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Medion Smart Wi-Fi Plug - Compatible with Alexa & Google Home $19.99 @ ALDI
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Pperfeksionitst on 05/10/2018 - 20:39 aldi.com.au (6085 clicks)
Last edited 30/03/2021 - 16:08 by 2 other users
Last edited 30/03/2021 - 16:08 by 2 other users
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Thats a pretty old unit if the iPhone 4 is anything to go by
Its the only api related information available for a similar unit
I don’t trust brands selling in Aldi
Why? Do you think ze Germans are spying on you through your kettle?
I've got heaps of Aldi stuff. Most, I keep because it works just as well as other brands for a fraction of the price. The things that don't go back within 60 days for a no questions refund.
The issue is, once the sale is finished that is it till next time, you cant get extras, if you have a faulty one usually they cant replace it as no stock left, you usually get a refund which is benefit.
Buy more than you think you'll need and return the rest within 60 days or resell on eBay
is this 1 day sale or while stocks lasts ?
Being aldi depends on how many they stock per store, could be gone in the first few hours
So how does it work exactly? (for beginners) I have a google home mini, which I haven't used yet.
If I wanted to boil the kettle before I get out of bed:
I'd set up Google home mini to respond to my voice.
I need some kind of app for this particular device - I guess there are instructions for that?
I'd have the kettle switch turned on and attach to this smart plug and the wall plug is on.
I command with my voice to tell google home to turn on kettle. Have I missed something?
Is there a way to set it up to do it every morning at the same time, without even my voice?
How wonderful if this would work on a freezing morning. Just need someone to bring the coffee to me….
I can answer those questions for you.
Firstly you will have to make sure that the kettle itself can be turned on even if the power socket is off. Some kettles will not allow itself to be in the 'on' position when the socket is off. If you can in fact make the kettle boil and turn off by the socket only then this may work. But the kettle would usually turn itself off again after it has been boiled preventing it to being turned on automatically. So the smart feature may not work with the kettle.
The Aldi wifi socket will be connected to your google assistant account under 'home devices'. Here you will give it a device name such as 'Kettle' or 'Bedroom Lamp'. From here you can voice activate it by saying "Ok Google, turn on the <insert device name>"
Is there a way to set it up to do it every morning at the same time, without even my voice?
Yes. Google Assistance now has what is called Routines where every morning you can setup a device to turn on or off. This can be seen and setup in the Google Assistance Settings menu under Routines. These routines are for "Morning, Bedtime, Leaving Home ,I'm Home, Commuting to work, Commuting to home"I hope that helps
Pretty much what you said in terms of physical requirements. If it's anything like the tp link plug, you install the medion app, create a login, add the switch and name it. Then in the Google home app you click add device, medion, log in using medion details and give access to home. To activate just say "turn on" whatever you named it.
Edit: too slow..
missed out the $20 tplink plug during ebay plus sales
Would this be a better option? Two for $31.99 that supports both Google & Alexa. 4.9/5 from 30 reviews.
they are both no name brands
If this has an esp8266 inside then Tasmota might be an option. It would then integrate well with openhab and home assistant.
That was my first thought. That said, if the API is known, it should be pretty easy to bridge between the two.
Will this fit on a double power socket, without taking up the other plug?
No, if the photo is accurate.
I tried and it's a plug hog. Will take up 2 spaces
Such a shame they don't make them longer rather than wider
Hmm, just thinking best use scenario to buy into the ecosystem (don't have google home or amazon alexa yet) so - could I use this on my garage door motors to isolate time windows when it's on, I've always been suspect of garage door remotes and people being able to open your garage door so with another layer having the motor switched off, this would allow it. Fixed times as per when I am due to be home but then if I am on the way home I could just use my app to manually turn the motor on? Hope the Q's are alright I'm fascinated by the home setups just wanting to know if I'm thinking along the right track when incorporating these systems into your home?
Hmm that's a good idea but you'd want the wifi connection to be rock solid.
Go to the counter if you want to buy one
11 sold at my local ALDI in the first 2 minutes
This is what they look like http://ocau.com/pix/vkb5h
Setting mine up. It includes energy monitoring which is an unexpected bonus
Anyone else having trouble connecting it to the Alexa skill?
It worked fine connecting to Google Home for voice control
Yep, I'm having the same problem. I've set up everything on the Medion Life app but can't link my Medion account to Alexa. It says it can't link "at this time" whatever that means.
Hmmmm. I wonder if the plug would work with Alexa via the "Tuya Smart" Alexa skill
….
Yes it works yay with the same medion login I already created :) thank you Shambler and SAMCRO for inspiring the idea
@neerav: Also looks like the ALDI Medion smart app is just a rebadged version of https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tuya.smart
Yes I was very surprised by this.
