Very work-in-progress, but I have started to document my smart home stuff on my website! This might end up turning into a whole subsection once I figure out how I actually want to organize it, but for now, it’s a dumping ground all on one page. 😅
Zigbee is great -really- but it has an appeal problem as it's not the 'open platform' it pretends to be. It's woefully hard for a non-techie to set up a real smart home with various brand devices.
Even for me it's been a rocky ride until I realized I needed always-connected, same brand devices (bulbs) to stabilize my battery-powered-remote-heavy mesh. I can't imagine how a layperson manouver around different manufacturers stuff.
Today I found out my #SmartHome thermostat hasn't been working because of an ISP outage in the area. While I am all for #NetNeutrality, this one takes the cake for me; how can people be expected to have functioning smart houses if they keep prioritising internet leeches (such as "self-hosters") over actual customers, overloading their networks?
I'm on the phone with my provider right now, the waiting times might take a while, but this is something that's gotta be said.
I continue to believe Zigbee delivers on the important things that Matter and Thread keep promising, but actually:
• mature
• widely available
• affordable
The one thing Matter over Thread devices can claim is that they work without a hub… except they don’t; the hub still has to be built into your Nest display, Apple HomePod, etc.
I have hundreds of low power, local-only smart devices from a dozen or so brands and it all… just works together.
I can 1000% recommend the Meross smart garage door opener with HomeKit for anyone looking to open/close/check on their garage door remotely—it’s easy enough to install and works great over the local network with Home Assistant (thanks to HomeKit, even if you don’t have any Apple devices)!
It can work with Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and Apple Siri if you’re into that stuff, too.
Personally, I’m just happy to get away from the shady and abusive MyQ (owned by Chamberlain, like most other garage door brands) which is cloud-dependent, has systematically removed features, locked out DIY-ers and smart home enthusiasts by blocking API access, added ads to their app, and partnered with Amazon and Walmart to let them into your garage—eww.
I've now collected 4 of the 5 stones needed to complete the #smarthome protocol infinity gauntlet after deploying an #ESPHome device (#ratgdo) for the first time last night.
Once completed, I'll be able to decrease my home's electricity usage by 50% at the snap of my fingers.
#HomeAssistant shows a lot of promise for #SmartHome integration across manufacturers, but right now, there is still an awful lot of Fucking About™ required to make things happen.
I'm trying to integrate something and the bit that's required before I set the integration up requires SSH, an additional interface element (HACS), and an installation sequence, accompanied by clearing browser cache, that does not easily seem to work.
I'm as keen as the next geek to mess with stuff under the hood, but this is pretty much deep nerd only territory.
@techducks wie vertrauenswürdig sind solche smarten Steckdosen? Die Firmware wird sicher nie erneuert um Sicherheitslöcher zu stopfen und wenn man Namen wie TP-Link 🤮 Tapo liest gibt es bestimmt einige. Zudem die Apps von denen nach Hause telefonieren, Standortfreigabe verlangen (z.B. Tuya) und die Verbindungen auch sicher über deren Server laufen und somit eine weiter Angriffsfläche bieten. Ist es das Risiko wert? Oder gibt es smarte FOSS Steckdosen? #Smarthome#HomeAssistant
For #Zigbee remotes for light controls, do you use bindings, or #HomeAssistant automations to control the lights?
Seems like bindings is might be good idea because the remotes will still work if HomeAssistant/Zigbee2MQTT is down, but it seems you also lose some flexibility in terms of what action a button press takes?
If you missed the State of the Open Home 2024, check out our blog to catch up on the big announcements.
🏠 Launching the @openhomefoundation
‼️ Home Assistant's road to 1m installs
🎙️ Teasing our upcoming hardware
🕶️ Our roadmap and upcoming features
🔖 Chapter breakdowns of the livestream
@homeassistant@openhomefoundation I love how much effort you have put into the event, both contetnt- and production-wise! :blobPikaHappy: Congratulations to everyone involved!
Can you share a link to the roadmap? I can't find it anywhere.
Keep on doing the amazing job with everything around #OpenHome!
Question for #infosec fam and friends. I am looking at replacing my old Sony "smart" TV with something less "phone home" and less broken from a software standpoint. Something that doesn't require its own VLAN and is the number one blocked device by PiHole in the house. I'm considering something using Linux, something using a Mac, or an Apple TV+ (for ease-of-use interface). Any thoughts, advice, or "if I could do it over" stories are welcome.
As an FYI, the old television's app system is increasingly buggy, especially after upgrades to the Android OS and/or individual streaming apps, to the point of madness.
After over 11cm (about 4.34 inches) of rain yesterday, area flooding in lower parts of the city, causing a few isolated and hard-to-repair-quickly power outages to small pockets of residents and businesses. There were a few "glitches" as power was re-routed to help restore things. Long story short, three power outages since yesterday afternoon, two of them overnight, and I only know this because my #smarthome told me so via alerts. Fortunately with the batteries only the non-critical-load circuits were down briefly. Weird seeing all the neighbors' lights go off on the outside cameras, then come back on.
So glad to have #solar and #batteries to keep things up and op as the #weather gets increasingly intense each season.
Looking for recommendations for a Zigbee temperature sensor that is safe to put in a fridge?
I'm not sure if that even exists? Batteries aren't supposed to get that cold? #smarthome#homeautomaton#zigbee#homeassistant
How do you solve the problem of growing a popular smart home platform committed to open-source, open-standard ideals into something bigger that stays true to those ideals? Home Assistant believes it has the answer with the newly formed non-profit called Open Home Foundation. @theverge has more on the foundation's stated aim "to fight against surveillance capitalism, and offer a counterbalance to Big Tech influence, in the smart home — by focusing on privacy, choice, and sustainability for smart home users.” https://flip.it/K55TOX #Tech#SmartHome#CyberSecurity#Technology
Er ist gekommen, um sauber zu machen. 🧹 Doch stattdessen bringt er ungebetene Gäste mit, die für ziemlich viel Chaos sorgen – unsichtbares Chaos. Denn auch Saugroboter können gehackt werden, wenn #Cyberkriminelle Sicherheitslücken ausnutzen.
Damit der Saubermann also nicht plötzlich zum unfreiwilligen Spion wird, gibt es ein paar Dinge zu beachten. Mehr erfahrt ihr auf https://einfachabsichern.de 👈
My #HomeAssistant setup reminds me to take my #medicine if I haven't taken it on time. Spent some time rigging it up to connect to a #Mistral#AI. With a clever prompt, the reminder I get every night is now customized, encouraging, and inspiring. 😎
Looking into other AI customized elements to work into my setup.
Kann mir vielleicht jemand einen zigbee hub empfehlen, den ich gut an meinem Unraid Heimserver betreiben kann? Ich will darüber smart plugs und Rauchmelder laufen lassen und bin etwas unsicher, welche da etwas taugen. #smarthome#zigbee