Refoss Mini Smart Plugs

I recently purchased a pack of 4 Refoss Mini Smart Plugs off Amazon. In reality it appears that these are a cheaper version of Meross plugs. Anyone else have experience with these? I am about to send them back as I cannot for the life of me get them to pair with HomeKit even though they are supposed to be HomeKit compatible (which is why I bought them). Here is what I have done:

  1. I have disabled the 5GHz wifi on my network so that my iPhone 13 Pro Max running iOS 15 is connected to the network using 2.4GHz wifi as required.

  2. I have also verified that the the mini smart plug is connected to the network and the LED is blinking amber/green indicating that it is in setup mode.

  3. I have attempted to add the accessory both directly into HomeKit (which the manual says you can do) and through their iHomeLife. Each time I try to add the plug I get an error stating that the “accessory is not available.”

  4. I have repeated attempts to add the plugs after resetting my router as well as doing a factory reset on the plugs. None of this has worked. Ocassionly, but not always, I will hear the plug turn off then back on during attempts to add it to HomeKit but installation never completes.

Here are my suspicions:

  1. For some reason the plugs are not compatible with iOS 15. Have you tested this?

  2. My network is a mesh system using three Amazon Eero Pros and am wondering if the mini smart plugs have issue with this. This has never been a problem with any other accessory I have added, but these are the first that do not require a hub which might be part of the problem. I have attempted adding the plugs to HomeKit when I know that both the plug and my iPhone are connected to the same Eero Pro.

Any thoughts anyone might have would be appreciated.

1 Like

Have the same plugs & initially was able to add 2 of them to HomeKit, but, over the course of about a week both disappeared form HomeKit & I have the exact same symptoms. It’s too late for me to return them (I sat on them a while before using them). I suggest you return them for something else. I picked up some VOCOlinc Smart Plugs work just fine (on Amazon for about $34 for a 4 pack.
I also have 3 Eero Pro’s in my house as well.

Thanks! That is probably what I will do.

Well, I did what you suggested and sent back the Refoss/Meross plugs to Amazon and purchased a couple of Vocolinc plugs instead. They came today and installed directly in HomeKit without issue. The Vocolinc plugs even feel better made for about the same cost (cheaper than the Refoss if you buy the 4 pack). I also like the Vocolinc app which did not require me to set up any sort of an account to use these on HomeKit but gives all the functionality if I should ever need to upgrade firmware. Anyway, thanks for the recommendation. Thus far the Vocolinc plugs have worked out well!

1 Like

Well, I encountered the same issue with Meross (and Refoss) plugs (with the Smart model and normal model, also with the Mini, and not HomeKit), it’s almost impossible to set up one with an iPhone, but I found that using my iPad with network data ON works. There’s a trouble on iOS 15 when the app checks the plug status and then switches to “real/you” wifi networks to send the “okay, it works” message. I already sent the issue to Meross, hope they’re fixing it. Did you already report it?

Here in italy vocolinc (amazon.it) products are not cheaper than Meross, and I already have 8 Meross plugs, I don’t want to change, it’s a shame, because other things work perfectly! :roll_eyes:

Yes, I have had several email exchanges with Refoss (actually not sure what the difference is between Meross and Refoss). In fact I just responded to an email from them in response to a review I left on Amazon. I strongly encouraged them to explore the issue because the low cost of their plugs will make them attractive to anyone wanting to automate their home.

Too bad that the Vocolincs are more expensive for you. Setting them up, was so painless and easy, and the app is so much better.