@Mike999 

Hi,

I'm not sure what suggestions you've tried so far; however here are a few, in case you haven't tried them yet:

1. For the HS105 that is having issues with remote control, please unplug the device from its power outlet, then plug it back in.

2. Please make sure your Kasa Smart app is fully updated and the latest firmware is installed for your smart plugs, please follow the steps in our FAQ here to update their firmware.

3. For the HS100 that drops connection, please check the signal strength of the device. You can check this by tapping the device name within the Kasa Smart app, then tap the Device Settings icon (top-right), and scroll down to signal strength. Ideally, the signal strength should be higher than -70dBm.

Our smart plugs connect via 2.4GHz WiFi, which in some environments can be severely congested, leading to less than ideal reliability for devices using this band. To help remedy 2.4GHz WiFi congestion, which may be affecting one of your HS100 units, we recommend adjusting the 2.4GHz WiFi channel setting on your router to a channel that is least congested in your area. You can typically determine which channels are the most, or least congested by using a common WiFi analyzer app on your smartphone.

Regards,

Ryan | TP-Link Support

Thank you Ryan. Yes, I tried everything suggested for the remote control on the HS105. Strangely enough, the next morning the "Local only" message was gone and it was working. I have no idea how it self-resolved.

For the HS100 that drops connection I’ve moved it around a few places to assist in resolving, but it’s always been within reach of the router. I will try the WiFi congestion recommendation and see if that might be the problem.

I have another issue that came up after this too. For some reason my Alexa has no issues finding these new devices and connects without any additional input from me. However, for my Google Home, I can’t get them to connect. We’ll, I had them working and added these new plugs and moved one around, now Google home can’t find any of them. I get a message “Not Responding” when looking at the device in Google Home. I have Unlinked the TP-Link account from Google home and re-linked it and that does not make a difference. It actually seems to make it worse since now I’m left with these broken plugs in Google Home that I can’t seem to remove. I have checked the Kasa app and everything works just fine there. If you have any pointers related to that issue it would be helpful.

Thanks again for your help.

@Mike999 

I'm glad to hear the Local Only message is no longer causing you any inconvenience, and hope that adjusting your router's 2.4GHz WiFi channel settings helps improve stability.

I'll be happy to help address the concerns you have regarding Google Home integration. We are currently aware of an issue that exists when attempting to integrate some IoT devices with Google Home via Android. Please note that TP-Link/Kasa Smart products are not the only ones being affected by this issue, and we recommend contacting Google Support for assistance.

For additional information, there is also Reddit thread regarding this topic here, in which various users are reporting similar issues with non-Kasa products. 

We are actively working with Google to investigate this matter.

Regards,

Ryan | TP-Link Support