PART · A-SLWF-11Addressable-LED controller · ESP8266 · WLED · SMLIGHTPRELIMINARY · 2026·07
Coming soon · LED-strip controller
SLWF-11.
Big light. Small board.
This little board makes your LED strip smart. Wire the strip to it, join it to your Wi-Fi, and your phone gets millions of colours, hundreds of effects and schedules — no hub, no subscription, no cloud. It's our most compact controller, with nothing important left out.
01 · Gallery
See it up close.
02
How it works. In plain words.
STEP 1
Wire it to your strip
The board sits between the power supply and your LED strip. A few small screw-in wires — no soldering — and the quick-start guide shows exactly what goes where.
STEP 2
Power it and join your Wi-Fi
Use a regular USB-C cable or the round power plug — one at a time, never both. Then join the board's own Wi-Fi with your phone; the setup page opens by itself.
STEP 3
Paint with light
Pick colours and effects from your phone, your browser or a classic remote control — or let your smart home run the show. Schedules, wake-up fades, the lot.
Ten minutes and a screwdriver — that's the whole setup. No hub, no account, no cloud.
03
Sounds familiar? It's for you.
“The strip came with an awful app”
Give your strip a proper brain
Cheap strips ship with clunky apps and flaky remotes. Put this board in charge instead and control everything from one polished, free app.
“I want my TV backlight to look amazing”
Hundreds of effects, millions of colours
A gentle fireplace, a slow rainbow, calm white for reading — pick from a huge effect library or compose your own scenes.
“I want the essentials”
The essential one
The SLWF-11 is our most compact controller — full SMLIGHT quality with nothing important left out. Everything you need to light a strip, and nothing you don't.
“I run a smart home”
Friends with Home Assistant
Home Assistant and the widely-loved WLED apps recognise it instantly. Automations, scenes and schedules just work.
“I already run SMLIGHT gear”
It joins the SMLIGHT family
Already have an SLZB coordinator or an SMHUB? Control your lights straight from them — through the built-in integration in SLZB-OS on SLZB devices, or with Node-RED on your SMHUB. One ecosystem, one place to manage it all.
“I'm the technical type”
There's a datasheet below
Pin maps, wiring modes, firmware matrix and preliminary electricals. Skip to the technical half →
04
SLWF-11 or SLWF-03?
| SLWF-11 | SLWF-03 | |
|---|---|---|
| Light that moves with music | With a small add-on microphone | Built-in microphone — works out of the box |
| Everything else | Full feature set — app, remote, smart home, updates | Full feature set |
| For the curious: the chip inside | ESP8266 | ESP32 |
05
Quick questions.
Q-01
Will it work with my strip?
It drives nearly all popular addressable strips, from 5 V to 24 V — three-wire and four-wire alike. The exact list of supported families is in the tech section below.
Q-02
Do I need a hub or a subscription?
No. The board joins your Wi-Fi directly and is controlled from a free app or your browser. Nothing to pay monthly, ever.
Q-03
How hard is the setup, really?
Ten minutes with a screwdriver. Power it, join its Wi-Fi with your phone, follow the page that opens. Standard strips need no soldering.
Q-04
When and where can I buy it?
It's rolling out now through our distributor network. Keep an eye on where to buy, or ask your favourite SMLIGHT distributor about availability.
06
For the tech-savvy.
Everything from here down is the preliminary datasheet — for readers who enjoy that sort of thing. You don't need any of it to set up or use the SLWF-11.
Control
- Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz · 802.11 b/g/n
- 38 kHz IR receiver · GPIO4
- On-board push button · GPIO0
- 2 × status LEDs · GPIO14 / GPIO16
- Home Assistant · native WLED apps
Power
- USB Type-C · 5 V
- DC barrel · 5.5 × 2.1 mm
- Screw terminal · VCC / GND
- One source at a time
- Drives 5–24 V strips
Output
- Data · GPIO2 · level-shifted 5 V
- Clock · GPIO12 · level-shifted 5 V
- 3-wire strips (Data only)
- 4-wire strips (Data + Clock)
- WS2812B-class · WS2815 · clocked
Firmware
- Pre-flashed WLED
- ESPHome compatible
- OTA + Type-C updates
- Built-in USB-to-UART flasher
- DIY header · GPIO + ADC + 3V3
07
Open what interests you.
How the signals flowOne picture: Wi-Fi, remote and power in — light out.Fig. 1
Inputs (Wi-Fi, IR, button, optional analog mic on the ADC, Type-C / DC / screw power) → ESP8266 → level-shifted Data (GPIO2) + Clock (GPIO12) to the strip, plus Wi-Fi back to Home Assistant and the WLED apps.
