Recommended setup workflows for a new PIXIE home #
The full setup looks long on paper but is fast in practice. Most of it is the same short action repeated. This article shows the whole job in 10 steps, then drills into the one step where workflow choice actually saves you serious time: scanning and adding devices.
10 steps. That is the whole job. #
A complete PIXIE PLUS home, set up properly, is just these ten things in order. Every step below has its own section in this article, but the macro flow looks like this.
What this article assumes. #
This is the PIXIE PLUS workflow, not the basic SAL PIXIE one. PIXIE PLUS unlocks scenes, schedules, PROGRAMode, voice integrations and out-of-home access, and it requires the PIXIE Gateway (model SGW3BTAM).
You should already have #
1. All PIXIE devices physically installed, wired and powered up at the home.
2. The PIXIE PLUS app downloaded and a PIXIE PLUS account created.
3. A PIXIE Gateway (SGW3BTAM) on site, ready to add as Step 2.
Add the Gateway as soon as you can. #
The Gateway is a bridge between the home internet and the PIXIE Bluetooth Mesh. Without it, you do not get scenes, schedules, PROGRAMode, voice control or remote access. You can technically start the device-scanning process before the Gateway is in, but the Gateway has to be added eventually, so add it first if you can.
No internet at the home yet? You can still add the Gateway today using a mobile hotspot as a temporary network.
Use a second mobile device (or the same one) as a hotspot. Connect the phone running the PIXIE PLUS app to the hotspot, AND connect the Gateway to the same hotspot via Wi-Fi during commissioning. Finish the setup on the hotspot.
Then this critical step: when the home internet is live, reconfigure the Gateway to either join the home Wi-Fi or (recommended) connect to the home network with a LAN cable. The hotspot is a temporary bridge for commissioning, not a long-term connection.
Create your most common rooms before you scan devices. #
This is the single most under-rated efficiency move in a PIXIE setup. Spend two minutes creating the rooms upfront, and every device you scan in Step 4 can be filed straight into the right room as it is added. Skip this step and you will be filing devices later, one by one, from a list of identical-looking factory names.
In the PIXIE PLUS app: Devices → Rooms tab → create your common rooms. Bedroom 1, Bedroom 2, Kitchen, Living, Hallway, Outdoor. You can always add more later (including during the device-scanning process), but get the obvious ones in now.
Rooms are a filing system. A device that is not assigned to a room still works. It just sits in the Unassigned room until you move it. Naming and rooming are about navigation and handover, not function.
Choose your scanning workflow. #
This is where setup time is either saved or burned. There are two valid approaches. The right one depends almost entirely on how many devices the home has.
Scan everything first, identify and name later #
Walk the home, scan from a few spots, add every device to the app, then go back through the list one by one and use the app's flash function to identify each device, name it, and file it into a room.
Room by room, name and file as you go #
Stand near a switch, scan, add the few devices closest to you (the ones at the top of the signal-strength list), name and room each one as you add it, then move to the next area and repeat. Each device gets touched once.
Project-size guidance #
Small install: your call #
Either approach works. Scan-everything is fine when the device count is genuinely small.
Medium to large: efficiency matters #
Use the room-by-room walk. The time saved (and the rework avoided) compounds with every additional device.
This is the conceptual point that makes the room-by-room approach make sense. A PIXIE device that has not yet been added to the home is not part of the mesh. As you walk and scan, you are extending the mesh into each new area as you go. The further you stray from the already-added devices without adding more, the patchier your scan results become.
The room-by-room walk, step by step. #
This is the canonical Step 4 workflow. The same short action, repeated through the home.
Stand near a switch in the room #
Pick the first room. Stand within a metre or two of one of its PIXIE switches or dimmers. Physical proximity matters: it puts the devices you want at the top of the scan list.
Open the Add Device flow #
In the PIXIE PLUS app: Devices → ellipsis (top right) → Add Device. The app scans for nearby unprovisioned PIXIE devices.
Read the list top down by signal strength #
The list is sorted strongest signal first. The device at the top is most likely the one right in front of you. Devices further down the list are further away physically.
Add the top few that belong in this room #
Tap Add next to each device you believe belongs in or near this room. Wait a few seconds for each one to finish before moving on. If the wall plate has only 2 or 3 devices, adding 5 from the list will pick up the next-closest devices too, which is fine - they are still very nearby.
Name and room each device as you add it #
When you tap Add, you get the chance to name the device and pick a room. Three valid options here, depending on how much you know in the moment (see below).
