Review of Blitzwolf BW-IS10: Compact Zigbee Gateway for Tuya Smart 2022. Overview, device connection, automation.
In this review, we will continue to study devices from the Tuya Smart ecosystem, by the way, their variety is much greater than that of Xiaomi Mihome. And the theme will be – zigbee gateway from the well-known popular manufacturer Blitzwolf – BW-IS10. Let me remind you that its task is to manage the Zigbee network and ensure its interaction with the smart home control system.
For more information about networks in a smart home – see my separate video tutorial – Data transmission networks in a smart home
ContentsWhere can I buy ?
Buy Blitzwolf BW-IS10 Tuya ZigBee 3.0 Hub on Aliexpress Buy Blitzwolf BW-IS10 Tuya ZigBee 3.0 Hub on Banggood
Parameters
- Model – BW-IS10
- Interfaces:
- WIFI 802.11 b / g / n 2.4GHz
- Module – RTK8711AM
- Zigbee 3.0
- Module – SILICON LABS
- Effective range – up to 30 meters
- Power port: Micro-USB
- Body material: PC + ABS
- Net weight: 50g
- Size: 65x50mm
- Working temperature: -10 ℃ to + 55 ℃
- Working humidity: 10% ~ 90% RH
Supply
In this case, I did not have to wait for the device to arrive from China, the gateway was found in a local Ukrainian store and was delivered on the second day after ordering. Supplied in a standard box for the manufacturer, decorated in white and green colors. On the front, only the model number and the Blitzwolf logo are indicated. On the back side, the main technical parameters of the device are indicated, which I have already described in detail.
That’s all that was found in the box – I’ll show you in more detail a little further, but I’ll say right away that the first thing that caught my eye was the compactness of the gateway.
The accessories included a white USB-micro USB cable 1 meter long, and a clip for resetting to factory settings, exactly the same as with phones for sim trays.
The booklet contains short instructions in six languages. There is no English, for me the most understandable is English.
Appearance
As I said, the gateway is very small. It is made of white matte plastic, the side edges are strongly rounded, the name of the manufacturer is indicated on the top cover and there are two windows for LEDs.
On the side, just near the LEDs, there is a micro USB connector for the power cable. To the left of it there is a hole under which the gateway reset button is located. For her, you need a complete paper clip.
On the bottom, there were four rubberized feet – preventing the device from sliding on a smooth surface, the model number and brief parameters.
Although I have already said about the dimensions of the device, I think that it will be clearer to show it on a scale – in this case, a box of matches will be quite appropriate.
I have visited many different devices, including Zigbee gateways, Blitzwolf BW-IS10 – at the moment it firmly holds the first place in the category – compact size.
Another comparison with the canonical Xiaomi gateway of the second version can be said. It is not only much larger, but also several times thicker than the review hero.
Connection
To connect a device, you just need to supply power to it. After a short time required for loading, the gateway will enter pairing mode – the red LED will start blinking. This suggests that it has switched to the wi-fi access point mode, which is required for the first connection to it.
The gateway can work with several applications, but all are just clones of the main one – Tuya Smart. Therefore, I use it exactly. In the upper right corner of the main screen there is a button for adding a device, it gives access to a large list in which you need to select the gateways section and the Zigbee wireless gateway. The phone needs to be transferred to a 2.4 GHz network
Tuya Smart
The connection wizard tells you what state the diodes should be in – for this type of connection, red should blink quickly. There is another option – to switch to it, you need to hold the gateway button for 5 seconds with a paper clip, the red LED will flicker slowly, and a visible network appears in the list of wi-fi networks – the name begins with SmartLife. You need to manually connect to it and return to the connection wizard.
At this stage, the parameters for connecting to your home wi-fi network are sent to the gateway. Having received them, the gateway reboots and connects to it – after that it will appear in the list of system devices.
The gateway belongs to the class of security devices, therefore, after connecting, the application will immediately offer to conduct a test – the essence of which is to check whether notifications from the application will come to your smartphone – it must be in autorun and have permission to work in the background.
Opening sensor
In this case, the gateway itself does not know how to do anything, from other manufacturers it can combine the functions of a lamp, a siren, and so on. Therefore, we will immediately proceed to connecting the devices. The first one I chose was the Sonoff SNZB-04 opening sensor – which, by the way, does not seem to belong to the Tuya ecosystem.
