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I understand that this thread inherently tinkers but making GBS threads on someone not wanting (for valid reasons IMO) to not personally setup a VPN *when they already specified they don't have their personal setup operating that way* Jesus. Y'all can be pedantically right and paranoid but you also must realize 99.9999999% of people running these devices do so in a completely insecure manner. The subset of subset of subset of folks in here is hilariously, vanishingly small.
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Jul 27, 2021 15:38
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Crunchy Black posted:
Just because most people do something in a demonstrably unsafe way does not mean we have to recommend that they do it here. It's not pedantic or paranoid. It's the world we live in. If you can't manage setting up a VPN or completely isolating the devices from the internet, then you need a cloud solution. Otherwise, you're joining a botnet or allowing strangers to access your device. azurite fucked around with this message at 17:46 on Jul 27, 2021 |
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Jul 27, 2021 16:38
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I've been doing a lot of ceiling fan thinking (as evidenced if you follow the DIY electrical thread). It seems like, for getting smart with ceiling fans, there are two options. You can Caseta everything, requiring two switches for each fan/light combo (fan controller doesn't control the light, so need a separate light controller). Or you can go the Bond Home route. Bond has a hub that will communicate over RF with ceiling fans using universal remotes, but there's no state for the light with those or discrete on/off functions, so you can't use smart home stuff to turn a light "on" or "off" or know if it's on or off, just toggle it. There is a wi-fi enabled remote you can get. It seems like a bummer to have another wifi device for every single fan, but at $60 a fan it's a lot cheaper than $120 + bigger outlet box + wiring per fan to get all the Caseta stuff working. And trying to find a "universal" receiver that will send discrete light-on/light-off appears to be a fools errand to the point where a Bond employee is even saying don't bother, just get the Universal Wifi kit from Home Depot.
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Jul 27, 2021 23:26
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If you have your ceiling fans wired with separate light and fan lines they make a single WiFi smart switch that can control both, they’re just from generic smartlife brands.
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Jul 28, 2021 15:34
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Right now we just have 2 ceiling fans, each of them powered by a single switch and then controlled with pull cords. But there's the potential to install 2-3 more to replace existing lights in our bedrooms. And then we're looking at putting a couple out on the porch as well. And I'd really like the porch ones to be smart so I can light up the whole porch on command if needed. So a lot of it right now is, at least if I'm not going to install 7 ceiling fans and make them smart tomorrow, how can I wire things so that I could potentially make them smart when the time comes.
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Jul 28, 2021 17:41
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I did a bunch of ceiling fans last year, here's what I remember:
My goal was to have full wall control, handheld remote, and alexa control over all the ceiling fans. I use the Bond for my two Fanimation fans, and the rest are the Hunter Romulus with their Alexa integration. Bond isn't aware of the device state as mentioned already and can only toggle, so "turn off all the lights" when the ceiling fan light is off will turn it on. Both types of fans work with Home Assistant as well. I don't think it's advised to use normal "dimmer" switches with ceiling fans. Maybe it depends on the fan, but I seem to remember steering away from that option. In general it seems like the ceiling fan industry hasn't quite figured things out, it's pretty rough around the edges. I spent a long time looking at ceiling fans to find a style I like, I didn't think it was going to be so hard.
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Jul 28, 2021 18:00
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FISHMANPET posted:Right now we just have 2 ceiling fans, each of them powered by a single switch and then controlled with pull cords. But there's the potential to install 2-3 more to replace existing lights in our bedrooms. And then we're looking at putting a couple out on the porch as well. And I'd really like the porch ones to be smart so I can light up the whole porch on command if needed. So a lot of it right now is, at least if I'm not going to install 7 ceiling fans and make them smart tomorrow, how can I wire things so that I could potentially make them smart when the time comes. They make generic wifi switches that wire up inside the fan directly to the fan and light lines with a physical remote. The WiFi/remote combo eliminates the need for the pull cords, mount the remote next to the existing switch and then put a switch guard on the single fan switch.
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Jul 28, 2021 18:00
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I just got a Broadlink RM3 mini. People are right about the software not being great, although, I find that after the frustratingly long initial setup, everything works you just have to go through an extra menu or two. I wasn't planning on using the software at all, but apparently without writing script the only thing you can do natively in HomeAssistant is turn a device off or on. Which (surfacing a dumb tower fan from Home Assistant to homekit) is, honestly, what I really got the thing for, although it's a bit disappointing I can't do the other remote functions. You can create Siri shortcuts natively (without homekit) but the shortcuts don't surface the commands so I'm not totally sure if I can create any more complicated shortcuts or automation. I'll have to see if I can do anything interesting with Alexa since usually anything that works with Alexa can be turned into an automation when I have some time to play around with it. Still doesn't quite accomplish the dream of turning my apartment into a wind tunnel when it gets hot automatically, but I'm getting closer. Also, I have a lot of old and dying remotes that it might be nice to have centralized in software somewhere. It apparently also supports RF remotes which is good since it'll save me from my yearly mini panic attack when I can't find the remote for my favorite Christmas lights.
