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

Weve been using this with the Amazon Echo for our living room lights for about a month now. We also have a Wink Hub for lights in the bedrooms. Prior to that we had a Belkin Wemo Starter Kit. We have very basic needs and currently dont do anything sophisticated (e.g., IFTTT). Sometimes we joke that we should have gotten The Clapper instead. The TP-LINK HS100 was relatively inexpensive and was compatible with the Echo. Id also purchased some TP-LINK networking products in the past and had good experiences with the brand. I found the Smart Plug very easy to set up -- it took only one try (about 10 minutes). Once I found the instructions to get it connected to the Echo that was easy too. I had assumed it was going to connect to the Echo in the same way as the Wink Hub, but I was wrong. See Amazons product Q&A or Google for instructions as its not obvious how to do it. I think I spent many hours trying to set up the Wemo on my wi-fi and connected to the light bulbs. It alternated between working and not-working over several weeks and finally completely died. Setting up the TP-LINK was wonderfully smooth in comparison. And we have had no problems with it at all. I found that the Wink Hub didnt have enough range to get to the living room so I needed a plug that wasnt dependent on the Wink. I could have opted for the Wemo Switch which is more integrated with Amazon Echo but is more expensive than the TP-LINK. I also swore I wouldnt get another Wemo product after all the time I wasted with the first one. Initially I was very annoyed by having to say Alexa ask Kasa to turn on lights especially since were used to Alexa turn off lights with the Wink Hub. But weve gotten used to it. We probably turn the lights in the living room on and off only once or twice a day.

The Body: Its 2019 and this plug cannot be used in a wall outlet with other plugs. The bottom of the device is rounded to give a sleek, aesthetic look but prevents any use of the outlet below it. I dont understand why its 2019 and we still have cable/cord manufacturers who cannot design a product or adapter that doesnt hinder the user of adjacent plugs. This device can only be used in one orientation, meaning on a standard US plug, with two outlets, you have to use the top one and because of the extended bottom, you cannot use the second outlet. Wifi: So far, the connection seems alright but the setup in the app required the first plug to update firmware. After waiting, it failed to update. When I found the place to try it again, the device no longer needed a firmware update. I have no idea if the update passed but didnt send the right code for the app to confirm it installed, or what. I guess well never know. Kasa App: During the setup process, youre asked to create an account. It also asks for your location so it can sync the time. You can skip it at that point but you are REQUIRED to enable location services in the app to add a device, with no option to skip. I also dont trust the reason provided for needing the permission as you could allow manual timezone additions. I might return the product just for this fact as theres no reason an app on my device needs location services turned on for a smart plug that wont be moving. If you truly needed the location for time settings then you would let us manually enter the timezone. Conclusion: I have no idea why this has the star count it does. I was frustrated by the design, frustrated by the app, and frustrated by the permissions. I wish electrical cable manufacturers would care about their customers enough to design their products in a way that doesnt prevent the use of adjacent outlets. Either you dont want to or you simply dont care. Based on the design of this product, I can see no reason the bottom of the device had to be the way it is but I guess Ill break out the Dremel and shave off the bottom of the outlet (if I can) so I am not out two different outlets.

Update 03.27.17 From 5 stars to 1 star and now at 4stars. After the fix provided by Customer Service all seems well but time will tell. The Fix: You can download the upgrade tool here: http://static.tp-link.com/iotUpgradeTool_V1.0.zip Please note the upgrade tool is currently compatible with Windows systems only, and the computer must be on the same network as the smart device(s). After downloading the tool, extract the compressed folder using a decompression utility such as 7zip or WinRAR, and run the main executable file. Please allow firewall access if prompted by Windows. Once the program is open, click Scan, then select the smart device you want to update, and click Upgrade. If you have more than one smart device that needs updating, simply repeat these steps for each one. Once the update is completed, your smart device may need to be re-configured. If so, please use the Kasa app to re-configure the smart device. Update 03.20.17 Worst purchase ever from Tp-Link besides the new smart bulls. They are both horrible if you lose service for more than a few hours. I had to have my modem/router replaced and once all was said and done all of my original smart plugs were back online and communicating with Echo. However, after several resets, following Tp-Links instructions, my three (3) smart bulbs and my one (1) mini smart plug are still not responsive. Well, not entirely true, they are responsive after the initial reset but if I turn my phone off or leave the house, nothing. Of course they are visible on the app but unreachable. The smaller size of the new smart plugs is great but they are not worth the hassle. If this was a one-time thing maybe but I happened to live in an area that losing power for hours if not days during storms and I can’t see going through this frustration after each incident. For now I am only out a little over $100 and I am thankful this happened now before invested any more money in these products. The convenience of the smaller sized of the mini plugs and the no plug needed bulbs was sop great I naturally wanted more of them. Now, if youre wondering why my others devices worked with my new router instantly, the cable guy replaced the name or something on the new router with the name and password of my old router so I wouldnt have to reset everything. He did mention if I had a hub I would only have to redo the hub but that would still leave all of other devices, i.e. echoes, dot, thermostat, Kuna lights and everything else that runs off Wi-Fi. I know this review has crossed over between the mini plugs and the smart bulbs but since they responded the same way to my outage I thought it appropriate. However, I will be updating my review for the bulbs as well if I left one if not, I will be leaving one. I love these plugs. Set up was easy. I ordered one, then two, and now I am on my third. Having the app is great and the ability to work around my scheduled settings has proven to be a much needed asset. Im sure there may be at least one more in my future, maybe two :). And how could I forget to mention these plugs work with my Echo, even better. My house may be old but she is smart!

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.

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!