Just bought two and setup. One for electric blanket the other for a lamp. Worked well and linked with Google home easily.
What hostnames are your devices showing up as?
I think it is showing up as ESP_xxxx. I am not sure though as this would be a generic unprogrammed ESP8266 or ESP32.
Just bought one on a whim whilst in the store, would love to be able to use it with Home Assistant to avoid using the cloud components though I couldn't find much online… any API or plugin available for these things yet?
Privacy Policy is for a 'TuyaSmart' device…
https://github.com/clach04/python-tuyaYes I think that uses the cloud service - so Home Assistant support appears to exist.. though using the Tuya cloud.
I've just pulled it apart and can confirm its using a ESP8266 chip, the chip is marked TYWE2S, datasheet here: https://fccid.io/2ANDL-TYWE2S/User-Manual/Users-Manual-35961… & here: https://docs.tuya.com/en/hardware/WiFi-module/wifi-e2s-modul…
It appears this device should be able to be flashed with Tasmota, which can be used with Home Assistant without any cloud comms:
https://github.com/arendst/Sonoff-Tasmota/wiki/CE-Smart-Home---LA-WF3-Wifi-Plug-(TYWE2S)A big thank you for doing all this.
I haven't used a Sonof. Is this basically a Sonof with a bit of different design?
@whats up skip: I haven't either actually ;)
Appears to have similar functionality to the Sonoff line.
I might try flashing it during the week - I'm interested to see if I can get the power usage working too!
I note that these devices are "TuyaSmart" compatible (same as the Kogan Smart LEDS). So you don't have to run multiple apps for the different brands. They show up as ESPxxxx devices in my router.
For those who want to use it with Homebridge (iOS devices), this worked first go: https://github.com/codetheweb/homebridge-tuya
Did you need to register the plug with MEDION in order to get the IDs and Keys? Would be amazing if you could share your approach :)
I followed these steps to get the id and key https://github.com/codetheweb/tuyapi/blob/master/docs/SETUP.…
Forgot about this deal : ( is it worth going to store to check if any still available at this time or would they have likely sold out. Port Macquarie is my nearest store but a bit of a drive.
Missus went to the shops and called in. They sold out in 15 mins apparently!!
Luckily I got two! I joined the pre-opening queue. Noticed there weren't many of these devices there.
Is there a way to connect these to the Harmony Hub?
Managed to get a workaround using IFTTT, using the Smart Life service.
Has anyone worked out how to set the countdown in the Android app in scenes?
There's no confirm button and pressing back removes the countdown setting.
I bought two of these today. They are really easy to setup and is simple to connect to google home for voice activation. One thing that is a bonus is that their is a timer. For example you can set it to power off after 15 minutes. Another cool feature is that you can have a set time for the power point to be turned on and off and well as monitoring the power usage itself.
Some reports from friends who bought these that they turned off by themselves.
Anyone else experienced that?
I haven't had any issues with them turning on/off by themselves
Yes, just last night both of mine did that. If it keeps it up I'll return
Had one turn off last night and the bedroom one turn on at 5am… great way to wake up.
Hi Trueno,
My name is Jovan from MEDION Australia.
I'm sorry to hear you're facing these issues with our Smart Plug however you don't have to face them alone.
Please private message me your contact details and I'll be more than happy to assist you further at a time that suits you.
Kind Regards,
Jovan Teofanovic
Customer Support Consultant
MEDION Australia
Hi bargdebarg,
My name is Jovan from MEDION Australia.
I'm sorry to hear you're facing these issues with our Smart Plug however you don't have to face them alone.
Please private message me your contact details and I'll be more than happy to assist you further at a time that suits you.
Kind Regards,
Jovan Teofanovic
Customer Support Consultant
MEDION Australia
Hey, I did this and you have not replied?
Yes the one I bought yesterday is doing the same thing. I am testing it by connecting a security camera to it, and randomly, after WiFi many hours, the smart plug just switched it off without warning after a random period of time.
Originally I had the smart plug connected through to Google Home; now I have "unlinked" Google Home from it and testing again.
Unless I get this working - ie to stay on and not randomly switch off - then I will have to return it.
Note that I have checked that there is no timer and no countdown set.
Ok, it just randomly switched off again, even after inlinking Google Home from it. So that has been ruled out. It has not tripped due to a high current draw as the Webcam connected to it is just pulling a small 5W.
I will now try the Tuya app instead of the Medion app. If that fails too then it must be a hardware issue.
Any other tests that you can suggest??
No. The Tuya app appears to be identical to the Medion app, and after a few minutes the smart switch turned off randomly again.
This is no good and unless someone has a suggestion, I will need to return this to Aldi.
Anyone?
@d123: Hi d123,
My name is Jovan from MEDION Australia.
