Just ordered a couple smartplugs to handle the XMas lights. I had
ordered one a couple years ago from the Apple Store. It did not work
well at all. (Not the co. they sell now).

The new ones are from TP-Link - at least a brand I know well and trust.

Also ordered a widget to interface to my garage door opener.
Chamberlain make this weird, alas - we'll see how it goes.

This will find its home (hub) on the Apple TV downstairs.

Anyone have experience to share?

Must have widgets?

--
“Markets can remain irrational longer than your can remain solvent.”
- John Maynard Keynes.

On Dec 12, 2023 at 10:56:55 AM PST, "Alan Browne" <bitbucket@blackhole.com>
wrote:

>
> Just ordered a couple smartplugs to handle the XMas lights. I had
> ordered one a couple years ago from the Apple Store. It did not work
> well at all. (Not the co. they sell now).
>
> The new ones are from TP-Link - at least a brand I know well and trust.
>
> Also ordered a widget to interface to my garage door opener.
> Chamberlain make this weird, alas - we'll see how it goes.
>
> This will find its home (hub) on the Apple TV downstairs.
>
> Anyone have experience to share?
>
> Must have widgets?

I forget the brand I sent back a few years ago. I now have a number tp-link
gizmos around the house mostly connected to with halogen standing lamps or
other non-stock lightbulbs.

For those that take the regular mount I use VOCO bulbs. I really like them
because I can bark out a command "Hey Siri, set the worklamp to 20%. It's
particularly handy at night with the lamp in the living room with the TV. When
the screen is too dark it's nice to dim the room lights.

We set two last xmas for red and green, it was a fun novelty and we turned it
off after a few mintes.

I have another VOCO on the porch, it's set to come out X minutes after dark
and turn on X minutes after sunrise. Around the house various lights turn on
or off at certain times.

And night "Hey Siri, goodnight." It turns off any home pod mini, all lights.

At some level, I suppose it's kinda silly, but turning off everything
everywhere at bedside remains a delight ever day!

On Dec 12, 2023 at 10:56:55 AM PST, "Alan Browne" <bitbucket@blackhole.com>
wrote:

>
> Just ordered a couple smartplugs to handle the XMas lights. I had
> ordered one a couple years ago from the Apple Store. It did not work
> well at all. (Not the co. they sell now).
>
> The new ones are from TP-Link - at least a brand I know well and trust.
>
> Also ordered a widget to interface to my garage door opener.
> Chamberlain make this weird, alas - we'll see how it goes.
>
> This will find its home (hub) on the Apple TV downstairs.
>
> Anyone have experience to share?
>
> Must have widgets?

I sometimes take a nap in late afternoon. It starts my audio of rain falling,
turns off the nearby reading lamp, sets the phone to "do not disturb", and
sets it to turn "do not disturb" to on a 5 pm.

Hmm, technically that's an app, rather than a widget. It's a shortcut that
appears on my phone/ipad's desktop. I sometimes poke it and sometimes summon
it via siri.

On 2023-12-12 17:44, gtr wrote:
> On Dec 12, 2023 at 10:56:55 AM PST, "Alan Browne" <bitbucket@blackhole.com>
> wrote:
>
>>
>> Just ordered a couple smartplugs to handle the XMas lights. I had
>> ordered one a couple years ago from the Apple Store. It did not work
>> well at all. (Not the co. they sell now).
>>
>> The new ones are from TP-Link - at least a brand I know well and trust.
>>
>> Also ordered a widget to interface to my garage door opener.
>> Chamberlain make this weird, alas - we'll see how it goes.
>>
>> This will find its home (hub) on the Apple TV downstairs.
>>
>> Anyone have experience to share?
>>
>> Must have widgets?
>
> I forget the brand I sent back a few years ago. I now have a number tp-link
> gizmos around the house mostly connected to with halogen standing lamps or
> other non-stock lightbulbs.
>
> For those that take the regular mount I use VOCO bulbs. I really like them
> because I can bark out a command "Hey Siri, set the worklamp to 20%. It's
> particularly handy at night with the lamp in the living room with the TV. When
> the screen is too dark it's nice to dim the room lights.
>
> We set two last xmas for red and green, it was a fun novelty and we turned it
> off after a few mintes.
>
> I have another VOCO on the porch, it's set to come out X minutes after dark
> and turn on X minutes after sunrise. Around the house various lights turn on
> or off at certain times.
>
> And night "Hey Siri, goodnight." It turns off any home pod mini, all lights.
>
> At some level, I suppose it's kinda silly, but turning off everything
> everywhere at bedside remains a delight ever day!

