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Broadlink RM4 Mini S Universal IR Hub with Sensor $31.99 + Delivery ($0 with Prime/ $39+ Spend) @ BroadLink Online via Amazon AU

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Been watching this for about 6 months now with the price not budging below this so figure its worthy of a post, Shoot me down if not, camelx3 was playing up on me when I tried to check price history.

Looks like all of the Broadlink IR devices are at a discount at the moment

If you don't need the sensor then this one would be a more suitable option

I plan on using mine with the included sensor to monitor and remotely control my A/C - Climatise the house before I get home from work and the rest, supposedly it can be used for pretty much anything that takes IR controls. Alternatively this will not work if your A/C system doesn't use IR - if you have a wall control panel and not a remote this likely wont work for you.

Price History at C CamelCamelCamel.

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  • Not a bad idea. Much cheaper than the WiFi adapter I bought for my aircon

    • +10

      You can't think of any reason as to why someone wouldn't want to leave their house windows open whilst not home? Not one reason at all?

      • Well I presumed you have security screens as well. Living in Brisbane it is almost a requirement for how hot it is up here.
        I guess if you don't have security screens then it would make sense.

        • Guess it depends if you've got automated AC or not

        • +5

          A lot of people have mesh instead of proper security screens.

        • +4

          It just boggles my mind that you can't understand why someone wouldn't want to leave their windows open unattended. Like thats just one reason but I can think of plenty. I mean hell living in brissy youd get days where leaving the window open is just asking for more heat to come in, in Sydney we get pretty whacky weather where it could be pissing down in the morning then stinking hot in the afternoon(funnily enough today has been kinda like that).

          Anyway to put it simply this is one of those "I cant imagine why youd need it" until you actually get and use one, then it becomes one of those QOL upgrades that you miss when you move house.

          • -5

            @doobey1231:

            I guess if you don't have security screens then it would make sense.

            It just boggles my mind that you can't understand why someone wouldn't want to leave their windows open unattended.

            Yeah sure boggle your mind if you can't read that I already provided a reason to leave them closed. As for rain, that are what eaves are for, I can have my windows open while raining.
            I was purely asking for your reasoning/use case but I guess you got too upset about me not magically knowing it to understand.

            I already have a RM mini hooked up to my AC (have had for about 3 years), but still fail to find a good (in my opinion) use case of locking the house up all day to pre-run the AC before I get home.

            • +1

              @knobbs: Not upset at all Knob! You are struggling to understand other peoples purchases, I am telling you to look outside of your own little bubble and that may help you understand that not everyone lives like you :)

              The thing is, you don't really need to know why, you just need to understand that everyone has different living circumstances and in my particular circumstance this controller will be a great quality of life improvement :D I just find it quite amazing that you cant work out for yourself why someone would want to keep all their windows closed.

              • -6

                @doobey1231: Alright mate, if you still can't read I have provided a reason and you don't want to answer a pretty simple question I stated on the first post. You could as you say "look outside of your own little bubble", but if it helps you feel safer don't worry. I am genuinely interested in peoples home automation setups and use cases. I am pretty sure it is a reasonable question to ask if you are posting the deal saying you are using it how that scenario comes about, the comments section is for discussion after all. However it seems you are immune to a logical discussion so I will leave you to it.

                • -1

                  @knobbs: I’d believe you were interested if you were asking about my smart home set up, not why I can’t/do not wish to leave my windows open unattended. To imply you wanted to discuss smart home devices is illogical in itself considering your responses.

                  • -1

                    @doobey1231: Come to think of it, yours problem doesn't make any sense anyway. I will pass thanks

                    • -2

                      @knobbs: You had already well and truely worn out your welcome.

        • +6

          I would rather leave my house in Brisbane with all blinds down windows and windows closed if it's going to be a hot day up here. Otherwise the hot weather's just gonna blow on in and be hard to get out in the evening. But depends on the air-flow of your house. We don't get a tonne of cross breeze through the living area.
          Plus this way I can then cool it down in the arvo when the solar's pumping and cool it down for free rather than wait until the evening when solar's not producing and I'm cooking dinner. It's not so crazy…

          • -1

            @NigelTufnel: How well is your place insulated and/or passive cooling? I find most of Aus standard dwellings are pretty slack, compared to internationally. Unless you have put specific emphasis on it while being built.
            I have some Aquara sensor temps in all the bedrooms and living area and have found no matter how hot it is, the temps stay lower with windows all open. I guess if you have no breeze it might not work.

