Cloud services for controlling things inside your house are the worst

https://github.com/home-assistant/core/issues/99947

I recently moved away from MyQ to local control of my garage door and I've been loving it. I stumbled across the linked issue where MyQ shit the bed for roughly 3 days and it just confirms to me that the extra effort to move away from a cloud service was worth it. I'm down to just one last cloud service for something inside my house. My mind is pretty much made up that if I can't accomplish it locally, I won't do/use it.

157 points · 35 comments · view on lemmy.world

35 Comments

root@lemmy.world · 27 pts · 2y

I actively avoid and move away from HA type devices that do not work without WAN. There's no reason that me pushing a GUI button to turn off a light needs to do anything more than travel to my AP, to HA and then to the light. Let's not bring the cloud into this.

theamigan@lemmy.dynatron.me · 17 pts · 2y

You don't like being forced to buy a new garage door opener every time the manufacturer's product manager takes a shit?

StandingCat@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 2y (2 replies)

FWIW i use myQ locally with no issues. I use the myq “homekit bridge” to integrate with home assistant locally.

walden@sub.wetshaving.social · 8 pts · 2y (1 reply)

That's interesting, I don't think that was an option back when I was using MyQ. I guess that's why Matter would be such a big improvement for things.

glimse@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 2y

First myq was completely open to integrate, then I believe they locked it down then they opened it up to homekit a year or two later.

I won't buy one out of principle. Any product or company that was a pain to work with during my days as a control4 integrator is blacklisted from my home. I won't do app-based setups, either.

xtremeownage@lemmyonline.com · 11 pts · 2y (7 replies)

I am still using a DIY/homemade one I made back in 2020ish.

https://xtremeownage.com/2020/07/29/diy-garage-door-opener-home-assistant/

Still works perfectly. Less than 20$ of materials total. 100% local control. Locally compiled, open source firmware.

Would recommend.

DeltaTangoLima@reddrefuge.com · 6 pts · 2y (6 replies)

Ditto here. I spent even less - a Wemos D1 mini and a relay, all housed snugly in a 3D printed case.

Has worked flawlessly for years now.

All I can say is, thank the gods for esphome and Home Assistant.

xtremeownage@lemmyonline.com · 4 pts · 2y (5 replies)

And, the best part- Home assistant keeps getting better and better!

DeltaTangoLima@reddrefuge.com · 3 pts · 2y (4 replies)

Yeah - I'm kinda amazed at how much functionality I'm able to get from such good FOSS like HA. I just wish they had a once-off donation capability I could use. I'm not into subscriptions at all, so I usually make a donation each month to a different tech project that has made my life better.

xtremeownage@lemmyonline.com · 1 pts · 2y (1 reply)

I pay for the subscription solely for the purpose of supporting it. Most of the functionality it offers, just isn't useful to me.

DeltaTangoLima@reddrefuge.com · 0 pts · 2y

Shame. I just don't do subscriptions.

cravl@slrpnk.net · 1 pts · 2y (1 reply)

You can make a one-time donation via GitHub Sponsors.

DeltaTangoLima@reddrefuge.com · 1 pts · 2y

Fantastic! I don't know why I didn't think to check GH Sponsors. I support plenty of other projects the same way. Thanks for sharing.

walden@sub.wetshaving.social · 9 pts · 2y (8 replies)

Yeah, MyQ is hot steamy garbage. I gave up on it after giving it a chance for way too long. Their app, of course, will continue to work, but they would constantly change the API forcing the integration devs to scramble.

I use sonoff wifi switches with Tasmota now. They're set to turn on then immediately off, simulating a button press. Combined with z-wave door sensors and some template sensor stuff copied from a forum, it's super solid.

nakal@kbin.social · 7 pts · 2y (6 replies)

I like Shelly hardware. The devices default to local communication and cloud is optional. Custom firmware can also be used, but not really needed. I wished they made more kinds of IoT stuff.