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Jul 29, 2021 02:01
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azurite posted:It's not pedantic or paranoid. It's the world we live in. you may not think it is, but anyone who is not a nerd will.
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Jul 29, 2021 03:41
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Crunchy Black posted:you may not think it is, but anyone who is not a nerd will. That's kinda the point.......anyone posting here can be assumed to not be a complete luddite, and posting in this particular thread maybe at least interested in facts. This wasn't a huge thing.....it was basically saying if you knew less you'd have a cloud service that would likely be better. If you knew more you would know better than to do it in this way. A little bit of knowledge and not knowing what you don't know is basically always worse than knowing nothing in this respect. Sorry you were offended by that, but you and the OP should actually be willing to learn something from it, which people here are willing to teach.
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Jul 29, 2021 05:45
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Anyone using Flair smart vents? I have a perfect use case for one, but am using nest and the temp sensors it uses aren't great for my room and rest of house.
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Jul 29, 2021 22:48
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Gyshall posted:Anyone using Flair smart vents? I have a perfect use case for one, but am using nest and the temp sensors it uses aren't great for my room and rest of house.
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Jul 29, 2021 22:57
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Gyshall posted:Anyone using Flair smart vents? I have a perfect use case for one, but am using nest and the temp sensors it uses aren't great for my room and rest of house. Oh man, this looks like the perfect thing to keep the bedrooms cool at night without cooling the living room and giant loft but I would have to buy like 20 of them to achieve what I need to do.
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Jul 30, 2021 00:28
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Holy crap that's awesome, I was wondering when someone was going to come along with something like that. Our upstairs is god awful. The master bedroom just fires air like a cannon, to the point where it'll slam the door shut if it's more than 1/2 closed, even though the vents are almost choked down to nothing, and the bonus room suffers with the vents wide open. That said, I don't think I could get away with less than 7 of those things, more likely 10.
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Jul 30, 2021 00:54
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Less Fat Luke posted:Yep a whole bunch, really helped even out the rooms at my place. Everything closest to the HVAC system gets colder much more quickly so the Flair connected to Ecobee room sensors works great for me. You can also buy the Flair sensors if the Nest ones aren't working for you. I'm mainly concerned with the "works with nest" stuff... Since I need a puck for each vent... Either way I'm going to test it out and report back.
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Jul 30, 2021 02:15
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Oh man. I'm going to need to do some more research but smart vents look like a great way to deal with the hot rooms upstairs on my two floor apartment. Especially the south-facing room that has all my computer and network gear in it as well as several LED lights in wire racks for my hydroponic lettuce grow op. I already have temp + humidity sensors in each room so if I can tie it all together through OpenHAB that would be amazing.
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Jul 30, 2021 02:33
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Yeah I cannot stress enough how great they are. Of all the nice-to-have automations and devices I've played with, the vents are the ones that feel most like a game-changer.
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Jul 30, 2021 02:44
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Those seem really cool, and I wish I could justify them for the house I rent, since the upstairs definitely does not get as good AC as downstairs. (We've at least improved this by just straight-up closing the downstairs vents, which are terrible and still let enough air through to keep it cool while also cooling upstairs more. Our downstairs half bathroom was the coldest room in the house before doing this, and that is definitely not something that should be the case.)
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Jul 30, 2021 13:41
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I just sold all 4 of my flairs which were controlling my Mitsubishi splits. Instead I am running esp’s connected via mqtt to hass. The best part is no more BEEP every time you change the temperature. I am very pleased with this. I followed this guide ( and page 2 ) https://chrdavis.github.io/hacking-a-mitsubishi-heat-pump-Part-1/
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Jul 31, 2021 07:15
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The flairs don’t beep in my experience, not even during the setup phase. That’s a cool solution though!
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Jul 31, 2021 12:19
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Less Fat Luke posted:The flairs don’t beep in my experience, not even during the setup phase. That’s a cool solution though! The flairs don’t beep, the mini split would each time it received IR to change a setting. The flairs have a neat feature where they adjust the temperature of the unit to reach the desired room temperature, but this would result in several extra loud annoying beeps occasionally ( this feature can be disabled). Overall I liked the flairs, but no native home assistant integration and the cost soured me. The ESP solution I linked cost $20 for all 4 of my units. Each flair puck was $100.