I'm sorry to hear you're facing these issues with our Smart Plug however you don't have to face them alone.
Please private message me your contact details and I'll be more than happy to assist you further at a time that suits you.
Kind Regards,
Jovan Teofanovic
Customer Support Consultant
MEDION Australia
Are the people who are having the random switching using the Tuya app or the Medion one? Seems unlikely it's the hardware switching itself on automatically!
Switching off could be understood if its tripping something I guess…
I'd also noticed that my plug turns itself on/off at seemingly random times.
I then monitored the traffic to/from the plug and found the following:
- When first plugged in, the plug obtained the IP address 192.168.178.104 from my router's DHCP server. So far so good.
- The plug was then in the ON state. Also, so far so good.
- At regular intervals, one of my computers was trying to establish a TCP connection to the IP address of the plug 192.168.178.104. I can't remember which port it was using.
- The plug responded with a TCP Reset and an ICMP host unreachable, port unreachable packet.
- This is correct behaviour because the plug was not listening at that particular TCP port.
- After several such sequences, the plug software decided that something is wrong and (probably) reset itself. In any case, the plug was then again in the ON state.
I fixed the problem by finding out which software was sending the TCP connection requests. It turned out to be the Epson Printer Status Monitor, which thought there was a printer at 192.168.178.104. My Epson printer did once have that address, but had since reconfigured and obtained a different IP address without the Monitor software noticing.
Reinstalling the Printer Status Monitor fixed the problem and the plug now works correctly.
Maybe a general Aldi question, but why are these kept at the counter (saw someone also mention it earlier in this thread)? Was looking through the store and couldn't find so assumed they were all gone. Spotted when going through check out. How do you know what items are sold at the counter and not on the shelf?
Ask the staff.
Theft prevention I was told. At my local store they were moved from just in the bins to the glass cabinet and up the front.
Therefore don't assume that a store has sold out if you can't find any.
I had the only I have set up randomly turn on this morning. It was also around 5am. Not sure of the exact time. I had assumed I had just accidentally tapped on the app when closing my phone. I am not using Google Home or Alexa. This won't be good if this turns out to be a problem.
I picked up a few yesterday. Havent noticed any on/off problems but I dont have them plugged into anything yet, so I'll keep an eye on them.
Has anyone noticed a faint buzzing noise, like morse code, coming from these units? One of mine has also developed a higher pitch but quiet squeel when turned on
I spoke too soon. One just switched off before my eyes, with a desklamp plugged in. Not connected to alexa or google, just the medion app. Medion app reports plug is switched off now too. I didnt hear a relay click either. Switches right back on using the app.happens to be the one with the biggest coil whine too
Coil whine appears to have no impact. A second plug, also with a desk lamp plugged in, has switched off by itself. The app still reports the plug as being online, but switched off. This is looking pretty bad, 2/5 showing the problem now. Gut feeling is its the cloud app sending the signal to turn off the device. Once someone more knowledgeable than me has confirmed flashing to Tasmota, I might do the same and see if the problem persists.
Edit: up to 3/5 now randomly switched off. a usb phone charger with a tablet charging.
Keep us posted on your progress… and so will I
I picked up 4 of these today, and I've only setup 1 of them (no real need for the others right now. And I've had the same issue. I had mine connected to my 3D printer, and it turned off a few times. Once in the middle of a very short print, and now just at the beginning of a longer print. I've unplugged it, I can't trust it to stay on to print anything at the moment.
I'll try this Tuya app mentioned above plugged into some random device (lamp or something) and see if that makes a difference.
I'm glad it's not just me, but frustrated about the product none the less.
@AuSlade: All 5 have now tripped at some point. 2 have tripped twice. This is abysmal. At this point I am really starting to suspect cloud interference as I dont think the hardware is at fault. Maybe the cloud servers cant handle the increased demand.
A custom firmware is the only way to rule this out from now I feel, but I have no experience in this regard.
@dkstorm: @dkstorm, I guess I could easily try using one that hasn't been set up yet, and just plug it into a lamp and leave it running, manually turned on to see if it's an issue with the cloud data being sent wrong, or if it's a hardware issue. I'll post back with results.
I agree on the abysmal part. On the plus side, Aldi have a no questions asked return policy. So getting our money back won't be a problem (although I no longer have the first box - force of habit to recycle things immediately).
I gave up on the Tuya app. I've had enough of signing up for accounts to do trivial things. I must be getting old, because I just don't see the need for it. On top of that, the recent reviews have been quite poor.
@AuSlade: Hi AuSlade,
My name is Jovan from MEDION Australia.
I'm sorry to hear you're facing these issues with our Smart Plug however you don't have to face them alone.
Please private message me your contact details and I'll be more than happy to assist you further at a time that suits you.
