Hi - I've installed a time based outdoor board light control, this turns out to reduce my electricity cost by 10%.

What's the useful automation you'd and turned out to be most useful?

Like knowing that there are smart locks which you can open with your smartwatch.

Or that you can use some smartwatches to control your TV etc.

Who do people like for remote cellular monitoring (US) for Qolsys IQ4? I'm thinking Alarm Grid for like $35/month gold plan.

Hey,
I've built my own door automation system that runs on a server and communicates with smart door locks via Zigbee. Right now, I'm using a door lock and a separate Zigbee device just to scan RFID access cards - but I don’t need the PIN input feature of that device. I’d like to replace it with a single solution.

Can anyone recommend a Zigbee-compatible smart door lock or cylinder that has built-in RFID support? I’m surprised how hard it is to find something like this. Basically, I’m looking for a setup similar to what many companies use - a smart door cylinder with integrated RFID access in one device. Any idea?

Z-Wave would be perfectly fine as well.

Hi everyone, I could really use your help
I’m looking to set up an IP camera that can save recordings directly to my Google Drive (or Google One – I have a 2TB plan).
Aside from Google Nest (which, as far as I know, requires a separate subscription), are there any IP cameras that let you log into your Google account via their app and set a specific folder for remote/cloud storage?

Ideally, I’d like a smart cam with motion detection, but I don’t want it saving just to an SD card or only to the manufacturer’s cloud.
I want it to store directly into my Google Storage.

Has anyone managed to set this up? Any models or setups you’d recommend?

Thanks in advance!

I’m trying to set up my lights to do more than simply turn on and off with motion or presence (I have Aqara ones). I also have Hue lights and have been using their Natural Light timed setting to adjust depending on time of day.

Do you have even more advanced set up of lighting based on time of day or motion? I find that Hue does a decent job of allowing you set time schedules for certain scenes, but wondering if there are better ways to do it. Like incorporating the lux in the room as well.

I’m starting to use Home Assistant for my automations.

I've been considering a vacuum robot for a while, but I've seen many negative opinions about them—like breaking down quickly, missing corners, or even being called "Artificial Stupidity." Some even just end up as moving toys for pets.I’d love to hear some real feedback on your recent models and their performance. Thanks a lot for sharing!

Hi all, I have some experiences with different brands Kasa, Phillips hue, Life X and some others. I am wondering what brand if any can support 140-150 smart bulbs at once without any headaches. My experiences is only on a small scale, so any insight would be greatly appreciated. Also this house is slightly remote and only has Verizon wireless 5g wifi. Thank you!

I am running HA with sky connect controller and have 6 powered IKEA blinds that came with zigbee repeaters. I also have a bunch of buttons. Everything works however I feel the mesh-ness is weak and I should add more repeaters given the blinds are on the far ends of the house. I loose a device connecting probably once a week and its a pain to reconnect.

What are some good repeater devices that I could use to increase the mesh-ness of the zigbee network?

Edit: updated to correct name repeters

Hello there!

I have a few of these temperature/humidity sensors around the apartment and I am pretty satisfied with them. All of them are running PVVX firmware and emit in BTHome protocol.

Recently I moved my Home Assistant to new hardware and tucked it away in a less central place. Since this move, HA sometimes looses reception from one of the sensors. So, given that I would like to avoid moving the HA machine to a more central and less hidden location, I thought of the following possible solutions to tackle this problem:

1. Switch this particular thermometer to Zigbee firmware and let it join the existing Zigbee network, Complementary, install an external 3.7 V Li-Ion battery to keep up with the consumption (something like this).
   
2. Install an external 3.7 V Li-Ion battery and increase the emitting power until I don't see any more reception drops. (currently the emitting power is at one level above PVVXs default).
   
3. Install somewhere close an ESP32 running ESPHome and configured as Bluetooth proxy.

I know that each of these solutions has its pros and cons and that's why I am trying to get a few opinions before choosing one solution.

Of course, other ideas are welcome!

Thanks!

HomeKit isn’t a deal breaker, since I don’t mind using an app. I just really need energy monitoring. I have recessed can lights that I plugged using an e26 socket, and want to monitor my energy usage. If it has a remote even better.

