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This is why my smarthome strategy is, that everything must work locally (as in without internet access) - but can be enhanced by connectivity to the internet an

This is why my smarthome strategy is, that everything must work locally (as in without internet access) - but can be enhanced by connectivity to the internet and cloud-services. I use https://www.home-assistant.io/ https://www.home-assistant.io/ on a Raspberry Pi 4 and I only buy devices that work locally, are either super dumb (think zibgee lightbulb) - or are either already open or can be flashed/hacked to be open. There is a huge community around this approach on https://www.reddit.com/r/homeassistant/ https://www.reddit.com/r/homeassistant/

darkwater 7y ago
Yeah, this is the only sensible approach to the smart home. Especially since an Internet connection is much more unreliable then electricity.
- kchamplewski 7y ago
  That depends heavily on where you live. If the most common type of power outage is one that affects a small region, it's quite likely internet connectivity could remain unaffected. I had this experience in northern Sweden, where I had a couple of power interruptions but zero network interruption.
  - halbritt 7y ago
    I live in Oakland, CA. Internet is definitely more reliable than electricity. My smart home devices send me an email when there's a power outage.
    - kevinschumacher 7y ago
      Could that be coming from the smart home device manufacturer noticing the device was abruptly disconnected?
      - cbsmith 7y ago
        It could be, but it is probably just they have enough backup power to send the signal.
        judge2020 7y ago
        It's more likely that the device sends a heartbeat every minute or so, either for notifications or just for this "device is offline" feature.
        halbritt 7y ago
        In this case, no.
      - halbritt 7y ago
        The device itself is a Nest Protect fire alarm connected to 120VAC. It has a built in battery back up.
  - bcrosby95 7y ago
    Most people's home internet connection relies on electricity though. Internet will necessarily be less reliable than electricity for them.
    - cbsmith 7y ago
      I just hook up a UPS and the first thing that is on it is my router and my key devices.
  - klausjensen 7y ago
    It is not just about power outages, it is also about cloud services closing, having outages etc - as in this post. If you only have devices that will work locally, that becomes much less of a problem.
- inamesh 7y ago
  Eh. Depends on how mission critical it is. I don't mind an appliance needing the internet as long as I can still physically operate it during downtime.
- zpallin 7y ago
  We should all move our homes into the nearest data center. I call the locker next to the Layer 3 drop.
lowercased 7y ago
Another example of "progressive enhancement" vs "graceful degradation"?
rodgerd 7y ago
It's interesting to me that this is (effectively) one of the requirements to get Apple's HomeKit sticker: it needs to expose an API that will keep working with HomeKit even if the manufacturer cloud service goes away. The fact so few smart devices are HomeKit enables says a lot, unfortunately.
akx 7y ago
As a side note, HASS on an Intel NUC is a much more pleasant experience, if naturally more expensive.

darkwater 7y ago

Yeah, this is the only sensible approach to the smart home. Especially since an Internet connection is much more unreliable then electricity.

kchamplewski 7y ago
That depends heavily on where you live. If the most common type of power outage is one that affects a small region, it's quite likely internet connectivity could remain unaffected. I had this experience in northern Sweden, where I had a couple of power interruptions but zero network interruption.
- halbritt 7y ago
  I live in Oakland, CA. Internet is definitely more reliable than electricity. My smart home devices send me an email when there's a power outage.
  - kevinschumacher 7y ago
    Could that be coming from the smart home device manufacturer noticing the device was abruptly disconnected?
    - cbsmith 7y ago
      It could be, but it is probably just they have enough backup power to send the signal.
      - judge2020 7y ago
        It's more likely that the device sends a heartbeat every minute or so, either for notifications or just for this "device is offline" feature.
        halbritt 7y ago
        In this case, no.
    - halbritt 7y ago
      The device itself is a Nest Protect fire alarm connected to 120VAC. It has a built in battery back up.
- bcrosby95 7y ago
  Most people's home internet connection relies on electricity though. Internet will necessarily be less reliable than electricity for them.
  - cbsmith 7y ago
    I just hook up a UPS and the first thing that is on it is my router and my key devices.
- klausjensen 7y ago
  It is not just about power outages, it is also about cloud services closing, having outages etc - as in this post. If you only have devices that will work locally, that becomes much less of a problem.
inamesh 7y ago
Eh. Depends on how mission critical it is. I don't mind an appliance needing the internet as long as I can still physically operate it during downtime.
zpallin 7y ago
We should all move our homes into the nearest data center. I call the locker next to the Layer 3 drop.

lowercased 7y ago

Another example of "progressive enhancement" vs "graceful degradation"?

rodgerd 7y ago

It's interesting to me that this is (effectively) one of the requirements to get Apple's HomeKit sticker: it needs to expose an API that will keep working with HomeKit even if the manufacturer cloud service goes away. The fact so few smart devices are HomeKit enables says a lot, unfortunately.

akx 7y ago

As a side note, HASS on an Intel NUC is a much more pleasant experience, if naturally more expensive.