Outdoor Wi-Fi socket UK: what to check before you buy

Updated: 23 October 2026

You have an outdoor socket already, or you are about to replace a wall double, and the amazon.co.uk titles all say Wi-Fi, weatherproof, and smart.

You have an outdoor socket already, or you are about to replace a wall double, and the amazon.co.uk titles all say Wi-Fi, weatherproof, and smart. That wording does not say which app switches the outlets, which band they join, or whether the circuit has 30 mA RCD protection. The outdoor Wi-Fi socket comparison holds the three listings we kept, at £29.99, £33.29, and £39.99. We read those pages and the UK notes cited below. We did not lab-test the sockets. A purchase through our links can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Our top picks

Badge	Product	Form	IP line	Named app	Note	Price	Offer
Best overall	Meross Meross outdoor smart plug, MSS620HK-UK	Plug-in, Type G	IP44, cover when idle	Meross and HomeKit	8.6	about £39.99	View offer
Alternative	Knightsbridge Knightsbridge outdoor double, OP9KW	Wall double, no plug	IP66	Tuya SmartLife	8.0	about £33.29	View offer
Best value	British General BG Smart weatherproof double, WP22/HC-01	Wall double, no plug	IP66 in the bullet	BG Home	7.6	about £29.99	View offer

Best overall

Meross Meross outdoor smart plug, MSS620HK-UK

8.6/10about £39.99

View offer

Alternative

Knightsbridge Knightsbridge outdoor double, OP9KW

8.0/10about £33.29

View offer

Best value

British General BG Smart weatherproof double, WP22/HC-01

7.6/10about £29.99

View offer

On this page

1.What this set is
2.App, IP, and 2.4 GHz
3.Load, current, and the RCD
4.When to leave or call someone

What this set is

The three listings are app-switched 13 A outlets, not a key-fob, a timer, or a Wi-Fi repeater. Meross MSS620HK-UK (B08BFFGH5J) is the plug-in block at £39.99. British General WP22/HC-01 (B0BPYWGNKY) is the wall double at £29.99. Knightsbridge OP9KW (B08GGBQCM4) is the other wall double, at £33.29. This page does not pick a winner. Screwfix lists the BG WP22WR as Not smart: it extends Wi-Fi and does not switch the outlets. A wall-double swap has no lead in the carton. That form choice continues on the plug-in versus wall page.

App, IP, and 2.4 GHz

Name the app before the weather claim. Meross prints HomeKit on iOS 13 or above, plus the Meross app, Alexa, Google Assistant, and SmartThings. Remote HomeKit needs another Apple device. BG names BG Home, Alexa, Hey Google, and Siri, with no hub. HomeKit is not on that capture, and Screwfix says the family does not work with Apple HomeKit. Knightsbridge's bullets name Tuya SmartLife, Alexa, and Google. Matter is not on any listing. The split is on the HomeKit versus Tuya page. BEAMA's guide to BS EN 60529 says the IP code is fresh water in a laboratory, not the weather. Meross prints IP44 and says to cover the socket when it is idle. BG and Knightsbridge print IP66. NICEIC still tells you to shut the lid. All three refuse 5 GHz. Pairing steps stay on the setup page.

Testsieger

Meross Meross outdoor smart plug, MSS620HK-UK

8.6/10about £39.99

View offer

Load, current, and the RCD

All three print 13 A. The BG family sheet prints 3,120 W. Leave it on the sheet. None of the three states a 30 mA RCD in the box. NICEIC's figure for a garden socket is 30 mA RCD protection on the circuit. Meross says not to use the plug for a pump. Knightsbridge's bullet bars EV charging and long high loads such as hot tubs, while the compatible-devices field says lights, pumps, and small appliances. Keep both sentences. If you cannot identify the RCD, stop and ask an electrician.

When to leave or call someone

Leave this set for a key-fob, a repeater, or an electric-vehicle charger. A plug-in block uses the circuit you plug into. It is not a new circuit. A new circuit in England and Wales is notifiable under Part P, including garden work, which is the IET FAQ we are using. A new cable to a shed, pond, or border is the stop line, as is buried cable, water already in the box, or an unknown RCD. The OP9KW connector field says NEMA 5-15. That is not a BS 1363 plug. The BG power-plug field says no plug, while a separate field says Type B. The Meross lead is the Type G plug.

Common questions

Is a socket with Wi-Fi in the title an app-switched socket?

Not always. Screwfix lists the BG WP22WR as an IP66 13 A outdoor double and marks smart compatibility as Not smart. That product extends Wi-Fi. The three listings in this set are the ones that name an app: Meross and HomeKit, BG Home, or Tuya SmartLife. If the outlets stay manual, the title has sent you to a repeater.

Is IP44 the same claim as IP66?

No. Meross prints IP44 and says to cover the socket when it is idle. BG and Knightsbridge print IP66. BEAMA describes the BS EN 60529 code as a fresh-water test, not the weather, and NICEIC still expects the cover to be shut. Do not read either code as waterproof with the lid open or with a plug left in the rain.

Do these boxes include a 30 mA RCD?

None of the three states an RCD in the box. NICEIC's figure for garden electrics is 30 mA RCD protection on the circuit you are using. Switching a light from an app does not add that protection. If you cannot see how the outdoor circuit is protected, that is a question for an electrician, not for the app.

Will a 5 GHz-only phone pair them?

No. All three listings are 2.4 GHz only. BG reviews cluster on pairing that fails while 5 GHz is left on. Knightsbridge's bullet says to disable 5 GHz during setup and turn it back on afterwards. A phone that cannot join 2.4 GHz will not complete the pair, however strong the 5 GHz signal is at the back door.

When is the job a new circuit rather than a plug-in?

Plugging the Meross block into a socket you already have uses that circuit. It is not a new circuit. A new cable to a shed, a pond, or a garden point, in England and Wales, is notifiable under the IET's Part P FAQ. Water in the box, an unknown RCD, or earth terminals that do not match the instructions are the same stop. This page does not describe how to wire the wall boxes.

Best outdoor Wi-Fi socket