Quick questions about Tapo smart plugs.....

[Deleted User]

bob2302 said:

MattMattMattUK said:

Yes they will function without WiFi and still record usage, though I do not know what the tike drift would be over time. I took one into work to measure some usage, did not bother to change it to the work network and the data was fine when I took it home a week later. Not sure if there is a maximum time without WiFi that they will function correctly though.

So do they retain all the setup, including the wifi, when moved between sockets. I thought someone said that you have to set them up again when they lose power.

You can move them around the house at will; however, Tapo are not as good as Kasa at maintaining a wifi connection. I frequently have to reset my Tapo plugs by pulling the plug and reinserting it into the socket. FWiW, I have with good home wifi.

wild666

[Deleted User] said:

bob2302 said:

MattMattMattUK said:

Yes they will function without WiFi and still record usage, though I do not know what the tike drift would be over time. I took one into work to measure some usage, did not bother to change it to the work network and the data was fine when I took it home a week later. Not sure if there is a maximum time without WiFi that they will function correctly though.

So do they retain all the setup, including the wifi, when moved between sockets. I thought someone said that you have to set them up again when they lose power.

You can move them around the house at will; however, Tapo are not as good as Kasa at maintaining a wifi connection. I frequently have to reset my Tapo plugs by pulling the plug and reinserting it into the socket. FWiW, I have with good home wifi.

I've never had a problem with my TAPO plugs, even on the odd times I've turned the socket switch off rather than the TAPO switch they reconnect flawlessly.

Qyburn

wild666 said:

[Deleted User] said:
You can move them around the house at will; however, Tapo are not as good as Kasa at maintaining a wifi connection. I frequently have to reset my Tapo plugs by pulling the plug and reinserting it into the socket. FWiW, I have with good home wifi.

I've never had a problem with my TAPO plugs, even on the odd times I've turned the socket switch off rather than the TAPO switch they reconnect flawlessly.

Same here, although I've only had them for around 6 months. Never had to reset any. My working from home rig was often powered off at the socket when i wasnt working.

For WLAN the house is covered by commercial gear (Mikrotik), but the garage is TP-Link via power line adapters which I'd class as low end residential both in terms of the wireless and the underlying connection. So I don't think wireless quality has a big impact.

dunstonh

I have had a couple of disconnections on the TAPOs.   

We run a mesh network of one router and 5 satellites, giving us wifi access across several acres covering multiple barns and stables.     Like any wifi broadcast, the closer you are to a router or satellite, the better it is.  I found that two of our Tapo P110s and two Tapo cameras were prone to going offline.   It turned out that they were close to the edge of range.  So, I got another satellite and since then, I haven't had any disconnections. 

The only down side is the cost of mesh systems has sky rocketed.  

Qyburn

When looking at the network, remember the Tapos can only use 2.4GHz. That shouldn't really be a problem in most cases but worth checking for mesh or extender systems.

By the way although suppliers promote "mesh" as a general term as if it is inherently better, in reality it is far preferable to have your APs each connected on Ethernet.