Broadlink RM2

[bubagump]

Does it start working again by just waking up your Galaxy S3?  If so, then you just need to run a Tasker profile to wake your phone at a certain interval.
 
You will need Tasker and Secure Settings Plugin (by intagibleObject).

Great. Thanks for these detailed. I will try to set this wake up task in tasker. I get a feeling I might need to setup actual periodic reactivation of the RM plugin and just the waking up of the phone might not suffice.

[inconnu_homme]

Great. Thanks for these detailed. I will try to set this wake up task in tasker. I get a feeling I might need to setup actual periodic reactivation of the RM plugin and just the waking up of the phone might not suffice.

Same procedure.  On the 4th step, replace "Plugin  >  Secure Settings" with the RM Tasker Plugin.

[bubagump]

Great. Thanks for these detailed. I will try to set this wake up task in tasker. I get a feeling I might need to setup actual periodic reactivation of the RM plugin and just the waking up of the phone might not suffice.

Same procedure.  On the 4th step, replace "Plugin  >  Secure Settings" with the RM Tasker Plugin.

As an update, my problems with the RM2 bridge not working after a night of inactivity went away without creating any tasks in tasker. So perhaps I just needed to reboot the phone running the bridge or they update the software for the bridge!

[bubagump]

Another request for suggestions around my setup:
I have a lasko tower fan in my living room which came with a IR remote. This fan can now be controlled by RM2 when the RM2 is placed in the line of sight directly in front of the fan.
If I move the RM2 to another room, I could plug the fan into a etekcity RF module. If I send a 'on' command to the RF module, I still would need to have another 'on' command from the line of sight IR remote. Is there a path for circumventing the need for the IR command. Or do I just need to buy a 'dumb' fan which does not come with a remote and plug it into a RF module?!

Thanks!

[bubagump]

So, a new problem has arisen!
I upgraded my modem today and now the tasker plugin is no longer working. I can still control the switches from the broadlink app on the phone. But when I command Alexa, she says 'device is not responding'. The tasker still shows all the correct codes. I reimported them from the broadlink app but no dice.
Seems like it might be something to do with creating the static IP which I did not do initially (not sure how to do it!).
Any advice is much appreciated.

[inconnu_homme]

Another request for suggestions around my setup:
I have a lasko tower fan in my living room which came with a IR remote. This fan can now be controlled by RM2 when the RM2 is placed in the line of sight directly in front of the fan.
If I move the RM2 to another room, I could plug the fan into a etekcity RF module. If I send a 'on' command to the RF module, I still would need to have another 'on' command from the line of sight IR remote. Is there a path for circumventing the need for the IR command. Or do I just need to buy a 'dumb' fan which does not come with a remote and plug it into a RF module?!

Thanks!

If all you are concerned with is on/off, then a simple fan with an Etekcity outlet should work.  If you want to control speed/oscillation (assuming you have those programmed into the Broadlink RM Pro), then you can buy a Broadlink RM Mini and place that in your other room.

[inconnu_homme]

So, a new problem has arisen!
I upgraded my modem today and now the tasker plugin is no longer working. I can still control the switches from the broadlink app on the phone. But when I command Alexa, she says 'device is not responding'. The tasker still shows all the correct codes. I reimported them from the broadlink app but no dice.
Seems like it might be something to do with creating the static IP which I did not do initially (not sure how to do it!).
Any advice is much appreciated.

I could be wrong, but a static ip was only necessary when using an HTTP Bridge.  When RM Tasker added an Alexa Bridge, then a static ip was not needed (once again, I'm assuming here).  Creating a static ip depends on your router.  Each router has its own menu and some cheaper routers do not have that capability.  Google your specific router + static ip.

Before going down that road, I would just clear the data/cache of RM Tasker, delete the devices from Alexa, and start over from there.  If it is still not working, then look into creating a static ip.