Since the device state can be queried with HTTP requests, it's easy to integrate it to my monitoring system (Prometheus/Grafana).

chunkystyles@sopuli.xyz · 3 pts · 2y (5 replies)

I wish I could get their stuff in Zigbee.

peregus@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 2y (4 replies)

Exactly, the community has been asking them to make ZigBee devices and they just announced the new...ZWave line of products 😭

theamigan@lemmy.dynatron.me · 2 pts · 2y (2 replies)

Nothing wrong with Z-Wave. I have 3 radios (2 zw [one for Aeotec HEM since it generates tons of traffic], one zig) just so I can use whatever is cheapest or available for a particular application. All of the "energy controlling" (meaning, not light bulbs) is ZWave because it seems to have more robust state verification built into the protocol. Also, it's 915MHz and I live in a very crowded RF environment on 2.4.

peregus@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 2y (1 reply)

No no, don't get me wrong, nothing wrong with Z-Wave, I just prefer ZigBee because I've found more expensive devices or no alternatives on Z-Wave: buttons, temperature/motion/door sensors, bulbs. What Z-Wave devices do you have?

theamigan@lemmy.dynatron.me · 1 pts · 2y

I agree mostly; for example, ZW bulbs are outrageously expensive. I have a Kwikset lock, a couple Zooz ZEN15s, some dimmable lamp modules, Aeotec HEM, a Remotec IR AC controller, GE switches, and Honeywell T6 Pro thermostats.

CaptainAniki@lemmy.flight-crew.org · 1 pts · 2y
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OminousOrange@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 2y

I just ordered a pair of the ratgdo devices for full, local-only control. Ratgdo also allows control of the lights separaely, so I'm going to automate the light turning on when someone goes into the garage.

obinice@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 2y (4 replies)

local control of my garage door

This is wild. I never imagined I'd even need to control a garage door remotely o.O

MrQuallzin@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 2y (1 reply)

For me it adds some reassurance if my garage door is closed while I'm away

qupada@kbin.social · 4 pts · 2y

I've definitely forgotten to close mine once or twice, even though my custom (LoRa) integration is just simulating pushing the button on the wall by closing a relay contact and watching for closed status with a reed switch, it means I can do it from anywhere.

phx@lemmy.ca · 6 pts · 2y (1 reply)

Yeah, my IoT network is segregated from any of my regular network. The control node can be accessed by VPN but otherwise has no access to or from the internet

peregus@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 2y

That's my setup too!

chockblock@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 2y

Unfortunately my furnace (Rheem) only works this way which is so disappointing. I wish it could be cracked so that it could work independently with home assistant.

NegativeLookBehind@kbin.social · 3 pts · 2y (7 replies)

Anyone have some recommendations for a camera system without a cloud component?

Feliberto@programming.dev · 3 pts · 2y (1 reply)

Anything RTSP will do, but I'd recommend VLAN the shit out of it unless you are confortable having it call home every second.

I use wyze cameras with custom firmware.

HidingCat@kbin.social · 1 pts · 2y

Ooo, you can do that with Wyze? That'd be the best of both worlds. I'll go search on it, but if you have any advice, I'm all ears.

Omacitin@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 2y

Have you checked out Frigate? It's a local service that captures RTSP streams from cameras and uses neural net image recognition to trigger events / recordings. It has good integration with Home Assistant.

undrwater@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 2y

I'm using zoneminder. It might be a high bar to entry, but once set up, it's great.

buedi@feddit.de · 2 pts · 2y

We use Reolink wired with PoE and recently switched from ZoneMinder + ZMNinja to Frigate + Home assistant and are very happy so far.

OminousOrange@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 2y

I have Blue Iris NVR with Reolink cameras. A bit of tweaking, but it was easy to follow tutorials online and they integrate into HA nicely. Blue Iris isn't free, but I couldn't get Frigate to work and don't have the background to troubleshoot it very well. I'd say it's worth the cost, though.

jo3shmoo@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 2y

Personally I've been pretty happy with Unifi Protect. Reliably records locally but accessible remotely and notifications are quick within a few seconds. Cameras can connect to HA and support RTSP if you want to link them into Frigate.