HS200 v5.26 Bad Firmware update?

HS200 v5.26 Bad Firmware update?

HS200 v5.26 Bad Firmware update?
HS200 v5.26 Bad Firmware update?
2024-07-18 14:10:41 - last edited 2024-07-30 10:19:18
Model: HS200  
Hardware Version: V5
Firmware Version: 1.0.2

Hello all. I have a bunch of HS200 switches around my home. Last Friday/Saturday, I installed 3 new HS200's. These all came in a 3 pack and are hardware version v5.26. All of the other HS200's I have are v5 or older.

 

They were fine upon install and were working normally. Overnight Tuesday, something happened. I'm assuming they did a firmware update. They are now on version 1.0.2, but I'm unsure what version they were on prior. Here is what is happening.

 

1. In the morning, I got into my home office (Where one of new HS200's are, controlling my fan) and noticed the automation for my fan from Home Assistant didn't work. I logged into home assistant and found that the switches were showing offline, and new switches with the same name had appeared in the same room. I rebuilt my automation for the *new* devices and just assumed it was something weird with home assistant.

2. I noticed that homeassisant now has trouble turning the switches on and off. It sometimes takes 3-5 seconds to work.

3. I've noticed the 3 HS200 v5.26's now all go to either orange or red LED status. Like they're not connected to the internet. (Wifi is very strong, I have multiple access points in the home). When they're either red or orange, they sometimes will appear in online in the kasa app and work normally. Sometimes they show offline. For instance, right now my office fan switch is Orange. But it works fine in the Kasa app. And via home assistant (However home assistant is sometimes slow).

4. In all cases, if they are orange or red, I can click the reboot button at the bottom right and the switch returns normally. But it goes orange or red again sometime later (Perhaps 30-45 minutes?).

5. Only the v5.26 switches are doing this. All other HS200's, and the few HS200M's (Motion) that I have, are all working perfectly normal.

6. Sometimes when the switch is orange or red, and offline in the Kasa App. I can see it's still connected to my wifi access points. I can "kick" it to force it to reconnect. When I do this, It will not reconnect unless I reboot the switch by pressing the bottom right button.

 

Best I can tell, something happened Tuesday night that made these switches really unstable. Is there anything I can do to help TP-Link investigate this? They all worked fine before Tuesday night / Wednesday morning.

 

Please note, I guarantee this is not a connectivity issue. I'm a network engineer by trade and connectivity was the first thing I looked at.

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Re:HS200 v5.26 Bad Firmware update?-Solution
2024-07-23 09:56:22 - last edited 2024-07-30 10:19:18

  @Victim83 

 

Firmware 1.0.2 for HS200 V5.26 is not a recent release and it's unlikely to cause such an issue. 

 

Based on feedback from some Tapo smart plug users, whose devices are also connected with Home Assistant, there is a reason to believe this unanticipated issue is somehow related to Home Assistant. And their recent updates suggest the issue has been automatically rectified (or fixed after updating Home Assistant). Tapo plugs suddenly intermittent with Alexa and Home assistant

 

How's the status of your HS200 now? 

 

——————

Note: TP-Link Kasa or Tapo API has not released any APIs to the public, and the resources you can find are unauthorized and not officially certified, so we can't guarantee their effectiveness or stability.

 

If there is any connectivity issue while managing the smart device with Kasa App, click to check more suggestions about What should I do if my Kasa device keep losing connection or going Offline?

Landscape Mode - Tapo App for PadShare Your Pet Story. Win Free Tapo Care!Smart Action 2.0 Explore and meet the next level home automation.
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Re:HS200 v5.26 Bad Firmware update?-Solution
2024-07-29 18:06:44 - last edited 2024-07-30 10:19:24

  @Wayne-TP 

 

Hi Wayne, So after your feedback I shutdown my Home Assistant VM and rebooted all unstable switches (Using the button at the bottom right of each switch. After ~24 hours they remained online and stable, so I am in agreement something with HA caused the issue. I then turned the HA VM back on, and surprisingly.. everything has remained stable.. So whatever issue I had is now gone. Thank you for your feedback.

 

 

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Re:HS200 v5.26 Bad Firmware update?-Solution
2024-07-23 09:56:22 - last edited 2024-07-30 10:19:18

  @Victim83 

 

Firmware 1.0.2 for HS200 V5.26 is not a recent release and it's unlikely to cause such an issue. 

