Broadlink Universal v1.5 - Setup Guide

Custom Control Drivers LLC - learn and blast any IR or RF code from RTI with a Broadlink RM device. 100% local: your processor talks to the device directly on your LAN, with no cloud and no Broadlink app at runtime. One driver instance controls one Broadlink device and stores up to 50 learned codes on the processor.

Which Broadlink devices this driver supports

This driver covers the Broadlink RM range - RM4 Pro, RM4 mini, RM4C, RM Pro, RM3 mini and their variants, 53 device types in all. It identifies which generation your unit is from its device type and adapts automatically, including the two different command formats Broadlink has used across the range, and whether your model has RF and temperature sensors at all.

Please read this before you buy. Broadlink has sold dozens of model, region and firmware variations under similar names. Our development and test hardware is the RM4 Pro. Where we could not test a model directly, we implemented against the published protocol behaviour and the standards used consistently across the established open-source Broadlink projects - the same protocol every other integration speaks. That is a sound basis, but it is not the same as us having plugged in your exact unit.

So use the trial first. The driver includes a free 2-hour trial. Load it, run Check Device (under Diagnostics) and try a learn and a send on your actual hardware before you buy. Check Device reports what your unit really is, whether the driver recognises its device type, and whether it is locked - so you will know within minutes.

Need longer than two hours? Just ask. If you are testing across a large install, waiting on hardware to arrive, or working through a model we have not seen before, email us and we will extend your trial - no purchase needed. We would far rather you took the time to be certain it works on your equipment than bought something that turns out not to suit your device.

If something does not work, tell us. Email support@customcontroldrivers.com with your model, what Check Device reported, and what happened. We would much rather fix it than have you work around it - device-specific differences are usually a small change once we can see what the device is actually doing.

How it works - the short version

The driver holds a library of 50 code slots. To use a code you: (1) learn it into a slot, (2) name the slot, then (3) bind Send Code to a button. Learning and sending are driver commands you run from macros / buttons - naming a slot in Config by itself does nothing until a code is actually learned into it.

Before you start

The device is already set up on your Wi-Fi using the Broadlink phone app (that is how it joins the network). After that the app is not needed.

Setting one up for the first time? Complete the setup normally. Finishing setup does not lock anything - the Lock device switch is a separate setting you turn on yourself. (Older guides tell you to abandon the app half-way through; that was a workaround for a 2020 app version and it has not been necessary for years.) If the driver will not connect, see The device lock below.

The RTI processor and the Broadlink device share the same network and can reach each other (no client / guest isolation between them).

Give the device a fixed IP - a DHCP reservation in your router - so its address never changes.

Step 1 - connect the driver

In Driver Settings, under Broadlink Device, enter:

IP Address - the device's LAN IP (for example 192.168.1.50). Required.

MAC Address - the device's MAC (for example EC:0B:AE:00:00:01). Required. Find it in the Broadlink app (device settings) or your router's client list; any separators are fine.

Device Type - the Broadlink product ID in hex. It defaults to 649b (RM4 Pro). If you have a different model, run Check Device and it will tell you the value to enter - you do not have to find it yourself. Leave Port at 80, and License Key blank for the 2-hour trial.

When the processor reaches the device, the Connected variable turns Yes and Status shows the IP.

Step 2 - learn a code

Learning is a runtime command you trigger from a button or macro. The order matters, and it is the opposite for IR and RF - read the right bullet below before your first learn:

Add a macro command step -> Broadlink Universal -> Learn IR Code, and set Into Slot to a number 1-50. (For an RF remote use Learn RF Code instead - and see the RF bullet below, because you must be holding the remote down BEFORE you run it.)

For IR: run that command (press the button on a panel, or run the macro). The device's LED turns solid - now point the original remote at it and press the button you want to capture. A few presses is fine.

For RF the order is reversed, and getting it wrong costs you the code. START HOLDING the remote button BEFORE you run Learn RF Code, and keep holding it until Learning State says the code was captured. Do not run the command first and then press - read the note on RF below before your first RF learn.

Watch the Learning State variable: it confirms when the code is captured, and the Learn Complete event fires. That slot's Learned variable turns Yes and its Type shows IR or RF.

Cancel Learn aborts a learn that is in progress.

Step 3 - name the slot

In Driver Settings, under Code Labels, type a friendly name for the slot you just learned (for example TV Power). You can name any slot, in any order. Every slot appears in the Send Code and Delete Code pickers whether or not you name it - naming simply replaces "slot 7" with "TV Power" so the macro reads clearly later.

