SLWF-12 — our new Wi-Fi IR controller and DIY board
Say hello to the SLWF-12 — a compact Wi-Fi IR controller on ESP8266: an IR transmitter and receiver on one board, USB flashing with no programmer, open pinouts for DIY, and Home Assistant integration through ESPHome.
We're excited to introduce the newest member of our ESPHome-compatible family: the SLWF-12 — a compact Wi-Fi IR controller built around the ESP8266, with an IR transmitter and receiver on one board and open DIY pinouts. It turns everything that answers to an infrared remote — TVs, air conditioners, soundbars, amplifiers, fans, projectors — into a full citizen of your smart home.
Why you'll love it
- IR transmitter and receiver on one board. Send commands and read signals — no separate modules.
- Command capture and playback. Point the remote, press a button — the board captures the signal and can reproduce it later. Perfect when ready-made IR codes for your device simply don't exist.
- Flashing without a programmer. The built-in USB/UART converter (CH340N) is wired straight to the ESP8266 programming interface — connect a USB cable and flash. USB is also all it needs for power; the board talks to your smart home over Wi-Fi.
- A real developer board. GPIO, ADC, UART TX/RX, Reset, 3.3 V, 5 V and GND are all exposed — add sensors, buttons, external modules or your own electronics.
Ready for Home Assistant
The SLWF-12 joins your network over Wi-Fi, and that is the channel it uses to reach your server — USB only ever supplies power (and, on the bench, flashing). Through compatible firmware — for example ESPHome with remote_receiver and remote_transmitter — IR functions become available in dashboards, scripts and automations. Old IR remotes retire; "movie night" presses their buttons for you. And you're not tied to a single firmware: install a ready-made build or write your own for ESP8266.
Both directions, any IR device
The SLWF-12 is not tied to one class of appliance. Its transmitter sends commands to anything that takes an infrared remote — TVs, air conditioners, soundbars, amplifiers, fans, projectors, and whatever else came with a remote in the box.
Its receiver works the other way round. It reads the signals your existing remotes put out, which buys you two things: capture their codes so the board can reproduce them later, and use any spare remote as an input for Home Assistant — press a button on it and trigger whatever automation you like.
Firmware follows the same principle. For air conditioners there is a ready-made option — the proprietary SMLIGHT AC Bridge firmware, with one-click learning, synchronization with the original remote, scenes, schedules, and integration with Home Assistant, MQTT and Telegram. It is one build among many, not the boundary of what the board does.
Availability
Shipping now from AliExpress and from smartlight.me at $12.99 — both deliver worldwide. It reaches our wider distributor network shortly.
Want the full picture? The SLWF-12 product page has the specs — pinout, firmware options, and how IR capture works.