How I built a fully offline smart home, and why you should too
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Tired of your smart home failing during internet outages? Me too, so I made the switch to an offline smart home. Here's how you can too.
  • bulwark@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    10 months ago

    Completely agree with the off line sentiment. I remember about 5 years ago I got some cheap Chinese smart lights that needed me to create an account and give Tuya/Smart Life unrestricted access to my network. And the delay sucked turning the light on in app because the signal had to go to their main server and back.

    Anyways, I discovered HA and it’s been really fun messing with ESP32 and Zigbee devices. I even host my own security cameras with Frigate.

    • cynar@lemmy.worldEnglish
      9·
      10 months ago

      Some of them are wonderful, once you get used to having them. I have (mostly) smart lights in my house. Half the time you wouldn’t know it however, since they work just like normal lights. However, you can also turn them on or off from your phone. Some also colour match to the outdoor light (helps with my daughter’s bedtime).

      The key is to make sure the “smart” bits are transparent to a normal user. They also need to fail to a dumb configuration, not a dead one.

      • deur@feddit.nlEnglish
        1·
        10 months ago

        It gets even better if you have them all automated. Every light in my house responds to room presence so I havent touched a digital or physical control in ages (except for recoloring :) )

  • amorangi@lemmy.nzEnglish
    31·
    10 months ago

    Completely skipped the voice control which is the part I use the most.

  • Auzy@beehaw.orgEnglish
    12·
    10 months ago

    Depends what you’re automating… Home Assistant isn’t really suitable for larger homes, and it REALLY sucks at AV control compared to commercial systems.

    It might be better than Google Assistant and Alexa, but its nowhere near high end systems

      • Auzy@beehaw.orgEnglish
        11·
        10 months ago

        Large homes tend to use products like crestron or control4 which deal with AV better.

        I’ve installed in houses which are literally 16 TVs and 32 audio zones.

        Some products even work together with companies like this for native enhancements to their products to allow better control

        That being said, some things in HA are cool

        • xthexder@l.sw0.comEnglish
          3·
          10 months ago

          There’s “larger homes” and then there’s “mansions”. No normal family needs more TVs than people…

          • Auzy@beehaw.orgEnglish
            1·
            10 months ago

            The other problem also comes down to developing support for products which may require proprietary protocols or confidential API keys and such. To my knowledge, HA is in Python and doesn’t really allow it properly.

            It really depends what level of integration you’re going for. But products like Control4 and Elan have proper fully integrated remotes which allow easy control of AV too.

            So, if free is your goal, ha will get many things done fine. But, just be aware if you don’t mind paying or are looking for commercial jobs, you should also at least look at the other options.

            • xthexder@l.sw0.comEnglish
              2·
              10 months ago

              I’ve got zero smart home stuff, and have no intention of setting it up any time soon. I just don’t see the need. I’m just glad self-hosting stuff offline is getting easier.

              • Auzy@beehaw.orgEnglish
                1·
                10 months ago

                For schlubs like us, not really that useful.

                I only use it for turning on my ac/heating remotely using sensibo and for lights really. But I can use 2 apps for that

                But, if you have multi story house or a large house, at a minimum, you really need a quick way to turn everything off with one press when leaving as an example and to ensure everything is locked. We also do things like allow all TV’s to see the CCTV, get alerts for pool, etc

                Some home automation stuff though is pointless or a bad idea. And there are rich people who definitely do it to show off their house.

                Commercial jobs also often need it, because people can’t be expected to know how to work the remotes, and lights need occupancy, etc. Also, there are considerations for emergencies and such

                HA is basically a step above Google and Alexa, but some jobs need the stronger stuff

      • Auzy@beehaw.orgEnglish
        1·
        10 months ago

        AV control in particular.

        You also can’t develop device support for it in a nice way which requires confidential information to be stored