Kasa KP115 Intermittently Losing Connectivity

Support
#1

Hi,

Despite previous discussions and valuable assistance from Equiwatt, my Kasa KP115 smart plugs are going offline daily.

To be clear, this is not necessarily an Equiwatt issue, as these KP115 plugs lose their connectivity even when there isn’t an Equivent – but I wanted to share the situation here, as I don’t think I’m the only person experiencing this problem.

If anyone – including @Mark_equiwatt and the Equiwatt team – can offer suggestions, I’m definitely open to trying something new!

I sent the following email to TP-Link support via Contact Technical Support | TP-Link United Kingdom

I have a number of Kasa KP115 smart plugs that regularly (every day) lose connectivity. These plugs include:-

  • Bedroom Fan:- 0.67kWh -57 dBm

  • Fridge Freezer:- 3.35kWh -48 dBm

  • Garage UPS:- 2.5kWh -30 dBm

  • Television UPS:- 1.34kWh -49dBm

NB: Figures next to device name are 7-day power consumption (to give an idea of power load) and WiFi network signal strength.

Network

  • My network is a Google WiFi mesh-based network (now known as Nest WiFi Pro).

  • WiFi coverage for all devices is good to excellent (-30 dBm being a perfect signal, -60 dBm being a good, reliable signal)

  • Every device is a KP115, Hardware Version: 1.0, using the latest 1.0.20 Firmware.

  • Every device is connected to EquiWatt (https://www.equiwatt.com/) via the Kasa API, but these devices randomly go offline whether there is an Equivent or not.

  • I run Domotz (https://www.domotz.com/) Network Monitoring software on my network. Domotz scans the above devices every 10 minutes to check if they are online.

Notes

  • Each of the above KP115 devices has been physically replaced at least once in the past 12 months.

  • The KP115 devices go offline randomly, regardless of whether the plug is in use or not.

  • When the KP115 devices lose connectivity, they show as “Offline” in the Kasa App (Android and iOS) and the only way to reconnect them is to physically turn the power to the device off at the electricity socket, then back on.

  • I’ve also setup a KP115 under no load – named TEST KP115 - to see if this device stays online or not. Hopefully this should give some answers as to whether the KP115 plugs go offline during to problems around power load on the devices, or something else.

Regards,

Richard Tubb

#2

Hi @Richard_Tubb,

Apologies for not getting back to you sooner.

Thank you for sharing that information with us. I will pass it on to my colleagues to see if they have any ideas that may help.

Unfortunately, we are aware that there seems to be an increasing number of issues with Kasa TP-Link Smart Plugs that our users have been experiencing.

We are currently working on a number of alternative smart plug integrations which we hope will provide a better experience for our users so hopefully we will be able to share more information on this once we have been able to do some more testing.

Please let us know if you have any other questions or need any further assistance.

All the best,

Mark - Team equiwatt

#3

Thanks, @Mark_equiwatt and I’m progressing the issue with TP-Link but don’t have any great hope they’ll be able to resolve the problem.

I would love for you to support another smart plug integration since I’m only having issues with the KP115 devices. I have a variety of other smart plugs on my network, none of which experience issues.

At this stage, it’s become like Whack-a-mole with the KP115 devices – they lose connectivity multiple times during the week.

Frankly, if it wasn’t for my support for EquiWatt, I would have ripped those Kasa plugs out by now!

Do you have any timescale in mind for supporting another manufacturer?

#4

A quick update. After jumping through various hoops with TP-Link support, my ticket was escalated to a senior engineer.

Last Thursday (28th November) I had an email asking me to upgrade my KP115 to a new firmware - 1.0.21 – that “optimized the performance of the plug and improved its stability.”

I’m pleased to say that since the firmware upgrade, I haven’t experienced any KP115 losing connectivity! Hurrah! :slight_smile:

Tagging @John_Thomas, @Derek_Streets and @Mark_equiwatt in case they want to test upgrading the firmware on their KP115 to see if it fixes the issue for them, too.

2 Likes
#5

Thanks, but my more usual problem is the plug appearing to be active, but not switching the supply in the socket off.

Sometimes unplugging the plug for some time and plugging it back in seems to work… but I have a number of these plugs and trying to keep them going is becoming a juggling act.

#6

Hi @Richard_Tubb,

Thank you for the update. Fingers crossed this is the end of the issue for you.

As I mentioned we are currently testing a new integration that we are hoping will prove to be more reliable, so we will keep you updated on that.

All the best,

Mark - Team equiwatt