Step 4 - send the code

Add a macro command step -> Broadlink Universal -> Send Code, and pick the code by name from the list. Bind that to any button - pressing it blasts the code out of the device.

Delete Code clears a slot; Reconnect forces a fresh connection to the device.

Check Device (under Diagnostics) asks the device to identify itself - it reports the device's real type, MAC, name, and whether it is locked. Run it first whenever the driver will not connect.

A note on RF

‼ PRESS AND HOLD THE REMOTE BUTTON BEFORE YOU PRESS LEARN RF CODE - AND KEEP HOLDING IT. This is the single most important step in RF learning. Hold the button down first, then press Learn RF Code on the panel, and do not let go until Learning State says the code was captured. Do NOT tap the button, and do NOT wait for the driver before you start transmitting.

Why it matters: the driver listens on 433.92 MHz first, then steps through 315, 304.2, 390, 310 and 318 MHz, about eight seconds each. A Broadlink sitting close to a remote can pick that remote up even while it is tuned to a DIFFERENT band - so if you start transmitting late, the code is captured and stored against the wrong frequency. It looks like a perfect learn, and it is: the code is real, it is unique, and it is then transmitted on a frequency your receiver is not listening to. Holding the button from the start guarantees the signal is already there when the correct band opens.

Check the frequency after every RF learn. Learning State now reports it, e.g. "RF code learned into slot 3 at 433.92 MHz". If one slot reports a different frequency from the others on the same remote, that one was captured on the wrong band - delete it and learn it again, holding the button from the start.

Not every Broadlink has RF. RF exists on the RM Pro and RM4 Pro ranges; the RM mini / RM4 mini range is infrared only. The Supports RF variable tells you which you have, and Learn RF Code will say so plainly rather than doing nothing.

On older RM Pro models there is a second step. If none of the bands find your remote, the driver falls back to a hardware frequency scan, so an RF learn on those units can take up to about 75 seconds instead of 50. Watch Learning State - it asks you to press and HOLD the remote for the scan, and once a carrier is found it asks you to hold it again for the capture. Keep holding through both.

RF learning direct-tunes and automatically cycles the common consumer carrier bands (433, 315, 304, 390, 310, 318 MHz), so you do not need to know the frequency - but you must hold the remote button down for the whole learn window so the signal is already on air when your band comes around.

Rolling-code RF remotes (many modern garage and gate openers) send a new code on every press, so a captured code cannot be replayed. That is a limitation of RF learning in general, not of this driver. Fixed-code remotes - most ceiling fans, RF outlets, doorbells and older openers - replay fine.

Feedback & events

Driver variables report Connected, Status, Learning State, Last Learned Slot, Firmware Version, and license status. Each slot reports its Name, Type (IR / RF) and Learned flag. Under Device Capabilities you also get Device Class, Supports RF, Has Sensors and, on models that have them, Temperature and Humidity. Events fire for Connected / Disconnected, Learn Started / Complete / Failed, Code Sent, Probe Complete and Device Locked - use them to drive macros and feedback.

Temperature and humidity

Some Broadlink models report sensors and the driver reads them automatically once a minute: the RM Pro range reports temperature, and the RM4 range reports temperature and humidity. The Has Sensors variable tells you whether yours does.

‼ On an RM4 Pro the sensor is on the external HTS2 probe cable, not inside the unit. Without that cable fitted the device reports zero - so the driver shows Sensor Status as "No sensor detected" rather than a misleading 0 degrees. The Broadlink phone app fills the gap with internet weather, which is why the app can show a temperature when the device itself is not measuring one.

The device lock

Broadlink devices carry a Lock device setting. Broadlink describe it as a privacy feature - their own wording is that when the device is locked, other users on the same Wi-Fi network will not be able to find it. It is not a cloud lock and it has nothing to do with Broadlink's cloud, despite what a lot of older advice says. A locked device refuses local control, so this driver cannot connect to one.

Most devices are not locked. It is a switch someone turns on - finishing the app's setup normally does not set it. So check it rather than assuming it.

How to tell - use Check Device. Add a macro command step -> Broadlink Universal -> Check Device, and run it. A locked device still answers this while refusing everything else, so it works exactly when nothing else does. The Device Probe variables then tell you:

Device Locked - Yes means this is your problem, and the steps below fix it. No means the lock is not your problem, so look at the network instead. Blank means the check has not run yet - the driver never guesses this one.

Reported Type - the device's REAL type. If it differs from the Device Type setting, change the setting to match what is reported.