Connectors & pin mapEvery port and pin, with the default firmware assignments.Tab. 1·2
Connectors at a glance
| Connector | Purpose | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| USB Type-C | 5 V power · flashing | Built-in USB-to-UART bridge |
| DC barrel | Power | 5.5 × 2.1 mm · VCC inner pin |
| Screw terminal | Strip power + signals | VCK PWR · IO12 (Clock) · IO2 (Data) · GND |
| DIY header | Expansion | Spare GPIOs · ADC input · 3.3 V · GND |
Use ONE power source at a time — Type-C or DC/screw, never both.
Default firmware GPIO map
| GPIO | Function | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| GPIO2 | LED Data | Level-shifted to 5 V logic |
| GPIO12 | LED Clock | 4-wire (clocked) strips only |
| GPIO4 | IR receiver | 38 kHz |
| GPIO0 | Button | Manual control · flash-mode entry |
| GPIO14 / GPIO16 | Status LEDs | 2 × on-board indicators |
| ADC | Analog input | External mic for sound-reactive |
Electrical characteristicsPreliminary operating conditions — unconfirmed values are marked TBC.Tab. 3
TABLE 3. Recommended operating conditions — PRELIMINARY2026·07
| Parameter | Min | Typ | Max | Unit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| V_CC (USB Type-C) | 4.75 | 5.00 | 5.25 | V | USB-IF spec |
| V_strip (supported strips) | 5 | — | 24 | V | Match supply to the strip's rating |
| V_CC max (DC / screw input) | — | — | TBC | V | Confirm against final datasheet |
| V_logic (Data / Clock out) | — | 5.0 | — | V | On-board level shifter |
| I_CC (operating) | — | TBC | TBC | mA | Pre-release — to be characterised |
| Wi-Fi band | — | 2.4 | — | GHz | ESP8266 — no 5 GHz |
A-SLWF-11 is a pre-release product: values marked TBC will be confirmed in the official SMLIGHT documentation at launch.
Strip wiring modes3-wire, 4-wire and 12 V strips — what connects where.Tab. 4
| Strip type | Wires | Connect | Examples | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3-wire addressable | VCC · Data · GND | Data (GPIO2) + GND | WS2812B-class | Most common strips |
| 4-wire clocked | VCC · Data · Clock · GND | Data (GPIO2) + Clock (GPIO12) + GND | APA102-style clocked strips | Clock line level-shifted too |
| 12 V dual-data | VCC · Data · GND | Data (GPIO2) + GND | WS2815 | 5 V-tolerant data input |
Always share a common ground between controller, strip and any separate supply; inject power on long runs and keep data leads short.
Firmware support matrixWLED vs ESPHome vs custom builds, feature by feature.Tab. 5
| Feature | WLED | ESPHome | Custom ESP8266 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Addressable LED output (Data + Clock) | ● | ● | ● |
| 100+ effects · 16.5 M colours · apps | ● | — | — |
| Multi-controller sync | ● | — | ● |
| IR remote codes | ● | ● | ● |
| Sound-reactive (ext. mic on ADC) | ● | ● | ● |
| Home Assistant integration | ● | ● | ● |
| OTA updates | ● | ● | ● |
Application notesPower rules, wiring recipes, first boot, flashing — from the manual.AN-01…06
AN-01 · Power
One power source at a time
Power via USB Type-C, the DC barrel or the screw terminal — never two at once. Match the supply voltage to your strip's rating (e.g. a 5 V supply for a 5 V strip).
AN-02 · Wiring
Wiring a 4-wire clocked strip
Connect Data →
IO2, Clock → IO12 and share GND. Both lines leave the board at a clean 5 V logic level through the on-board level shifter — no external shifter needed.AN-03 · Sound
Sound-reactive effects with an external mic
Unlike the SLWF-03, the A-SLWF-11 has no built-in microphone. Wire an external analog microphone to the
ADC pin on the DIY header and enable sound-reactive effects in the firmware.AN-04 · Long runs
Power injection on long strips
Inject power every few tens of metres to avoid voltage drop, keep the data wires short, and always share a common ground between the controller, the strip and any separate power supply.
AN-05 · Setup
First boot in three steps
Power up → join the
WLED-AP Wi-Fi network (password wled1234) → the captive portal opens (or browse to http://4.3.2.1). Enter your 2.4 GHz network and you're painting light.AN-06 · Flash
Flashing without an external programmer
The built-in USB-to-UART bridge flashes firmware straight over Type-C — WLED, ESPHome, or your own ESP8266 build. OTA updates keep it current after that.
08
Where to get it.
The SLWF-11 is rolling out now through our distributor network, in a retail box with a quick-start guide. Buying for a business or in volume? Our sales team is one email away.
A-SLWF-11 · Preliminary datasheet · 2026·07smlight.tech/products/slwf-11 · SMLIGHT