I have been using the Kasa (TP-Link) branded smart switches around my house, but now that I have a few third reality zigbee sensors for my doors and so on, I am seeing the value of using more outlets/switches that act as zigbee repeaters. Do any of you have pretty reasonable (and cheapish) smart light switches or outlets I can invest in? The Amazon offerings are in the $50 each one which is pretty steep, though I guess I could just do one each room and do the rest with Kasa stuff.
I would like to expand the zigbee mesh network so I can use the devices where I actually want them without using smart outlet devices plugged into real outlets all over the place. If there was something that was $20 or less each item that would be super excellent. The wife and I plan to move in the not too distant future and I’d like to replace the “in the wall” stuff so that HA works throughout the house and I don’t have plugs / dongles / wall warts all over the place.
Thanks in advance for any insight!
Someone else already raised the mains wired safety/budget issue, but I may have a side suggestion for you: Bulbs as repeaters.
I’ve added hue bulbs directly to my zigbee network, where they also act as repeaters.
The problem then was people switching off at the switch. This has been resolved by adding a little zigbee button by the switch (as people can achieve the function without the mains switch).
Which gives the bonus of being able to do different taps.
(So for example, I have one click as toggle on/off, two clicks is daytime+bright, press+hold is evening+dim)