tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post8164073055574176839..comments2024-03-19T09:14:24.926+00:00Comments on RevK<sup>®</sup>'s ramblings: De-clouding IoTRevKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12369263214193333422noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-40614442526643635482019-03-26T18:25:05.925+00:002019-03-26T18:25:05.925+00:00Owen, I'll say here much the same thing I'...Owen, I'll say here much the same thing I've said to you in person: because it expands possibilities. For example, "everyone has gone to bed, please confirm that all downstairs lights are off and external doors are closed and locked". Or indeed "the alarm has gone off, turn on all the lights".<br /><br />That said, I agree that requiring external connectivity and servers is a mug's game.RogerBWhttps://blog.firedrake.org/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-2443624070485629602019-03-25T22:23:12.507+00:002019-03-25T22:23:12.507+00:00Maybe I am a dinosaur, but I simply will not have ...Maybe I am a dinosaur, but I simply will not have any Cloud based stuff at home. I am quite capable of running my own rotating backups, and I don't have to worry about third parties having my data or devices ceasing to work suddenly.<br /><br />But I also don't have any IoT devices, I just don't see the point. Network controlled air con, network controlled lights, why? I just can't see the point of any of them. Light switches on the wall work fine, as does IR remote control for the air con. On holiday? Run a timeswitch for some lamps. The rest is just a waste of time, needless use of technology for the sake of it. I do have a SqueezeBox network music player, that actually does something useful. But I run it on my own local server.Owen Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00890951742186614705noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-73627118821049589162019-03-25T11:07:56.249+00:002019-03-25T11:07:56.249+00:00The default Sonoff cloud solution is provided dire...The default Sonoff cloud solution is provided directly by the Chinese manufacturer. Given the issues with internet service and security in China (and the lack of any data protection arrangement there) I'd definitely look at replacing the firmware on the Sonoff. Some good articles at https://tech.scargill.net/?s=sonoff and https://www.superhouse.tv/?s=sonoff with detailed overviews of the options available and how to arrange the toolchain to create your own firmware.<br /><br />Regarding IFTTT. Don't rely on it for anything that you need to be reliable. Especially the webhooks service! For clarity, here are the four possible outcomes with the webhooks service with their IFTTT responses:<br /><br />1. Webhook API key incorrect. IFTTT returns ERROR (correct)<br /><br />2. Webhook call OK, backend service returned OK. IFTTT returns SUCCESS (correct)<br /><br />3. Webhook error, backend service never called. IFTTT returns SUCCESS (WTF?!)<br /><br />4. Webhook works OK, backend service returns error. IFTTT returns SUCCESS (WTF?!)<br /><br />Clearly the response from the IFTTT webhook cannot be used in one's software to make any deductions as to whether the call was successful or not. Thus it can't really be relied upon for anything more than trivial novelty. Which is a great shame as it could (with a little effort) be a great solution to using many closed devices.<br /><br />IFTTT's response to this is that "Webhooks is offered as-is with no warranty". They have no interest whatsoever in fixing this somewhat irrational behaviour.<br /><br />Based on an email I (and many others) received the other day from Google, it appears they have the same laissez faire attitude with their Gmail applet which Google is about to remove because they haven't updated their T&Cs.Gavin Smalleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05015991737637937046noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-77184478984125621952019-03-25T07:28:08.577+00:002019-03-25T07:28:08.577+00:00Separate VLAN and SSID, and firewalled.Separate VLAN and SSID, and firewalled.RevKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12369263214193333422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-60425339485847040712019-03-25T07:26:48.385+00:002019-03-25T07:26:48.385+00:00Plus more for tasmota and home assistant. Note you...Plus more for tasmota and home assistant. Note you don't really need to solder the headers, I drive this with my early ones but now just hold the pins in place on the pads ... Extra hand may be required! I have it running on both sonoff kit (seems well made), but also some 12v magic home LED controllers.<br /><br />Surely you run a separate vlan and SSID for this stuff?<br /><br />This actually helps with e.g. the broadlink IR devices. The IHC app insists on 2.4G network (you also need to allow ports 80/443 out for initial setup).<br /><br />The TP link stuff also works well with local control. I only but stuff where you can do this. Because whilst you've talked about the IoT device security, how much do you trust the multitude of apps needed to control them as standard?<br /><br />Running home assistant (or others) means you can build ifttt type automations without the cloud.Simonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16065029036111258480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-34843826858498568242019-03-24T17:04:26.259+00:002019-03-24T17:04:26.259+00:00+1 for tasmota on your sonoffs (well plus a millio...+1 for tasmota on your sonoffs (well plus a million as I was heavily involved in the early stages of development)<br />I have a bunch of sonoffs based gear now all running tasmota to a local mqtt server. You can then link it up to openhab, hassio or (as I do) node-redGeekypenguinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04249663681946505777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-29189398983952167102019-03-24T16:57:51.270+00:002019-03-24T16:57:51.270+00:00I have a TP-Link HS110 Smartplug and those have a ...I have a TP-Link HS110 Smartplug and those have a decent local API that you can prod. It's not published, but it's been well reversed engineered and there's a Node library tplink-smarthome-api that you can find all the info in. I used it to make little tool for logging the energy use at regular intervals to give more detail than the official app gives (JJC1138/smartplug-energy-logger on GitHub). Oh, and I should mention: the local security is non-existent as per usual with these things, and the Wi-Fi is 2.4Ghz only.JJC1138https://www.blogger.com/profile/03178758568612019553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-32203697810909999682019-03-24T16:38:44.524+00:002019-03-24T16:38:44.524+00:00I have a Sonoff controlling my kitchen light (whic...I have a Sonoff controlling my kitchen light (which is a 600x600 LED panel like you have), I flashed Tasmota and it's controlled (and monitorable) using MQTT, I use Home Assistant for that.<br /><br />The Sonoff is pretty easy to flash - the case cracks open easily and you solder a strip of header pins on the board, then connect it to a serial > USB board and run the software.<br />Garethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02575622887669793171noreply@blogger.com