At first, the official documentation was very poor. I had to use WireShark and Fing app to figure out the port that is open on Sonoff R3: 8081, but despite knowing that and the path (/zeroconf/switch) for a POST request, neither of my requests were accepted. I struggled to send the requests until a new version of the firmware got released (3.3.0). Since then the docs have been updated a fair bit and they are finally useful. But the worst thing is… Take extra care when opening Sonoff R3. The button with the long actuator is prone to accidental damage. Sonoff R3 shell consists of 2elements – remove one by one to decrease the risk of breaking the button.

Ensure the connections on the PCB starts at the closed to the toggle pin, it uses 4 pins, but 5 pins are soldered on. Unfortunately, this is not over. When Sonoff R3 is powered on while the jumper is installed, it will try to connect to the following WiFi credentials: SSID: sonoffDiy See https://randomnerdtutorials.com/how-to-flash-a-custom-firmware-to-sonoff/ for more details on the pinout and FTDI. 1.1. Put Sonoff into programming mode. ¶ Sep/2021:12:51:30 -0300] "GET /tasmota-lite.bin?deviceid=10011b78f7&ts=1267998018&sign=3489ad84677930d5f8a1b398582afe8e702b2e77e57eee189254571d6968e619 HTTP/1.1" 206 4399 "-" "itead-device"Note: SONOFF BASICR3 does NOT have 433Mhz RF receiver module. If you want a diy smart switch with RF function, please buy SONOFF RFR3. The operation failed and the request parameters are invalid. For example, the device does not support setting specific device information. My assumption was that I use the Sonoff R3 DIY mode to submit POST request without losing the eWeLink integration. It’s something that Yeelight Smart Bulbs do incredibly well. You can use the REST API and take advantage of the app and all available integrations at the same time.

The SONOFF devices [1] can work in either eWeLink mode or DIY Mode, In eWeLink mode, the device is connected with eWeLink cloud and controlled by eWeLink APP, while in DIY Mode, device publishes its capability service and is controlled by HTTP Post request. You won’t need to do any soldering and won’t even need to open the device. However, we will need to power the device using mains (110-220v AC) power. For the Sonoff Mini, for example, you need to wire it as follows:

 Product Documents

Updated in September 25th, 2021.) When I first published this tutorial, I included instructions for BusyBox. Since then, however, I have had mixed results with it and switched to using Apache instead. More specifically, to create a minimal webserver using Apache to serve the tasmota-lite.bin firmware file to the Sonoff device, follow these steps: The button is still very fragile, so take extra care during assembly and disassembly. Sonoff Basic R3 WiFi The connectivity module is identical with Sonoff Basic R3. It uses ESP8582 to communicate with the Internet and the same pins are exposed for you to use: Vcc, GND, TX, RX – These are the standard GPIO pins. Inching emulates a “long press of a push-button”. This will enable the relay for a short time then automatically turn the relay off. To use the setting you have to enable it and provide the pulse duration in ms (and increments of 500) in the range of 500 – 36 000 000. (0.5 sec – 10h). Submit the values to URL: http://192.168.1.12:8081/zeroconfig/pulse {"deviceid":"10008fxxx","data":{"pulse":"on","pulseWidth":2000}}

Sep/2021:12:51:30 -0300] "GET /tasmota-lite.bin?deviceid=10011b78f7&ts=1576460931&sign=c2029fdd9d52ed2272c085ba79ffd5a88f11e94c8385f41bb68630de3c7b39b5 HTTP/1.1" 206 4399 "-" "itead-device" Due to the device computing capability, the time interval of each HTTP request should be no less than 200ms. User tips: If the device has been paired with eWeLink APP, reset the device is necessary by long press the pairing button of RM433 remote controller for 5 seconds, then press another 5 seconds for entering Compatible Pairing Mode (AP)data1={“switch”: “on”,”mode”: 0,”brightness”: 50,”brightMin”:0,”brightMax”:255,”startup”: “on”,”rssi”:-67,”fwVersion”:”3.5.0”} Both devices are basically the iterations of well known and respected Sonoff Basic which is an ESP8266 based relay. Sonoff devices are popular among the makers, as come with exposed GPIOs (often extra ones) and are flashable with Tasmota (flashing Sonoff Basic) and AFE Firmware (using AFE Firmware). I ended up flashing these Sonoffs with Tasmota using the excellent NODEMCU Firmware programmer http://www.nodemcu.com and or course, for putting in the initial WIFI configuration I use YAT – all on my Windows 10 PC.