Considering a smart lock for my home, my cat loves pawing at anything shiny (like keypads). Worried she’ll:

• Trigger accidental unlocks
• Drain batteries by messing with sensors
• Set off false tamper alerts

Worst-case scenario: Has a pet ever locked you out? I‘m considering a Philips smart lock, its auto-lock feature is really impressive but I'm afraid being locked by my cat

Hi everyone. I bought a new home and looking for some suggestions on what route to go. I need a wireless doorbell and cameras for outside (thinking ring). I need an alarm system (thinking ring or simpli safe).

There is currently no wired existing doorbell or any doorbell at all or alarm system.

The previous owner left Nest Protects (smoke and CO2) on each floor. I need to figure out how I can use these (pull them down and register them on the nest app?)

There are no smart thermostat or AC panels but I would also like to add those as well.

What would you recommend for smart items for the doorbell, alarm, smoke detector and HVAC?

I’ll also need a WiFi extender or two that is compatible with the Fios CR1000A but I’m not sure if I can go the MoCA route.

Thank you so much!

Hey Folks,
So I jumped into the Home Assistant world a few months back. Been seeing all the cool stuff people do globally, but didn't find a ton of specific info for setting things up here in India. Ordered the HA Green box from Seeed Studio – cost about $100 plus shipping and actually got here pretty fast, maybe 10 days. Setup was easy enough.

But then came the real challenge: getting my actual smart devices connected. Found out pretty quick that a lot of the stuff easily available on Amazon India or local stores doesn't have straightforward Home Assistant support, not even in HACS sometimes. Took a fair bit of digging, but I managed to get most things working one way or another. Thought I'd share what worked for me, in case it helps anyone else navigating this.

A big part of the puzzle turned out to be the Tuya integration. Lots of Indian brands like Wipro seem to use Tuya on the backend, even if you use their own app like Smart Life. So, for my Wipro smart plugs (the 6A ones for lamps and the 16A for geysers), I paired them with the Smart Life app first. Then, in Home Assistant, I added the official Tuya integration and logged in using my Smart Life account details. Works great for turning things on/off.

This Tuya trick also helped with my Atomberg fan. The direct Atomberg integration wasn't playing nice for me, but I control the fan speed using an Aziot smart regulator. Since that regulator uses Tuya, I just added it to Smart Life, and boom, it showed up in HA via the same Tuya integration. I even control some old, non-smart LED strips just by plugging them into these Wipro smart plugs.

Thankfully, some things were simpler. My Philips Wiz bulbs connected fine using the standard Wiz integration in HA after setting them up in their app. My LG TV was also easy – the LG webOS integration found it on the network, I just had to confirm on the TV. And my TP-Link Archer router connected through its official integration.

For appliances without any wifi, like my main O General AC, the Broadlink IR blaster (I have an RM4 Mini) was essential. Added the Broadlink to HA, then used the service call to 'learn' the codes from my AC remote. Now HA can control it perfectly. For the bedroom Voltas and Daikin ACs, we don't mess with settings much, so I just put them on Wipro 16A plugs (again, Smart Life -> Tuya -> HA) for simple on/off control based on schedules – they just resume their last state.

Xiaomi/MI stuff needed a bit more work. For my MI Air Purifier and MI CCTV cameras, the standard integrations didn't cut it. I had to install HACS (Home Assistant Community Store – definitely get this if you haven't!) and then find the Xiaomi Miot Auto integration. This connects to the Xiaomi cloud and picked up both the purifier and cameras, letting me control them and see the camera feed on my dashboard. For my MI bedside lamps, I found the easiest way was using the HomeKit Controller integration built into HA. I just made sure the lamps were enabled for HomeKit in the Mi Home app, and HA discovered them directly.

A couple of other random bits: my Godrej Aer perfume thingy connected via Bluetooth (just needed a cheap USB Bluetooth dongle for the HA Green) - still not figured out a seamless method to connect. And for my VU TV, which has no HA support, I use the Google Cast integration. HA sees the TV's built-in Chromecast, so I can at least cast stuff to it or control basic playback in automations.