            • +2

              @knobbs: Yeah, pretty crap. Put decent insulating in ceiling, but walls are crap, and layout isn't great for airflow.
              I find blinds make the most difference, and if the blinds are down I'm not getting any real benefit from airflow, so might as well close windows too.
              All anecdotal, but I find blinds down, windows closed best. But I don't like to live in darkness, so if blinds are up, windows open is better than closed.

              • -1

                @NigelTufnel: Yeah I had our roof insulation redone recently. It turns out the original builder put in .7 R value stuff. The insulation guys that came out said they basically put that in to say it is insulated but does almost nothing.
                Yeah I like the darkness but wife hates it and demands all the blinds be opened haha.

            • @knobbs: You should look into other ways the heat is transferring in, as that is odd for it to always be cooler with windows open. Something is causing a causing a very high rate of heat transfer for the house to always remain above ambient with the windows closed. A cheap IR non contact thermometer will likely be useful to track down the issue.

              As a comparison, I have an old 50s house with zero insulation and no curtains (just metal style venetian blinds). It's not particularly airtight either.

              I have used some Tuya logging temp sensors to test. On a hot day with the windows closed the inside temp lags a long way behind the outside temp. If we are home, then the inside temp usually catches up to the (falling) outside temp about 2 hours after it peaks. About 3 hours if no one is home.

              Windows open the inside temp is overall much higher and peaks around the same time as the outside temp.

              On hot days I remote trigger an aircon. Right around peak outside temp is ideal, as it gets the house back down to normal temps by the time anyone is home, but minimises the amount of electricity needed.

              • @Prong: Yeah the main problem is the upstairs bedrooms. Our place is built exactly the opposite way to passively cool/heat so that is a problem to being with. Also the rooms upstairs must have paper thin walls, you can put you have on the walls and feel quite a lot of heat coming from them. Sun blasting straight through just about. 8 guess that's why leaving windows open to get the cooler air in helps.

                • @knobbs: Yeah fair enough - I once lived in a two story place like that. Any heat from below tended to flow up too.

    • +1

      Some recent research has shown that it may be more energy efficient to keep the aircon running all day to prevent heat build up. Once the heat builds up its energy intensive to remove as you start to get into thermal capacity issues with furniture, walls, etc retaining heat they've absorbed throughout the day. Definitely the case for short 1 or 2 hrs trips away from the house

      • And if you have a decent solar system it can be basically free to keep it on during hot sunny days too.

        • I think that is the #1 benefit I imagine when we get solar. Run the AC based off solar input. One day dream

      • I would 100% be interested on doing the numbers on this. Just hard to get exactly the same conditions (weather) day to day for measurement.

      • This requires very good insulation. As soon as our air conditioning turns off the house gets hot very quickly. And our house was built 5 years ago.

      • Thermodynamics means it won't ever be more more energy efficient to leave the aircon to prevent heat build up.

        Heat is transferred into the house either way, and has to be removed. The rate of heat flow is determined by the difference between the inside and outside temperature, so having the inside of the house cooler (aircon running) means heat transfer into the house is faster, and more heat overall has to be removed. That takes more energy overall than letting the house warm up, then cooling it back down.

        Of course that doesn't mean there are not advantages to leaving the aircon running. It has a maximum rate at which it can transfer heat outside, so it may take a long time to cool the house back down once it has heated up, which isn't very pleasant.

        And for those with solar, it may be much more economical to keep the house cool using "cheap" electricity generated during the day, rather than cool it at the end of the day. But it will use more energy overall.

  • Ty, been wanting to grab one for awhile

  • +1

    I've been using the RM Mini 3 for years. So easy to use and program. Only thing that is mildly inconvenient is setting up the 'Scenes' which then show up in Google Home app.

    • +1

      I ended up unlinking mine from Google because of how terrible the Broadlink integration and app was.

      For those with a Home Assistant installation:
      The default Broadlink integration does not really work that well.
      Use the SmartIR integration instead so you get a proper climate control entity. This way you actually get it working in Assistant as well (if you have Assistant setup).

      • Use the SmartIR integration instead so you get a proper climate control entity

        I'll have to look into whether my older AC is supported. I've been using the defauly integration for years with no real issue, but a proper climate control entity would be nice. you can just use standard remote send scripts using the default integration that you can trigger from Google Home with nabu casa.

