Broadlink Connect puts the remotes you already have on the XENEON EDGE. A Broadlink device learns the buttons of your TV, air conditioner or fan remote, and the widget lays them out as a remote pad, chains them into macros and switches your Broadlink smart plugs. The widget reaches your Broadlink devices through Qaem Hub, a free app for your PC, and everything stays on your own network.
Before you start
Setup
Install Qaem Hub and add its Broadlink module
- Download and run
Qaem Hub Setup.exe. It installs for your Windows account, starts with Windows and waits in the tray. - In Qaem Hub, open Add modules, select Broadlink and click Install selected.
The module finds your Broadlink devices on your network, talks to them and keeps your learned codes. Set up Qaem Hub covers the install in more detail, including the SmartScreen warning. More about the app is on the Qaem Hub page.
Get and import the widget
- Get the
.icuewidgetfile from the Elgato Marketplace. If you bought it on qaemdev.com, download it from Account → Downloads at /account/downloads. The Broadlink Connect page links to both. - Double-click the file. iCUE picks it up and imports it.
- If nothing happens, open iCUE, go to the Widgets panel, use the + button and choose the file.
Place it and pick its Widget type
Open your EDGE's layout in iCUE and drag Broadlink Connect onto it. Every layout fits any tile size, landscape or portrait.
In the widget's settings beside the layout, choose a Widget type:
| Widget type | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Remote | A pad of learned buttons and macros. |
| Devices | Your plugs, sensors and remotes as cards. |
| Big button | One button, macro or plug, as large as the tile. |
| Sensor | Temperature and humidity from one Broadlink sensor. |
Add the widget more than once to give each copy its own job.
Let it find your Broadlink devices
There's no account and no sign-in. The widget looks for Broadlink devices on your network by itself, showing Looking for Broadlink devices… while it does.
- Tap the gear on the widget and open Devices to see what it found.
- If a device isn't listed, type its IPv4 address (such as
192.168.1.40) under Not listed? and tap Add. The Broadlink app or your router shows the address. - Tap Look again to search once more.
New devices have to be set up in the Broadlink app first. After that they appear here by themselves.
Allow the widget
The first time the widget connects, Qaem Hub asks whether Broadlink Connect may use your Broadlink devices, with a 4-digit code. The widget shows its code too.
- Check that the two codes match.
- Click Allow in Qaem Hub.
You do this once: copies of the same widget share the approval.
Learn your first button
Learning copies a button from your real remote. Have the remote and the Broadlink device close together.
Open Learn a button
Tap the gear on the widget. On the Buttons tab, tap Learn a button.
Describe the button
- Name it, such as TV power.
- Give it a Room, such as Living room, if you want to group it. See Rooms.
- Pick an Icon (more than 30, or leave it to guess from the name) and a Colour if you like.
- Under Learn with, pick the Broadlink device to learn with.
- On an RM pro, choose the Kind: Infrared for most TVs, air conditioners, fans, soundbars and projectors, or Radio (433 MHz) for RF remotes such as some blinds, fans and doorbells.
Capture the code
Infrared. Point your remote at the Broadlink, tap Start learning, then press the button on your remote once.
Radio. Tap Start learning, then hold the remote's button down near the Broadlink until the widget says Found it. Let go, then press the button once, briefly.
The widget shows Got it when the code arrives. If nothing comes in, tap Try again.
Try it, then save
Tap Try it to send the code once, then Save. Learn again captures it afresh if the device didn't react.
To change a saved button later, tap it in the Buttons tab and use its gear: you can rename it, change its room, icon and colour, learn it again or delete it. Deleting asks for a second tap.
Lay out the remote
In the Buttons tab, tap buttons in the order you want them on this copy. With none picked, a Remote shows every button (of its room). Add a gap leaves an empty space, and Clear goes back to showing everything.
In the Layout tab, set the Columns (or leave them on Auto), the key shape (Rounded, Round or Pills) and the key size. Big button has its own shapes: Circle, Square, Pill or Whole tile.
Macros
A macro presses several buttons in a row, with the waits you choose. "Movie night" might turn the TV on, switch to HDMI and turn the lamp off.
- In the Buttons tab, tap New macro.
- Name it, and give it a room, an icon and a colour if you like.
- Tap Add a step and pick a learned button, or a plug's on, off or switch. Set how long to wait after it, from 0 to 60 seconds.
- Add up to 20 steps, then tap Save.
A macro sits on a Remote or a Big button like any other button.
Rooms
Give buttons and macros a room when you learn or edit them. Then, in the Layout tab of a Remote copy, set Room to one of them: that copy shows only that room's buttons, with the Title you choose. Put the living room's TV on one tile and the bedroom's air conditioner on another. Every room shows them all.
Plugs and sensors
- Smart plugs. Broadlink SP plugs switch on and off from the Devices and Big button types, with live power use on models that measure it. The MP1 strip's four sockets each get their own switch.
- Sensors. Temperature and humidity come from an RM4 with its sensor cable, an RM pro, or an e-Sensor, which also shows air quality, light and noise. Temperature in °F is in the Layout settings.
What it can access
Broadlink Connect talks to the Broadlink devices on your local network, using Broadlink's local protocol. There's no Broadlink account and no cloud: nothing goes through Broadlink's or QaemDev's servers. Learned codes are kept by Qaem Hub on your PC and never leave it. The widget talks only to Qaem Hub on 127.0.0.1, and only widgets you allow in Qaem Hub can use your devices.
Good to know
- Settings in two places. Widget type, density, key shape, icons, names, states, text size and colours are also in iCUE's widget settings, and the two stay in step. Learning, macros and devices are only in the widget's own settings.
- A button's own colour wins over the widget's accent.
- Coming from the Broadlink Connect Stream Deck plugin? If its codes are on this PC, Import from Broadlink Connect in the Devices tab brings them in.
Troubleshooting
"Qaem Hub isn't running"
Tap Start Qaem Hub, or open it from the tray or the Start menu. If it isn't installed, Get Qaem Hub opens its download page.
"Turn on Broadlink in Qaem Hub"
The module isn't added, or it's switched off. Tap Open in Qaem Hub and add it, or switch it on in Library.
"Not allowed"
Qaem Hub was told no, or nobody answered in time. If nobody answered, tap Ask again and click Allow in Qaem Hub. If it was denied, open Broadlink in Qaem Hub and click Reset under Widgets, so the widget asks again.
"No Broadlink devices found"
- Check that the device is set up in the Broadlink app and on the same network as your PC.
- Tap Look again, or Add by address and type the device's IPv4 address.
- "No Broadlink device answered at …" means nothing replied at that address. Check the address in the Broadlink app or your router: it can change when the device reconnects.
"… is locked in the Broadlink app"
Open the device in the Broadlink app, then its settings, and turn Lock device off. Then tap Look again.
"Nothing came in" while learning
- Point the remote straight at the Broadlink, close to it, and press the button once.
- For a radio remote, "No RF signal found" means the sweep didn't pick it up: hold the button down near the Broadlink until it's found, then press it once, briefly.
- An RM mini learns infrared only. Radio needs an RM pro.
A saved button doesn't work
Tap the button's gear in the Buttons tab and choose Learn it again. Some remotes need the button pressed briefly; others need it pointed straight at the Broadlink.
"The Broadlink device didn't answer"
The device is offline or moved to a new address. Check that it's powered and on your Wi-Fi, then tap Look again in Devices.