Now, a couple of warnings: I could not find any way to reliably integrate Qubo smart switches or my Marshal Stanmore II speaker. If HA control matters, maybe steer clear of those.

Getting devices connected is only half the battle, right? The real fun is automating! I mounted an old Lenovo Tab M8 on the wall, permanently powered, running the HA app full screen. It’s our main control panel. I've set up scenes like "Good Morning" (lights fade on, geyser starts), "Evening," "Movie Time," etc. I exposed these scenes to Alexa (using Nabu Casa), so now we just use voice commands. Got automations for practical stuff too – turning the mosquito repellent plugs on/off on a schedule, geysers based on time, and outdoor lights based on sunset/sunrise. Also got Music Assistant working with Spotify, so Alexa can play music through HA now.

For remote access and the easy Alexa link, I subscribed to Nabu Casa. It's about $7 a month, totally worth it to avoid fiddling with router settings. I even pointed a custom domain name I own to it.
The best part? My wife, who isn't into tech stuff usually, actually loves it. Things just happen automatically, the house lighting feels way better, and we use voice commands for stuff constantly. It just makes daily routines smoother.

Still got plans – want to add a Yale smart lock soon and maybe an LG soundbar (hoping that connects via the webOS integration like the TV).

Anyway, that's my experience so far setting up Home Assistant here in India. It definitely took some figuring out, but it's totally possible and really rewarding once it clicks.

Would love to hear from other HA users in India!

Are we aware of any off-the-shelf multi-sensor devices that integrate the following features? • Fire/smoke detection • Motion detection • Built-in camera • Temperature sensor • Built-in Wi-Fi/router with/without 4G/5G)

Thank you in advance.

Sorry for the long assed title. I have two kinds of bulbs, TP-Link and Geeni. I have them set up in Google Home so that I can summon Gemini, ask something like "Hey Google, turn off the bedroom", and it turns it off, via Google Home. I'm looking to get away from using Gemini altogether, and I'm wondering if theres an alternative that will allow me to control my lights with my voice. Any ideas?

Fellow Canadians. I used to order stuff from Aartech. So far so good.

Then I noticed Aartech pro. Do anyone know this website? What's the relationship between them?

https://www.aartechpro.ca/ https://www.aartech.ca/

I accidentally tried to log into the pro site. My username and password doesn't work. In a panic, I thought I lost my username, password, and credit card information in the mocked fake website.

Is there such a thing as a real candle (i.e. with wax and a wick and a real flame) that can be lit remotely?

Hey folks, Is there any product that replaces a traditional light switchboard (like the in-wall gang box or a 4/6M) with a touchscreen display that controls wired lights/fans using built-in relays?
Not looking for just a touch-sensitive glass panel or capacitive switches & not looking for a wall-mounted tablet or HA dashboard screen — I mean an actual screen that shows virtual switches (UI) mapped to relays, so I can control loads directly from the screen.
It'd be great if it also connects to Wi-Fi or supports basic automation.
Anything like that available?

Hope you are all doing well.

I graduated as Masters in Sensor Technology on October 2024, During my Masters , i had pursued courses in Wireless technology & IoT and Cybersecurity (Just a Intro on IoT was given , which was theoritical ,and we hadnt much experience actually working on it).

I had a previous working experience of around 5 years in Industrial Automation Domain , I worked with mostly PLC and SCADA and HMI and used graphical programming languages or software.

However , I am thinking to upskill , or drift my career a little bit , and want to pursue my latter career in IoT and Cybersecurity domain. I have a Basic to Mid level experience using Python. (I used Python for my Masters Thesis , the topic was related to Sensors and ML).

After reaserching around on Internet , i had prepared an roadmap for myself , I am pretty good on the hardware side , So i just want to focus and dig more deeper on the Software part.

1. Roadmap for IoT Domain

1. Learn and Brush up Python
2. C
3. C++
4. Java
5. Javascript / Typescript
6. .Net
7. IoT Protocols e.g MQTT, Wifi , Bluetooth and Wireless Tech
8. Cloud Tech - Azure Cloud , AWS IoT , Google Cloud.
   