Kind Regards,
Jovan Teofanovic
Customer Support Consultant
MEDION Australia
I unplugged all from my network except one. Blocked access via my router, then held the button to reset it. Removed it from my Life account. Random switching still occurred twice overnight. Either returning all or will try Tasmota, but I am concerned Tasmota won't make any difference. It is a pity, I have a hs100 and a xiaomi plug which are flawless, but annoying I only have 1 of each.
Bought 3 yesterday, set one up last night on the Tuya app (mainly because Medion app wouldn't email the reg code). Put it on a laptop charger overnight, was off this morning :(. Doesn't sound like cloud based problems anymore. Especially with "Auslades" cloudless testing.
My only guess now is noise on the mains coming through the 3.3V PSU causing the relay to trip. I've come across this before while tinkering. I've just put one on a 'filtered' power board and see how that theory goes.
@demod: Hi demod,
My name is Jovan from MEDION Australia.
I'm sorry to hear you're facing these issues with our Smart Plug however you don't have to face them alone.
Please private message me your contact details and I'll be more than happy to assist you further at a time that suits you.
Kind Regards,
Jovan Teofanovic
Customer Support Consultant
MEDION Australia
@demod: I put mine on a simple lamp. After it woke my wife up in the middle of the night (and in turn she woke me up), I pulled the plug. I decided to test it again. So I plugged it back in when I got back home and it has turned itself on twice so far in the last few hours. I've had to turn it off manually.
Who knows, it may have turned itself on and off as well in the mean time. It's a bedside lamp, and I'm not keeping an eye on it.
Hi dkstorm,
My name is Jovan from MEDION Australia.
I'm sorry to hear you're facing these issues with our Smart Plug however you don't have to face them alone.
Please private message me your contact details and I'll be more than happy to assist you further at a time that suits you.
Kind Regards,
Jovan Teofanovic
Customer Support Consultant
MEDION Australia
@MEDION Australia: Hi Medion,
"The specified recipient does not accept new conversations.". You might have to go into your settings and turn on the messsage ability. My account -> Messages -> Settings
@MEDION Australia: Hi medion, I have sent a message with my contact details. Please advise further as I am very close to returning these plugs
I'm also having the same issue with both of the outlets i purchased. Pretty frustrating!
Sadly this is happening to me too. I bought 7 and 4 are affected by random on/off problems. Also, I can hear the high frequency buzz in two of them.
I tested one yesterday that I hadn't connected to the app or wifi. I just plugged it into a lamp and turned it on manually. The lamp stayed on for about 5 hours without a hiccup. So I turned it off. My wife woke me up in the middle of the night, the plug (and thus the lamp) had turned itself on randomly. This rules out the app being the problem.
It's either faulty hardware or firmware on whatever micro controller is in them. I think like other people, I may well be returning all of mine.
I haven't tested mine yet, but all these issues sound really bad, prefer not to have a heater turning on randomly …
Curious if anyone's is working flawlessly.
Hi detonazione,
My name is Jovan from MEDION Australia.
I'm sorry to hear you're facing these issues with our Smart Plug however you don't have to face them alone.
Please private message me your contact details and I'll be more than happy to assist you further at a time that suits you.
Kind Regards,
Jovan Teofanovic
Customer Support Consultant
MEDION Australia
Bravo, brate :)
Should we be returning these, or do you think a firmware update to fix this is likely?
@aiaccarino: It depends on where the fault lies. If it's a physical hardware fault, then there's no fixing them. However there may be an issue with the firmware where it gets confused as the to state the device is in and what state it should be, so the firmware toggles the current state (off to on, and on to off). This would be fixable. Which then all depends on whether Medion is willing to fix the issue.
I often find that Aldi's products are dump and run. If it works, it works, if not, they'll take it back. I can't see Medion doing much to update the firmware's on these plugs, and I'd be surprised if the OEM would care to update the products.
No deal…seems these are faulty POS.
Going to return due to switching off issue. Does Aldi normally need the receipt and box?
mine switched on randomly :(
That's a definite no-no. I'd be returning each and every unit I'd purchased.
Hi phunkydude,
My name is Jovan from MEDION Australia.
I'm sorry to hear you're facing these issues with our Smart Plug however you don't have to face them alone.
Please private message me your contact details and I'll be more than happy to assist you further at a time that suits you.
Kind Regards,
Jovan Teofanovic
Customer Support Consultant
MEDION Australia
I've just had one of mine switch on randomly. Only had a lamp plugged in, but still it's a worry.
I have written to Medion about this issue. No response as yet. Has anyone else written to them?
I've emailed them as well. No response yet.
This is probably similar https://www.hofer.at/fileadmin/fm-dam/products/2016/KW_43/DO…