Question

So I started my smart adventure a couple of years back not knowing a lot. Here is what I have. Philips Hue bulbs all over with a gen 2 hub TP-Link Smart Switches Honeywell Smart thermostat MyQ garage door opener Ring doorbell Arlo Pro cameras Smart tv’s Apple 4k tvs Xbox One x I’m using Amazon Echo devices throughout the house for voice control of pretty much everything and have a few routines setup. Reading through I always see “stay away from cloud based because of the internet goes out nothing will work. ” I was already too deep when I started so I carried on. I didn’t worry because we never have outages and even if we do it’s very rare and for a very short period. until the other day. Man that was frustrating as hell. So now I’m trying to figure out if there is some way to use these things “off the cloud” so I can get away from that. Suggestions? Even if that means buying a different hub. I want to get off the cloud.  

Answer 1

I've only been doing this for 4 months now so my experience is limited but started out with the goal of keeping control as local as possible. So I'm running a lot of z-wave (i hear zigbee is another decent protocol) devices in Home Assistant with a z-wave USB stick (hub).  

Comments

@butterfield that’s what confuses me. Can I make adjustments of control with what I already have or would I be starting all over again?  

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I think it depends on the device. In your list the only one I have is a "Smart TV" & I don't bring that directly into my automation software (and I'm a PS4 guy but we won't go there. :) ). I have 3 cloud based devices & they are Nest Thermostat, Bond ceiling fan/light controller & Google Home. They don't work when my internet is down but my 15+ z-wave devices (mostly wall mount light switches & receptacle plug ins) still do. Granted, if no internet, Google Home can't control anything. But in a web browser, I can still access & control all the z-wave devices. I also integrated my PC to be able to turn it on or off (even with google home) but it uses some windows network specific protocol.  

Answer 2

You should look into openhab. org to connect everything together with one rule base.  

Comments

@cupp50 so the devices I have will work with this without internet?  

Answer 3

HomeSeer. Not internet dependent.  

Comments

@bedrail does this work with what I’ve already got? Or am I starting all over?  

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Yes should work with all. You use software on computer or buy one of their controllers with everything preloaded. You than get free plugins for things you have or some plugins you have to pay for. www. homeseer. com Also check out HomeSeer group on Facebook.  

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@bedrail so it looks like I’d need to start with one of their hubs right? And then from there I get whatever plugins I need for the devices I have. Is that right? I may go this route.  

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@salisbury buying one of their hubs is an option which is the option I chose years back. You could also download their software on a computer but I don’t have much experience with that. Here are there hubs. Some hubs only allow certain amount of plugins. Some are Linux. Some are windows. I went with the S6pro. Unlimited plugins, windows based. For me it seemed the easiest as I don’t know Linux and it came with the most free plugins. But it is the more expensive option. Call them. They are so helpful.  

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@bedrail I do have an older computer laying here here that I could repurpose specifically for this. So do you know if I would still need their hub or would the software alone suffice? I’d say you have my attention at this point with homeseer. I’m probably going to end up going this route.  

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You could use just software on computer. Double check what you need first for specifications, etc. before buying software. HomeSeer is top notch. It’s as best as you can get to pro quality for DIY. Go to HomeSeer facebook group. And ask questions on there or call HomeSeer directly. They are all very helpful. I got into this like 5-6 years ago and they helped me out tremendously. It’s been rock solid. It works with everything. I even have it working with Siri and my apple home app with homebridge software running on a separate raspberry pi. Not hard to do that either if you are interested in Siri control.  

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@bedrail well looks like I’ve got a weekend project now. Thanks for the help.  

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@salisbury you very are welcome. Good luck and message me if need help.  

Answer 4

The smart lighting app is all local! They have plans to add more local control. Either that or hubitat