# WS821x LED not working

**URL:** <https://wled.discourse.group/t/ws821x-led-not-working/7078>\
**Category:** Hardware\
**Created:** [January 10, 2023, 9:17pm UTC](https://wled.discourse.group/t/ws821x-led-not-working/7078 "2023-01-10T21:17:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![dark99](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/wled.discourse.group/dark99/32/5204_2.png) [@dark99](https://wled.discourse.group/u/dark99)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 9:17pm UTC](https://wled.discourse.group/t/ws821x-led-not-working/7078/1 "2023-01-10T21:17:04Z")

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Hi,

this is my first touch with WLED. I have a controller board with ESP8266. Flashing everything was OK, I can connect to wled UI. I have connected LED strip (WS8211 12V - 1m around 60 LEDs) to 12V and GND and the DATA to GPIO4 (directly to ESP8266 GPIO4). Only 3 LEDS are always on, and sometimes I can change the colors and brightness. After a while I’m not able to change the colors and brightness. The 3 LED are always on and no changes. I have soup the LEDs to 60 pcs. but no changes. Is there any other setup necessary?

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**Author:** ![divsys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@divsys](https://wled.discourse.group/u/divsys)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 10:19pm UTC](https://wled.discourse.group/t/ws821x-led-not-working/7078/2 "2023-01-10T22:19:36Z")

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Make sure you have both a data and ground connection from the ESP8266 to the strip.  
What kind of controller board are you using?

Can you post any pics of your setup?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dark99](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/wled.discourse.group/dark99/32/5204_2.png) [@dark99](https://wled.discourse.group/u/dark99)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 12:14am UTC](https://wled.discourse.group/t/ws821x-led-not-working/7078/3 "2023-01-12T00:14:49Z")

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Hi,  
GND is connected to my controller and LED strip. I have now connected a WS2812B (5V) strip and everything is working fine.  
I have read something, that for the WS2811 a level shifter could be necessary, is this true? Maybe this is the problem.

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**Author:** ![divsys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@divsys](https://wled.discourse.group/u/divsys)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 3:04pm UTC](https://wled.discourse.group/t/ws821x-led-not-working/7078/4 "2023-01-12T15:04:49Z")

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Certainly worth a try, the KB has some good info on level shifters (don’t get the cheap I2C type, too slow).

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![tonyno](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/wled.discourse.group/tonyno/32/242_2.png) [@tonyno](https://wled.discourse.group/u/tonyno)\
**Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 2:33am UTC](https://wled.discourse.group/t/ws821x-led-not-working/7078/5 "2023-01-19T02:33:37Z")

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Shifters are usually required as the ESP uses 3.3v for data and strips 5v. 😉