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Reminds me of the time when the MyQ garage opener back-end went down. I got locked out of my house for about 4 hours. I set up a whole Mac-mini home assistant

by LASR 3y ago

Reminds me of the time when the MyQ garage opener back-end went down. I got locked out of my house for about 4 hours. I set up a whole Mac-mini home assistant thing totally local. Then I lost my phone and I couldn’t get in to the house to even call it. Thankfully it was just in my wife’s car and she came home with it. Now there is a physical key under a rock.

jedberg 3y ago
I have digital locks on my front and back door, but they have no external connectivity (something I specifically looked for). No wifi, no bluetooth. So far the only failure mode has been the battery running out, but it gives you plenty of warning. And if you're super lazy like me, you just go in the other door when the battery runs out. :)
deleted 3y ago
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nucleardog 3y ago
Yeah I’ve slowly built out some smart home kit, but literally every single piece is a “nice to have” for exactly this reason. My door lock is wirelessly controllable via zwave. It also has a keypad so you can just enter a code instead. It also has a keyhole. For my key. That is with me. Similarly… I have some controllable light switches. If anything fails… they are just normal light switches and I can still turn my lights on. I’ve spent too long in IT to have any faith whatsoever in any of this stuff.
bdcravens 3y ago
Even though we have MyQ and have integrated it into Alexa (and was part of the Resideo system we got when we bought the house), my wife and I still use the old school remotes in our car, and we have keypad access as well (which is the same technology Liftmaster has used for 20+ years)
alphabettsy 3y ago
This is why I went with HomeKit devices only where possible. The door lock is HomeKit and does Bluetooth so it works when the power is out and internet is down, has a key and PIN code for backup. Garage door opener requires the WiFi to be up, but it will work without internet if you’re close enough to connect to home WiFi. HomeKit is far from perfect but I like that it doesn’t require internet for the core functions to work. Thread and Matter devices have made it even better.

by LASR 3y ago

jedberg 3y ago

I have digital locks on my front and back door, but they have no external connectivity (something I specifically looked for). No wifi, no bluetooth. So far the only failure mode has been the battery running out, but it gives you plenty of warning. And if you're super lazy like me, you just go in the other door when the battery runs out. :)

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

nucleardog 3y ago

Yeah I’ve slowly built out some smart home kit, but literally every single piece is a “nice to have” for exactly this reason. My door lock is wirelessly controllable via zwave. It also has a keypad so you can just enter a code instead. It also has a keyhole. For my key. That is with me. Similarly… I have some controllable light switches. If anything fails… they are just normal light switches and I can still turn my lights on. I’ve spent too long in IT to have any faith whatsoever in any of this stuff.

bdcravens 3y ago

Even though we have MyQ and have integrated it into Alexa (and was part of the Resideo system we got when we bought the house), my wife and I still use the old school remotes in our car, and we have keypad access as well (which is the same technology Liftmaster has used for 20+ years)

alphabettsy 3y ago

This is why I went with HomeKit devices only where possible. The door lock is HomeKit and does Bluetooth so it works when the power is out and internet is down, has a key and PIN code for backup. Garage door opener requires the WiFi to be up, but it will work without internet if you’re close enough to connect to home WiFi. HomeKit is far from perfect but I like that it doesn’t require internet for the core functions to work. Thread and Matter devices have made it even better.