I recently picked up a Sunlogin smart power socket, and after using it for a bit, it feels like a pretty practical little accessory. Since it fits directly into a remote-work setup, it is worth sharing the experience.
Why add a smart socket to a remote desktop setup?
Around 2022, I wrote about using Sunlogin for remote access to an office computer. There are plenty of remote desktop tools on the market, but I have kept using Sunlogin for one simple reason: it has been stable.
At first glance, buying a smart power socket when you already have remote desktop software may seem unnecessary. But the problem shows up once you need the office PC to be available at any time. To make remote access possible whenever needed, the target computer usually has to stay powered on.
The electricity cost is not the main issue. Heat is the bigger concern, especially in summer. After work, the office windows are closed, the air conditioner is turned off, and the room temperature rises quickly. If the computer stays in standby-like running mode for a long time rather than actually sleeping or shutting down, it keeps generating heat. Then when you connect remotely, the experience can become laggy. If you also need to launch memory-heavy applications remotely, the whole process can get noticeably uncomfortable.
So the idea is simple: instead of leaving the machine on all the time, use something that can power it on only when remote access is needed, and shut it down when it is not. Remote access is mainly for handling occasional special situations anyway, so keeping the computer running constantly is not always necessary. That is why I started using this Sunlogin smart power socket.
Smart sockets are not new. They are common in smart home setups, and I had once considered building a full smart home ecosystem when planning a new place. In the end, I gave up because it seemed like too much trouble, though I did spend quite a bit of time looking into it. For this use case, since my remote access software is already Sunlogin, choosing a socket from the same ecosystem felt like the simpler and more worry-free option.
A quick look at the C2
There is not much mystery to it: it is essentially a smart socket designed to control power remotely. The main advantages are fairly straightforward:
- Easy to use and inexpensive, around 50 yuan
- Compact and convenient, with a decent-looking design
- Feature-rich with good compatibility
- Supports up to 2500W
- Can intelligently control connected electrical devices
Here are a few product photos:
Setup process
Configuration is quite simple. The whole setup can be roughly broken down into a few steps:
- Download the control app: install the Sunlogin control client.
- Add the device and connect it to the network: plug in the socket and turn it on, connect the phone to a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi network, then add the smart device.
- Bind it to the host computer: find the newly added socket device and bind it to the host. Before binding, the host computer needs to be added first.
- Enable AC recovery on the computer.
The AC recovery setting is important. It allows the computer to automatically power on when electricity is restored, which is what makes remote startup through the socket possible.
Remote startup
When the host computer is shut down, open the app, go to the device list, find the host bound to the Sunlogin power-on socket, and tap it. The computer can then be powered on remotely.
Remote shutdown and restart
When the remote host is already powered on, open the mobile control app, go to the device list, find the corresponding host, and select “Shutdown/Restart” from the function list. From there, the host can be shut down or restarted remotely.
The shutdown process is not just a hard power cut. When shutting down the host from the device list, Sunlogin first sends a shutdown command to the computer. After five minutes, it quietly cuts off the socket power. This makes the process gentler and avoids harming the machine through sudden power loss.
Countdown control
The socket also supports a countdown function. In the control panel, choose “Countdown” and set the socket to turn on or off after a specified amount of time.
Scheduled power control
There is also a timer function. You can set the socket to turn power on or off at a specific time. For example, it can be configured to cut power after work hours to reduce unnecessary energy use.
Power usage statistics
Another useful feature is power monitoring. Through the electricity statistics page, you can check the computer’s daily, weekly, or monthly power usage.
Overall, the C2 does not have much of a learning curve. It is simple to configure, easy to use, and fits well if you already rely on Sunlogin for remote access. For anyone who does not want an office computer running all day just for occasional remote use, this kind of smart startup socket is a practical option to consider.