3 ms·

Home automation stuff is fairly easy for hackers to build themselves, but you won't get VC to start a company to build these things without: 1. Requiring an al

Home automation stuff is fairly easy for hackers to build themselves, but you won't get VC to start a company to build these things without: 1. Requiring an always-on connection to the Internet, regardless of whether a local wifi peer network would suffice. 2. Requiring a proprietary hub in the cloud that serves as a bidirectional relay. Extra points if you can charge a monthly fee for this service. 3. Requiring anytime remote firmware updates that the user cannot veto. All these things enable the HA company to snoop everything that goes on in your house and sell this data to advertisers. They make a lot more money from this than from the sale of the devices. And that's why I only build my own HA devices.

intelVISA 3y ago
This also applies to smartphones thanks to Google's 'SafetyNet'
Spivak 3y ago
> Requiring an always-on connection to the Internet, regardless of whether a local wifi peer network would suffice. There's lots to be had in the local polling / local push categories in https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/ https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/ I haven't found very many smart things in practice that force you into internet connectivity.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
checkyoursudo 3y ago
> And that's why I only build my own HA devices. That's cool. My kid is a budding (pre-tween) engineer, and I have technical/scientific skills but no engineering skills. Have you made anything like super entry-level that might be a project for a couple of no-knowledge-yet enthusiasts? (I just considered for the first time ever that this might be a good starting point for my kid's "real" engineering work. So far it's been kits and toy-things.)
- Rebelgecko 3y ago
  Not super practical, but if you use Esphome and some cheap ESP-32 or ESP8266, it's pretty easy to get an LED blinking in HA. If you want something more useful you could look at incorporating sensors like a thermometer, light sensor, soil moisture sensor, magnetic door sensor, etc and using the sensor data to set up automations in the HA GUI. Maybe something like "activate water pump when soil moisture sensor goes below _____" (you could get the parts to do this for maybe $20-$30 on Adafruit, or cheaper from Aliexpress vendors with super slow shipping). To take things a step up from there, I built an Airgradient kit a month or two and really enjoyed it. Requires some soldering knowledge, but nothing you can't learn while doing (just start out by soldering the cheap parts in case of oopsies). You can even have your kid try to modify their PCB designs (nothing crazy, maybe just put their name on it)
- MrBruh 3y ago
  I'm not sure if it would be too complex but setting up pihole on a raspberry pi could be interesting for him. The benefit is that it's a network wide adblocker so it does have practical use.
Semaphor 3y ago
There’s absolutely no need to build them yourself, there is a need to simply not buy always-online vendor-lockin devices. It’s not something for people who don’t know about computers or can’t run their own mini-server like an rPi, but it’s still far easier than building something yourself: https://home-assistant.io https://home-assistant.io That opens up an insane amount of smart-home devices that require no internet connection at all.
red-iron-pine 3y ago
Remote firmware updates... are okay. They say the "S" in IoT stands for "security". I'd be overjoyed if there is an IoT company that updates their stuff consistently. Not bloody likely when it comes to consumer goods, though, and definitely not without some sort of subscription.
- dreamcompiler 3y ago
  My Nest thermostat was notorious for updating frequently on its own. The problem was that it didn't just update security and fix bugs; it changed the user interface so I had to relearn how to use the thing after every update. A few updates also removed features I liked. Never again.

intelVISA 3y ago

This also applies to smartphones thanks to Google's 'SafetyNet'

Spivak 3y ago

> Requiring an always-on connection to the Internet, regardless of whether a local wifi peer network would suffice. There's lots to be had in the local polling / local push categories in https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/ https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/ I haven't found very many smart things in practice that force you into internet connectivity.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

checkyoursudo 3y ago

> And that's why I only build my own HA devices. That's cool. My kid is a budding (pre-tween) engineer, and I have technical/scientific skills but no engineering skills. Have you made anything like super entry-level that might be a project for a couple of no-knowledge-yet enthusiasts? (I just considered for the first time ever that this might be a good starting point for my kid's "real" engineering work. So far it's been kits and toy-things.)

Rebelgecko 3y ago
Not super practical, but if you use Esphome and some cheap ESP-32 or ESP8266, it's pretty easy to get an LED blinking in HA. If you want something more useful you could look at incorporating sensors like a thermometer, light sensor, soil moisture sensor, magnetic door sensor, etc and using the sensor data to set up automations in the HA GUI. Maybe something like "activate water pump when soil moisture sensor goes below _____" (you could get the parts to do this for maybe $20-$30 on Adafruit, or cheaper from Aliexpress vendors with super slow shipping). To take things a step up from there, I built an Airgradient kit a month or two and really enjoyed it. Requires some soldering knowledge, but nothing you can't learn while doing (just start out by soldering the cheap parts in case of oopsies). You can even have your kid try to modify their PCB designs (nothing crazy, maybe just put their name on it)
MrBruh 3y ago
I'm not sure if it would be too complex but setting up pihole on a raspberry pi could be interesting for him. The benefit is that it's a network wide adblocker so it does have practical use.

Semaphor 3y ago

There’s absolutely no need to build them yourself, there is a need to simply not buy always-online vendor-lockin devices. It’s not something for people who don’t know about computers or can’t run their own mini-server like an rPi, but it’s still far easier than building something yourself: https://home-assistant.io https://home-assistant.io That opens up an insane amount of smart-home devices that require no internet connection at all.

red-iron-pine 3y ago

Remote firmware updates... are okay. They say the "S" in IoT stands for "security". I'd be overjoyed if there is an IoT company that updates their stuff consistently. Not bloody likely when it comes to consumer goods, though, and definitely not without some sort of subscription.

dreamcompiler 3y ago
My Nest thermostat was notorious for updating frequently on its own. The problem was that it didn't just update security and fix bugs; it changed the user interface so I had to relearn how to use the thing after every update. A few updates also removed features I liked. Never again.