Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Kasa Smart Light Switch HS200, Single Pole, Needs Neutral Wire, 2.4GHz Wi-Fi Light Switch Works with Alexa and Google Home, UL Certified, No Hub Required , White

Top positive review

Super outstanding Customer Service!

Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2023

I have been a very happy user of Kasa devices for at least 3 years and now have 28 devices throughout our home. Thanks to Kasa we're more energy efficient, safer and enjoying the happy conveniences of a smart home.

I love their well-designed hardware - solid construction and sleek, modern, clean lines that fit well with our modern home. The devices were also highly reliable, working from the start and never failing in their steady, dependable operation.

And especially I love their mobile app, intuitive installation guide and ongoing feature enhancements, seamless integration with Alexa, etc. As the CEO of an IoT software company, I even asked my development teams to look at Kasa as an example of what we should do for our industrial line of products. In my view, the Kasa installation guides are a best practice which our company had to adopt as well!

Normally I'd stop there and say, "Great job Kasa!" and "Don't hesitate for a second if you're thinking of committing to Kasa for your own home!"

But recently I discovered another side of Kasa / TP-Link - and I just had to finally lean in and write this customer review. I've never had an issues with a Kasa device until installing this motion sensor switch. I was looking for a way to automatically turn off our bathroom fans to save on electricity costs. Motors suck up lots of electricity and our teenage boys don't think of turning things off, ever. :-) So I hoped that Kasa would ride to the rescue. But alas, I'll admit, I was disappointed. For some reason the fans wouldn't shut off using the motion sensing rules - which are easy to program by the way.

Finally, for the first time, I decided I had to contact Kasa / TP-Link customer service for support. And I didn't know what to expect. It's not like many tech firms excel in customer support. But that's when I saw a whole new side of the company... I am now not just a huge fan of their devices and software, but also of their friendly, effective and dedicated people!!!

Thanks so much to Betsy and Tyrone (hope it's okay to use your support names!) My emails were responded too quickly. Their suggestions for fixes were clear and actionable. And when it turned out that the normal fixes didn't work, Tyler came through by getting TP-Link's engineering team on the case... Another highlight of my experience I just have to share!

It turns out the devices needed a firmware update, but that hadn't yet been released for general availability. So, Tyrone was able to work with his engineers to provide a product firmware update to address our motion sensor problem - and it worked. He was always responsive, even proactive, following up to see if things had been corrected! He was very clear in his communications, and focused on getting this working with the full resources of TP-Link behind him.

That, my Amazon friends and fellow Kasa customers - or future customers - is just magic. It's one thing to buy products that always work ... And it's a whole new level to see a company so dedicated to customer satisfaction that they go the extra mile to fix a problem when inevitably, a problem does arise.

My commitment to Kasa / TP-Link went up several and eventually we'll have every switch and plug in home updated to Kasa so impressed I was by how they handled our firmware fix and update.

THANK YOU Tyrone and Betsy - YOU ROCK!!

Sam

33 people found this helpful

Top critical review

Critical reviews›

MikenzCO

Setup issues? my step by step tips with app/wifi/alexa troubleshooting

Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2021

We just swapped out a ceiling light fixture with a fan light combo unit. i wanted to be able to control with Alexa and going with a new switch due to the light bulb size was the only way to do that. The only problem encountered all revolved around getting both the Wi-Fi and Alexa integration to function properly following the enclosed instructions let alone the companies own help videos.

