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The wifi on my router is turned off, and wifi around the house is provided using a mesh - 3 units altogether (one connected directly to the router) that are spread around the house.
I would like to start automating certain tasks around the house and intend to try adding a few smart sockets to my setup.
The mesh system I have supports both 2.4GHz and 5GHz, and does not provide me with the option to control them - i.e. turn one or both on/off, give each a different SSID, etc.
The devices I wish to purchase/use only support 2.4GHz.
Will turning the mesh units off and temporarily turning the 2.4GHz wifi on the router to allow me to set them up be enough? Will I then be able to return to my usual setup and everything will work as it should?
Many thanks in advance
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Hey everyone, I'm currently working on developing a bed sensor that can detect when you're out of bed. It could be used to trigger other smart home gadgets, like lights or blinds, temperature etc.
The sensors are placed under the legs of your bed post. Should look and feel like "smart furniture pads" with size 2 inches in diameter and 1/4 inch thick.
Before we go any further, I'd love to get your thoughts on this - would a bed sensor like this be something you'd find useful? We're still in the early stages of development, so any feedback you have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance! -
ChatGPT samples:
Me:
Tell me about an iot program called openLuup.
It:
OpenLuup is an open source home automation system that is built on the VeraLuup platform. It is designed to be easy to install and configure, and provides users with a powerful and versatile way to control their home automation devices. OpenLuup offers a wide range of features, including support for many popular home automation devices, scheduling, scripting, and integration with other services. OpenLuup is designed to be customizable, allowing users to create their own home automation systems. It is an excellent choice for those looking to create their own home automation system without spending a lot of money.
Me:
Write an iot program using openLuup.
It:
--openLuup IoT Program-- -- Initialize Variables -- local device_id = "MyHomeDevice" local temperature_sensor_id = "MyTemperatureSensor" local temperature_threshold = 75 -- Create Devices -- luup.create_device("OpenLuup Temperature Sensor", 0, device_id, "D_GenericSensor1.xml", "I_GenericSensor1.xml", "S_TemperatureSensor1.xml", "") luup.variable_set("urn:upnp-org:serviceId:TemperatureSensor1", "CurrentTemperature", 0, device_id) -- Start Timer -- luup.call_delay("check_temperature", 10, "", false) --Function to Check Temperature-- function check_temperature() local current_temperature = luup.variable_get(temperature_sensor_id, "CurrentTemperature", 0) --Check Temperature Threshold-- if current_temperature >= temperature_threshold then --Send Alert-- luup.call_action("urn:micasaverde-com:serviceId:HomeAutomationGateway1", "SendTextMessage", {PhoneNumber="1234567890", Message="ALERT! Temperature exceeded threshold!"}, 0) end --Reset Timer-- luup.call_delay("check_temperature", 10, "", false) endMe:
Write an iot program using openLuup.
It:
Write an iot program using openLuup. -- openLuup IOT Program -- -- Variables local lampState = false local lampTime = 0 -- Functions function lampTimer() if lampTime > 0 then lampTime = lampTime - 1 if lampTime == 0 then luup.variable_set('urn:upnp-org:serviceId:SwitchPower1', 'Status', 0, lampDeviceID) lampState = false end end end -- Setup luup.call_delay('lampTimer', 60, 0) -- Main Loop while true do -- Check for motion if luup.variable_get('urn:micasaverde-com:serviceId:MotionSensor1', 'Tripped', motionSensorDeviceID) == '1' then if not lampState then luup.variable_set('urn:upnp-org:serviceId:SwitchPower1', 'Status', 1, lampDeviceID) lampState = true -- Set lamp timer to 5 minutes lampTime = 300 end end luup.sleep(1) endWhat??
luup.sleep(1)Not good - looks like I still have some semblance of a job to fulfill.
Me:
An iot program called openLuup was written by akbooer. Who is akbooer?
It: (note: answer redacted and as I understand it, also incorrect re: AltUI):
akbooer is the pseudonym of the software developer and home automation enthusiast. He is the creator of the openLuup home automation software, which is an open-source version of the Vera home automation system. He is also the creator of the AltUI graphical user interface for openLuup.
Me:
Who created of the AltUI graphical user interface for openLuup.
and
Me:
Who created of the AltUI graphical user interface for the home automation system Vera.
Names two different people - mmmm.
Regardless very impressive - give it a few more years.
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...which I'd like to do. I know I go about these things all wrong (namely think of something I'd like to do, then try and work out what I need to know) but that's me 🙂
Just looking for some pointers on what I should google for really:
What I'd like is to provide a selection of (basically two word) phases which I can select from randomly (or even pseudo randomly) and pass to Alexa to be spoken. There are 10 such phrases only.
So what should I be reading up on to get me started?
TIA for any guidance
C
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Hi,
I am a student and recently i am working on smart home project and writing a seminar paper about the way users handle and manage IoT devices. I you have 3 min, please fill below survey. Its really short.
