Hi Wayne,

Thanks for confirming that the change in firmware 1.4.8 is intentional.

Here’s my feedback on the points you raised in your reply.

1. “It was introduced to fix a problem with inaccurate energy monitoring data.” and “For context, the Tapo app itself doesn’t log readings below 1W either.”

Without any insight into what “a problem with inaccurate energy monitoring data” actually means, it's difficult to comment on whether the observed loss of the previously available capability was necessary.

I have observed that following the 1.4.8 firmware update, the P110 device no longer differentiates between sub-1 W operational power states that were previously reported at approximately 0.7–0.8 W and below 0.3 W.

Does your point, “the Tapo app itself doesn’t log readings below 1W either,” mean that the changes in firmware 1.4.8 were made, at least in part, to align the low-power reporting behaviour of the P110 device with the way the Tapo app handles readings below 1 W, or were these low-power measurements themselves determined to be unreliable?

2. “As for Home Assistant, it’s not a platform we officially support, so we don’t adapt our products for unsupported third-party platforms.”

Whilst third-party applications such as Home Assistant are not officially supported, TP-Link does provide a documented Third-Party Compatibility facility for the P110 device and explicitly identifies Home Assistant as an example:

https://www.tp-link.com/uk/support/faq/4416/

This acknowledges “users' demand for third-party apps.”

I believe some of this demand is driven by customers, like myself, who wish to use the capabilities of TP-Link devices in more advanced ways than are currently provided by the Tapo app.

With firmware 1.4.6, the ability to differentiate these sub-1 W operational power states was an existing capability of the P110 device that could be utilised by third-party apps through TP-Link's Third-Party Compatibility feature. With firmware 1.4.8, that capability appears to have been effectively lost because those previously distinguishable states are now reported as 0 W.

If firmware changes were necessary to address a general problem with “inaccurate energy monitoring data,” then those changes should of course have been made in the P110 firmware. However, to maintain the P110 device's useful capabilities when used with third-party apps, where technically possible, I would have expected those changes to have been implemented in a way that preserved the P110 device's ability to provide useful granular sub-1 W real-time power data, as it had prior to firmware 1.4.8. If separate changes were required to ensure accurate energy monitoring within the Tapo app, I would have expected those to have been implemented within the app or associated TP-Link services rather than at the expense of the useful granular sub-1 W measurement data previously provided by the P110 device.

This would allow TP-Link to address energy-monitoring accuracy while not unnecessarily affecting existing TP-Link customers who make more advanced use of the P110 device through TP-Link's Third-Party Compatibility facility.

As a TP-Link customer with numerous P110 devices, it would therefore be useful to understand whether the loss of this sub-1 W capability was technically necessary to correct inaccurate measurements within the P110 device itself, or whether it resulted from changes made to support the way the Tapo app handles energy-monitoring data. If the latter, it would also be useful to understand why this required changing the granular real-time data provided by the P110 device rather than handling that requirement within the Tapo app or associated TP-Link services.

Unfortunately, if the underlying capabilities of TP-Link devices are being reduced in order to align them with the behaviour or requirements of the Tapo app, that would make me question future purchases of TP-Link devices, particularly where I intend to use those devices through third-party applications.

@Fergal 

  @Wayne-TP 

Thank you for for your response and passing the details on.