homebridge-tplink-smarthome VS tuya-convert

Honestly I have never used HomeKit, so no personal experience. I did a quick research and I haven't found anything in the app. The internet says that some Kasa devices are supported, but I found nothing about my specific model (KL430). There seems to be a GitHub project for it though: https://github.com/plasticrake/homebridge-tplink-smarthome

Is there a plugin that supports that plug? I checked this plugin but it does not mention that model.

There is a plugin for TP-link Kasa called homebridge-tplink-smarthome.

This is a reported issue I know but I’m curious if there are others with a similar situation and how they have resolved it.

This issue is reported in the github https://github.com/plasticrake/homebridge-tplink-smarthome/issues/216

Remove that plugin. Install the verified one: https://github.com/plasticrake/homebridge-tplink-smarthome#homebridge-tplink-smarthome

I’ve had no issues with this plugin. The latest version, 6.1.0, is working fine for me. https://github.com/plasticrake/homebridge-tplink-smarthome

First of all I've tried Tuya-Convert but it was never able to find the device. I've also tried TuyOTA with similar results, it just seems like it can't detect the device at all - neither in pairing mode, nor in normal operation mode.

I was about to say a similar thing. Companies closing off their devices with paywall and other closed API are calling for a hack. I found this repo on GitHub

Mit tuya-convert.

Is it possible to run custom firmware on them? Like using https://github.com/ct-Open-Source/tuya-convert (not sure if this one is compatible with the newer lamps). Or maybe something else?

If it has an ESP chip, it probably won't OTA with https://github.com/ct-Open-Source/tuya-convert since that doesn't work on recent Tuya firmware, hence the blakadder page showing manual flashing.

> They cost >2x the Meross ones. Got 2. They work so far. Crossing my fingers they're legit, though my guess is they won't last.

FYI - there are cheap Tuya devices that can be flashed with alternative firmware[1] which works locally. More generically, there a lot of ESP32-based switches that work with Tasmota open-source firmware[2]. There breadth of devices is annoying because it makes configuration difficult because because different manufacturer wire up the relays differently, so it took me trial and error to figue out which device "port" the firmware needs to toggle to turn the switch on/off

1. https://github.com/ct-Open-Source/tuya-convert

2. https://github.com/tasmota

If you're already comfortable with Docker, setting up ESPHome and Home Assistant should be fairly easy for you, and will unlock lots of options. Depending on the hardware revision of your smartbubls, you might even be able to use Tuya-Convert to install ESPHome or Tasmota on your existing bulbs, and completely cut ties with Tuya and the cloud.