the other TP-Link drivers.

@LollerAgent

Right now I’m using approx 10 TP-Link Colored Bulbs. Apparently, I finally found that they cannot be simply turned “on” or “off” via the Lighting menu, (albeit the menu shows state). The button press instead “toggles”, which makes zero sense. In order to turn a bulb off or on, you’d have to press “0” for off, or numbers 1-9 to turn it on at a certain brightness. This isn’t a programming error and there apparently isn’t a way to simply send the off or on commands directly via the Lighting menu. Alan said this is how all bulbs function and that the solution would have to come through C4. But I was sure my Hues would work the way I am trying to use bulbs (I could be mistaken).

As a workaround, I was thinking of using plugs. They certainly are on or off. I don’t really care about brightness or color. I’d just use LED bulbs.

My whole point to this is that I always want a guest to be able to intuitively operate the everyday home devices (A/V, lighting, HVAC, Door Locks) very simply via a remote. Normally, a guest doesn’t have the C4 app or individual device apps.


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I have two outlets and they both work by selecting them in the interface and pressing select to toggle on and off. I think your problem is due to the color portion

@msgreenf

Mitch, a bit off topic, but you say “toggle” and I haven’t tried this yet so I figured I’d ask.

I have a little 27” 720p TV (LG) in my kitchen. My daughter doesn’t realize there’s an “Off” button, so sometimes she’ll go out to the kitchen late night for a drink or snack and watch 5 minutes of TV, but of course, leave it on.

I have some TP-Link Minis. If I turn the set off via the Mini, then the next person cannot turn the set back on without powering on the Mini. I could just program a toggle? This way it would turn off the TV (I think), but leave the Mini energized?


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I’m giving this one last shot. The Bulbs as mentioned by design only “toggle” with normal SR Remote button presses. They won’t turn off or on, just toggle.

I’m looking for a workaround. I think ALS would work, but it’s clumsy on the SR remote layout (it’d all be in the scenes sub-menu). Anyone have any ideas?

Haha... my bet is that you all think I’m being petty, but it’s 100% not intuitive the way it’s designed. The bulbs show up in the SR Remote lighting just fine and show the bulb state just fine, but won’t turn off and on with a simple press of the select button.


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[mention=129290]msgreenf[/mention]

Mitch, a bit off topic, but you say “toggle” and I haven’t tried this yet so I figured I’d ask.

I have a little 27” 720p TV (LG) in my kitchen. My daughter doesn’t realize there’s an “Off” button, so sometimes she’ll go out to the kitchen late night for a drink or snack and watch 5 minutes of TV, but of course, leave it on.

I have some TP-Link Minis. If I turn the set off via the Mini, then the next person cannot turn the set back on without powering on the Mini. I could just program a toggle? This way it would turn off the TV (I think), but leave the Mini energized?


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I guess but that is gonna get confusing
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9 hours ago, time2jet said:

I’m giving this one last shot. The Bulbs as mentioned by design only “toggle” with normal SR Remote button presses. They won’t turn off or on, just toggle.

I’m looking for a workaround. I think ALS would work, but it’s clumsy on the SR remote layout (it’d all be in the scenes sub-menu). Anyone have any ideas?

Haha... my bet is that you all think I’m being petty, but it’s 100% not intuitive the way it’s designed. The bulbs show up in the SR Remote lighting just fine and show the bulb state just fine, but won’t turn off and on with a simple press of the select button.


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So does it boil down to the fact that the bulbs don’t have a “toggle” command? 
 

Why not just get a C4 dimmer and have what you want?

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3 hours ago, ILoveC4 said:

So does it boil down to the fact that the bulbs don’t have a “toggle” command? 

The bulbs do have a toggle command.  But... on an SR remote, they show up under lighting and although they do indicate the correct state,  if you highlight one and press select like any other item on the menu, they toggle off ....then back on...  they don't just turn off or on.  You have to go to the keypad and press "0" to turn them off or 1-9 to turn on (to that level of brightness).  I don't like it.  As is always apparent in my posts, I like intuitive interfaces.  I like a guest to be able to figure out how to turn on and off a lamp.  If I remember correctly,  you use Hue in your project? (I could be off), do you have that same issue?  Alan says all bulbs work that way.  I thought when I had Hue I could just scroll, select and press.

Why not just get a C4 dimmer and have what you want? -

I assume you mean an outlet That's my thought at this point.

 

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