Recommended RF remote kits for lights?

I have several fans added to Bond successfully.

Now I want to add old-school RF remote controls to a few lights. But the first RF remote kit I tried (433mhz) was not recognized by bond:

Worked with support but we were not able to make it work.

I have 2 questions:

  1. Is there any way to make this remote work? Any steps I can take to see why Bond doesn’t recognize the remote?

  2. Are there any RF remote kits with SMALL receivers that are known to work with Bond? I want to wire them into light fixtures so traditional large fan rf receivers won’t fit well.

Could you try fast-tapping the button as you record? Then PM me your Bond ID and we’ll look at the packet.

Thanks @jacob.
I PM’d you my Bond ID + device name.

hopefully we can make sense of the issue here.

Also, any insight into my 2nd question?

Are there any RF remote kits with SMALL receivers that are known to work with Bond?

Sorry, no, I’ve never seen such a small receiver in a kit!

Can you post the FCC ID from the back of the remote here? And photos of the front-back of the remote and the receiver?

These things look awesome, and great price point!

Looks like no FCC ID or any other info on the remote.

I’m now starting to suspect that these remotes might not be generating an rf signal at all even though 433mhz is mentioned in the product description.

I say this because Bond never recognized any of my attempts to add it. Bond always times out. I tried several distances and speeds of presses.

However, the light fixture I have wired with one of the receivers turn on and off with button presses.

That’s a shame. It’s a requirement for sale in the USA, so these receivers may not be on the market too long!

With the FCC ID info, we could have gotten more clarity without doing testing. Without it, you’re sort of on your own :frowning:

It’s possible that it is generating an FSK signal which is uncommon and not currently supported by Bond Bridge.

that’s good to know.
This definitely felt like a cheap chineese knock-off. I just returned it via Amazon.

Thank you for your help @jacob & @merck .

I’ll order 1 or 2 others to try out that have FCC ID this time. My goal is to find a cheap/small-ish one that works with Bond and can fit into light fixture wiring space. After that, I plan to use that for several lights across the house and let Bond be my only home automation bridge.

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Kind of off-topic, but if you suspect that you going start automating your home - plan ahead and decide on the automation system before you start buying hardware.

Many (including myself) started buying many random incompatible devices which was a waste…

Quick update on this:

I finally had some success with this fan remote kit:

It is much larger than I hoped
but still only about 1/4 - 1/2 the size of a standard fan remote receiver.

I am wiring it behind the light switch boxes in my house where I want Bond (and Google Home) to be able to control the light. This is working well for hallway light (4-way), garage light, porch light.

So far, the only issue is that it is impossible to get it to fit into a single-switch box easily. You have to pry, cut, to get it in. For 2 or more switch boxes, it fits well.

Of course, there is always risk with electrical wiring and you have to understand your house’s wiring and local electrical code. I don’t recommend this to anyone unless you are comfortable with taking on that responsibility seriously.

But for me, it has been a fun and interesting experiment that I wanted to share for any riskier-side enthusiasts. I finally got a long-wanted RF-based semi-smart home thanks to the Bond working with this remote kit.

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