USB Smart Plugs
I recently embarked on a cable management mission for my desk. Nothing crazy just to cleanse the area and tidy up some of the trailing wires.
The desk setup is pretty simple -
1 x 32” HP Monitor - on a Bamboo riser
1 x Apple MacMini
1 x Apple TV - (Gen 3 I think)
Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse
1 x HomePod Mini
1 x iPad stand with 2 cables - 1 x USB-C (iPad Pro) and 1 x Lightning (iPhone, AirPods, MagicMouse 🙄).
Once I took everything apart and off the desk there was clearly too many cables, power cables not being used, rogue network cables and a life time supply of Lightning cables fallen down the back.
First step was to get power mounted under the desk; in the middle, to power the Screen, MacMini, HomePod and Apple TV.
Followed by moving the power for charging the devices from the MacMini to free up some ports. With a 6 way extension strip mounted under the desk I could then plug in the power supplies, tidy the cables and installed some Meross smart plugs.
(With some custom automation and homekit/homebridge, when a device reaches 100% change it can turn the plug off, saving the battery from over charging and prolonging its life)
The Meross plugs are too chunky to run along side each other and a HomePod plug… - but an extension lead/power strip with the following set up, fits perfectly.
Apple USB Plug (iPad) | Apple USB Plug (iPhone) | Apple TV Cable | MacMini Cable | HomePod | Screen
With all the plugs and items on the desk now have power, the iPad and IPhone also now have power all the time. We need to bring in the smart element and I had heard about these USB A smart plugs on a podcast, Amazon searched them and they arrived….
Picture Source : Sonoff website.
The Sonoff Micro USB plugs have a male USB A plug to go in to the Apple Plug, and a Female USB A socket for the Apple charging cable. The Sonoff Plug now makes a dumb USB plug smart, and able to pass through the power without issues.
Input
Max. DC 5V/2.5A (USB Type-A male)
Output
Max. DC 5V/2.5A (USB Type-A female)
Set Up and Homebridge
You’ll first need to download the Ewelink app to your phone, create an account (remember the password and username) and pair the devices with the account within the app, keep a keen eye out for the QR codes in the boxes, these speed up the pairing no end and assist in the process of passing your home WiFi network details from the phone to the smartplug.
The Ewelink app allows you to connect the devices to their cloud, thus allowing control when you’re away from home, you can set timers and schedules, an insight element to track energy usage.
The Sonoff Micro USB Plugs do not support Homekit but my house runs HomeKit and Homebridge to control everything, and after a quick search of the plugins page on homebridge - there is a Verified* pluggin called Homebridge Ewelink.
*Homebridge plugins that are marked as verified have been reviewed by the Homebridge project team to ensure they meet various requirements that encourage best practices and a trouble-free user experience.
Setting up the devices is super easy. You’ll need that username and password for the mobile app, after entering the device(s) are shown in the My Devices tab.
Leave connection mode as the recommend Hybrid within settings tab, and set the room location for the devices in either Home or Eve apps. The Eve app, does show more information, such as when the device was turned on and how long for.
Final thought on the Sonoff Micro USB plugs, they’re fast in terms of switching on and off - connection to wifi network is very stable - seem to be low power draw to the point you can run them off a battery pack / power bank.
If you need remote power to say a garden shed, an LED Light Strip - a larger battery / power bank and one of these smart plugs could save you a lot of hassle running electrics, paired with a contact sensor on the door - automatic lights.
