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I can't understand people that want to wire up every aspect of their home to big tech cloud companies. There are plenty of options for self-hosted smart home s

I can't understand people that want to wire up every aspect of their home to big tech cloud companies. There are plenty of options for self-hosted smart home setups.

visarga 3y ago
When I realized I need to register all my light bulbs and appliances and control them by janky wireless signals, with reconnect issues from time to time, I just gave up and use physical switches. They work all the time. Why would I want to open or close a light when I am 100 steps away from the button?
- bombcar 3y ago
  You can get physical switches that are ALSO software controllable, which can be nice. Things like these: https://www.lutron.com/en-US/Products/Pages/SingleRoomControls/CasetaWireless/Overview.aspx https://www.lutron.com/en-US/Products/Pages/SingleRoomContro... So you can do "Siri turn all lights off" or whatever, and still be able to turn the lights on and off if the Internet is down. Still on the fence if it's worth the cost.
- somat 3y ago
  My plan is to physically wire everything into a controllable switch. Then I started thinking, what sort of switch is programmatically controllable, uses open standards has a large number of ports is vendor interchangeable. and it hit me. a POE ethernet switch. Now I just have to find a source of 48V leds. hashtag: only_half_joking.
- ianburrell 3y ago
  You can get smart switches, they require wiring but they work as switches without smart system. I have Zigbee and ZWave and both have been reliable. I primarily use the remote to turn on light switches from across the room. It only saves a couple of steps but the seconds add up. The big one is turning on porch light at night while standing on porch. I have turned off left on lights on way to airport. I have also set up routine to turn on lights in evening while I’m away.
vxNsr 3y ago
As someone who is fairly tech literate, and has his own home server. I disagree. Self hosting still isn’t anywhere near consumer friendly enough to be a mainstream option for most people.

I can't understand people that want to wire up every aspect of their home to big tech cloud companies. There are plenty of options for self-hosted smart home setups.

visarga 3y ago

When I realized I need to register all my light bulbs and appliances and control them by janky wireless signals, with reconnect issues from time to time, I just gave up and use physical switches. They work all the time. Why would I want to open or close a light when I am 100 steps away from the button?

bombcar 3y ago
You can get physical switches that are ALSO software controllable, which can be nice. Things like these: https://www.lutron.com/en-US/Products/Pages/SingleRoomControls/CasetaWireless/Overview.aspx https://www.lutron.com/en-US/Products/Pages/SingleRoomContro... So you can do "Siri turn all lights off" or whatever, and still be able to turn the lights on and off if the Internet is down. Still on the fence if it's worth the cost.
somat 3y ago
My plan is to physically wire everything into a controllable switch. Then I started thinking, what sort of switch is programmatically controllable, uses open standards has a large number of ports is vendor interchangeable. and it hit me. a POE ethernet switch. Now I just have to find a source of 48V leds. hashtag: only_half_joking.
ianburrell 3y ago
You can get smart switches, they require wiring but they work as switches without smart system. I have Zigbee and ZWave and both have been reliable. I primarily use the remote to turn on light switches from across the room. It only saves a couple of steps but the seconds add up. The big one is turning on porch light at night while standing on porch. I have turned off left on lights on way to airport. I have also set up routine to turn on lights in evening while I’m away.

vxNsr 3y ago

As someone who is fairly tech literate, and has his own home server. I disagree. Self hosting still isn’t anywhere near consumer friendly enough to be a mainstream option for most people.