      • I ended up unlinking mine from Google

        I never linked mine. Usually never do because in most cases all of the product's functionality is there in the default App. Works perfectly well for my use with the Broadlink app. I don't have a "smart home" though.

        • I linked mine initially before I integrated the Broadlink's directly with Home Assistant. Meant I could use Google Assistant to switch the A/C and fans on/off.

          I still have it linked as I've been unable to configure my IR fans correctly through SmartIR, and I have been unable to learn the codes for my RF ceiling fan/light.

          • @Chandler:

            and I have been unable to learn the codes for my RF ceiling fan/light

            Your ceiling fan/light might use rolling codes (remote signal changes every time) or something other than 433Mhz that Broadlink supports.

            I am inclined to think it uses rolling codes like the RF in a garage door, because if your neighbour had the same RF frequency on a remote then it could trigger your fan whenever they use their remote which would cause problems for their customers.

            • @harshbdmmaster718: Thanks for that - but I don't think it's rolling codes. Remote is 433 MHz and has dip switches for a differ code.

              It works perfectly via the Broadlink app, but have been unable to learn codes via Home Assistant. The HA instructions say to hold the button down so that it can scan the frequency range for the signal, but my remote does not constantly transmit if a button is held - it's a one-shot, which fires off instantly upon press - which means HA doesn't learn the button before it's stopped transmitting.

              • @Chandler: Ok sure sounds possible then.

                Do the learning via the Broadlink app. Worked flawlessly for me with an unknown RF remote you have to learn every button though. Maybe then the remote will also show up in your Google HA App if you have them linked.

                • @harshbdmmaster718: 100% - sorry, think I've found the disconnect now. To correct my original comment, I've been unable to learn the RF codes via Home Assistant - the Broadlink app works flawlessly.

                  But I want to integrate it with Home Assistant - everything in Home Assistant. Then I don't need to use/link the disparate apps (Broadlink, etc) with services (i.e. Google) that either I or the service itself will discontinue in the future.

                  • @Chandler: Okay gotchya. You want everything within the Home Assistant.
                    Sorry I can't be much help with that side of things as I don't use one.

                    • @harshbdmmaster718: All good! That's actually the frustrating thing - works perfectly via the Broadlink app (and Broadlink via Google). Can't get it to work via Home Assistant - noting that this is not that Home Assistant can't do it, but I personally have been unable to get it to work and haven't taken the time to investigate too much further into getting it to work.

                      • @Chandler: Personally I have a few Broadlink products and the Broadlink App has been reliable for many years which is the reason why I purchased more of their products. I was a bit skeptical at first because I purchased them all from Aliexpress, but they work flawlessly and the App is very reliable in terms of function (I set schedules and they never miss a beat).
                        There was just one outage a year ago (the only one I ever experienced), which was resolved within 24 hours and I even remember seeing a forum post from another Broadlink App user who said they had their setup running for 7 to 8 years and this was the first outage they had ever experienced.
                        Anyway just wanted to say their cloud/app based system is well designed/maintained and I have no worries about them discontinuing their services.

                        Here is something I remember in the past from either the included or online user manual. I recall reading about the use of the "Virtual button" feature to give more tailored control to your Home Assistant. A virtual button is just that, it's a button that you can "link" to any specific function of the Broadlink device (e.g. Television remote->Power on) and then it will trigger that function. I think if you setup Virtual button's that allows Home Assistant to trigger them/see those actions or something.
                        Try looking at the Help/support section in the Broadlink App and search for Virtual button or Home assistant and it might give you some instructions. I have found their help area useful before. If not then maybe try give google search for this link between Virtual buttons and Home Assistant.

  • Is the Mini S different to the Mini?

    • The naming scheme of these is a bit weird, but from what I could decipher the S just stands for Sensor so it means the cable with sensor attachment is included. Only a necessity if you need to know ambient temp and humidity - if not I linked the non s model for $27.

      • Absolutely right. I have the RM4 pro S (with the sensor cable).

        Heaps useful if you have Home Assistant and do automation of sorts.

  • +2

    supposedly it can be used for pretty much anything that takes IR controls.