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Jul 31, 2021 16:04
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Oh yeah gotcha. Mine are working with the ecobee sensors which were really cheap on sale at least.
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Jul 31, 2021 16:17
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I'm using home assistant and unifi protect, including the doorbell. It's been great. What are some good options for a doorbell/chime system? I installed a transformer to power the doorbell but now the old chime is sticking out and is no longer passing wife acceptance. I have aquara sensors on all my doors as well so hopefully I can DIY a decent system. Would the ring chime be a decent choice?
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Aug 1, 2021 01:10
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Does anyone have thoughts/recommendations/warnings around the ELK M1 stuff -- primarily for security? I searched the thread and only found 2 previous mentions of it, both from several years ago. I'm about to move into a new (to me, not a new build) house and don't want to get tied to another multi-year ADT or similar contract. I'm comfortable with most home/computer DIY projects but I'm nervous about DIY'ing an Abode or SimpliSafe system since home security isn't something I want to take chances with or be completely responsible for troubleshooting if it has problems. I'm leaning towards finding a company/installer in the metro Atlanta area (suggestions/referrals?) to come in and do all the initial setup and wiring of the system so I'd have someone to call if I had problems in the future and then finding a 3rd-party monitoring service. I'd eventually like to integrate it into the other HA stuff that I plan to DIY -- homeassistant, lutron, unifi network gear -- but I also want a monitored security system that will work standalone even if all of that other stuff goes offline.
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Aug 4, 2021 17:11
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I bought a wyze camera, but this stupid piece of poo poo needs internet to set up and i dont have internet. Anyone know any ways around this or should i just return the thing? Also would like recommendations for cameras and not IOT crap.
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Aug 6, 2021 08:27
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Temporarily tether it through your phone maybe ?
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Aug 6, 2021 13:20
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The network its going on needs internet and i dont think i can tether to the router. Regardless i returned it. I just want a simple, internet-free home camera system. I live in a lovely neighbourhood, and dont have internet and not for lack of want.
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Aug 6, 2021 13:53
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My Spirit Otter posted:The network its going on needs internet and i dont think i can tether to the router. You have to get away from wireless. Something like this would work, right? https://www.lowes.com/pd/Swann-Hard...wE&gclsrc=aw.ds Not recommending that brand or model, but just the general idea.
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Aug 6, 2021 14:50
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My Spirit Otter posted:The network its going on needs internet and i dont think i can tether to the router. How are you viewing the camera feed? Do you want an NVR system to record locally or do you just want a camera you can view on the local LAN when you want? Are you viewing this on computer or mobile device? How you're viewing the feeds is going to determine what camera you need.
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Aug 6, 2021 15:51
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BigFactory posted:You have to get away from wireless. Something like this would work, right? Ya, thats the kind Ive been looking for, but all local stores seem to have are amazon/google internet required garbage. I would like one that will work on wifi, ideally, so that i can place one outside to watch my car. FCKGW posted:How are you viewing the camera feed? Do you want an NVR system to record locally or do you just want a camera you can view on the local LAN when you want? Are you viewing this on computer or mobile device? Ive got an old desktop that im going to use as a dedicated system. The plan is to stick linux on it and use zone minder.
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Aug 6, 2021 17:06
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There are two bird baths in my parents yard that I want to set a camera up to watch. The baths are about 20 feet from the house and there is a window with a good view that has access to ethernet, wifi, and power. I would like the camera to have night-vision, and an auto record function when it spots movement. The real issue is that I want to build this for my dad and I need whatever software is used to view video to be SUPER simple to use. Is what I'm looking for feasible? Or are little critters to small for that? I've never looked into this kind of stuff before so I am completely out of my depth.
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Aug 6, 2021 21:47
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My Spirit Otter posted:Ya, thats the kind Ive been looking for, but all local stores seem to have are amazon/google internet required garbage. I would like one that will work on wifi, ideally, so that i can place one outside to watch my car. I've had good experience with my Amcrest camera. It doesn't require any cloud connectivity as far as I know, I think as long as you have wifi or ethernet you should be able to set it up.
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Aug 6, 2021 21:56
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Spaseman posted:There are two bird baths in my parents yard that I want to set a camera up to watch. The baths are about 20 feet from the house and there is a window with a good view that has access to ethernet, wifi, and power. I would like the camera to have night-vision, and an auto record function when it spots movement. The real issue is that I want to build this for my dad and I need whatever software is used to view video to be SUPER simple to use. 20 ft is a pretty good distance to pick up a good level of detail on small animals, I think you would need a pretty decent camera for that which could be expensive. It'd probably be better if you could mount an outdoor camera very close to it, then you'll get some great action shots and you can go with a cheaper camera, assuming the power/internet connectivity is feasible still.
