Share your automations

[Mumbgamer]

Hmm looking at access point, ubiquity stuff is way out of budget.Tplink has cheap ones for around 2.5k but only 300mbps?

https://www.amazon.in/TP-Link-EAP110-300Mbps-Wireless-Ceiling/dp/B00V4BGE7C/

I'd rather buy another dual band router in same price range. But most router only supports 3 ssid's. 5ghz one, 2ghz one and a guest one. And consumer router don't support separate vlan which i can block from internet.
Was also thinking of adding cctvs. eg Tapo c310. It supports standard ONVIF protocol (Profile S) as well as RTSP protocol. Would a raspberry pi be able to handle 3-4 such cameras?

 

[gwrench2000]

Hmm looking at access point, ubiquity stuff is way out of budget.Tplink has cheap ones for around 2.5k but only 300mbps?

https://www.amazon.in/TP-Link-EAP110-300Mbps-Wireless-Ceiling/dp/B00V4BGE7C/

I'd rather buy another dual band router in same price range. But most router only supports 3 ssid's. 5ghz one, 2ghz one and a guest one. And consumer router don't support separate vlan which i can block from internet.
Was also thinking of adding cctvs. eg Tapo c310. It supports standard ONVIF protocol (Profile S) as well as RTSP protocol. Would a raspberry pi be able to handle 3-4 such cameras?

There is a whole family of EAP series from tp-link including better models like thisone https://www.amazon.in/dp/B01LLAK1UG...&colid=LPPGWSX644RR&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it&th=1 . With the additional Omada hardware or software controller you get Ubiquity like features including vlans and hotspot.. Also consumer routers flashed with openwrt support VLANs (on the cheap).

 

[arnprasad]

I am not a tech guy but like automation and since 2017 have accumulated the following:

(a) Two Tinxy 6 channel relay to control 12 points - lights and fan
(b) Three Sonoff 4 channel relays to control 12 points like above, 4-5 Sonoff single relays - the first automation I bought way back in 2016/17
(c) 5 Echo dots and 3 Google smart speaker and two 5 inch echo show
(d) An Amazon fire HD 10 in show mode which acts like a 10 inch amazon show on the cheap
(e) 2 smart plus
(f) Plenty of smart bulbs - Yee bulb, wipro bulbs during amazon sale, chinese bulbs
(g) Smart LED strips from US - you get 100 feet for 25 usd
(h) Halonix radar motion sensor bulb


Here is the smartness I have in my house which is my parents independent house with a garden in Bangalore
(a) I have garden streetlight types - 10 of them - they turn on at 6.30 PM and turn off at 9.00 PM thanks to Alexa and also sonoff ewelink schedules
(b) I have four outside light points with halonix radar bulb which are on during night times - turn on and off on schedule like above - so that during night time whenever we walk around they light up for few seconds
(c) Turn on and off lights and fan using Alexa. since it has been 3-4 years now, even my nearly 80 year old mom relies mostly on voice commands to turn on and off
(d) Using a free functionality found on youtube to turn on my desktop with alexa command. Turning off using alexa is a paid thing though which I didnt take
(e) Smart LED strip controlled by Alexa - turn off/on, schedulers, dimming, changing colors....etc

I have watched several videos on home assistant...but wonder whether I need one since I trust Alexa for most of my needs and they work well all the time.

If any of you are interested - you can drop in for a cup of tea. I live in Vijaynagar area in Bangalore. Also any of you experts in Bangalore - please do drop in and give me suggestions on how to take it to next level with minimal extra investment

 

[vishalrao]

@arnprasad good stuff!

What internet connection do you have and what routers etc?

Do you face any reliability issues in terms of commands sometimes not working?

 

[montsa007]

Wipro smart switch plugged into my printer, since the plug is quite low & under a table.
Attached Rasperry PI to the old printer as well for wireless prints.

 

[gwrench2000]

I find this topic very intreasting and it is not my intention to criticise but understand what real benifit an user can possibly get with modern (cloud-enabled) devices compared to traditional radio-frequency, timer or programmable-logic-controller (PLC) based devices. Somehow I dont feel very comfortable having a device in my house which records everything I say, that too on the cloud. I would love to hear from fellow members their reasons to prefer a cloud-enabled device, besides the obvious voice commands/biometric auth which do justify the **smartness** of a cloud or network enabled device. What makes a 1000 rupee smart-cloud light on-off switch better than a 400 rupee full automatic radar cum day/night LED bulb? I feel I am missing someting here...

 

[superczar]

I find this topic very intreasting and it is not my intention to criticise but understand what real benifit an user can possibly get with modern (cloud-enabled) devices compared to traditional radio-frequency, timer or programmable-logic-controller (PLC) based devices. Somehow I dont feel very comfortable having a device in my house which records everything I say, that too on the cloud. I would love to hear from fellow members their reasons to prefer a cloud-enabled device, besides the obvious voice commands/biometric auth which do justify the **smartness** of a cloud or network enabled device. What makes a 1000 rupee smart-cloud light on-off switch better than a 400 rupee full automatic radar cum day/night LED bulb? I feel I am missing someting here...

The answer to this lies in the traditional specialised ASIC (e.g. MP3 player) vs programable microcontroller debate (e.g. using a tablet/smartphone for the same scenario)
If your use case is fixed - and you do not see it changing/ evolving (e.g. a proximity sensor light for your garage) then the former makes more sense.

But that does not the other one pointless

 

[arnprasad]

@arnprasad good stuff!

What internet connection do you have and what routers etc?

Do you face any reliability issues in terms of commands sometimes not working?

I have Excitel 300mbps unlimited for 7K a year. Works pretty well- this one is highly dependent on local cable guy who manages it. I does have its downtimes, but given all of us have mobile phones with 2GB per day data plans, we use hotspots in emergencies. Sonoff offers LAn mode as well in case internet is not working. Tinxy is two way - so we can switch off using Alexa and switch off by hand which Sonoff doesnt offer.

Overall I am pretty happy. Alexa or Google is first preference, if it doesnt work and mobile is close at hand then we use that to control and if nothing works, we just go and switch things on and off by hand.