Nice summary - I doubt I'll go that far, X-mas lights is about enough
for now. And on the non-homekit side being able to open the garage
door from outside w/o getting into the (locked) car will be handy for us.

Considering a new thermostat for the central furnace but somewhat
expensive and I doubt I'll get any savings v. the ancient programmable
thermostat that I have presently (20 y. old anyway).

Turns out SO's son has an unused Blink doorbell - so I'll see if that
can be used w/o signing onto their web oriented system. No way I'll do
that. Installed their iOS app on my Mac ... wants to set up an account...

--
“Markets can remain irrational longer than your can remain solvent.”
- John Maynard Keynes.

On Dec 12, 2023 at 3:49:47 PM PST, "Alan Browne" <bitbucket@blackhole.com>
wrote:

> On 2023-12-12 17:44, gtr wrote:
>> On Dec 12, 2023 at 10:56:55 AM PST, "Alan Browne" <bitbucket@blackhole.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> Just ordered a couple smartplugs to handle the XMas lights. I had
>>> ordered one a couple years ago from the Apple Store. It did not work
>>> well at all. (Not the co. they sell now).
>>>
>>> The new ones are from TP-Link - at least a brand I know well and trust.
>>>
>>> Also ordered a widget to interface to my garage door opener.
>>> Chamberlain make this weird, alas - we'll see how it goes.
>>>
>>> This will find its home (hub) on the Apple TV downstairs.
>>>
>>> Anyone have experience to share?
>>>
>>> Must have widgets?
>>
>> I forget the brand I sent back a few years ago. I now have a number tp-link
>> gizmos around the house mostly connected to with halogen standing lamps or
>> other non-stock lightbulbs.
>>
>> For those that take the regular mount I use VOCO bulbs. I really like them
>> because I can bark out a command "Hey Siri, set the worklamp to 20%. It's
>> particularly handy at night with the lamp in the living room with the TV. When
>> the screen is too dark it's nice to dim the room lights.
>>
>> We set two last xmas for red and green, it was a fun novelty and we turned it
>> off after a few mintes.
>>
>> I have another VOCO on the porch, it's set to come out X minutes after dark
>> and turn on X minutes after sunrise. Around the house various lights turn on
>> or off at certain times.
>>
>> And night "Hey Siri, goodnight." It turns off any home pod mini, all lights.
>>
>> At some level, I suppose it's kinda silly, but turning off everything
>> everywhere at bedside remains a delight ever day!
>
> Nice summary - I doubt I'll go that far, X-mas lights is about enough
> for now. And on the non-homekit side being able to open the garage
> door from outside w/o getting into the (locked) car will be handy for us.
>
> Considering a new thermostat for the central furnace but somewhat
> expensive and I doubt I'll get any savings v. the ancient programmable
> thermostat that I have presently (20 y. old anyway).
>
> Turns out SO's son has an unused Blink doorbell - so I'll see if that
> can be used w/o signing onto their web oriented system. No way I'll do
> that. Installed their iOS app on my Mac ... wants to set up an account...

We got a forced air system a few years back with a Honeywell thermostat.
Luckily it was BT ready and there's an app for it. it would be nicer if it was
homekit, but as long as I can operate it while sitting on my ass, I'm happy.

On 2023-12-12, Alan Browne <bitbucket@blackhole.com> wrote:
>
> Just ordered a couple smartplugs to handle the XMas lights. I had
> ordered one a couple years ago from the Apple Store. It did not work
> well at all. (Not the co. they sell now).
>
> The new ones are from TP-Link - at least a brand I know well and
> trust.
>
> Also ordered a widget to interface to my garage door opener.
> Chamberlain make this weird, alas - we'll see how it goes.
>
> This will find its home (hub) on the Apple TV downstairs.
>
> Anyone have experience to share?
>
> Must have widgets?

We have an Eve Energy smart plug, and it's great. You can set up onboard
schedules based on time of day and sunrise/sunset, read your power usage
data from it, and it works very well with HomeKit through Siri etc. I
bought it to reset a hard-to-reach power connection to a network camera
that was giving me trouble.

We have a bunch of smart bulbs around the house in various rooms - all
from Hue. They're ok, but the occasional "xxx bulb is not responding"
reply from Siri is irritating. I'm not sure if other brands are better,
or even if this is an issue with the bulbs / Hue Bridge as opposed to
some Siri / Homepod issue.