1 connect switch hardware to wall before moving to software connections
2 if you don’t have the ‘kasa’ app download it
3 open the kasa app and make sure you are connected to your personal Wi-Fi
a. if uncertain go to your settings, select connections on your phone
4 if open close and reopen the kasa app
5 go to your new switch, look to the lower left below the large button
6 switch says ‘reset’ press and hold until it starts flashing faster
7 go immediately to your phone
8 if there is no window that pops up saying new device discovered then skip to step 9
a. if window pops up tap it and continue as directed
9 press the ‘+’ upper right corner to add
a. select switches from the list shown on your phone
b. you’ll be asked to connect to the TP-Link Wi-Fi, go to your settings and change temporarily
c. follow on screen prompts
d. at the end of process go back to your Wi-Fi settings and switch back to your personal Wi-Fi
e. be sure within the app if you didn’t at the outset to choose or create a name to use with this
f. once connected to your Wi-Fi network and have a name you should be good to go
g. if done right you should not only be able to use it via the app but for Alexa it should already be done
i. just say Alexa turn on,…and it should work
10 if a window pops up as cited in ‘8’ try that path and follow the steps as shown in the app
11 At the end of that process once it says you are finished, you may or may not be prompted about Wi-Fi?
a. I went through these steps a half dozen times before I got mine setup and working
b. If something pops up about no Wi-Fi connection then again switch Wi-Fi from TP-Link to yours
c. When you think you are done then upper right corner the ‘gear’ icon for settings, go there
i. if there is at the very top a line about “remote control” with an on/off toggle you have a problem
ii. unfortunately you’ll need to start all over again as I had to
iii. delete device, you’ll have tap once and then a second time
iv. close out the app
v. go to the reset button on switch, press and hold until if flashes fast ( the instruction manual says restart,
however that never worked out at my end to resolve connection issues
vi. you are ready to give it another try
12 If it is added and appears all is good the true test is to say Alexa turn on/off example name, bedroom. If bedroom turns on with Alexa you are good to go on all counts.

The wiring part of the installation process is just as described in the packaging, simple and straight forward. The software side however is not so simple or straight forward for many self-included. While some here have had success on the first try others have tried and tried with no success. We may follow the instructions precisely but we encountered issues along the way. As said I tried a half dozen times and was about to throw in the towel before it finally connected right and worked with Alexa and the app both.

FYI the official online instruction video put out by TP-Link posted to YouTube does a good job showing you how to connect the wiring but as for Wi-Fi/Alexa it is pretty thin to nonexistent on details. In fact not a single word said about Alexa integration?

For manual use of the switch you only press on the lower portion. Which doesn’t make a lot of sense based on the design they used? The upper switch is made in a stuck up position, looks like it is always on but isn’t the case. Just my opinion but they should have just gone with a single square or rectangle to press and not a fake up/down traditional switch look.

**regardless what the instructions or vids say you can use a metal face plate just fine with no impacts at all. We have a brushed nickel plate around ours (put on after setup was completed) and all is good. FYI i did start out with the enclosed plastic face plate so that had zero affect on Wi-Fi connection during setup.

Summary – If it hadn’t been for the trouble I had setting the software, Wi-Fi side of this up I would have given It five stars and recommended it to all, but there were issues. Consequently I’m not recommending it but I’m not saying don’t buy it either.

With this device it is kind of a gamble, a flip of the coin so to speak as to whether or not your experience setting it up will go smoothly, not so smoothly or not at all. Considering the price I think it is likely worth the gamble. At least if all else fails and it doesn’t work out you can easily return it with Amazon and try another model.

14 people found this helpful

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Color: WhiteStyle: Alexa & GoogleClear filter

39,146 total ratings, 8,141 with reviews

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From the United States

Sam Kamel

Super outstanding Customer Service!

Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2023

Color: WhiteStyle: Alexa & GoogleVerified Purchase

33 people found this helpful

Helpful

Eric Demers

Love these switches!! Works with Mesh wifi!

Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2024

Color: WhiteStyle: Alexa & GoogleVerified Purchase

Went from Wemo smart switches to two of these. Amazing!! This is why:
1. Works perfectly with mixed 2.4G/5.0GHz Mesh wifi systems (Netgear Orbi 940)
2. Easy to install
3. All programming features in app, on Android: Timers, Scheduled events (inc sunrise/sunset)
4. Alexa integration works perfectly.

Honestly, best smart switches I've ever used. So many are more complex, but these are super simple and work. Android app is great.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

AlarmGy

An Easy way to control multiple devices on a single circuit.

Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2018

Color: WhiteStyle: Alexa & GoogleVerified Purchase

I made the jump to a "Smart Home" a little over a month ago after Alexa joined our family. After talking to some friends, doing some research and assesing my needs I settled on TP-Link because of the variety of Smart products they offered, no requirements for a Hub, the lower cost and the ability to control everything from one simple app on my Smart phone and Amazon"s Alexa.
I have not been disappointed. After a very short learning curve, I surprisingly found the installation and set-up of all the TP-Link Smart devices extremely easy and intuitive. I have installed several different Smart devices including three different bulbs (LB-100, 120 & 130) depending on the area, as well as, Smart Switches (HB-200) and Smart Plugs. All of it has installed, programed and worked with few problems.
The only criticism I have is the Kasa App. I have found it to be a bit bugy at times, but since I use it primarily for programming and setting up new devices and scenes, rather than operationally, it has not been an issue since Alexa handels most of that work. So far, in the six weeks my Smart Home has been in operation I have only had one problem where Alexa and the Kasa app lost communication with most of (but not all) of my TP-Link devices. But after a bit of head scratching I was able to restore communication.
So here's a tip to remember: I first tried rebooting the devices by cycling the power breaker, but that didn't work. Probably due to multiple devices signaling simultaneously and overloading Kasa. But, powering each device down for a few seconds then back up, and testing it before moving on ro the next one worked without a problem.
I also recommend using a different control application. I only have experience with Amazon Alexa, but it also interfaces with Google Home among others. I have found that controlling scenes from Kasa not to be reluable for some reason, while issuing the scene commands to Alexa works 90% of the time, with repeating the command becoming necessary about 10% of the time. But even with an occasional repeated command being necessary, TP-Link devices respond extremely well through Alexa's control. Plus Alexa is able to easily "group" multiple devices so you can control areas with a single command, or program macro activities that Alexa can perform with a single command. Capabilities Kasa does not have.
This is another deficiency of the Kasa app. Without the ability to group devices or run macro routines, it relies on programmed scenes which are very limiting for operational control. So another controlling app like Alexa or Home is essential to the TP-Link Smart Home system.
For me, because I have Alexa for operational control, both at home and away, these short comings in the Kasa app are non-issues. But if I didnt have this capability I think I would look to a different Hub controlled platform for my Smart Home lighting and device control.

HS-200 Smart Switch:
I am a retired electrician, so I found the installation easy. Most DIY homeowners with a basic knowledge of electricity and components should also have few problems with the installation.
I found this Smart Switch easy to control and the installation is about the same as replacing a standard light switch. But, a big drawback is not have a dimming capability. To me this should be a no-brainer and i cant understand why this featire is lacking. Because that would makevthis a 5 star product.
So before you procede there are a couple of precautions that should be noted.
First, you must three wires plus the ground (usually bare or green), and one must be the neutral (usually white) third wire, or the switch simply will not work. This can be an issue in some older homes (and even in some newer ones too).
The neutral wire is the "common" wire that runs throughout the house and is common to all circuits. It completes the loop in the circuit from the electrical box to the receptacle. The "hot" (or "line") wire (usually black) carries the electrical load for that circuit only (usually 15-20 amps max). And finally, the "load" wire (usually black, red, or it could even be white) completes the hot side of the circuit between the switch and the receptacle. To save time and money some electricians when wiring homes "old school" would complete the light circuit by running the neutral to the light receptacle and then run a 2 conductor (plus ground) to the switch. So even though you may have a white and black wire at the switch, the white wire is not a neutral, but the load wire that that completes the hot circuit when the switch is turned on (closed). So if you don't have 3 wires, one of them being the white neutral, you are out of luck using a Smart Switch. You can control the light however, by using Smart bulbs and then grouping them in the controling app (like Alexa).
Another caution is wire management. Standard light switches don't take up much room, so the original installing electrician had lots of room in the box to stuff extra wire. This is a luxury you don't have since the Smart Switch is much deeper and takes up most of the box. The new switch also uses leads that are wire nutted to the circuit wires and not terminated on the switch itself. Because of this, it may be necessay to shorten the wires to make room in the box for the extra electronics and wire nuts.
My advice is to open your intended switch boxes to survey your electrical wiring BEFORE you order the switches, so there are no surprises when it comes time to install.
One last safety precaution. Be sure to turn off the circuit at the electrical panel (breaker box). Also don't assume that all switches in a multi-switch box are on the same circuit. It is often the case that multiple circuits are in the box. This is especially true when a switch is controling a plug. So check all wires in the box with a meter to insure nothing is hot.
Finally, when wire nutting multiple wires it is VERY EASY to leave a wire loose. This can be very dangerous, as loose wires can work themselves free and cause arking and sparking that can damage connected equipment, and worse, start a fire. This is a common cause of electrical fires, and you might not know there is a problem until it's too late. So to ensure all wire nut connections are tight and secure, tug on each wire at the nut with needle nose pliers. If you can't pull it loose it should be good to go. Also make sure there are no bare wires poking out of the nuts. The switches use stranded wire so it's easy to have some stray strands loose outside the nut.
So that's about it. The install is pretty easy most of the time, but if you don't think you're experienced enough to do the job safely, put this phase of the job in the hands of a professional. It should be an easy job for any professional electrician, and should not be terribly expensive. Consider it cheep insurance!