To connect, click on the gateway line in the general list, which will launch its plugin, it is still empty here. At the bottom there is a button for adding child devices – pressing it puts the gateway into pairing mode, but this time using the Zigbee interface. After that, you need to start pairing on the connected device – in this example, hold down the button on the sensor with a paper clip until the LED flashes three times.
Although the sensor is Sonoff, it flies perfectly in Tuya Smart, a full overview of this sensor can be viewed on my channel, the link is in the description. It has its own plugin – where its status is shown, there can be two of them – open and closed.
Relay
So far, there is only one device – it can perform only an informational function, for interaction – you need to connect others. Next, I will connect an executive device – a Zigbee relay, which can open and close the phase wire. The Sonoff ZBMini relay was also taken for the test.
We start adding new devices on the gateway and after that, using the button on the case, we put the relay into pairing mode. In Tuya Smart, it is defined as a two-button switch (since this relay is also not from the Tuya ecosystem, but is intended for Ewelink), not entirely accurate, but all the functionality is there.
Now there are already two devices in the gateway plug-in, in this particular case it is necessary to work with only one of the switch channels so that there are no failures in the operation of the relay, since it physically has only one controlled line.
Automation
Let’s move on to automation. They can have a different type of call – including manually, such automation will be called instant. We will consider automation for changing the status of a device – in this case, an opening sensor, these can be events open or closed, immediately or within a specified time.
The automation action – it can be a notification, and the launch of a previously created instant scenario, a time delay or a device launch – we will consider it and choose to turn on the relay.
We will now check such simple automations – when switching to the open state, we turn on the relay, when switching to the closed state, we turn it off. A simple but real blank for a household case.
Checking the work. Link to the timecode of a video review with a test of the work of these automations. By the way, a small delay in the transition to the status is open – this is a feature of this sensor, automation is processed quickly, it can be seen when closing.
Logic switch
That we are all Sonoff and Sonoff – we will connect a native, ecosystem device, a four-button logic switch from Moes.
Connection – according to the worked out scheme, the switch is switched into pairing mode by holding the first key for a long time, until the diodes on all keys start blinking.
Let’s check the operation of the switch with the relay – by setting the action to a single click, the upper left key, it has number 4, turn on the relay, and on the upper right key, it has number three, turn off.
We got two such test scenarios. You can, of course, also optimize – for example, choose not to turn it off – but to switch the state, or check it in the script trigger, but this, let me remind you only of testing.
It is worked out stably – for about a second after pressing. In general, according to my observations, Tuya Smart works faster than, for example, Mihome. Link to the timecode of a video review with a test of the work of these automations
Gateway
I think that the most attentive ones noticed that when creating automations, there is a hero of the review both when choosing a device for a trigger and when choosing an automation action. It offers three options – buzzer, status and factory reset.
For sound signaling and reset to factory settings – it has states on or off, and states – normal or alarm mode.
The same is for the automation action – you can enable or disable the sound alarm, reset it to factory settings, or set the operating mode.
It seems to me the most logical to use it in the sound signaling mode – therefore I repeat the previous scenario, only instead of turning the relay on and off, I put the sound signal on or off.
But the miracle did not happen, in this version of the gateway there is no speaker. Since there are many manufacturers in the Tuya Smart ecosystem, this option is relevant for gateways equipped with a sound reproducing module.
Link to the timecode of a video review with a test of the work of these automations
Automation modes
Another useful feature of the gateway is worth mentioning. On the left is a screenshot of automation, where a switch connected to the gateway starts the wi-fi projector of the starry sky. This scenario will only work if you have a working internet connection.
In the center is automation, in which the same switch and the gateway itself are involved. Likewise, if instead of the gateway there are other devices but connected to the same gateway. He has a mark on the top right of the local connection, which means that such automation will work even when the Internet is disconnected.
This not only greatly increases fault tolerance, but also increases the speed of automation, which makes it possible to implement even such critical cases as, for example, shutting off water when a leak is detected – provided that both the leak sensor and the electric crane are connected to the same gateway.
Conclusion
The gateway is one of the key devices of a smart home, it allows you to use the entire infrastructure running on Zigbee in the system, and there are a lot of such gadgets and it is difficult to do without them. In addition, it acts as a local storage for some automations, which significantly increases their stability and speed of operation.
Thank you for your attention
