4 ms·

I really prefer using physical analog light switches that don't require internet access, and don't send my data to big tech cos. Maybe I'm just old fashioned.

spiderfarmer 7y ago
Almost none of this stuff requires an internet connection and it goes way further than simply turning your lights on/off.
- thinkloop 7y ago
  Does Alexa et al work without internet as well? We need a local closed-circuit voice recognition equivalent to be the brains
  - sjwright 7y ago
    Voice recognition isn’t automation, it’s an elaborate remote control. Real automation is having the room lights react to stuff like motion, presence, time of day, ambient brightness, and whether you’re watching TV. Telling Alexa to turn the lights on is more of a Rube Goldberg hack.
    - thinkloop 7y ago
      Does home automation require internet for anything?
      - sjwright 7y ago
        Not inherently, no. I'm building out my home automation with mostly ESP8266 based sensors, relays, modules etc. About half of those are NodeMCU, the other half are commercial devices flashed with custom firmware. My biggest "win" so far is taking over thermostat control of the whole house ducted AC. I now have it automatically change which room it prioritises temperature stability based on presence and time of day (when the child goes to bed). My system "relies" on an internet connection for just one thing right now: iPhone push notifications, which are merely informational and mostly for debugging. It also uses the internet to keep my local NTP server in sync. When I'm away from home I can manually check on stuff with a VPN. In future I plan to expose a minimalist HTTPS api for triggering certain actions remotely, like the garage door. But even that's not a big deal right now because I've got a outdoor AP that covers a wide area outside my house—my phone is generally already on wifi as I approach home by foot.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
noja 7y ago
Exactly. The benefit of a "stack" involving a simple piece of metal that makes a connection cannot be underestimated. An offline capable home automation system (including voice recognition) that can be managed by a non-technical person has a huge ongoing cost just in terms of keeping it working as it is, and that is before you change anything (if you can).
- markdoubleyou 7y ago
  My son won a Clapper in the family's white elephant gift exchange. We hooked it up to our Christmas tree lights, and, I gotta say, the thing is pretty great for that use case--no more reaching through pine needles to reach the plug. And somehow it manages to do this without running TCP/IP stack. I'm working on a project in the IoT space right now, and a Clapper is making me feel kind of silly about it.
  - sjwright 7y ago
    The one obvious Achilles heel of a clapper is that you’re limited to one action per acoustic space.
ojkelly 7y ago
The HomeKit stuff works locally, and afaik should continue to work if the vendor disappears. Siri will need internet, but if you have wifi locally you can control them via a phone. There’s also always the wall switch.

spiderfarmer 7y ago

Almost none of this stuff requires an internet connection and it goes way further than simply turning your lights on/off.

thinkloop 7y ago
Does Alexa et al work without internet as well? We need a local closed-circuit voice recognition equivalent to be the brains
- sjwright 7y ago
  Voice recognition isn’t automation, it’s an elaborate remote control. Real automation is having the room lights react to stuff like motion, presence, time of day, ambient brightness, and whether you’re watching TV. Telling Alexa to turn the lights on is more of a Rube Goldberg hack.
  - thinkloop 7y ago
    Does home automation require internet for anything?
    - sjwright 7y ago
      Not inherently, no. I'm building out my home automation with mostly ESP8266 based sensors, relays, modules etc. About half of those are NodeMCU, the other half are commercial devices flashed with custom firmware. My biggest "win" so far is taking over thermostat control of the whole house ducted AC. I now have it automatically change which room it prioritises temperature stability based on presence and time of day (when the child goes to bed). My system "relies" on an internet connection for just one thing right now: iPhone push notifications, which are merely informational and mostly for debugging. It also uses the internet to keep my local NTP server in sync. When I'm away from home I can manually check on stuff with a VPN. In future I plan to expose a minimalist HTTPS api for triggering certain actions remotely, like the garage door. But even that's not a big deal right now because I've got a outdoor AP that covers a wide area outside my house—my phone is generally already on wifi as I approach home by foot.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

noja 7y ago

Exactly. The benefit of a "stack" involving a simple piece of metal that makes a connection cannot be underestimated. An offline capable home automation system (including voice recognition) that can be managed by a non-technical person has a huge ongoing cost just in terms of keeping it working as it is, and that is before you change anything (if you can).

markdoubleyou 7y ago
My son won a Clapper in the family's white elephant gift exchange. We hooked it up to our Christmas tree lights, and, I gotta say, the thing is pretty great for that use case--no more reaching through pine needles to reach the plug. And somehow it manages to do this without running TCP/IP stack. I'm working on a project in the IoT space right now, and a Clapper is making me feel kind of silly about it.
- sjwright 7y ago
  The one obvious Achilles heel of a clapper is that you’re limited to one action per acoustic space.

ojkelly 7y ago

The HomeKit stuff works locally, and afaik should continue to work if the vendor disappears. Siri will need internet, but if you have wifi locally you can control them via a phone. There’s also always the wall switch.