EASY Bluetooth Proxies in Home Assistant! Increase the range of your passive Bluetooth devices!

Using an ESP32 board with Bluetooth proxy installed, I pick up data from passive BLE sensors throughout the house and feed it into Home Assistant.
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#homeassistant
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[@magnum12pm]

I setup blue tooth proxy after watching your video. I used the Atom lite board. It worked better than I expected. It discovered my Bluetti Solar generator that i was not expecting. I can’t thank you enough for the excellent videos.

[@Therealphantomzero]

Watching the video now but I'm trying to connect to my ecoflow in my work trailer. Hoping this is the answer

[@roblatour3511]

This is cool, I have an esp32 based solar powered weather station in the backyard which I built; problem is that it uses too much power connecting via wifi and the solar charging can't keep up with the power drain out of the battery. So I think I'll take a run at re-building it to use bluetooth instead of wifi - and with the repeater you just described should be able to establish a reliable connection. So thanks for this.

[@mostlychris]

Cool use case. Good luck!

[@MattManSolar]

I will be using in my RV the solar and batteries and other equipment is not in range all the time, I find myself standing in this place or that place to get a reading. I hope to install a few of these around the outside bays and inside the storage cabinets to allows all devices to connect smoothly to my Home assistant …

[@darknessblades]

Great guide, 100% gonna add 2 proxy's to my home. just so the BT temp sensors that are the furthest away aren't being drained at a fast pace. the m5stack atoms are potentially the best use for this, combined with the proto-case, so you have a larger case that you can hang onto the wall.

[@Tntdruid]

You can use: bluetooth_proxy: esp32_ble_tracker: scan_parameters: interval: 1100ms window: 1100ms active: true If you are running a esp32 and want the new proxy on it 😀

[@bertybassett55]

scan_parameters: interval: 1100ms window: 1100ms active: true Documentation say this code is only for ESP with network rj-45 ports

[@darcymac7754]

Great video! I was struggling with what dongle to use - now I will get ESP boards, thank you!

[@PhilippeMalouin]

Thanks for letting me know the basic of BT within HA. I am working on a project that is including an esp32 in my camper connected to HA via VPN routers. HA will check the temperature DHT22 (all the first part is already set). HA and will connect to the camper control panel via BT and turn on/off aircon or heating. my camper already has a BT controller. Not sure if I will be able to do it for now, I am looking for how-to setup the pin in the esp32 yet still looking. I do all this because the actual thermometer in the camper is giving bad reading when it sunny because of is location and it's actually part of the control panel.

[@74357175]

Fantastic. It seems like a mesh. QUESTION: is it possible to ADD the relay features to an existing ESP32 configuration? EDIT: never mind, I found the bluetooth_proxy component!

[@drwhowhogrub3908]

Thanks for the video, the ip address of the device got me, I couldn't figure out why it wouldn't auto connect, but works fine now. Cheers

[@miguelavello7493]

@mostlychris Chris, Can the ESP32 board support both the Proxy and also a sensor at the same time ???

[@riddlediddleriddle]

Thanks for the video! Although one esp board is sufficient for where I live right now, I2m sure I'll be getting back to this video in the future!

[@estebangarcia6092]

Good video, I already installed it and it works perfectly, a question, can a Bluetooth speaker be added?

[@rajveersingh-ix6ti]

Hello, I have always wondered if its possible to enjoy a movie with 2-3 people on Bluetooth headphones together, while not disturbing others working... with Bluetooth proxies, it seems possible, but how to do that can you please suggest, or even point in the right direction?

[@EsotericArctos]

I know it is great to get videos on new options, but sometimes waiting can be good too :). Active bluetooth proxy was introduced with ESPHome 2022.9.3 and Home Assistant 2022.10. With that said, some locks (looking at August with Yale Access integration) don't seem to like the active proxy for some reason......

[@mostlychris]

Yep. Technology changes at a rapid pace so the unfortunate side effect is that information can be outdated quickly. However, the setup process is still the same. Just more features now.

