BREL MotionBlinds for Home Assistant

Control supported BREL and MotionBlinds-style blinds locally in Home Assistant.

This custom integration was made for people who want a calmer, more reliable blind setup than the stock experience sometimes gives them. The goal is simple: your blinds should show up in Home Assistant, respond quickly, and stay useful without cloud drama.

What it is

brel_motionblinds is a Home Assistant custom integration for supported BREL / MotionBlinds-style Wi-Fi bridges that expose the local MotionBlinds UDP API.

It gives you:

• cover entities for your blinds
• battery and signal sensors
• charging and gateway health sensors
• helper buttons like refresh, jog, and favorite position
• local control after setup

Who this is for

This repository is a good fit if:

• your blinds already work in the vendor app
• you have a BREL / MotionBlinds bridge on your network
• you want Home Assistant control with better reliability
• you prefer local control over cloud dependence

This repository is probably not the right fit if:

• you do not have a compatible bridge
• you want direct raw 433 MHz RF control without a bridge
• your blinds are Bluetooth-only

Supported setup

Tested with a BREL / MotionBlinds-style Wi-Fi bridge using the local API.

That often includes products sold under:

• BREL
• MotionBlinds
• some white-label reseller brands using the same bridge/API

Because these products are frequently white-labeled, compatibility depends more on the bridge API than the logo on the box.

Before you start

You will need:

1. A working bridge already added in the vendor app
2. Home Assistant
3. The bridge IP address
4. The 16-character API key for the bridge

If you already set up the official Home Assistant motion_blinds integration, this custom integration can import those settings for you.

If you do not have the API key yet, the official Home Assistant documentation for Motion Blinds explains where to find it in the app:

Home Assistant Motion Blinds documentation

What makes this integration different

This integration is built around a practical idea:

• commands go straight to the bridge over the local network
• multicast discovery is helpful, but not required for normal use
• the integration keeps polling when a blind is moving so state settles more reliably

In plain language: it tries to behave like a tool, not a mood.

Installation with HACS

1. Open HACS in Home Assistant

2. Go to Integrations

3. Open the menu in the top right

4. Choose Custom repositories

5. Add this repository URL:

   https://github.com/joeblack2k/brel-motionblinds

6. Choose category Integration

7. Install BREL MotionBlinds

8. Restart Home Assistant

Manual installation

1. Download this repository
2. Copy custom_components/brel_motionblinds into your Home Assistant custom_components folder
3. Restart Home Assistant

Setup in Home Assistant

After restarting:

1. Go to Settings -> Devices & services
2. Click Add integration
3. Search for BREL MotionBlinds

You will see up to three setup paths:

• Import existing Motion Blinds setup Best if you already had the stock integration working once.

• Manual setup Enter the bridge IP and API key yourself.

• Discover Lets the integration look for supported bridges on your network.

What shows up in Home Assistant

Depending on your blind type, you may get:

• one or more cover entities
• battery percentage
• battery voltage
• signal strength
• charging status
• bridge firmware and protocol sensors
• favorite and refresh buttons

Top-down / bottom-up blinds can expose more than one control surface.

Everyday troubleshooting

If something goes wrong, start here:

The bridge is reachable but nothing moves

• Try the vendor app first
• If the vendor app also fails, the problem is usually not Home Assistant
• Use the Refresh gateway button in Home Assistant

Home Assistant shows the blinds as unavailable

• Check whether the bridge is still online in your router
• Check whether the vendor app still works
• Restart the bridge if needed

The integration cannot find the bridge automatically

• Use manual setup with the bridge IP and API key
• Some networks do not handle multicast discovery well

I already use the stock Motion Blinds integration

• Import it first
• Confirm that the new entities work
• Then remove the old stock entry if you no longer want it

Privacy and local control

This integration is designed for local control through the bridge on your own network.

It does not require a cloud account after setup, but you may still need the vendor app once to obtain the API key and complete initial bridge pairing.

No personal bridge data, tokens, or private network details are stored in this repository.

Known limitations

• This is not direct RF control
• Compatibility depends on whether your bridge speaks the expected local API
• Some motors and bridge combinations report position with a short delay
• Very unusual white-label firmware variants may behave differently

Need help?

• Open an issue: GitHub Issues
• Read the plain-language troubleshooting guide: docs/TROUBLESHOOTING.md
• Read the technical notes: docs/TECHNICAL.md

Credits

Built for the Home Assistant community, with a lot of respect for the people who keep dragging flaky smart-home gear into a more usable shape.