132 people found this helpful

Helpful

Erin

Not a traditional rocker switch

Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2024

Color: WhiteStyle: Alexa & GoogleVerified Purchase

It wasn’t obvious from the photos or marketing that the switch is a push button toggle on/off and not a rocker switch. You push the bottom portion of the switch paddle to turn the circuit on and off. It works, but it’s the only switch in my home (or anywhere else in my life) that works like this ind I find the physical design annoying. The installation was easy and the software works well.

One person found this helpful

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KB Wex

Reliable smart switch for a great price

Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2023

Color: WhiteStyle: Alexa & GoogleVerified Purchase

I have installed 10 Kasa HS200 and 210 smart switches in my house, and I love how convenient and reliable they are. The switches are easy to set up and connect to your home Wi-Fi. It works flawlessly with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, so you can control lights and fans with your voice. You can also use the Kasa app on your phone to toggle power, and set schedules and timers.
The switch has a sleek design and a large button that clicks nicely. It has LED indicators for light and WiFi status. The switch, although very deep, fits in a standard wall plate and requires a neutral wire. The switch can handle up to 15 amps of power, which is enough for most lighting fixtures.
The only drawback of this model is that it does not have dimmer functionality. However, if you want a simple and smart way to control your single pole lights, the Kasa Smart Light Switch HS200 is a great choice.
You can’t beat the quality and functionality for the price.

9 people found this helpful

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Benton

Most consistent and reliable Smart device I own

Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2024

Color: WhiteStyle: Alexa & GoogleVerified Purchase

I LOVE this smart light switch! I first got one to replace my ceiling fan/light fixture switch because I grew tired of getting comfortable in bed, only to have to then get up and turn the switch off (First World problems, I know)

Out of all of the smart plugs and smart bulbs that I own, this one has been the most reliable by far. It integrates with my Alexa routines perfectly, and if it ever lost internet connection (which it has yet to do for me even once) it still functions as a regular light switch.

I've had a lot of dud smart products that require constant resets, and I am very pleased I haven't had to deal with that for any of the 6+ Kasa Smart Light Switches I own.

Installation was very straightforward, and once you get comfortable with turning off the circuit breaker, anyone can install these in their sleep

Helpful

OldChE

Great replacement for X10 switches to control my outdoor lights. Some tips for installation.

Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2024

Color: WhiteStyle: Alexa & GoogleVerified Purchase

I installed two of these, to replace the X10 controlled switches on my front porch and front garage lights. Installation was easy and they work great. The old X10 switches were controlled by powerline signals sent by a separate control timer box, but over the years this became unreliable. Also the X10 control timer was "dumb" in that I had to change the on/off times as the seasons changed if I wanted the lights to come on and off near the sunset and sunrise times. With the new Kasa switches, I simply told the Kasa app to turn them on and off with the sunset and sunrise times for my location, and it knows exactly when that is as the year progresses! You can even program an offset to the sun times if you like, say 30 minutes before or after sunset. I already had the Kasa app on my phone, since I got and use EP10 smart plugs on some lamps in the home, and they work great too. One of the HS200 switches found my WiFi immediately, the other had difficulty at first, but I followed the instructions and pushed the reset button on the switch and it then rebooted and found the WiFi right away. One thing to keep in mind is to make sure your cell phone is on the same exact WiFi network as the device, just for the initial setup, then the setup will go forward easily. In my case, I keep IOT devices like these switches on a separate isolated network, so I logged the phone into that first (a 2.4 GHz network), did the install, then logged the phone back into its usual 5GHz network. Another tip is to use plastic faceplates over them (not metal), so you don't impair the WiFi signal. I replaced my old metal face plates with new plastic ones. Tips on wiring: Your old switch may be connected to only two wires (hot in, hot out) and this HS200 switch needs two wires (hot and neutral) plus ground. My old switch had only two wires, so I added a new 14-gauge white wire as a jumper to the several white neutral lines that were tied together in the box. 14-gauge wire can handle up to 15A or 1800W on a 120V circuit, which is enough for these switched circuits. One end of my jumper I added to the existing white neutral wires (all held together by the existing wire nut in the box). The other end of my jumper I attached to the white lead of the HS200 using the supplied wire nut. You could just directly connect the white lead of the HS200 to the wire nut holding all of the white wires, but I used a jumper to give me greater distance in my box (a two-switch box). One of the black "hot" leads of the HS200 I connected to one of the two wires that had been connected to my old switch, with a wire nut. The other black lead on the HS200 I connected to the remaining wire that had been connected to my switch, with the other wire nut. Finally I connected the green ground lead of the HS200 to my box itself, which is grounded to the house grounding system, through the metal conduits. You screw the HS200 back into the box, just like any other switch, attach the face plate, and then use the Kasa app to set it up. One final tip: The plastic faceplate that comes attached to the HS200 is on very tight and takes some force to remove. If you are not using the supplied face plate, you'll need to remove it. There is a video on Youtube that gives guidance on how to hold and twist it off. Or, you can insert a flat bladed screwdriver into a slot on the bottom of the device, between the switch body and the face plate, and pry them apart with the blade. I did both approaches with my two HS200 switches, and both work well. Good luck!

6 people found this helpful

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M. Brown

For the low cost, this is a decent product

Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2024

Color: WhiteStyle: Alexa & GoogleVerified Purchase

Bought this switch to dim bedroom light, bought the wrong model. This model is on/off only. It works well for on/off and integrates with Alexa (i.e., "Alexa, shut off the bedroom light"). Installation is typical for this type of device, an electrician is not needed, but almost. You'll have to find the circuit breaker, cut some wires, locate a ground, etc. software / app setup is easy, worked the first time.

Helpful

GJJB

Technically 5-Stars, but...

Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2024

Color: WhiteStyle: Alexa & GoogleVerified Purchase

I have a good 20+ smart Kasa switches and dimmers in my home. They work GREAT (need a Neutral, not a ground-cheat which doesn't work).

HOWEVER... Too many idiots buy these and don't know how to install them, so they damage them, and return them. So Amazon gets many back and have occasionally resold them as new (which can be obvious buy contents, missing parts, zero LED life, etc.).

The onus is two fold...
1- Idiots need to be sure the power is off because even the slightest spark from an accidental box touch (if they are too lazy to turn off the power after setup and testing when they screw these back in, or trying to install while live), will fry these!! They are of course a sensitive electronic device!!

2- Kasa needs to make them a bit more idiot proof. Your instructions are fine, but perhaps you isolate the electronics better?? Again, it's not you, it's the idiots, but if you want to also make money off idiots, you need to consider that. Otherwise, I'll assume you're making enough margin despite the idiots to keep the price down because I won't buy them off they are too expensive.

And if you had a "Blown" indicator (or Okay indicator) that represented the most likely failure point, it might save Amazon from shipping the units damaged by dough-heads.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Robyn Starveling

Great switch, but mind bare wire under the screw-on connectors

Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2024

Color: WhiteStyle: Alexa & GoogleVerified Purchase

Great light switch, easy to install (but you take your chances if you don't cut the power prior to installing). Some older traditional switches have holes into which you insert wires. This switch is hard-wired and comes with screw-on wire connectors. I hadn't noticed a small uninsulated gap under one of the connectors and as I pushed the wires back into the metal housing, it connected and shot sparks for feet (the unit still worked). Don't judge, just be careful.

I was one of the easier switches to set up from within the app (downloadable via QR code) and it linked to Alexa easily one the skill was enabled. I will most likely keep to this brand.

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Kasa Smart Light Switch HS200, Single Pole, Needs Neutral Wire, 2.4GHz Wi-Fi Light Switch Works with Alexa and Google Home, UL Certified, No Hub Required , White

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Kasa Smart Light Switch HS200, Single Pole, Needs Neutral Wire, 2.4GHz Wi-Fi Light Switch Works with Alexa and Google Home, UL Certified, No Hub Required , White

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