Reported MAC and Reported Name - confirms you are talking to the device you think you are.

Probe Result - a plain-English summary of all of the above.

If Check Device gets no answer at all, the problem is not the lock - a locked device answers, and refuses, rather than going silent. Check the IP address, that the device is powered, and that nothing blocks the two from talking. The driver also runs this check automatically when it cannot connect, so Last Error usually names the cause on its own.

To clear the lock:

Turn the lock off in the app. Open the Broadlink app and tap your RM device in the device list to open it. Then open that device's own settings - on most versions the ... menu in the upper right - and scroll to the bottom. Lock device is the last switch, just above Add shortcut to home screen. Switch it OFF. (It is the RM's settings you want, not the app's own settings menu - the lock is per device.)

Unlocking does not remove the device from the app - the app and this driver work side by side afterwards.

You do not need to download the project again. The driver retries on its own and reconnects within about 10 seconds of the switch going off.

Cannot find the switch? Update the Broadlink app - the toggle has shipped since app version 1.5.03 (October 2020), so a very old app is the usual reason it is missing. If it is still not there, a factory reset and a normal re-add clears the lock. You do not need to abandon setup half-way - that instruction was a workaround for a 2020 app version and was retired years ago.

Note which app you have. There are three: Broadlink (RM3 / RM4 devices), BG Home (BestCon), and Broadlink Magic Home (RM MAX / RM5 Plus). Instructions written for one do not match the others.

Two things to avoid:

Do not delete the device from the app, and do not delete your Broadlink account, to 'start clean'. That can leave the device locked with no way to reach the setting again.

Be careful with advice found online - a number of popular guides have this backwards and tell you to switch Lock device ON for local control. That is the opposite of what you want.

Troubleshooting

Connected stays No: read the Last Error variable first - it now names the specific cause. If it reports the device is locked, see The device lock above. Otherwise check the IP and MAC are correct and current (use a DHCP reservation), the Broadlink device is powered and on Wi-Fi, and there is no client isolation between it and the processor. Use Reconnect after fixing anything.

Codes work for a while, then sending stops while the driver still shows Connected: this is usually the power supply. A blast draws enough current through the infrared LEDs that the device can reset before it finishes replying. Fit a supply rated at 2A or more - that is the only permanent fix. A power cycle restores it temporarily.

A learn never captures: make sure you are pressing the ORIGINAL remote AT the Broadlink device. For IR, press it while the LED is solid. For RF the order is the opposite - PRESS AND HOLD THE REMOTE BUTTON BEFORE PRESSING LEARN RF CODE and keep holding throughout; waiting for the LED is exactly what makes an RF learn fail. See the RF section above, this is the most common cause of RF trouble. Rolling-code remotes will not replay.

An RF code learns fine but the device never responds: check the frequency in Learning State after the learn. If it does not match your other codes from the same remote, it was captured on the wrong band - delete that slot and learn it again, holding the remote button from before you press Learn.

It connects but nothing works: that is almost always the wrong Device Type. The two Broadlink generations use different command formats, so a mismatched type authenticates normally and then ignores every command. Run Check Device - it reports the type the unit actually claims - then enter that value and press Reconnect. If your model is newer than this driver's built-in list, Device Class will say the type was ASSUMED; set it manually (for example 2712 for an RM Pro, 2737 for an RM mini 3).

Nothing appears in the System Log: errors always appear. If you see errors but no progress detail, two things gate it, and neither is the processor's log level. First, raise Debug Level in this driver's Driver Settings - Low is the shipped default and Medium or High shows the detail. Second, check the per-driver message filter on the XP Diagnostics System Log page: it controls which drivers you are listening to, and it can clear itself without you touching it - we have seen it reset on a project download and after a processor reboot, silently, for every driver at once. If the log goes quiet after either, re-select this driver there. Live status is always in the driver's System Variables, which are never filtered - that is the place to look when the log is not cooperating.

A driver setting change seems ignored: Driver Settings live in the *project*, so the processor does not see a change until you download the project to it. The driver restarts on download and picks the new value up automatically - Reconnect is only needed when the value was already on the processor. Changing the Device IP in Integration Designer and pressing Reconnect *without* downloading leaves the driver talking to the old address.

License & support

The driver includes a free 2-hour trial per processor. The trial clock keeps its place across reboots and re-sends, so it does not restart when the driver reloads. Each new version of the driver starts a fresh trial, so you can always re-evaluate after an update. Paste your key from customcontroldrivers.com into License Key to license this processor (one license covers the driver on that processor). Support: support@customcontroldrivers.com