[@TwMarcos]

@@mostlychris I have added ESP32 to my HA and it find my Level lock as a HomeKit controller device. However, it can't be added to HA.

[@EsotericArctos]

The Bluetooth locks are now all working well as of 2022.12. Secure devices like locks are not so great when trying to send to Homekit still, but if an integration exists in HA, they work well now

[@nickabel8279]

Did the update to this come? I'm looking to put this on a diesel heater as the stock range seems about 10 ft (class 2?)

[@Fighting-Egg]

nice guide! One question: what happens if 2 BT-proxies pick up and communicate the signal from the same thermometer to Home Assistant?

[@robertcruikshank8864]

I have an August lock with US ZWave/Wi-Fi hub. But unfortunatly the US ZWave hub does not use the correct frequency for Australia. US uses 908.42 MHz while ZWave in Australia is licenced to use 921.42 MHz. So its illegal to use this hub. 908.42 MHz frequency is part of the frequency range used for Industrial, Scientific, and Medical applications in Oz. So I can get rid of the hub and just use Bluetooth. Also might try some LD2410 human presence sensors.

[@gaitskell]

Will the BT relay network work for a BT keyboard? If you make a scene or action control panel using a BT keyboard (e,g. Numerical keypad) can the key press events be relayed to Home Assistant?

[@antariuswolfonso8035]

I install all like your instruction BUT as it goes to find the "LYWSD03MMC" Sensor (like in your video) - it asks after a BLE-Bindkey. Why u havent this question in your Video??? I an unable to connect my LYWSD03MMC couse the Bindkey would not accept from HA! Your instruction in your video "Use this CHEAP Xiaomi thermometer with an ESP32 and Home Assistant." WORK!!!! u seved my start in 2024 🙂 THANK YOU

[@irtibatkisileri222]

thanks for the content. what do you use for presence detection if i may ask.

[@bluearcherx]

It might not be 🔥 today, but I think we may not even realize l the future possibilities of this yet. Interesting play.

[@rogeriocamargo1984]

Nice video Chris, Congrats! By the way, how many devices support BT Esp32?

[@johnmiller6638]

Does the firmware version of the ESP32 matter

[@mauriziofiorini9238]

Hi, thanks for your video. I have a question. Can I use esp32 to integrate my BMS Daly BT or my Smart Shunt Victron BT in home assistant? Thanks

[@hamadalmarri2141]

Thanks Chris . It worked for Xiaomi but Ruvvi not yet both are BLE

[@billkater]

This is exactly what I have been looking for. Thank you so much for the video...

[@mostlychris]

Glad to hear it! Thanks for watching!

[@WSSCKohat]

Can i connect another esp32 as client via Bluetooth with actual Bluetooth proxy? meaning connecting two esp32 via Bluetooth?

[@jagadeeshv2763]

In one of my esphome devise wifi is very low, it will disconnect randomly. in this case is it possible to get esphome data through bluetooth via bluetooth proxies

[@JasonHogan410]

Can this board, ESP-WROOM-32 ESP32 ESP-32D Development Board, equipped with 2.4GHz Dual-Mode WiFi and Bluetooth, simultaneously operate both Bluetooth proxy and WiFi on Home Assistant? Alternatively, would I need separate boards for Bluetooth and WiFi functionalities?

[@djweso]

The range of Bluetooth is a major reason I have avoided it. I remember when it came out and people said we would have a PAN, a personal area network of BT devices on us that worked together. I am interested in if this will work for my Flic buttons.

[@EdgarPerez-c5q]

Do these ESP32 devices get hot at all when used as Bluetooth proxies? Would be good to know if planning on putting it inside of a case.

[@Richardsumilang]

Nice! Is there a way to add. Bluetooth proxy for PS5 controllers?

[@adijgraham]

Another great article Chris - thanks buddy!

[@mostlychris]

Thanks again!

[@Klaus-macht-Bilder_de]

Thank you Will ther be a possibilty to use ESP32-Based Shelly devices (may be by a script) as a proxy for bluetooth too?