 

Based on feedback from some Tapo smart plug users, whose devices are also connected with Home Assistant, there is a reason to believe this unanticipated issue is somehow related to Home Assistant. And their recent updates suggest the issue has been automatically rectified (or fixed after updating Home Assistant). Tapo plugs suddenly intermittent with Alexa and Home assistant

 

How's the status of your HS200 now? 

 

——————

Note: TP-Link Kasa or Tapo API has not released any APIs to the public, and the resources you can find are unauthorized and not officially certified, so we can't guarantee their effectiveness or stability.

 

If there is any connectivity issue while managing the smart device with Kasa App, click to check more suggestions about What should I do if my Kasa device keep losing connection or going Offline?

Landscape Mode - Tapo App for PadShare Your Pet Story. Win Free Tapo Care!Smart Action 2.0 Explore and meet the next level home automation.
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Re:HS200 v5.26 Bad Firmware update?
2024-07-23 13:03:11

  @Wayne-TP Thank you!

 

I'll try shutting off Home Assistant to see if the switches stabilize. Since my last post the switches seem to work mostly normal. But are always either orange or red. Thank you for also confirming that a recent firmware update was not pushed. That's odd that the rest of the switches are fine. I'll report my findings after I try shutting down Home Asisstant.

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Re:HS200 v5.26 Bad Firmware update?
2024-07-29 17:26:46

  @Wayne-TP I purchased a HS200 from Amazon in Canada two days ago (Jul 27, 2024).  The HS200 has HW 5.26 and FW 1.0.2. 

 

During Setup the Kasa App checks firmware and says it is up to date. I can control it through the Kasa App without issue.


However, I have a number of TP Link switches plugs and bulbs plus devices from other manufacturers all managed locally by MPP_Suite Automation Server.  

 

This particular HS200 is my most recent purchase and the only TP-Link / Kasa device that doesn't appear to support local API.  It is the only TP-Link device in my network running 1.0.2

 

Is there anyway to restore local access?

 

Thank you

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Re:HS200 v5.26 Bad Firmware update?-Solution
2024-07-29 18:06:44 - last edited 2024-07-30 10:19:24

  @Wayne-TP 

 

Hi Wayne, So after your feedback I shutdown my Home Assistant VM and rebooted all unstable switches (Using the button at the bottom right of each switch. After ~24 hours they remained online and stable, so I am in agreement something with HA caused the issue. I then turned the HA VM back on, and surprisingly.. everything has remained stable.. So whatever issue I had is now gone. Thank you for your feedback.

 

 

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Re:HS200 v5.26 Bad Firmware update?
2024-07-29 18:09:28

  @Groundhog 

 

My recent HS200's that are 5.26HW and 1.0.2SW do have the local API still. And can be controlled locally. However they DO require authentication, where the others have not. I've confirmed this by using the python-kasa script locally. Which can control/poll the switches locally as long as you authenticate with whatever credentials used when you set them up with the Kasa App.

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Re:HS200 v5.26 Bad Firmware update?
2024-07-30 10:17:28

  @Groundhog 

 

TP-Link Kasa or Tapo API has not released any APIs to the public, and the resources you can find are unauthorized and not officially certified, so we can't guarantee their effectiveness or stability.

 

Landscape Mode - Tapo App for PadShare Your Pet Story. Win Free Tapo Care!Smart Action 2.0 Explore and meet the next level home automation.
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Re:HS200 v5.26 Bad Firmware update?
2024-07-31 18:23:17

Hi @Wayne-TP, thanks for the response.  Not what I wanted to hear but it is what it is. 

 

I think TP-Link / Kasa should consider supporting the community who have invested in your products.  Its in the best interest of growing the TP-Link Kasa business.

 

The reality of home automation is that most users will find a selection of products from different manufactures is needed to deliver the functionality they need.  A business strategy that demands devices only communicate with "their" app or "their" cloud, doesn't respect the fact that no device vendor can be everything to everyone.  Multivendor environments are the norm, and a way to manage across a diverse device solution is a basic need. 

 

Now TP-Link may say that they will support a secure API interface to their cloud, but hey, in 2024 trust is rare and this is why huge communities are building their own platforms to manage their IOT devices locally.  TP-Link should support embrace this trend.  Openness is rewarded with sales.

 

Thanks again,

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