Thank you in advance, I really appreciate everyone's help. -
For what it's worth, I've been putting the finishing touches on a much-updated version of my DP Apps spreadsheet -- specifically intended for HE users, at least for now -- and invite you all to take a gander http://bit.ly/hedb23 at the PDF one-page version.
Corrections and edits welcome (esp. for the HOMEKIT column, just added yesterday)! Thanks in advance, especially because I'm not a big dashboard user myself, but somehow accepted this role as "keeper of the list" as it were.
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Hello guys,
I would like to achieve two different things with lights, but I am not sure it could be done. I am starting with smart things, and I am far from any electrician knowledge, wo any help is really appreciated.
I have dumb switches in my hall, controlled from 3 places. I understood that installing one smart module before first switch will make them "hybrid", both smart controlled and dumb controlled.
I would like to buy ceiling light with two bulb sockets. What I would like to achieve is I would like to have one bulb for normal daily usage (lets say cold white full brightness), and second for night time (aprox from 10pm till morning) with some red/orange - minimum brightness.
So question are:
Is there a way to keep both bulbs turning-on separated? So only one will be on during day, and then only second during night?
And could that be done with pressing dumb switch? What would I need to achieve it? (maybe another module into the ceiling lights)
Thank you in advance
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Aften some testing I watt to clear KWH how ?
Regards Bjarne
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Hello,
I have a kitchen light that can be controlled by two switches, using either to turn it off or on. I have been slowly changing things over to be a smart home but this is the first switch I am attempting to install.
I am in a double wide modular home (mobile) that was built in 1994.
At first I thought I would need a 3 way switch but when taking the normal switches apart I realized that was incorrect because the wiring on my switches are different than anything I could find online.
For one a 3 way smart switch requires 5 wires and there are only 2 wires going into the primary switch with 3 wires going into the secondary switch from the primary switch (at least I think the 3 wires connect the two switches together). Images will be attached of the wiring.
There are two wires (one black and one white) going into the first switch and 3 wires (black, white, and red) going out of that and into the second switch (I assume). The odd thing is the red wire going to the second switch is connected to the white wire going into the first switch and the white wire going into the second switch seems to be a bridge wire or a traveler wire. Not exactly sure. You will see what I mean in the images.
I need to know what kind of smart switch I can use in this set up with one remaining a normal switch.
Note that for some reason the images got switched around when uploading them. The image with 2 wires on one side and 3 on the other is what I think is the primary and the image with just 3 wires is the secondary.
Primary.jpg Secondary.jpg -
You lot are more likely to have a view than most I know. Our much used Logitech Harmony is (not so) slowly dying.
And Logitech have discontinued the entire line.
And no one else appears to be making something similar.
Was going for a Sofabaton X1, but no numeric keypad. Sofabaton U1, but no favourites.
Anyone got suggestions?
Needs to have those features, oh and not be only a phone app.....C
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Since one member asked at one point about the "front end" and "back end", I drew this showing the controller from the base to the tip along with what I have found to be the best options from my testing. Almost every controller will try to integrate all elements, especially commercial ones but... they all have strengths and weaknesses so if one can have a medley of the best ones...
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Security exposure with internet connected homes
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I am a pretty active forum user over on the QNAP forum and there has been a number of viral threads there and on reddit about the spread of ransomware on these NAS.
I wanted to post here to say that this is a fresh reminder to be very cautious with the current state of the affair when it comes to smarthomes and the trend towards IOT we are observing from all these companies attempting to make our homes cloud dependent, opening so called "secure tunnels" to their servers which can turn into very real exposures to your LAN (home network).
In order to mitigate it, QNAP released a firmware which now has autoupdate enabled by default (reminds me one other company...) and IMHO is the climax of absurdity but in fact when I come to think about it is how the amazon echos and ecobees work for example without even offering the ability to disable.
I am in no way a security expert but have had enough exposure and interest about it to recommend using a real firewall for your home network to block these backdoors if you have a smarthome and avoid these cloud oriented platforms and devices as if they were COVID.
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Apple's OK, though ... ? (Homehub mini / Homekit / Home)
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I'm your man if you want to talk about cyber security
Doing that for the last 25years! -
It's better in two ways that I can see:
- They don't auto-update their firmware by default. This exposes you to surprises when you come back to a broken system. I went on a very long tirade on the ecobee forum years ago about how risky such a feature is only to find out the amazon echos are doing the same thing. I was very happy to get rid of all of these devices. These companies think that this is a security feature because they automatically load security patches in these updates for ignorant users. The problem is the downtime these automatic updates create and risk of breaking something during the update or within the firmware itself. It is not so different from the nightly heal philosophy. The thought of automating a maintenance is all good intention but it is pushing downtime and often very high risks of breaking something without any control.
- They don't send your voice recording for processing if it can process locally. It does send the STT (Speech to text) output though whenever it can. This is more a privacy issue than security.
