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Pairing two Smart Light Switches.

I have a situation where I would like a pair switches, one at each end of a room, that control the same light.



Is it possible to pair these two physical switches so they have joined function?  

 

It would also be useful if the power switching was handled by one switch to minimise the amount of wiring.  I appreciate that both switches will require L + N connection.

 

Andy (UK)

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Do I create a scene in the ewelink app?

Hi Andrew,


Have you had any response to your query? 


Being able to pair multiple codes is a really basic requirement that all $10 garage controllers have but yet it seems to be completely ignored by Itead and all previous queries have been ignored or simply closed when unanswered.

That should be super easy to do with the scenes, you will create four of them. Remember: You will only connect switch1 to the light, the switch2 just needs power. Example; 1. If switch1 is on turn, turn switch2 on. 2. If switch1 is off , turn switch2 off. 3. If switch2 is on, turn on switch1. 4. Is switch2 is off, turn of switch1.

I am new to 'Scenes' does the phone running the ewelink app need to be connected to local wifi/gsm for the rule to be active?


I have found a similar solution using IFTTT, but this seem rather elongated.

 

The phone does not need to be connected, but the two switches need to be connected to the Ewelink servers, which if you are in Europe means they are super-flakey. When it works the speed (From London) is really quick most of the time. The Ewelink people have been promising local control for ages - I don’t know if that will also mean basic scenes being local too - depends on their memory etc. I doubt it.
It's really stupid, if you ask me. Having the devices conneft to their server. This means that with every POW/switch etc sale they are comitting to support it indefinitely by paying for their servers and maintaining them. They could have gone the ubnt route, give the switches tonwork togather or independently and be connected to a local or aws using software they could have maintained.
I agree it is stupid. Means scenes don’t work if your ISP breaks. Easy for them though. I can see logic if you have a really complicated scene and no master (eg. Phone or Server) as they might run out of memory on the device. Really simple problems like yours though; no reason. As they can create wifi networks (see AP mode) they could even communicate directly to each other even if your wifi fails. If you are feeling adventurous you could get a Raspberry Pi (or similar), install Home Assistant (or similar), put custom firmware on the switches and then do it all locally via MQTT. If their compan/servers go bankrupt we still have the devices. We will just have to put our own firmware on them and have our own servers. They won’t be completely bricked.

I like the sounds of you solution EB - cannot beat having a local server, with no dependency on anyone else.  I have recently built a HASSIO brew of raspberry pi, I would be interested to know where I get hold of the custom firmware for the switches?  Are the switches essentially ESP 8266's?


Another solution here would be to have the switches not only talking to WiFi, but interconnected using RC.

There is loads of firmware available. Most popular ones are ESPurna and Tasmota. They have even made it easy with PCB. There aren’t pre-soldered connectors, but there are holes on the PCB & dozens of instructions on the Internet. Given the flakiness of the Itead servers and the almost absence of tech support I think they should just make OTA updating easier for custom firmware. I guess there might be security issues though, and it is simpler to make people do it directly for the first flash. Pretty sure they could do this if they wanted though, just by making firmware go via their servers and not directly. It worked for the Apple App Store. The RF Bridge can emit RF. Some of the other devices can receive RF, but I’m not sure the present chip can transmit. The reason I said wifi, even though the range is less etc., is because the devices already have it. I think it is built in to the ESP chip. Don’t think RF is built in. Would need to check the circuit diagrams to be sure though. I am in the process of switching to a Pi so my laptop doesn’t need to be on. There is complete build of Home Assistant for the Pi, but I’m avoiding it as I want it for multi use.

Hi, you can achieve this by purchasing a Sonoff RF and 2 Wall Touch RF controllers. Each Sonoff RF can pair with up to 4 self adhesive wall switches. This way controlling your lights from the 2 ends of a stairway, up to 4 entrances of a room or a corridor.

Hope this helps.

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