[@crackers819903]

will this work if you have custom firmware on the xiaomi sensors that we previously set up to use on esphome? is there any benefit to scrapping that and starting over this way vs just leaving it alone if we have a few of them already running?

[@Kev7274]

If I need to find out how to do something,I come here. Thanks for all you do.

[@mostlychris]

Thanks for the compliment!

[@UniKyrn]

I'm looking at it for use as a EV (Nissan Leaf) monitor when it's in my garage, and as an Away Sensor when the car isn't there.

[@SamPrince]

What would it be monitoring? There's already an integration to allow you to monitor SoC and whether it is plugged in and/or charging

[@UniKyrn]

@@SamPrince I have yet to get one of those integrations working, since Nissan keeps changing the API.

[@SamPrince]

@@UniKyrn mine works fairly reliably. Might need to keep up with updates. Only a few lines of configuration I think.

[@raamoon87]

Thanks for the video, very helpful information

[@pokeysplace]

Hopefully this will free up a USB port (currently BT dongle) on the HA Blue box for something new. Right now I'm getting a component not found when I add the bluetooth_proxy: line

[@rseckton]

Make sure you are using the newest ESPHome in HA. The proxy functionality was added in the most recent version.

[@mostlychris]

Yes.. make sure you are up to date.

[@MrKlawUK]

flashed my Vroom32 board but I can't get it to connect to wifi. I have google/nest wifi and I know the ESP32 is 2.4GHz only but it should connect. It detects the wifi access point but says 'unable to connect' after adding the password

[@hunterrutz1412]

Is it possible this could be used tonextend the rance of an xbox controller?

[@dvanlit]

chris, im a big fan. but im trying to get a display from switchbot activated bij mij esp32. everything goes well and it accepted ::fff:xx:xx:xx but after a view seconds it gives me a "connection closed" and its doing that every minute of so...can you help me ore do you have a link where i can solve this problem. thx

[@algre977]

Does Bluetooth proxy work with switchbots (they are active) ?

[@mostlychris]

Active BT is now available. I think I've seem some people working with switchbots using the proxies.

[@risingfate11]

can it be used to play video games?

[@jasonflt]

@6:48 getting prompted for the wifi never happens for me. very weird, i figured a work around. @9:33 i go through the step and fails to connect to the device. i gotta start all over again. after i get the wifi i adopted it and skip the rest.

[@nikolasrupprecht]

Hi, I have the same Problem, that i don't get promted to configure the wifi. What have you done as a workaround?

[@gorjiri]

Hello, nice video, I wish only ask how you solved the error that appeared in video at 9:20. (Component not found: bluetooth_proxy.) I have same issue, can you help me?

[@mostlychris]

Usually means that it is not visible in your network or can't be resolved by DNS. If you have access to your wifi router, make sure the device shows up on wifi and that it is the hostname ESPHome is trying to find.

[@n.r.2258]

Is it possible, to install a broadcast network within the homeassistant ? So that one device within the HA network ( i.e.an iPad) transmits a BT music stream and that stream can be received in all rooms ?

[@mostlychris]

That's a new one to me. I don't have an answer but there might be someone out there that has attempted this.

[@Beaker159]

Keep an eye out for BT LP 5.3 and Auranet overlay for hearing aids.

[@mareckorlicki6334]

Hi I installed this but the entry does not appear under the ESP Home Web interface page It appears ok under the integrations as eso32-bluetooth-proxy-026d9c and I cannot see what might be left out

[@mostlychris]

You probably need to adopt it. You might need to add it by IP address in the integrations page.

[@YbborNetsrek]

I don;t understand what the difference/advantage is over using the "esp32_ble_tracker:" command on esp devices?

[@mostlychris]

ESP devices that are wifi capable will allow your Home Assistant instance to "see" BLE packets even when outside of the range of the bluetooth on the HA box. This gives you bluetooth access anywhere you have Wifi access.

