Recommendations for a WiFi Controllable RGBW controller?

[EmeraldFlame]

Awhile ago, I put some RGBW 5050 LED strips on my desk (about 6 meters total) for some ambient lighting and picked up an Arilux AL-LC02 controller.

It's features are awesome, handles RGBW, has app control over wifi with the "Magic Home" app, and can even be tied to google/amazon voice assistants. However the problem I'm running into is it crashes constantly. Literally every time I go to use it, I have to unplug the power, then plug it back in, so that it reboots and works.

Does anyone have recommendations for a more stable controller? Or if anyone else has experience with these controllers specifically, did I maybe just get a defective one, and if I pick up another it might work?

[DodoDodo123]

I think this one would be good: https://www.amazon.com/Sunix-Wireless-Controller-Function-Smartphones/dp/B01J5A5YYM

[EmeraldFlame]

15 minutes ago, DodoDodo123 said:

I think this one would be good: https://www.amazon.com/Sunix-Wireless-Controller-Function-Smartphones/dp/B01J5A5YYM

I've actually looked into these models too, because everyone is rebranding them, and reviews are extremely mixed. Some people love them. However, at the same time, there are a bunch of people that are saying they suffer the same issues as the one I already have in that they crash or drop off the network constantly. Maybe it's just bad QC on these things?

[DodoDodo123]

2 minutes ago, EmeraldFlame said:

I've actually looked into these models too, because everyone is rebranding them, and reviews are extremely mixed. Some people love them. However, at the same time, there are a bunch of people that are saying they suffer the same issues as the one I already have in that they crash or drop off the network constantly. Maybe it's just bad QC on these things?

I really don't know

[djneo]

i'm a big fan of the h801 controller, also a esp8266 in a box https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/1-stks-H801-WiFi-RGBW-LED-WIFI-controller-RGBW-WiFi-LED-H801-Controller-DC5-24V-ingang/32833287206.html

[EmeraldFlame]

16 hours ago, Pangea2017 said:

https://github.com/arendst/Sonoff-Tasmota/wiki/MagicHome-LED-strip-controller

good old ESP8266 in your Arilux, year jackpot

maybe i will get them now for my self

So it's possible I just got a bad unit due to poor QC?

[EmeraldFlame]

Just in case anyone else comes looking for answers, I think I found a solution to my issue with the controller I had dropping off the network.

I've got an Asus AC3200 tri-band router that has a "smart connect" feature, where it steers devices between it's 3 bands (1x 2.4, 2x 5) automatically, and it seems that the controller didn't like that. I'm betting other routers with similar features will have similar issues.

I knew this thing only supported 2.4GHz bands, but figured things would be smart enough that it wouldn't be an issue. I created a guest network on my router that only has access to the 2.4 band, and connected the controller to that, and for the past few days it's been reliable. I assume it would also work by just breaking the main connection out to multiple SSIDs, but for ease of use on every other device I have, I left my main SSID to the smart connect.