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foobar33333 said "The gateway also does not connect to the internet", which cannot be true, because connecting to the internet to speak to a manufacturer-provid

foobar33333 said "The gateway also does not connect to the internet", which cannot be true, because connecting to the internet to speak to a manufacturer-provided cloud service that then speaks to Google is required to integrate with Google Home. That's how it works. The IKEA gateway has to talk to an IKEA cloud service. If you think otherwise, please link to the Google Home docs that explain how that could possibly work, because I can't find them. Here's how you hook up Home Assistant to Google cloud. As you can see, turning it into a cloud service from Google's POV is required. You can either use Home Assistant Cloud (see? cloud service) or set up your own single-user cloud integration (which is what I do), turning your "local" server into a cloud service (with public IP and SSL cert and domain and everything) and registering yourself as an IoT vendor in their developer console, pointing at your "cloud" service URL. https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/google_assistant/ https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/google_assistant/ There is no way to keep the entire system local and have the Google Home devices only access it locally, without any cloud infrastructure. The commands flow from Google Home devices, to Google's cloud, to the vendor's cloud, to the vendor's devices. Bulb --> Zigbee --> Zigbee Gateway --> WiFi/eth --> LAN --> Your router --> WAN --> IKEA cloud --> Google cloud --> WAN --> Your router --> LAN --> WiFi --> Google Home device. If that sounds stupid, congrats, this is why they call it the internet of shit.

franga2000 5y ago
See, I have in fact set this up in the past, although not with IKEA lamps, but some other cheap Zigbee-compatible ones. The Zigbee-LAN gateway (along with all the other WiFi devices) sat on its own VLAN with no Internet access at all and a HomeAssistant box had access to both the IoT VLAN and the main one (that had Internet access). The HomeAssistant instance was configured with a dev account to work with Google's crap, but the devices themselves only ever talked to it, not Google or any vendor-provided server. EDIT: Perhaps the terminology got somewhat twisted around here: when I talked about the LAN gateway, I meant specifically the thing that does Zigbee-LAN "translation". Now, that same physical box might also have the capability to work as a Zigbee-Alexa or Zigbee-Google transaltor, which would require a vendor server as you said, but those options are, well, optional. You can certainly disable them and use something like HASS or openHAB as the bridge to whatever cloud service you wish. Same way that my home router has a built-in VPN feature, but I don't use it because I run a VPN server on my NAS instead.
- marcan_42 5y ago
  Of course, if you set up Home Assistant you can firewall them off the internet. That's how I do it too, with an IoT VLAN. It's not how these devices are intended to work, and not how they work if you just follow the manufacturer's instructions for Google/Alexa integration. You're replacing the vendor's cloud service with Home Assistant, effectively. For example, I had to work out that in order to get Broadlink devices to stop rebooting every 3 minutes because they can't contact their cloud crap you have to broadcast a keepalive message on the LAN (it normally comes from their cloud connection, but their message handler also accepts it locally, and thankfully that's enough to reset the watchdog). This involved decompiling their firmware. I think that patch finally got merged into Home Assistant recently. My point is that this is not the intended use for these devices. Normal people are going to put the gateways on the internet and enable the Google integration; in fact, it's quite likely that they will sign in to some IKEA cloud service as soon as you put the gateways on a network with outgoing internet connectivity, even before you enable the integration.
bouke 5y ago
This is why HomeKit is superior: when you’re in your home, it doesn’t need WAN to function. The connection would be Bulb —> Zigbee —> Zigbee Gateway —> Wifi —> iPhone. When you’re away from home, iCloud will be used, and no IoT vendor systems come into play. This means that all IoT devices can be kept offline and limited to your LAN. The connection would be Bulb —> Zigbee —> Zigbee Gateway —> Hone Hub (Apple TV or iPad or HomePod) —> WAN —> iCloud —> WAN —> iPhone.
- jfrunyon 5y ago
  > all IoT devices can be kept offline and limited to your LAN > Hone Hub (Apple TV or iPad or HomePod) —> WAN
  - bouke 5y ago
    IoT devices being smart appliances. Not Home Hub (Apple device).
    - jfrunyon 5y ago
      I'm not sure why you think that having a proxy in the middle will protect you.
      - bouke 5y ago
        Simple: I trust the security of Apple/iCloud over the security of the servers of any IoT vendor.

franga2000 5y ago

See, I have in fact set this up in the past, although not with IKEA lamps, but some other cheap Zigbee-compatible ones. The Zigbee-LAN gateway (along with all the other WiFi devices) sat on its own VLAN with no Internet access at all and a HomeAssistant box had access to both the IoT VLAN and the main one (that had Internet access). The HomeAssistant instance was configured with a dev account to work with Google's crap, but the devices themselves only ever talked to it, not Google or any vendor-provided server. EDIT: Perhaps the terminology got somewhat twisted around here: when I talked about the LAN gateway, I meant specifically the thing that does Zigbee-LAN "translation". Now, that same physical box might also have the capability to work as a Zigbee-Alexa or Zigbee-Google transaltor, which would require a vendor server as you said, but those options are, well, optional. You can certainly disable them and use something like HASS or openHAB as the bridge to whatever cloud service you wish. Same way that my home router has a built-in VPN feature, but I don't use it because I run a VPN server on my NAS instead.

marcan_42 5y ago
Of course, if you set up Home Assistant you can firewall them off the internet. That's how I do it too, with an IoT VLAN. It's not how these devices are intended to work, and not how they work if you just follow the manufacturer's instructions for Google/Alexa integration. You're replacing the vendor's cloud service with Home Assistant, effectively. For example, I had to work out that in order to get Broadlink devices to stop rebooting every 3 minutes because they can't contact their cloud crap you have to broadcast a keepalive message on the LAN (it normally comes from their cloud connection, but their message handler also accepts it locally, and thankfully that's enough to reset the watchdog). This involved decompiling their firmware. I think that patch finally got merged into Home Assistant recently. My point is that this is not the intended use for these devices. Normal people are going to put the gateways on the internet and enable the Google integration; in fact, it's quite likely that they will sign in to some IKEA cloud service as soon as you put the gateways on a network with outgoing internet connectivity, even before you enable the integration.

bouke 5y ago

This is why HomeKit is superior: when you’re in your home, it doesn’t need WAN to function. The connection would be Bulb —> Zigbee —> Zigbee Gateway —> Wifi —> iPhone. When you’re away from home, iCloud will be used, and no IoT vendor systems come into play. This means that all IoT devices can be kept offline and limited to your LAN. The connection would be Bulb —> Zigbee —> Zigbee Gateway —> Hone Hub (Apple TV or iPad or HomePod) —> WAN —> iCloud —> WAN —> iPhone.

jfrunyon 5y ago
> all IoT devices can be kept offline and limited to your LAN > Hone Hub (Apple TV or iPad or HomePod) —> WAN
- bouke 5y ago
  IoT devices being smart appliances. Not Home Hub (Apple device).
  - jfrunyon 5y ago
    I'm not sure why you think that having a proxy in the middle will protect you.
    - bouke 5y ago
      Simple: I trust the security of Apple/iCloud over the security of the servers of any IoT vendor.