Move to the next area and repeat #
Walk to the next area: a different room, a walk-in robe, an ensuite in a larger bedroom, or a different zone in an open-plan living space. Stand near the next switch, open Add Device, repeat. The mesh extends as you go.
What the scan list looks like #
Visual stand-in: this is what you see when the app finishes scanning. Strongest signal at the top is almost always the device right in front of you.
Three valid ways to handle the Add dialog #
When you tap Add on a device, the app offers a name and room. You can choose how much to fill in. None of these is wrong.
Add a room on the fly if needed. If you missed a room in Step 3, you can create a new one inside this Add dialog. No need to back out.
Some devices need a slightly different touch. #
As you scan, certain device types will appear in the list that are worth knowing about. None of them slow the workflow down, but two of them have a recommended in-the-moment action.
Boosters: add immediately, then forget #
The PIXIE Bluetooth Mesh Booster (SGB3/BTAS) appears in the scan list like any other device. There is nothing to configure. Add it the moment you see it - it strengthens your mesh from that point forward, which makes the rest of the scan more reliable.
Sensors, Blind Controllers, AC Controllers #
These will also appear in the scan list. Add them now, even unnamed and un-roomed, so they are in your home. They each need a small per-device configuration step, but that is best done as part of Step 5 (Fine-tune special devices), not in the middle of the scanning walk.
Not every PIXIE device shows up in the scan. #
Only PIXIE Master devices appear in an Add Device scan. Secondary devices do not, and that is by design. Secondary devices get paired to a Master in Step 8, not scanned.
Scanned and added in Step 4 #
Smart switches, smart dimmers, timer switches, blind controllers, relay controllers, sensors, AC controllers. Anything that controls a load or reports a sensor reading.
Behaviour #
- Appears in the Add Device scan
- Gets named, roomed, joined to groups, used in scenes
Paired to a Master in Step 8 #
Mostly multifunction devices: SMFBTAS (the wall switch with the green button on active and neutral, used for 2-way / 3-way / scene control) and SMFRBTAS (the rotary dial used for ceiling fan pairing or motorised blind control).
Behaviour #
- Does NOT appear in the Add Device scan
- Pairs to a Master device in Step 8
Pairing-order gotcha (this one costs real time) #
If you pair a Multifunction Secondary device to a Master device before the Master has been added to the PIXIE PLUS app, you will need to re-pair them after the Master is added.
Why: adding the Master to the app re-encodes the encryption protocol, which effectively breaks the simple pairing.
The rule: Master devices into the app first (Step 4). Secondary devices paired to them last (Step 8). Do it in this order and you only pair once.
Final check: did everything come in? #
One quick test confirms the scan is complete and the mesh is healthy across the whole home.
Open Groups #
Head to the Groups section in the app. PIXIE provides a built-in All On / All Off group that contains every device added to the home.
Run All On, then All Off #
Tap All On. Walk the home. Confirm every PIXIE-controlled load responds. Then tap All Off and confirm the same.
For anything that did not respond, head to that location and rescan #
Stand near the missing device, run Add Device again. The device should appear and be added. If it still does not, see the gotcha below.
No-load gotcha #
Many PIXIE devices will not appear in the scan if no load is connected. The load completes the electrical circuit, and without it the device cannot identify on the mesh.
The fix: confirm there is a load wired to the circuit (a globe, a fan, anything). If the final fittings are not yet installed, connect a temporary load, rescan, add the device, then disconnect the temp load. Saves a return visit later.
Pro tip. Lighting circuits are easiest to verify at night, when on / off responses are obvious from across the room.
Steps 5 through 10: the fast bits. #
With every Master device scanned, named and roomed, the rest of the setup is short. Each of the steps below has its own dedicated support article that picks up where this one finishes.
Fine-tune special devices #
Configure Blind Controllers (Up / Stop / Down), set up sensors, configure AC controllers. Per-device, in the device settings.
Create groups #
Bundle devices that should be controlled together (Outside Lights, Kitchen, Front of House) for one-tap control.
Create scenes #
Snapshots of devices set to specific levels. Welcome Home, Movie Night, Bedtime: one tap each.
Pair Multifunction Secondary devices #
Pair the SMFBTAS and SMFRBTAS devices to their Master devices. Do this AFTER all Masters are in the app.
Add Touch Panels #
If the install includes PIXIE Touch Panels, add and configure them now. They sit on top of the existing devices, groups and scenes.
Create Programs (PROGRAMode) #
Time, sensor or device-based automation. Optional - only if the install needs scheduled or trigger-driven behaviour.
Pick up where this finishes. #
Each of the later steps has its own dedicated support doc. Work through them in macro-step order for the smoothest setup.
