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Next, the web page told me it detected a new thermostat near by. Cool! To verify it had the right one, I needed to go over to my newly installed thermostat and

Next, the web page told me it detected a new thermostat near by. Cool! To verify it had the right one, I needed to go over to my newly installed thermostat and hit the button to confirm that my thermostat was indeed the one attempting a connection. Er... How does that work? The thermostat connects over wifi to their servers, the server sees that a thermostat connected from the same IP as the browser, so it offers that as a potentially owned thermostat? Is there some in-browser magic where it's probing the local network for thermostats? If it's the former, and you're in a condo behind a shared building IP, are you offered all the Nest thermostats of your neighbors?

jbermudes 15y ago
I would assume it's the former, but in the case where there's multiple thermostats hooked up to the same shared IP it might show you a list of all unowned devices and then ask you for which one you want to activate, and then telling you to go over to it and confirm. So in the scenario of the apartment complex you wouldn't get everyone's thermostats, just the unowned ones, and even then you're limited to choosing only the ones you have physical access to.
statictype 15y ago
I'm surprised they didn't bundle a webserver into the thermostat and let you connect directly to that (or maybe they did that as well?).
- timdorr 15y ago
  I would think for security reasons, they would not do that. It would be really bad if someone hacked your thermostat to run up your power bill or try to make your home temporarily uninhabitable.
  - miahi 15y ago
    But they can hack the Nest website/your account for the same result.
    - LaGrange 15y ago
      It's one place Nest has to keep updated, not $BIGNUM.
joshu 15y ago
I struggle to think of a situation where you are in a condo (and can replace the thermostat) but not have your own IP address.
- georgieporgie 15y ago
  Well, that's easy. One where your HOA groups together to provide discounted Internet access.
  - dpark 15y ago
    Have you actually seen this happen? Whenever I've seen HOA-provided internet access, it's just been a group buy from Comcast or AT&T or whoever. The end result in this case is that everyone has the same basic access they'd have if they subscribed individually. They just don't pay a separate bill and they get a cheaper rate (and they can't decline it). Having a building administer its own network with a single IP shared by the building sounds terrible. What happens if you want to run a server? Or open up a port that some program needs to listen on? I can't imagine a building having network technicians competent enough to make this situation work well.
    - brk 15y ago
      But it would make you practically immune to stupid RIAA/etc. lawsuits :)

jbermudes 15y ago

I would assume it's the former, but in the case where there's multiple thermostats hooked up to the same shared IP it might show you a list of all unowned devices and then ask you for which one you want to activate, and then telling you to go over to it and confirm. So in the scenario of the apartment complex you wouldn't get everyone's thermostats, just the unowned ones, and even then you're limited to choosing only the ones you have physical access to.

statictype 15y ago

I'm surprised they didn't bundle a webserver into the thermostat and let you connect directly to that (or maybe they did that as well?).

timdorr 15y ago
I would think for security reasons, they would not do that. It would be really bad if someone hacked your thermostat to run up your power bill or try to make your home temporarily uninhabitable.
- miahi 15y ago
  But they can hack the Nest website/your account for the same result.
  - LaGrange 15y ago
    It's one place Nest has to keep updated, not $BIGNUM.

joshu 15y ago

I struggle to think of a situation where you are in a condo (and can replace the thermostat) but not have your own IP address.

georgieporgie 15y ago
Well, that's easy. One where your HOA groups together to provide discounted Internet access.
- dpark 15y ago
  Have you actually seen this happen? Whenever I've seen HOA-provided internet access, it's just been a group buy from Comcast or AT&T or whoever. The end result in this case is that everyone has the same basic access they'd have if they subscribed individually. They just don't pay a separate bill and they get a cheaper rate (and they can't decline it). Having a building administer its own network with a single IP shared by the building sounds terrible. What happens if you want to run a server? Or open up a port that some program needs to listen on? I can't imagine a building having network technicians competent enough to make this situation work well.
  - brk 15y ago
    But it would make you practically immune to stupid RIAA/etc. lawsuits :)