iHost Node Red Virtual Devices

eWeLink CUBE
1

I made a quick test and I connected my iHost via Matter to Alexa. I find out that Virtual Devices created through Node Red can be managed via Alexa while if I control these devices via eWelink web and Alexa I cannot see virtual devices. On the other side my R5 remotes can be seen through eWelink web and Alexa while are not visible under Matter.

Based on this, those are only a software limitation. When do you plan to solve all those issues? I’m getting a little tired of being a beta tester for a product, iHost, for which I paid for.

2

Hey

Thanks for your feedback.

  • What’s your setup? You were saying to use Matter Bridge to get iHost’s devices connected to Alexa Hub but mentioned eWeLink WEB. They are two different paths. iHost remains local, and its virtual devices remain the same. They can be controlled or managed by a cloud-based platform only if you use Mattr or another way to bring them out to another hub like Alexa or NSPanel Pro.

There might be some translation twists, do you mind explaining a little bit more?

  • eWeLink Remote devices are not supported by Matter Bridge yet
3

My “standard” configuration is sonoff devices (mini r4, R5 remotes and s60tpf) connected to eWelink web and synchronized to my iHost. However with this configuration I cannot see Virtual Devices under eWelink web and so I cannot connect them to Alexa.

So I tried with a different configuration. I connected my iHost to Alexa via Matter. In this scenario I cannot see my R5 remotes but I can see Virtual Devices under Alexa.

In one scenario I don’t have remotes and in the other virtual devices under Alexa. I don’t want to use both the configurations together since I will have many devices duplicated under Alexa.

4

I don’t use Alexa but have had a look in the Node Red Palettes and seen it. I use google home. You can link the Google Assistant to Node Red on the iHost. There is a bit of faff to it but it is possible.

5

That’s what I’m thinking I’ll do. I want to use everything under iHost without homeassistant. I’ll try to use node red both to convert Tuya elements to virtual eWelink ones and to connect what is still not connected in iHost to Alexa. Let’s see if I will succed.

6

Suspect there is a Tuya Palette in Node Red, although past experience of connecting Tuya to Home Assistant suggests it’ll be a pain and involve a Tuya Developers account.

7

I have home assistant installed on ihost inside a docker. I am able to see both tuya devices and sonoff ones. But… I don’t want to pay to connect everything to Alexa through their services.

8

Using the matter bridge feature, you can connect devices on your ihost directly to Alexa without paying a fee

9

This integration would work locally without paying HA subscription:

But plz note: Be Selective when exposing HA entities to Alexa, or it would be overwhelming and Alexa can not bulk delete devices.