[@TheDiabeticWay]

I havemedical devices that have to connect to a bluetoothon my mobile for the software to work with my medical device! Would there be anything we can do to help on the issues o fme forgetting my mobile in one room and losing a connection to themedical readings? would be nice to at least walk around a home free from the restrictions of Blue tooth distances any help on this would be great thank you for the video!

[@mostlychris]

Would need more info on how your setup is configured.

[@alexcapone3284]

I bought and connected a long-range Bluetooth adapter after the 2022.8 update. Its currently working with my switchbot and Yale lock devices. Do I need to disconnect this adapter if I am setting up the proxies?

[@mostlychris]

Don't break what is working! However, if you want to experiment then go for it.

[@yakoenicol]

I followed your tutorial. all good. but i have some BLE led strips and they dont seem to work with the ESP32 Bluetooth proxy.. any idea why?. Thanks for your amazing tutorials!

[@mostlychris]

When I filmed this, it was passive only so no control of devices. Active is now out so maybe try again.

[@yakoenicol]

@@mostlychris indeed it works now that active is now out. Thanks a lot for your videos

[@mostlychris]

@@yakoenicol You're welcome and thanks for watching!

[@Joseph-ko2kl]

Thanks Chris! Related to this- for the example if you have a Switchbot bot and you have the switchbot hub, with the new BT integration and then you use one of these proxies do you still need the switchbot hub or can you remove that?

[@rseckton]

I think because this is passive only, the answer is you still need the hub. This is currently listen only.

[@davidsmith2394]

The switch bot bot integration is broken. You shouldn’t need a hub for it but that seems to be the only solution at this point.

[@mostlychris]

Active is now available. Curious (otthers too) if switch bot works with the active.

[@Katman2577]

@@mostlychris I'd like to know this too

Hi, thanks for your very nice videos, keep up the good work!👋 I try to get the Xiaomi thermometers working. I had no bluetooth in HA previously. So i bought a generic ESP32 and followed your steps in this video to install the BT proxy firmware. Soon it was autodetected and to configure it I had to only entering the IP address. So far so good. Then I flashed the Xiami BT Thermometer LYWSD03MMC) with the custom firmware using Telink Flasher as you mentioned in a video abot a year ago. But the Thermometer is not detected, wether by autodetection nor with Xiaomi BLE integration. I also have read out the MAC adress, Mi-Token and MI-Bindkey. But I don't know where to enter them. Are there ways to see what's going on?

[@dagrainger]

Check to make sure you set the advertising type to MIKIA (MiHome) in the configuration of the Xiami device. This is done with the telink flasher. I could not get it to work either, until I finally realized this setting was incorrect.

[@ngoctaiquach3144]

Hello. I am Vietnamese. Please tell me why when entering the IP address (taken from the router and set as static) in the "Host" field and then sending it, it shows the message "Can't connect to ESP. Please make sure your YAML file contains an 'api:' line". Therefore, the ESP32 cannot be included in the integration site. Please help. Thank!

[@mostlychris]

Are you on the latest version of ESPHome and Home Assistant?

[@ngoctaiquach3144]

@@mostlychris I used the new version for both.

[@boblewis5558]

Sad! No use for me! I want a transparent end to end repeating/boosting for my Sunny Boy SMA solar PV inverter (in the loft!!??) which has Bluetooth connectivity to query the database from a standard mobile phone app (Oxley Solar). Currently, I can ONLY reach the inverter directly from my study ... About 5 feet max below the inverter! I cannot connect from ANYWHERE else in the house! Anyone know how to do end to end transparent repeating? To/from my phone/mobile app via Bluetooth over a "link" and to/from my inverter.

[@weiyechen6385]

Hi Chris, what router do you use? Can you explain how you keep track of all the devices on your network?

[@jardelainen8278]

It was ubiquiti

[@mostlychris]

Ubiquity USG Pro

[@prestonrichmond]

Wonder if they will add battery life with bluetooth support!

[@mostlychris]

Here's hoping.

