BroadlinkRM4 mini Smart Remote and Sensor Cable Set RM4 mini S, Universal IR Remote Control Hub with Temperature Humidity Monitor USB Cable, Compatible with Alexa, Google Home, IFTTT

I use this though home assistant to keep things local. Works well and the temperature humidity add-on was very much worth the extra.Speed and reliable the pairing process for remotes is simple even in home assistant and even easier in the app.Just need a physical remote to tie it all together now

I know... Amazon reviews. Who to believe?Well here's what you need to know here. This product - in fact Broadlink's entire range - does not work easily or often at all with any modern router.The first thing to know is that it requires the older 2.4ghz WiFi band (I can see you glazing over already... bear with me). Most routers now use 5ghz, and often the user cannot choose which of the two standards to connect to (as is the case with my Orbi19). Your iPhone or Android won't help either, they will automatically connect to 5ghz whether you like it or not. If you have an old phone in a drawer that is 2.4ghz only, chances are that the OS is so old that it won't download the Broadlink app. If you are lucky enough to have one of the routers where you can connect manually then you may be in luck. But read on...Once you're over that hurdle, then it gets really tough. Here's the important info they don't tell you, that support supplied to me (to be fair, they were quite quick):1. Check the router's settings and make sure the encryption mode for the 2.4Ghz network is WPA2.2. Turn off the firewall setting.3. Enable DHCP function.4. Check the port forwarding to make sure TCP 80, 8080, 16384, 1812 are enabled.With (1), my router cannot set the encryption method even in advanced mode. I'm not sure about the other stages, but you'll clearly need to be diving right into the innards of the thing. Finally, you have to turn off the firewall, making you less safe online.Clearly, all this is madness. You just want a product that works - connects to the wifi like everything else, and then the app can find. At this point, none of Broadlink's products support 5ghz, and that's true of all competitors that I can find. So this is a great idea to make older products work - I just needed a timer for an aircon/heater basically - but there doesn't appear to be any product in the world that can actually do it without a degree in Computer Science and a 2nd hand router.

So have tried a few of the cheaper ones and I was having an issue with the cheaper ones as they would just keep dropping off (after reading a few reviews looks like they go to sleep - kind of defeats the purpose as it needs to be on 24x7) so though would give this one a try and BINGO - it just works - stays on all the time so no issues there - very pleased with it...Have to deduct 1 star though for setup... whilst the "cheaper" ones have the edge in setting up over the Broadlink [the cheaper ones seem to do bluetooth setup so are easy to add to the apps] the Broadlink ones mandates you *HAVE* to connect to 2.4Ghz WiFi - have you ever tried that? (You basically can't disable 5GHz on most smart phones and indeed routers!) so managed to finally get it to go into 'AP' mode [instructions are not very forthcoming for that! it's like mentioned in a small paragraph] also the Voice Intergration [Alexa] setup is a little counter-intuative... In the App there is a 'link' button but never seems to be enabled (tried on both an iPhone and Android device) - turns out you have to go into the Alexa App and enable the skill which then links your account - found this "mentioned" in the manual - so why have that button in the App? at least get it to display a little help and maybe launch the Alexa App...But overall, would recommend

This is brilliant little remote. It works with a little bit of patience and remote training it works brilliantly in the app. In the app, Alexa integration is awful and very difficult to set up and get working correctly and for the standard user.