1

I have some WIFI bulb from Xiaomi/Philips. It is controlled using Mi Home app. I can control it (turn on/off) both when I am in the same network as the bulb or when I'm in a completely different place, in a different network.

How is it possible?

I understand that while being in the same wifi network, my phone is able to talk directly to the bulb (although I do not know if this is what happens in reality). However, when I'm in a different network, how does that work?

I assume that Mi Home does not actually talk with the bulb directly. I believe it communicates with some cloud server that actually communicates with the bulb. However, how does such server (in the cloud) communicate with my bulb in my local (NATted) network? I do not have any port forwarding set up on my router for my bulb.

The only way I see it possible is if it is the bulb that checks if there are any commands for it in the cloud by invoking some API on schedule (every few seconds?) - some form of HTTP polling. I don't like this idea, because that would mean that my network would be very "crowded" if I had a few of these bulbs.

So, how am I able to control my bulb from another network?

mnj
  • 113
  • 3

1 Answers1

1

All your devices are opening persistent connections out to the cloud. They will be using a messaging based protocol (e.g. MQTT) rather than a request/response protocol like HTTP.

Messages flow both ways over these types of protocols, with the bulbs updating the cloud with their current state and the cloud sending commands to change state.

hardillb
  • 12,813
  • 1
  • 21
  • 34