[@Costel8294]

Hello. I have a motherboard from esp32-cam. Can I install bluetooth proxy on this board?

[@mostlychris]

Not sure. I've never messed with one of those.

[@richardbanyai6207]

Can you connect Bluetooth lights to the proxies?

[@mostlychris]

Active connections are now supported. So...maybe? Depends on the light.

[@PM13501]

Chris, can this configuration be used to install ESP32 chips paired with Bluetooth speakers?

[@theotherbart]

Assuming not as he indicated the proxy is read-only. Blueooth speaker, your are sending (writing) data to the devices.

[@MikeCarr07]

Do you still need to flash the Xiami thermometer sensors?

[@mostlychris]

For some of the settings, yes.

[@mareckorlicki6334]

Hi I found the cause of the problem Everything ok I just had to install ESPHome(dev) from the AddOn store and it immediately came up requesting to be Adopted Did that all Working fine now

[@mostlychris]

You shouldn't have had to use the dev version for the proxy as that was released to prod.

[@TheRealAnthony_real]

it`s interesting that on my esp32 board when I press next it doesn`t go to connect to a network ... it just goes out back to install or view console logs ..

[@mostlychris]

Hmmm...

[@TheRealAnthony_real]

@@mostlychris I have sorted this by now ... Not sure why but some of the esp32's didnt want to play .. do I had a bunch and I found one that got flashed and the sequence was as you showed

[@mostlychris]

@@TheRealAnthony_real Wonder if you had a series of bad ones. No quality control these days!

[@neilausten9404]

I don't u nderstand how you can get temp and hum readings from the xiaomi without putting in an encryption code.

[@mostlychris]

You flash the xiaomi with firmware that negates it. I have a video on that. Take a look at it and it will explain how that is done. It is older so it also talks about how to set up the ESP to get data directly from it. Now you can use the proxy to do that if you have it sending out sensor beacons.

[@VbaSlezak]

Many thanks

[@whitefox3021]

How did you open the menu at 11:41 ? Thank you!

[@mostlychris]

Hit the 'c' key.

[@knax97]

I got the same error while installing the esp32 wirelessly. What did you do to fix it after the cut?

[@Tarikmoe]

Same here. I am stuck at that error and he didn’t show how he fixed it

[@lpjerry21]

I've solved it! You have to delete or comment out the "active: true" section in the esp32-generic.yaml, located under esphome\.esphome\packages\XXXXXXXX\ folder. Then rerun the update process and it should work.

[@knax97]

@@lpjerry21 Thank you I’ll try it out

[@knax97]

@@lpjerry21 Tried it. For me it only works when i comment out the whole bluetooth_proxy part. But I don`t know if the ESP is going to work after commenting it out...

[@lpjerry21]

@@knax97 Yesterday ESPHome and HA (2022.10) also got an update, you should be able to install both of them. After those updates the adoption process should accept the active: true section as HA now supports ACTIVE BLE connections! :)

[@Kim-zb9zp]

The (affiliate) link to amazon is poining to something that is out of stock.

[@Kim-zb9zp]

Got it working by following this video btw

[@ppi57]

Followed it step by step... failed every time with the "couldn't resolve IP address"

[@mostlychris]

I feel for you Rich. In the YT studio, comments are in order of time, not by video so I keep seeing you show up down the line in the feed trying to get this working. Jump over to Discord if you need more help.

[@ppi57]

Ah, I see you're using a https address. how do you make HA use SSL?

[@mostlychris]

I use nginx reverse proxy and pass all my traffic via SSL to that and on to HA. Allows me to use FQDN when access HA and without having to specify ports.

[@EricPenn1147]

But what about already functioning ESP boards? You cover new installs... Currently when I add the two lines into ESPHOME it errors... You mention already installed devices, but don't cover how to do this in this video....

[@mostlychris]

You need to add the updated firmware.