    Yes, but just be aware that AC remote commands are usually a bit different to standard commands. It sends the whole raft of settings in one hit when you change one setting, not just the button you pressed.
    i.e. if you teach it the 'fan up' command when in 'cool | 24 | low fan' mode, it doesn't just send that 'fan up' command, it sends a new setting -> 'cool | 24 | fan med'.
    So if you send that same command when in 'heat | 25 | med fan' mode, it doesn't just increase the fan speed, it sets it to 'cool | 24 | fan med' mode.

    • +3

      I believe that’s not necessarily what Broadcom decided to do, that’s how your A/C works. Your A/C remote does the same thing.

      There is also older ACs that use single command. Depends on what AC you have.

    • Go to "add a remote" and look up your brand's remote options again.

      When I was adding the remote there were 2 versions. Can't remember exactly what they were called but pretty sure one is a "dumb remote" version which sends the signals as single commands, and there is a "smart remote" version that has memory and "remembers" what would be on the original remote's display and send commands accordingly.
      I assume the smart remote version would fix the issue you are having?
      Or if I have it the wrong way around, the dumb remote version might work better in your case?

      • "remembers" what would be on the original remote's display

        Yeah, I gave up on using the app or it's specified remotes a while ago, and just taught it all of the IR commands I needed through Home Assistant.
        I've figured out a good system for changing AC settings there since I only really use 4 settings + off, so it's not too bad.

    • No sensor on that as far as I can see. At that price point I’d be worried about the quality of the product overall.

      • It has a sensor as I have similar and I use it to control my TV, AC and Fan.

        • No you are wrong, this does not have a humidity and temperature sensor. You don't need that to control your tv ac and fan you need the IR blaster, which they both have because thats the point of this product. Its important if you want to monitor the temperature at your home.

  • I have never used any similar device, so will need to do bit more reading etc.

    However wondering if this can control multiple devices at once or only one device per hub?

    Is there any broadlink or similar device that can control multiple devices (like two ACs in nearby rooms)?

    Thanks

    • +2

      As long as its in line of sight because its like a remote control it can control multiple devices.

      • Also worth mentioning it won’t do different settings if you have the exact same ACs in the line of sight (obviously as the command would be the same and both ACs would see it)

        It will however if they use different commands.

  • Is there an alternative app to set this up and control rather via Google home than the proprietary boadlink app?
    Don't want to sign up to another app unless I have to and looking for an alternative first.

    • -2

      I am going to use mine through Homebridge with a plugin so my config will be different.

      If you can find out what the Broadlink app is based on(they are usually based on one of the main apps like Tuya) then you should be able to work out which apps itll be compatible with. There should definitely be alternatives though.

    • You can setup the config in their app and then get google home to connect to your account and pull all the scenes across. I have done this and then uninstalled the broadlink app.

    • +1

      Broadlink integration in Home Assistant works quite well in my experience.
      "The Broadlink integration was introduced in Home Assistant 0.35, and it's used by 7.7% of the active installations. Its IoT class is Local Polling."
      "Offers direct communication with device. Polling the state means that an update might be noticed later."

      That is once you get it set up. From memory it needs the app on a phone to get it set first, I don't think the integration handles telling it what your wi-fi network name and password etc are.
      I have mine then in a pi-hole group that (I think <grin>) blocks all DNS requests.

      • Be aware that some devices (like Google’s) have hardcoded DNS servers so that might get around your Hole.

  • The bestcon mini is cheaper but this is a good deal still

    • Cheaper because it lacks the sensor, if you don’t need the sensor then the RM4 is the same price as the Bestcon mini.

  • How does this compare to sensibo?

    • +1

      Sensibo was my original choice because it offered ease of connection with apples HomeKit, once I set up homebridge on a raspi I looked over the options again and could not find any significant reason to chose it over this, functionality wise it’s the same but costs a LOT less than the sensibo.

      • +1

        How did you do commands tho? Like fan/temp/swing, especially for a aircon with advanced IR signal like sending the entire string of information, how did you program all that in homebridge?

        I so far only have on( with some pre settings) and off status

        Seems like adjusting temp/fan/swing etc seperately requires you to teach the thing literally every single combination possible.

        • It hasn’t arrived yet, however there’s a plug-in for broad link-HomeKit integration so I’ll start with that and go from there. Honestly I just need to turn it off, on and adjust temp occasionally as it’s ducted.

          • @doobey1231: Yeah the plug in doesn’t come with codes. You have to teach the remote commands to the json file and as I said, you need to repeat all combos.