Setup for the device is very easy and works on Echo devices. Setup for Echo devices include: 1. Downloading the TP-Link Kasa app on iOS app store or Google Play 2. Create an log in and password on that app 3. Sync the smart plug to the same network as your Amazon Echo. Follow directions on card included to sync: basically just holding down sync button and waiting for it to register. Then name your plug 4. Open Alexa app, go to Smart Home 5. Find and select TP-Link under Smart Home Skills 6. Log in with email and password you created in step 2 7. Go to your devices on Alexa App and find the device you named in step 3 8. After it syncs go to groups and add the device to it. Name the group something simple like lights Now by saying Alexa then lights (or other group name) on or lights off. itll turn the power on the plug on or off. The TP-Link Kasa app you downloaded has nice features also as you can remotely control the plug when away from home either manually or setting a scheduled time. You can also delete the app if you dont want this feature and it will still work on any Amazon Echo device after you have everything setup The smart plug is pretty large and fits well on the top plug of standard double 3 prong wall outlet. If you put it on bottom it will take up two outlet spaces which is not recommended unless you want to cover the top half. You can plug it to an external outlet hub, but know that its a bit wide also and may take up two plugs (unless maybe you plug it on the edge?). If you plan to plug it into an external outlet Id measure the dimensions first before purchase just to be safe. Overall the smart plug works as intended.

I finally pulled the trigger this Prime Day and bought three of these TP Link Wi-Fi switchable plugs while on super sale. One controls two lights in my living room which I have linked to my Amazon Alexa account. A simple Alexa, turn on [off] my lights and it works great. The second plug controls my stereo power, and works great with my Alexa Dot which is connected to my stereo receiver through a mini 3.5mm stereo to RCA plug. Now, I have voice and smartphone control over my stereo, and can play Pandora and other streaming services hands free on my stereo s connected speakers. Great to be able to control song selections and volume (using the Alexa App) for my rear yard speakers while standing in the rear yard. Very impressed with the TP Link switches, and note that when my wireless router goes down, the switches automatically reconnect within a minute or two (sadly, I have yet to get my Echos to automatically reconnect, yet). Only problem I had was setting up the first switch - the new Kasa account I established was not recognized, and there were no clear instructions either that came with the unit, or on their website. Customer service was non-existent - took two days for my emailed help request to be acknowledged. Anyway, eventually I figured out to remove the switch name from the app, and re-installed and renamed it, and the switch worked the second time. Time will tell if these expensive gadgets hold up, but theyre working great so far! Oh, and the App (Kasa) allows one to set up timer-style programs, so my lights come on at 7pm and go off at 1am, unless I ask Alexa to override. You can also activate all your switches remotely using the Kasa App provided you have wifi or cellular access. Great stuff! Time to freak out the babysitter, heh heh!

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.

I liked the fact that the price of this Smart Plug was about $10 cheaper than the other big brand one and seeing as how I really just wanted to plug in 1 floor lamp, I didnt need the fancy energy readings, etc. Does it work as stated? YES! Was it easy to install? Not really. Right out of the box, I downloaded the app, plugged in the Smart Plug and started following the directions. I hit a road block when I got to the part asking for WIFI password which would link the Smart Plug with my WIFI. I entered my password, and received an error message stating the password is not in the correct format for WEP. I am not a super techie person, so this is where I scratched my head and tried the password again. After numerous phone calls with my service provider and then TP-LINK which patched me through to what sounds like an overseas tech support person who ended up just saying the same thing to me password is not in correct format for WEP, I did more research and this is what happened: if you have WEP security on your WIFI, your password has to be either 5 or 13 characters long for this to work. If you have any other number of characters, it will not commute for some reason. My solution was to call my service provider and I had the security changed to WPA2 which did the trick. After it authenticated my password, the app indicated I was Almost Done and stayed on that screen for a good 2 minutes after which it stated it could not find my network. I looked at the Smart Plug and the power indicator is solid green and the WIFI indicator was also solid green - based off of the indicator chart that was provided, this mean the power was on and it was connected with my home WIFI network. I tried to turn on and off the floor lamp connected to the plug and it worked! So basically, the app itself is not the best, but the actual plug works well enough for me. I connected it to my Echo Dot and everything is a go!

I have been using this product after experiencing a lot of difficulty with a competitors product. I started with one basic, over sized switch and was impressed with its ease of setup and use as well as the features for the price. I then added a wall switch (great price for a similarity easy to use and function product), and then a mini switch. The mini was where I had issues, but I think they are easily resolved. More on that in a moment. I also tried the over sized energy monitoring switch and it worked great as well. Easy setup and easy to use, with a basic set of features I would expect for the price. So for the minis. I tried one and had the same 24 hour reset issue several people are noting. I thought maybe it was a bad switch, so I tried two more since I have been automating my home anyway. Same issue. I contacted customer support and they provided me a quick tool to upgrade the firmware. After completing that step (and upgrading my router, which was a separate issue that most will not experience if you only have a couple devices on your network), the issue appears to be resolved. I would recommend that if you have an issue with the switch dropping off the network, get the tool to upgrade the firmware to at least 1.0.0 or higher (all my switches that were working originally were 1.0.0 or higher, all the minis were less than 1.0.0). Now I have no issues. I think if you have more than say 15-20 devices on your network and your relying on the standard cable company modem/router, you may need to look into upgrading. I started having a lot of issues with devices on my network with my cable company provided equipment past about 20 devices (cable company said really 16 is the max), but now that I have upgraded (in addition to the firmware fix), everything is running very smoothly. Four stars because I think this switch should have some sort of energy monitoring for the price, but the ease of use and functionality still makes it worth purchasing. I have purchases several more.