--
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

JR

On 2023-12-13, Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote:
> On 2023-12-12, Alan Browne <bitbucket@blackhole.com> wrote:
>>
>> Just ordered a couple smartplugs to handle the XMas lights. I had
>> ordered one a couple years ago from the Apple Store. It did not work
>> well at all. (Not the co. they sell now).
>>
>> The new ones are from TP-Link - at least a brand I know well and
>> trust.
>>
>> Also ordered a widget to interface to my garage door opener.
>> Chamberlain make this weird, alas - we'll see how it goes.
>>
>> This will find its home (hub) on the Apple TV downstairs.
>>
>> Anyone have experience to share?
>>
>> Must have widgets?
>
> We have an Eve Energy smart plug, and it's great. You can set up onboard
> schedules based on time of day and sunrise/sunset, read your power usage
> data from it, and it works very well with HomeKit through Siri etc. I
> bought it to reset a hard-to-reach power connection to a network camera
> that was giving me trouble.
>
> We have a bunch of smart bulbs around the house in various rooms - all
> from Hue*. They're ok, but the occasional "xxx bulb is not responding"

* Philips 🙂

--
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

JR

Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote:

> We have a bunch of smart bulbs around the house in various rooms - all
> from Hue. They're ok, but the occasional "xxx bulb is not responding"
> reply from Siri is irritating. I'm not sure if other brands are better,
> or even if this is an issue with the bulbs / Hue Bridge as opposed to
> some Siri / Homepod issue.

RF interference is common. I have a USB3 drive on my desk, and if I turn
it on all the nearby Hue lights go “Not Responding” for the duration.

If HomeKit doesn’t work but the Hue app does, that’s a strong hint that
some network device (router, switch) isn’t properly handling mDNS traffic.

On 2023-12-13, Alrescha <news@alrescha.com> wrote:
> Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote:
>
>> We have a bunch of smart bulbs around the house in various rooms - all
>> from Hue. They're ok, but the occasional "xxx bulb is not responding"
>> reply from Siri is irritating. I'm not sure if other brands are better,
>> or even if this is an issue with the bulbs / Hue Bridge as opposed to
>> some Siri / Homepod issue.
>
> RF interference is common. I have a USB3 drive on my desk, and if I turn
> it on all the nearby Hue lights go “Not Responding” for the duration.

That's what I suspect is going on.

> If HomeKit doesn’t work but the Hue app does, that’s a strong hint that
> some network device (router, switch) isn’t properly handling mDNS traffic.

I'll try that sometime.

--
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

JR

On 2023-12-13 09:32, Alrescha wrote:
> Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote:
>
>> We have a bunch of smart bulbs around the house in various rooms - all
>> from Hue. They're ok, but the occasional "xxx bulb is not responding"
>> reply from Siri is irritating. I'm not sure if other brands are better,
>> or even if this is an issue with the bulbs / Hue Bridge as opposed to
>> some Siri / Homepod issue.
>
> RF interference is common. I have a USB3 drive on my desk, and if I turn
> it on all the nearby Hue lights go “Not Responding” for the duration.

Did you try a different cable?

If the drive has its own power supply, then perhaps change the power supply.

--
“Markets can remain irrational longer than your can remain solvent.”
- John Maynard Keynes.

Alan Browne <bitbucket@blackhole.com> wrote:
> On 2023-12-13 09:32, Alrescha wrote:
>
>> RF interference is common. I have a USB3 drive on my desk, and if I turn
>> it on all the nearby Hue lights go “Not Responding” for the duration.
>
> Did you try a different cable?

It’s the only USB3 drive I own (blue connector), so no. It’s a backup
drive I use once a month, I just leave it turned off.

On Dec 12, 2023 at 5:26:23 PM PST, "Jolly Roger" <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote:

> On 2023-12-12, Alan Browne <bitbucket@blackhole.com> wrote:
>>
>> Just ordered a couple smartplugs to handle the XMas lights. I had
>> ordered one a couple years ago from the Apple Store. It did not work
>> well at all. (Not the co. they sell now).
>>
>> The new ones are from TP-Link - at least a brand I know well and
>> trust.
>>
>> Also ordered a widget to interface to my garage door opener.
>> Chamberlain make this weird, alas - we'll see how it goes.
>>
>> This will find its home (hub) on the Apple TV downstairs.
>>
>> Anyone have experience to share?
>>
>> Must have widgets?
>
> We have an Eve Energy smart plug, and it's great. You can set up onboard
> schedules based on time of day and sunrise/sunset, read your power usage
> data from it, and it works very well with HomeKit through Siri etc. I
> bought it to reset a hard-to-reach power connection to a network camera
> that was giving me trouble.
>
> We have a bunch of smart bulbs around the house in various rooms - all
> from Hue. They're ok, but the occasional "xxx bulb is not responding"
> reply from Siri is irritating. I'm not sure if other brands are better,
> or even if this is an issue with the bulbs / Hue Bridge as opposed to
> some Siri / Homepod issue.

