lgreer161 wrote:

But the prompt in the 2nd screenshot leads me to believe that the Kasa app wants to connect to the temporary TP-Link_SmartPlug_CDF1 wifi.

Yes, I agree.

Unlike cameras (which can take a picture of a QR code) and devices with keyboards, smart plugs have no physical means of inputting the WiFi SSID/password. What appears to happen is that when it is placed into setup mode, the plug creates its own WiFi access point that will accept a connection from any device running the smartphone app. (hmmm. I have not tried to connect without the app. something for another day.) Once the app has a connection to the smart plug, they have some sort of dialog which communicates the WiFi SSID/password to the plug.

After that, the plug turns off the tiny access point and tries to connect to the WiFi system it was told about. Once it gets connected, it can talk to the KASA cloud and say, "This specific KASA plug is associated with a specific KASA user account."

The smartphone app also needs to drop the connection to the mini access point and connect back to the house WiFi.

KASA plugs are interesting in that they do not require the internet connection to function as long as the plug and the smartphone are on the same network.

Would it be convenient to try to add the plug without using the password manager?

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