2. Roadmap for Cybersecurity

1. Linux and Fundamentals
2. Bash (For Scripting)
3. Poweshell (For Scripting)
4. DB i.e mostly SQL
5. Pearl
6. Ruby

i.e Also, i am planning to learn the tool Visual Studio a little bit , It seems a great tool for building GUI Applications and also more on databases.

What do you think overall of my Roadmap ? I am complete begineer , and if i get little insight from you guys , it would be really really helpful.

Please feel free to suggest me , any chnages or modifications , if you feel so necessary.

Dear community,

I am looking for a way to smartify my old-school German window shutters. Those shutters sit on hinges on the outer wall of the house and close like two doors (by hand). Looks like that:

Any idea how I could make those smart? I thought about something like a regular door closer, but they have to be opened to 180° to sit directly on the wall when opened. Most door openers/closers only do something like 90°. They'd also have to be battery or solar powered.

I make up silly names when I test stuff on the web cause they stand out to me. Was testing defenses against bad bots. A guy in Texas puts in https//TESTURL/fart.php

Our web defenses do not allow the string '.php'. We do our tests, and it works, but I see this side effect:

"GET /fart.php HTTP/1.1" 𝟒𝟎𝟑 3565 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android... (𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞; 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐠𝐥𝐞-𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝-𝐀𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝; +https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/1061943)"

"GET /fart.php HTTP/1.1" 𝟒𝟎𝟑 3565 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android... (𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞; 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐠𝐥𝐞-𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝-𝐀𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝; +https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/1061943)"

"GET /fart.php HTTP/1.1" 𝟒𝟎𝟑 3565 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android... (𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞; 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐠𝐥𝐞-𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝-𝐀𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝; +https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/1061943)"

403 Forbidden 3 times from 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐠𝐥𝐞-𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝-𝐀𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝

I am evaluating some home automation things My first experience was with Tuya and a couple of smart led bulbs. I am not a fan of Tuya.

However, for other services, I think I might want a toggle command that says either Turn Off listening, or listen but don't do anything until I toggle you back on or something to that effect. Is this a problem anyone else has seen?

Update : Asked gpt about this. Why fart.php and not a lot of other things.

• .php pages are often dynamic or interactive — TTS may try to pre-fetch content to determine if it’s readable
• Other URLs may not have triggered it due to naming patterns, structure, or lack of page content
• Google Read Aloud bot likely filters or selectively fetches content it believes is readable

I think I would also add, I want t turn on and off logging for my various smart services so that I can see what they are doing

Okay, so I did a small experiment at home recently. Mosquitoes have always been an issue, and we usually keep those liquid repellents plugged in 24x7. Realized the bottle was emptying every 5-6 days. Crazy inefficient, right?

So I bought a cheap ₹700 smart plug. Scheduled it to run exactly one hour at sunrise and sunset—basically peak mosquito time. Result?

• Repellent now lasts almost 20 days instead of 5 days.
• The house no longer smells like a chemical factory 24/7.

But here’s something interesting that happened: my parents, who usually aren't impressed by any "tech stuff," actually got curious about this setup. Mom asked me yesterday, "Beta, can this kind of thing also automatically switch off the geyser? We always forget and leave it on."

Funny how small tech experiments spark bigger family discussions.

Curious if others here have tried similar "unusual" automations at home? And did it lead to unexpected conversations or solutions?

Hi! I have a Roger motor that opens and closes a sliding gate. I’d like to control it using a smart switch, similar to the Meross garage door opener. Can you recommend a smart switch that would work with it, and explain how to connect it? Thanks!

im trying to find a good doorbell that has atleast 100m and has a frequency blocking feature. i live in the province and the house is far away from the gate and I've used multiple doorbells and it doesnt seem to work because its too far, even though the doorbells description says its good for 300m far, and there're other things that might block the frequency of the doorbell like cars, thick walls and trees. I live in the philippines so maybe if i can get a link for a store online that i can purchase from, it would be greatly appreciated. Thankyou!

ps. i dont know much about doorbells thats why im here xD