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Aug 6, 2021 21:58
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Friendship ended with Nest (due to breaking in the night and damaging my AC compressor in the process, not uncommon apparently), now Ecobee is my best friend.
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Aug 6, 2021 22:28
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My Spirit Otter posted:Ya, thats the kind Ive been looking for, but all local stores seem to have are amazon/google internet required garbage. I would like one that will work on wifi, ideally, so that i can place one outside to watch my car. Ok, then you just need a plain old boring IP camera. If you can do wired that would be best, but wireless ones exist (they still need a powered outlet). Amcrest and Annke are both sold on Amazon and they're rebadged Hikvision/Dahua cameras which are very popular and stable brands. I have a couple of these guy at my house I bought for $45 they're pretty fantastic. It's a dahua rebadge. https://www.amazon.com/Amcrest-5-Megapixel-NightVision-Weatherproof-IP5M-T1179EW-28MM/dp/B083G9KT4C This one is similar but it's a Hikvision rebadge. https://www.amazon.com/ANNKE-2560x1920-Compression-Compliant-Weatherproof/dp/B07RKKMGCQ/ FCKGW fucked around with this message at 22:43 on Aug 6, 2021 |
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Aug 6, 2021 22:39
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fletcher posted:I've had good experience with my Amcrest camera. It doesn't require any cloud connectivity as far as I know, I think as long as you have wifi or ethernet you should be able to set it up. FCKGW posted:Ok, then you just need a plain old boring IP camera. If you can do wired that would be best, but wireless ones exist (they still need a powered outlet). Awesome, thanks for these. Much appreciated. Gonna look into these more.
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Aug 6, 2021 22:58
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EL BROMANCE posted:Friendship ended with Nest (due to breaking in the night and damaging my AC compressor in the process, not uncommon apparently), now Ecobee is my best friend. Super common failure mode with Nest. The solid state relays in the base go bad. Sometimes that means the don't turn on, sometimes that means they stay on, sometimes that means they pass partial current. Real easy way to break equipment.
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Aug 7, 2021 03:16
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Yeah, an expensive lesson sadly. It was in the house when we moved in and I always liked it. Getting used to the new one (which for the most part seems a better system) but gonna miss the hands on interface of the Nest. Luckily I use the app more than the physical thing, and ecos lack of friendliness about running the fan is probably for the best.
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Aug 7, 2021 05:35
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EL BROMANCE posted:Yeah, an expensive lesson sadly. It was in the house when we moved in and I always liked it. Getting used to the new one (which for the most part seems a better system) but gonna miss the hands on interface of the Nest. Luckily I use the app more than the physical thing, and ecos lack of friendliness about running the fan is probably for the best. Fortunately I caught mine while it was running the compressor but not the fan quickly enough to avoid system damage. This is why I went down this rabbit hole and figure it out. Nest support was.......let's say cagy about the frequency of this issue. Immediately willing to send me a new thermostat and base, but not very forthcoming about the how and why this happened. I loved that thing for it's occupancy sensor. It was in my "office" built off the side of my old barn that I didn't have a set schedule to use and always forgot to turn off the heat or AC. It also worked great with my home brew hybrid system of radiant heat in the slab plus forced air gas when I could schedule it to be warm when I got in there. But sadly the product is garbage for lack of spending an extra $10 on actual quality critical components. I didn't realize the actual relays were in the base, so when I took the thermostat off and still had the same issue I immediately assumed a wiring problem. Nest support did not mention the relays were in the base until I told them that the problem stopped once I disconnected the base from the control wiring (I did that to start testing continuity and was like.....wait....what the gently caress...this shouldn't have "fixed" it). Not a good experience. Not good support. Seemed to be trying to play reputational damage control the entire time. Motronic fucked around with this message at 05:54 on Aug 7, 2021 |
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Aug 7, 2021 05:48
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Motronic posted:Fortunately I caught mine while it was running the compressor but not the fan quickly enough to avoid system damage. This is why I went down this rabbit hole and figure it out. Nest support was.......let's say cagy about the frequency of this issue. Immediately willing to send me a new thermostat and base, but not very forthcoming about the how and why this happened. Is this a problem with every generation of nests? I have a first gen I’ve never had any issues with.
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Aug 7, 2021 12:21
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