[tbot] [DENX] [Knowledge sharing] Power strip IP device

[Wolfgang Denk]

Dear Lukasz,

In message <20190207082231.5a205ae3 at jawa> you wrote:
>
> Recently I was forced to poke around for a good quality power strip
> device (my previous one is EOL).
>
> The one, which I've found (and tested):
>
> NETIO 4ALL:
> https://www.antratek.com/netio4all-remote-controlled-power-sockets-with-metering?___SID=U

Hm.... more than 300€ for just for sockets is pretty expensive, I
think.

I've been playing around with these things for more than 25 years,
and I never understood why such solutions have to be so expensive.
I've always targeted for less expensive stuff...

I'm in the process of setting up the VLAB in Happurg, and there I
finally want to get rid of the old radio controlled switches.  What
I'm using now is WiFi controlled devices like the 

	"Wifi Stecker Schuko" [1]

which you can buy at OBI for just 10€.  You don't want to run it
with the original firmware which uses some Chinese cloud server, but
it is trivial to flash the free Tasmota [2] firmware, so you can use
for example MQTT (with encryption) to control the devices.

I know that some of you (hey Marek :-) ) categorically object to the
idea of controlling infrastructure over WiFi, but it gives you
really nice flexibility and it scales much better than any other
solution I had before,

Looking at the internals you will find that the deevice is based on
the ESP8266 controller, which is also used in a zillion other
devices, especially the devices of the "Sonoff" family.  And all
these run the Tasmota firmware as well.

So if you need to address another area of remote controling devices
(like remote operation of reset button or boot mode jumpers etc.) 
you can for example use a Sonoff 4CH Pro R2 mit Tasmota firmware
which gets you 4 relays you can operate over wifi for just 14€.


What I really like with this system is:

- The devices are much cheaper than any alternatives.
- You can start with minimal size and grow as you go.
- The system scales well - it does not matter if you have 10 or 50
  devices in the network.
- It integrates different functions (sockets, relays, sensors) in one
  system using standard protocols, so you can add any fancy user
  interface you like.
- It is not limited to one room, not even to one location.  Assuming
  you have proper connectivity (say by VPN), you can control devices
  at several locations using one system.

I really think such an approach is much more interesting than any
specific individual devices you can buy.


Disclaimer: in the VLAB setup in Happurg I'm still experimenting,
using the (insecure) web interface.  I didn't succeed yet in
controlling the devices using MQTT (with encryption), but this is
only due to lack of time and my own incompetence. [Any help with
that welcome! :-) ]



[1] https://www.obi.de/hausfunksteuerung/wifi-stecker-schuko-weiss/p/4077806
[2] https://github.com/arendst/Sonoff-Tasmota
[3] https://www.banggood.com/de/SONOFF-4CH-R2-4-Channel-10A-2200W-2_4Ghz-Smart-Home-WIFI-Wireless-Switch-APP-Remote-Control-p-1254823.html?gmcCountry=DE&currency=EUR&createTmp=1&utm_source=googleshopping&utm_medium=cpc_bgs&utm_content=frank&utm_campaign=pla-mix-de-pc-0124&ad_id=327381820946&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-JnFr5ap4AIVyuF3Ch1yRQl9EAQYAiABEgI7AfD_BwE&cur_warehouse=CN

Best regards,

Wolfgang Denk

-- 
DENX Software Engineering GmbH,      Managing Director: Wolfgang Denk
HRB 165235 Munich, Office: Kirchenstr.5, D-82194 Groebenzell, Germany
Phone: (+49)-8142-66989-10 Fax: (+49)-8142-66989-80 Email: wd at denx.de
F u cn rd ths u cnt spl wrth a dm!