FYI, I have the same "not responding" thing with both the TPLink ac adaptors
and the VOCO bulbs. The TPLink adaptors can simple turned off and back on,
there's a button the side. With the bulbs I turned it off/no 3 times quickly
and it can usually reset.

It is the occasional nuisance. I blame it on HomeKit. I find odd wholes and
cul-de-sacs with Siri, too.

On 2023-12-13, gtr <xxx@yyy.zzz> wrote:
> On Dec 12, 2023 at 5:26:23 PM PST, "Jolly Roger" <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote:
>
>> On 2023-12-12, Alan Browne <bitbucket@blackhole.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> Just ordered a couple smartplugs to handle the XMas lights. I had
>>> ordered one a couple years ago from the Apple Store. It did not
>>> work well at all. (Not the co. they sell now).
>>>
>>> The new ones are from TP-Link - at least a brand I know well and
>>> trust.
>>>
>>> Also ordered a widget to interface to my garage door opener.
>>> Chamberlain make this weird, alas - we'll see how it goes.
>>>
>>> This will find its home (hub) on the Apple TV downstairs.
>>>
>>> Anyone have experience to share?
>>>
>>> Must have widgets?
>>
>> We have an Eve Energy smart plug, and it's great. You can set up
>> onboard schedules based on time of day and sunrise/sunset, read your
>> power usage data from it, and it works very well with HomeKit through
>> Siri etc. I bought it to reset a hard-to-reach power connection to a
>> network camera that was giving me trouble.
>>
>> We have a bunch of smart bulbs around the house in various rooms -
>> all from Hue. They're ok, but the occasional "xxx bulb is not
>> responding" reply from Siri is irritating. I'm not sure if other
>> brands are better, or even if this is an issue with the bulbs / Hue
>> Bridge as opposed to some Siri / Homepod issue.
>
> FYI, I have the same "not responding" thing with both the TPLink ac
> adaptors and the VOCO bulbs. The TPLink adaptors can simple turned off
> and back on, there's a button the side. With the bulbs I turned it
> off/no 3 times quickly and it can usually reset.

I'll have to try that sometime. 🤣

> It is the occasional nuisance.

Yes. Amusingly (and thankfully) even when it says it's not responding,
it does actually respond.

--
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

JR

On 2023-12-12 13:56, Alan Browne wrote:
>
> Just ordered a couple smartplugs to handle the XMas lights.  I had
> ordered one a couple years ago from the Apple Store.  It did not work
> well at all.   (Not the co. they sell now).
>
> The new ones are from TP-Link - at least a brand I know well and trust.

Arggghhhh.

Tried to set these up from Homekit last night. Did not connect.

Of course sleep does the trick and I woke up and thought: "Maybe I need
to first use the tp-link setup, then Homekit."

Of course this works, and thankfully I have throwaway e-mail accounts to
use for such. Still burns me that I have to have an account somewhere
just to enable a privately owned device.

Also had to enable location services while setting up the first plug -
turned off after - but that allows for the possibility that tp-link
received my location. (Can't tell if they did or not).

Anyway, XMas tree lights are now automated. Hooray for humanity.

--
“Markets can remain irrational longer than your can remain solvent.”
- John Maynard Keynes.

On 2023-12-16, Alan Browne <bitbucket@blackhole.com> wrote:
> On 2023-12-12 13:56, Alan Browne wrote:
>>
>> Just ordered a couple smartplugs to handle the XMas lights.  I had
>> ordered one a couple years ago from the Apple Store.  It did not work
>> well at all.   (Not the co. they sell now).
>>
>> The new ones are from TP-Link - at least a brand I know well and
>> trust.
>
> Arggghhhh.
>
> Tried to set these up from Homekit last night. Did not connect.
>
> Of course sleep does the trick and I woke up and thought: "Maybe I
> need to first use the tp-link setup, then Homekit."
>
> Of course this works, and thankfully I have throwaway e-mail accounts
> to use for such. Still burns me that I have to have an account
> somewhere just to enable a privately owned device.

