Athom
Athom WLED WS2812B LED strip controller (pre-flashed)
- Native integration
- Local control
- Wi-Fi
Prices verified September 2026
See more smart lighting picks on our Amazon storefront →Our verdict
The tinkerer's route to addressable LED strips: an ESP8266/ESP32 controller pre-flashed with WLED, which Home Assistant auto-discovers via its native, fully local wled integration — effects, segments, presets and all. The board's 3A output caps direct-driven WS2812B runs at roughly 50 pixels before you need to inject 5V power separately every metre or so of dense strip, so budget a beefier PSU and screw-terminal wiring skills for a full room. Against a retail RGBIC strip like Govee's, you trade app polish and plug-and-play connectors for unlimited local effects, zero cloud lag, and change from a tenner instead of forty quid.
What can Home Assistant control on the Athom WLED WS2812B LED strip controller (pre-flashed)?
| Control | Type | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Segment light | Light (per segment) | One light entity per configured WLED segment when 2+ segments exist — independent on/off, colour, brightness, effect and palette per section of the strip. |
| Master light | Light | Created alongside segment lights; controls overall strip power and brightness across all segments simultaneously, but not colour or effect. |
| Preset / playlist | Select | Activates a saved WLED preset or playlist stored on the device — the way to apply a coordinated multi-segment look in one action. |
| Segment intensity / speed | Number | Per-segment controls for the active effect's intensity and speed, adjustable independently of the effect selection itself. |
| Sync receive/send | Switch | Toggles WLED's native UDP broadcast sync for keeping multiple WLED devices' effects in lockstep. |
With two or more WLED segments defined, HA's wled integration doesn't just expose effect/preset selection on one entity — it creates a genuinely separate light entity per segment, each independently controllable for on/off, colour, brightness, effect and palette, plus one master light entity that toggles power and brightness across the whole strip. Setup is push-based over WebSocket when available, falling back to periodic polling if not, and per-segment number entities expose live effect speed and intensity rather than baking them into presets. One real limitation: HA has no single control to push a colour or effect change to all segments at once — you either drive each segment entity separately or fall back to a WLED preset that already encodes the multi-segment state.
Specs
| gpio | ESP8285H16: button GPIO0, data GPIO1 · ESP32-C3: button GPIO9, data GPIO21 |
|---|---|
| chipset | ESP8285H16 (ESP8266, 2MB) or ESP32-C3 (4MB) — variant selectable at purchase |
| max current | 3 A per output (both variants) — roughly 50 WS2812B pixels at full white before separate power injection is needed |
| power input | 5-12 V DC (ESP8285H16 variant) or 5-24 V DC (ESP32-C3 variant) |
| strip support | WS2811, WS2812B, WS2814, SK6812, UCS8903, GS8298, TM1814, LPD6803, P9813, TM1829, UCS8904 |
How does the Athom WLED WS2812B LED strip controller (pre-flashed) compare?
| Product | From | Protocol | Local control | Integration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athom WLED WS2812B LED strip controller (pre-flashed) (this product) | £6.5 | Wi-Fi | Yes | Native |
| Govee Flow Plus RGBICWW light bars H6056 (twin pack) | £69.99 | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth | Yes | Native |
| Govee RGBIC LED Strip Light H619A (5 m, protective coating) | £39.99 | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth | Yes | Native |
| IKEA KAJPLATS E14 colour & white spectrum bulb (806 lm) | £7 | Matter, Thread | Yes | Native |
Frequently asked questions
- Does the Athom WLED WS2812B LED strip controller (pre-flashed) work with Home Assistant locally?
- Yes. The Athom WLED WS2812B LED strip controller (pre-flashed) is controlled locally in Home Assistant through a built-in Home Assistant core integration (wled), so it keeps working if your internet connection or the Athom cloud goes down. Control and state updates stay on your own network.
- Which protocol does the Athom WLED WS2812B LED strip controller (pre-flashed) use, and do I need a hub?
- The Athom WLED WS2812B LED strip controller (pre-flashed) uses Wi-Fi. To pair it with Home Assistant you need no hub — it joins your Wi-Fi network directly. Athom's own hub is not required when you integrate through a built-in Home Assistant core integration (wled).
- How much does the Athom WLED WS2812B LED strip controller (pre-flashed) cost in the UK?
- The lowest price we have listed for the Athom WLED WS2812B LED strip controller (pre-flashed) is £6.50 at athom.tech. Prices were last checked in September 2026 and change often, so confirm on the retailer's page before buying.