Alright, today marks the fourth entry in this little 100-day project I set for myself. Felt like doing something hands-on, something tangible. I had this smart plug kicking around in a drawer for months, still in its box. Figured it was time to put it to work.
Getting Started
So, I got it out. Simple thing, really. Just a plug that goes between the wall socket and whatever device you want to control. I decided to use it for the old lamp in the corner of the living room. Plugged the smart plug into the wall, then plugged the lamp into the smart plug. Easy enough so far.
Next step, the app. Of course, there’s always an app. Found it on the store, downloaded it. Then the usual sign-up process. Email, create a password, agree to terms I didn’t read. You know the drill. Felt like I was adding yet another account to the pile I barely manage.
The Annoying Bit
Then came pairing the plug with the app. Instructions said hold the button on the side until the light blinks fast. Did that. Light blinked. Opened the app, told it to find a new device. It searched… and searched… and found nothing. Frustrating.
Tried again. Moved the lamp and plug closer to the Wi-Fi router. Still no luck. Rebooted my router, just in case. Restarted my phone too. Attempt number three, same result. Started feeling that familiar tech annoyance creep in. It’s always supposed to be seamless, isn’t it? Reminds me of trying to get shared folders working properly on Windows back in the day. Hours wasted for something supposedly simple.
I almost gave up, chucked it back in the drawer. But then I remembered something I read ages ago. Checked my phone’s Wi-Fi. Yep, connected to the 5GHz network. This cheap little plug probably only does 2.4GHz. Dug into my phone settings, forced it onto the 2.4GHz band. Held the plug button down again, blinking light, tried pairing one more time in the app. Success! It finally showed up.
Finishing Up
Named it “Living Room Lamp”. Tested the on/off button in the app. Click on, click off. The lamp responded. Felt a small victory. Set up a basic schedule: turn on around sunset, turn off automatically late at night.
So, it works now. Took way longer than it should have for such a basic task, maybe 45 minutes of fiddling around. But hey, it’s done. Day 4 checked off. One small thing automated. Better than it gathering dust, I suppose. On to whatever tomorrow brings.