That's definitely not the case for my Eve Energy smart plug. No account
was required to set it up. I did need the app to set up schedules, but
the app doesn't require an account either.

> Also had to enable location services while setting up the first plug -
> turned off after - but that allows for the possibility that tp-link
> received my location. (Can't tell if they did or not).

There are options in the Eve app to allow it access to your location
(for time-of-day scheduling) and to your home data, but those are
opt-in.

--
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

JR

On 2023-12-16 11:48, Jolly Roger wrote:
> On 2023-12-16, Alan Browne <bitbucket@blackhole.com> wrote:
>> On 2023-12-12 13:56, Alan Browne wrote:
>>>
>>> Just ordered a couple smartplugs to handle the XMas lights.  I had
>>> ordered one a couple years ago from the Apple Store.  It did not work
>>> well at all.   (Not the co. they sell now).
>>>
>>> The new ones are from TP-Link - at least a brand I know well and
>>> trust.
>>
>> Arggghhhh.
>>
>> Tried to set these up from Homekit last night. Did not connect.
>>
>> Of course sleep does the trick and I woke up and thought: "Maybe I
>> need to first use the tp-link setup, then Homekit."
>>
>> Of course this works, and thankfully I have throwaway e-mail accounts
>> to use for such. Still burns me that I have to have an account
>> somewhere just to enable a privately owned device.
>
> That's definitely not the case for my Eve Energy smart plug. No account
> was required to set it up. I did need the app to set up schedules, but
> the app doesn't require an account either.

Much better. I'll mull that over.

>
>> Also had to enable location services while setting up the first plug -
>> turned off after - but that allows for the possibility that tp-link
>> received my location. (Can't tell if they did or not).
>
> There are options in the Eve app to allow it access to your location
> (for time-of-day scheduling) and to your home data, but those are
> opt-in.

They're regrettably opt-out on tp-link, but only "after" you set up.

Not pleased.

--
“Markets can remain irrational longer than your can remain solvent.”
- John Maynard Keynes.

On Dec 16, 2023 at 7:47:10 AM PST, "Alan Browne" <bitbucket@blackhole.com>
wrote:

> On 2023-12-12 13:56, Alan Browne wrote:
>>
>> Just ordered a couple smartplugs to handle the XMas lights. I had
>> ordered one a couple years ago from the Apple Store. It did not work
>> well at all. (Not the co. they sell now).
>>
>> The new ones are from TP-Link - at least a brand I know well and trust.
>
> Arggghhhh.
>
> Tried to set these up from Homekit last night. Did not connect.
>
> Of course sleep does the trick and I woke up and thought: "Maybe I need
> to first use the tp-link setup, then Homekit."
>
> Of course this works, and thankfully I have throwaway e-mail accounts to
> use for such. Still burns me that I have to have an account somewhere
> just to enable a privately owned device.
>
> Also had to enable location services while setting up the first plug -
> turned off after - but that allows for the possibility that tp-link
> received my location. (Can't tell if they did or not).
>
> Anyway, XMas tree lights are now automated. Hooray for humanity.

Hmm. Been a while since I did this, but I don't recall having to use any
tp-link setup. I just pulled one out I yanked months ago (my wife couldn't
trigger it with siri and became frustrated).

She decided to try it again, I fetched one it out again, and when I set it up
again (Home.app), it said it was "already in use". I did the reset (holding
down the button till it blink appropriately to indicate total reset). Then
configured it anew. Once again, now need to us antoher app, initiate an
account, etc.

Nevertheless, all these gizmos seem to have good days, bad days, and
inscrutable days.