They are still cloud connected devices so there is still an exposure. If their servers get hacked and your credentials are exposed, one can actually take control of your homekit. The connection from their server to your device though is much more secure (than QNAP's default scheme which exposes a lot of things). Maybe @DesT will have more knowledge of this.
Homekit isn't by any stretch of the imagination more secure than the Google or the Amazon platform. It is just a bit better in terms of privacy and much better in terms of performance and reliability. The ideal security is for it not to be connected to the cloud at all which was Rhasspy or Mycroft are offering. -
yeah.... rule #1 in my work is:
Connected=hacked
Cloud=leakSo of course, I'm also a non-cloud user as much as possible and it's one of the reason why almost all of our clients are not "cloud" too!
I'm 100% for doing regular update BUT never automatically and even more for firmware. Firmware can break thing often and it's always too late after!
We are also always checking what's the RELEASE NOTES are saying about an update to check if something can break and also checking on internet if ppl are complaining about an update that break something.
The problem with things like QNAP it's the service they offer to allow people reaching their "data" from Internet by using their cloud service to send you back inside your home network! That's why I will always prefer having a VPN connection from my device directly to the home network when necessary.
Just google what happen with Solarwinds and you will have more fear about being "connected"!
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Totally agree
And being a long term QNAP User myself, I’ve so far (touch wood) avoided any of these attacks, but I put that down to the obvious and never exposing my NAS to the internet, I’m amazed at how many people place theirs at the perimeter - and I agree QNAP don’t help, as they have add-ons that almost encourage it.
I appreciate nothing is going to be 100%, but for a while now I’ve been happy with my UniFi Secure Gateway (Router) with it’s VPN capability which allows me to connect back in as/when I need to.
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I am still following the events unfolding. It is indeed amazing to me how many people had their NAS open and accessible directly through port forwarding...
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Another week has passed and now there is a breach in the Eufy security camera platform and we have seen what has happened to the Colonial pipelines in the US... I wonder who is next. Highly encourage people to be much more deliberate and conscientious with what device you buy and install in your homes...
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@rafale77 it functionality vs usability... if you do not forward specific ports (smtp, ftp, etc) you van not use the device as intendes. And placing it behind a vpn is not workable in that sense...
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@rafale77 exactly! I don't care anymore and place all tunnelneeding devices in a separate vlan/segment with internet access...
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@sender said in Security exposure with internet connected homes:
@rafale77 it functionality vs usability... if you do not forward specific ports (smtp, ftp, etc) you van not use the device as intendes. And placing it behind a vpn is not workable in that sense...
Well that rather depends on the device. Alexa, for example, requires no port forwarding. A NAS probably would but can be accessed via a VPN.
For example my mail server does need very specific ports (obviously) but they are not forwarded. I connect to my own VPN end point.
The only port I have open is a non-standard SSH port. However Alexa creates her own connections which may be insecure.
So not quite sure what case you're looking at here.
C
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@CatmanV2 is correct. It's not just about port forwarding. In many case it is the cloud server getting hacked, exposing your credentials and allowing people to access your account. The reason for my post about being careful with the devices you buy... is more related to smart home devices or I would say IOT devices getting hacked from the "I" internet. The latest as of this morning about Eufy cameras is an example. See here
https://www.reddit.com/r/EufyCam/comments/neayuo/access_to_random_cameras_in_another_country/It always blew my mind that anyone would want their cameras to stream anywhere outside their own network besides through a direct VPN but... you see all of these cloud doorbells and cloud cameras services but the same is true for all the other smart thermostats etc... which I have either eliminated or am isolating and aggressively blocking access to/from WAN.
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Well this, frankly.
My alarm installer was looking some new tech that could actually interface with z-wave, which was of interest. Turns out that all its security functions are cloud dependant....
C
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@catmanv2 hence I have a separate vlan/sybnet for "tunneling" and outbound session things (mostly IOT). And specific ports forwarded to a nas (compared to a vpc but locally managed)
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@sender said in Security exposure with internet connected homes:
@catmanv2 hence I have a separate vlan/sybnet for "tunneling" and outbound session things (mostly IOT). And specific ports forwarded to a nas (compared to a vpc but locally managed)
I should really do the same thing. But I'm not convinced that there's really much benefit. My Alexas still need to talk to HA bridge. I guess I could put HA bridge on a separate machine and then allow only connections from that IP into the main device but that doesn't seem any more robust than the current set up.
Perhaps a better piece would be to separate all my critical services so keep NotVera and HA bridge and Alexa all on a separate subnet.
C
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Could be a bizarre follow up to a post I made on another thread but it may be more related to this topic so I am posting here. Oddly things are unraveling... It is confirming my own observations that Android devices seem to send a lot of data, a lot more than iOS devices even when you don't them to. This is odd because of how hit and miss geofence on android has been yet I am observing that they update Google about where your device is a lot more frequently and with a lot more "details" than iOS devices do.