[@threepe0]

usbip is a better solution than proxy in a lot of cases, and it cares for plugging in a ton of devices remotely to Home Assistant. And it’s not limited to passive, not limited to three simultaneous connections. I think you buried the lead here; if your home assistant is in your basement, extending from the basement where you don’t need bluetooth as opposed to usbip doesn’t seem like the best solution

[@ppi57]

Still struggling. Why can't we just plug it into the Rpi that's running HA, and have it adopt?

[@mostlychris]

You can upload the firmware this way. Just choose the option that says connected device running esphome.

[@Royaltydarkness]

not support esp 3266..

[@mostlychris]

Correct. I think I mentioned that but if not, apologies.

[@damon20r]

You should probably say or at least have a link to the page you used to install the software on the device. You talk about it a couple times but never say what it is.

[@ppi57]

Something is really wrong with this, tried 6 more times with no success. When I open ESPHome (after it says "success"), all I see is "+ new device"... if you click that it erases and reinstalls firmware to the Node, and starts populating the integration window with red box's with the configure button... it will keep populating if you leave it plugged in (I had 56 at one time). Maybe its a "Unifi" thing

[@stephanebuisson3577]

Hi mostlychris ! I did with success followed your last year video kzbin.info/www/bejne/ombIkmqihryjg80) Xaomi thermometer - ESP which work fine in my HA today. in today video I discover the Xaomi Ble integration, I have more thermometers to do, do you still need the TELINK flasher step? (or removed?) a little update on what to do would be appreciated.

[@davidsmith2394]

That’s exactly what I did last year. Not sure what the big surprise is with Bluetooth proxies… you still need to get the bind key from those xiaomi thermometers

[@VolkerHett]

I'm a bit disappointed with it. From what I've seen HA should pick up any Bluetooth device automagically which it doesn't do with those I have in my home. Even.a fresh install doesn't do it. Although I have a couple of those cheap Mija Thermometers which should be found and work just fine in the old fashioned way. I had hoped I can get around my current mess I use to control my EQ3 bluetooth Thermostats. Looks like Zewelors Python script, MQTT and Node Red will stay with me for this purpose. Fun fact, old versions of HA had no problem working with those Thermostats out of the box, I just had to add a few lines to config.yaml.

[@gr33n000]

Hey Chris, really enjoy your videos, many thanks. I also followed your videos from last year kzbin.info/www/bejne/ombIkmqihryjg80 and have an ESP32 set up with "esp32_ble_tracker" and "sensor:" with 4 temperature sensors in the YAML file. All working well. My question, can I just add the "bluetooth_proxy:" to my existing configuration? Will HA then discover the Xiaomi temperature sensors again? Will it start to 'double count' the proxy discovered sensors and the tracker sensors? Is it worth upgrading / moving over to bluetooth_proxy ? Thanks again. You are always the guy I go to about ESP32 and HA.

[@gr33n000]

Actually I think that this guy has answered the question... kzbin.info/www/bejne/a4XJlYqKa6qAhtE He has a demo of adding "bluetooth_proxy" to and existing ESP32...

[@mostlychris]

BeardedTinker's videos are garbage. You shouldn't watch those. Just kidding! Yes, he has some great content. Glad he answered that. Just goes to show that even though there are a lot videos out on the same subjects, sometimes one video will cover something that wasn't in another video. I often watch 2 or 3 vids on something just to make sure I get all the points.

[@Tarikmoe]

Hey Chris, thank you for your video. I can’t seem to get a good connection at command `iNFO Starting log output from esp32-bluetooth-proxy-xxxxx.local using esphome API’ I keep getting connection timed out error, any idea where to look to fix it?

[@mostlychris]

Make sure your USB cable is both power AND DATA. Many USB cables don't have data capability.

[@ShichaoChenhongyu]

Thank you. However I always got error like: "INFO Installing platformio/toolchain-esp32ulp @ ~1.22851.0 Error: Could not find the package with 'platformio/toolchain-esp32ulp @ ~1.22851.0' requirements for your system 'linux_aarch64'. "

[@mostlychris]

Make sure you are on the latest everything.