On 2023-12-16 15:55, gtr wrote:
> On Dec 16, 2023 at 7:47:10 AM PST, "Alan Browne" <bitbucket@blackhole.com>
> wrote:
>
>> On 2023-12-12 13:56, Alan Browne wrote:
>>>
>>> Just ordered a couple smartplugs to handle the XMas lights. I had
>>> ordered one a couple years ago from the Apple Store. It did not work
>>> well at all. (Not the co. they sell now).
>>>
>>> The new ones are from TP-Link - at least a brand I know well and trust.
>>
>> Arggghhhh.
>>
>> Tried to set these up from Homekit last night. Did not connect.
>>
>> Of course sleep does the trick and I woke up and thought: "Maybe I need
>> to first use the tp-link setup, then Homekit."
>>
>> Of course this works, and thankfully I have throwaway e-mail accounts to
>> use for such. Still burns me that I have to have an account somewhere
>> just to enable a privately owned device.
>>
>> Also had to enable location services while setting up the first plug -
>> turned off after - but that allows for the possibility that tp-link
>> received my location. (Can't tell if they did or not).
>>
>> Anyway, XMas tree lights are now automated. Hooray for humanity.
>
> Hmm. Been a while since I did this, but I don't recall having to use any
> tp-link setup. I just pulled one out I yanked months ago (my wife couldn't
> trigger it with siri and became frustrated).
>
> She decided to try it again, I fetched one it out again, and when I set it up
> again (Home.app), it said it was "already in use". I did the reset (holding
> down the button till it blink appropriately to indicate total reset). Then
> configured it anew. Once again, now need to us antoher app, initiate an
> account, etc.

Not sure what you're concluding there, but my short v. of my events:
went through 4 or 5 rounds of trying to get it going via Homekit (Apple
TV as hub, iphone to setup the sockets) yesterday evening. The iPhone
would recognize the QR device on the socket as a "socket" device, but
then spin for a few minutes before giving up.

This am it clicked in my head to try the tp-link setup first. This
required setting up a tp-link account. Then the Homekit all but
instantly connected to the sockets. XMas tree is now on Sunset auto and
should shut off at 23:30. Programmed that from this iMac. Watch is
also able to control the sockets...

I'll set up the other socket to have the water boiling by 07:00 tomorrow
for la presse café.

--
“Markets can remain irrational longer than your can remain solvent.”
- John Maynard Keynes.

On Dec 16, 2023 at 1:37:08 PM PST, "Alan Browne" <bitbucket@blackhole.com>
wrote:

> On 2023-12-16 15:55, gtr wrote:
>> On Dec 16, 2023 at 7:47:10 AM PST, "Alan Browne" <bitbucket@blackhole.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On 2023-12-12 13:56, Alan Browne wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Just ordered a couple smartplugs to handle the XMas lights. I had
>>>> ordered one a couple years ago from the Apple Store. It did not work
>>>> well at all. (Not the co. they sell now).
>>>>
>>>> The new ones are from TP-Link - at least a brand I know well and trust.
>>>
>>> Arggghhhh.
>>>
>>> Tried to set these up from Homekit last night. Did not connect.
>>>
>>> Of course sleep does the trick and I woke up and thought: "Maybe I need
>>> to first use the tp-link setup, then Homekit."
>>>
>>> Of course this works, and thankfully I have throwaway e-mail accounts to
>>> use for such. Still burns me that I have to have an account somewhere
>>> just to enable a privately owned device.
>>>
>>> Also had to enable location services while setting up the first plug -
>>> turned off after - but that allows for the possibility that tp-link
>>> received my location. (Can't tell if they did or not).
>>>
>>> Anyway, XMas tree lights are now automated. Hooray for humanity.
>>
>> Hmm. Been a while since I did this, but I don't recall having to use any
>> tp-link setup. I just pulled one out I yanked months ago (my wife couldn't
>> trigger it with siri and became frustrated).
>>
>> She decided to try it again, I fetched one it out again, and when I set it up
>> again (Home.app), it said it was "already in use". I did the reset (holding
>> down the button till it blink appropriately to indicate total reset). Then
>> configured it anew. Once again, now need to us antoher app, initiate an
>> account, etc.
>
> Not sure what you're concluding there, but my short v. of my events:
> went through 4 or 5 rounds of trying to get it going via Homekit (Apple
> TV as hub, iphone to setup the sockets) yesterday evening. The iPhone
> would recognize the QR device on the socket as a "socket" device, but
> then spin for a few minutes before giving up.

Same here! So I this process, some times 2-3 times and eventually connected. I
began typing keying in the 8-digit number manually, and it worked more
efficiently. But I think this sometimes stalled out too during set-up.

> This am it clicked in my head to try the tp-link setup first. This
> required setting up a tp-link account.

As stated, I didn't do this. I just repeated step #1 a few times.

> Then the Homekit all but
> instantly connected to the sockets. XMas tree is now on Sunset auto and
> should shut off at 23:30. Programmed that from this iMac. Watch is
> also able to control the sockets...
>
> I'll set up the other socket to have the water boiling by 07:00 tomorrow
> for la presse café.

As long as it works! It's surprising how much fun these gizmos are.