            So I have resorted to using it with shortcuts.

            • @Larsson: Should be a pretty simple task. I can imagine split system being a headache with all the controls. Ducted is literally on/off, temp up/down and fan speed high or low.

              • +1

                @doobey1231: Yeah, no that’s what I mean tho, you might have to.

                Depending on your system and how your remote communicates you have to complete all available combinations

                Like, the remote sends an entire string like this: 24 degrees, fan medium, no swing, cooling mode.

                So you have to code:

                24 degrees, fan medium, no swing, cooling mode.
                25 degrees, fan medium, no swing, cooling mode.
                26 degrees, fan medium, no swing, cooling mode.

                24 degrees, fan low, no swing, cooling mode.
                24 degrees, fan medium, no swing, cooling mode.
                24 degrees, fan max, no swing, cooling mode.
                ….

                And so on for every variable.
                So yeah it ain’t simple.

                The remotes usually have a logic board that put that together with individual changes and send it to the AC each time. So you need to know how their IR string works, which yeah hard to find and near impossible for someone with no coding experience and just looking at a pre-made Json file to code.

                • +1

                  @Larsson: Mate I am not arguing against what you are saying but in my specific instance it isn't that complicated.

    • +1

      I have both, if you pay for the monthly subscription then Sensibo is very easy to use but if not then it doesn't do anything the Broadlink can't as far as I can tell. I plan to sell my Sensibo and buy another of these

      • Thanks for all your replies.
        Bought one!

  • Bloody hell, theres 4 different variations/listings of the RM4 Mini on Amazon and theres the RM4 pro S (3 different options as well)

  • Can I use this to connect to my garage remote IR sensor?

    • Doubt your garage door uses IR. Very insecure if it does.

    • +1

      If it's a 433mhz RF door you can use the pro version:

      https://www.amazon.com.au/BroadLink-Universal-Learning-Enter…

      • That one doesn't have the temp/humidity sensor cable, this one does, and is cheaper at the moment
        https://amzn.asia/d/4mC3PP8

        I have one and it works great. Managed to get it linked to google assistant, home assistant and homekit via HASS bridge, so I can use it with my google homes and siri on phone and watch and also HASS automations. I use the Broadlink app sometimes as well. Controlling the A/C and garage door by talking to google and siri is so handy and I use it almost everyday.

        • I’m surprised your garage door doesn’t use a rolling code. From my understanding, most do for security purposes.

  • Bunnings has the Mirabella Gebio (tuya) on clearance for $19-$25.
    I've made the switch from my RM4 mini. Has made integration with Home Assistant and Google Home much easier using the $4 Arlec temp/humidity sensors.

  • +1

    I own one of this for one or two years now. I use it with home assistant. Its temperature and humidity report is every minute or so which is nice. I use it mostly to control a dumb TV and rarely a candle light. At first I put it on NoT VLan (i.e. no internet) and it was alright, but noticed every couple of minutes it reboots itself (an led in front of it blinks when rebooting). Eventually transferred it to iot vlan (i.e. has internet but no local access) and no reboot anymore. Overall I recommend it 100%.

  • Has anyone got this to work with Foxtel iq4 I can't seem to find it or add it to learn

  • https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/752799

    This was just $10. Works fine and has temp/humidity sensor built in. Has a lot of inbuilt remotes and works with Google home. Doesn’t necessarily need to be a fancy model.

    • Shows up as $5.99AUD delivered for me.

      • Only for new aliexpress customers

  • Got mine today.
    Paired it with Sony TV and Soundbar, Viomi Fan, Daikin AC. Works quite while, but you can’t press the buttons continuously like you do with the IR remotes (e.g. volume up/down), there is a 0.5-1 sec delay before you can press again.
    Having trouble pairing it with Luxeflex/Hunter Douglas blinds. :(

  • Newb here.
    i have fujitsu ducted aircond with fixed wall controller.
    The controller supports wifi. Can I add it into this broadlink app? If not, what is my option, shire?
    Cheers

    • +1

      Unfortunately not. This requires your aircon to have an IR receiver, like a split system with a remote.

      You’ll need to look into what Fujitsu provides as far as interfacing goes for a standalone unit. I remember my daikin one came with a module that stuck to the wall and wires went into the wall control. Best way to start is make+model number+smart controller on google and see what pops up, there may be an aftermarket solution for you but I am not sure.

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