[bubagump]

Another request for suggestions around my setup:
I have a lasko tower fan in my living room which came with a IR remote. This fan can now be controlled by RM2 when the RM2 is placed in the line of sight directly in front of the fan.
If I move the RM2 to another room, I could plug the fan into a etekcity RF module. If I send a 'on' command to the RF module, I still would need to have another 'on' command from the line of sight IR remote. Is there a path for circumventing the need for the IR command. Or do I just need to buy a 'dumb' fan which does not come with a remote and plug it into a RF module?!

Thanks!

If all you are concerned with is on/off, then a simple fan with an Etekcity outlet should work.  If you want to control speed/oscillation (assuming you have those programmed into the Broadlink RM Pro), then you can buy a Broadlink RM Mini and place that in your other room.

Indeed. The simplest solution is to buy a fan which does not come with its own IR remote and plug it into a etekcity outlet. Makes me chuckle at the paradox of it - need to dumb down the fan in order to make it smarter for voice control with alexa! Thanks for your input. Just ordered two fans which specifically state that they dont come with a remote.

[bubagump]

So, a new problem has arisen!
I upgraded my modem today and now the tasker plugin is no longer working. I can still control the switches from the broadlink app on the phone. But when I command Alexa, she says 'device is not responding'. The tasker still shows all the correct codes. I reimported them from the broadlink app but no dice.
Seems like it might be something to do with creating the static IP which I did not do initially (not sure how to do it!).
Any advice is much appreciated.

I could be wrong, but a static ip was only necessary when using an HTTP Bridge.  When RM Tasker added an Alexa Bridge, then a static ip was not needed (once again, I'm assuming here).  Creating a static ip depends on your router.  Each router has its own menu and some cheaper routers do not have that capability.  Google your specific router + static ip.

Before going down that road, I would just clear the data/cache of RM Tasker, delete the devices from Alexa, and start over from there.  If it is still not working, then look into creating a static ip.

You are right. I could get it to work by deleting the devices from Alexa and then adding them again. It is kind of painful that you have to enter all of the outlets again in the plugin for Alexa to discover but I hope that is the case only when you switch out the modem or the router.

[inconnu_homme]

You are right. I could get it to work by deleting the devices from Alexa and then adding them again. It is kind of painful that you have to enter all of the outlets again in the plugin for Alexa to discover but I hope that is the case only when you switch out the modem or the router.

If it stops working in a week or two (depending on your internet provider), then it might be a static ip issue.  Then you would have to look into using a free dynamic DNS service like noip. 

[famewolf]

Just thought I'd point out that Becky's code works just fine with the RM Bridge app which is totally free as opposed to the tasker app.  The tasker app was also less reliable when we initially tested it which is why she rewrote it to work with RM Bridge.

[Maff]

I took the static ip thing for the alexa Bridge to mean it needs a static internal ip address, ie your dchp server needs to dish out the same ip address to your phone/Tablet. This may be why it stopped when the other chap changed his router, alexa was thinking the alexa Bridge was elsewhere. 

I found that waking up my phone & rm tasker app once an hour has been enough to make any issues dissapear, without making the phone drain of power so quickly,so the phone can still sleep but still work. The developer may have fixed the issue now, but I wouldn't know as it's been working fine either way.

[bill]

Hi

Anybody know how many devices alexa can discover?

I am  setting up the tasker plugin

Alexa only discovers a few devices at a time. and seems to have trouble recognising more than about 25 devices on my system.

the 20 second discovery process seems a bit short maybe?

Has anyone got over 30 devices working?


cheers

[inconnu_homme]

Hi

Anybody know how many devices alexa can discover?

I am  setting up the tasker plugin

Alexa only discovers a few devices at a time. and seems to have trouble recognising more than about 25 devices on my system.

the 20 second discovery process seems a bit short maybe?

Has anyone got over 30 devices working?


cheers

Not sure but the Alexa app says 73 Smart Home devices found.  Out of those, 21 are Broadlink controlled devices.  Keep in mind I am using RM Bridge instead of RM Tasker because I also use a SmartThings hub.  This setup has been so much better for me than just using RM Tasker.

[bubagump]

I must agree that RM bridge with smartthings is a much stable solution. I switched from the tasker app to RM bridge and it has been working much better.