"Smart" homes

[quiet_riot]

Anyone delved into this? I'd like to know your experiences.

I like the idea of smart lighting, especially from a security perspective, but find it to be expensive (£12 a bulb?!).

I'm also paranoid and don't like the idea of Alexa listening to everything I say - even if she can turn the heat up or make me a brew.

Finally smart door locks - wtf...scares the shit out of me.

 

[talkativesprout]

Wasn't someones entire network compromised by a feckin bulb?

TBH i'm more concerned about my forgetting to employ Private Browsing when Mrs Sprout goes to bed

 

[DavidWhitesBoots]

Look at the zwave kit(many different brands you'll need a controller and zwave is the protocol), takes more time and energy but worth it if you want more complex scenes.
Lightwave is good and simple to install / control
If you just want on off type control maybe look at the sonoff kit

It is an expensive toy though! Barring sonoff which can be had for about 6quid a relay.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

 

[TCIB]

Anyone delved into this? I'd like to know your experiences.

I like the idea of smart lighting, especially from a security perspective, but find it to be expensive (£12 a bulb?!).

I'm also paranoid and don't like the idea of Alexa listening to everything I say - even if she can turn the heat up or make me a brew.

Finally smart door locks - wtf...scares the shit out of me.

I love the idea of it but even Bill Gates had to have people come back about twelvety times to fix his stuff. You get given a pin to wear at his and it allows you to use devices around the house, no pin and you walk in a room, light stays off. We are getting there but i feel for it to be commercially viable for the average person it will be about 20 years before a close to fully automated home is available of the shelf.

I would enjoy that level of automation but there are a hell of a lot who would cause hassle due to turning into lard arses. For example i like to cook, i would not want an automated chef doing stuff for me all the time. For a few getting up and mooching around the kitchen is the closest thing to exercise they have. Stuff along those lines we would have to watch, basically not promote total laziness.

 

[Jalfraag]

I love the idea of it but even Bill Gates had to have people come back about twelvety times to fix his stuff. You get given a pin to wear at his and it allows you to use devices around the house, no pin and you walk in a room, light stays off. We are getting there but i feel for it to be commercially viable for the average person it will be about 20 years before a close to fully automated home is available of the shelf.

I would enjoy that level of automation but there are a hell of a lot who would cause hassle due to turning into lard arses. For example i like to cook, i would not want an automated chef doing stuff for me all the time. For a few getting up and mooching around the kitchen is the closest thing to exercise they have. Stuff along those lines we would have to watch, basically not promote total laziness.

Should be able to have some fun with this over the next few years. I'm sure there'll be a few security problems. A neighbour you don't get on with might find their fridge orders a few extra items.

 

[quiet_riot]

Should be able to have some fun with this over the next few years. I'm sure there'll be a few security problems. A neighbour you don't get on with might find their fridge orders a few extra items.

That's the worry - first it's a fridge hack, next thing your smart locks are compromised and you might as well have left the door open

 

[TCIB]

Should be able to have some fun with this over the next few years. I'm sure there'll be a few security problems. A neighbour you don't get on with might find their fridge orders a few extra items.

Oh shit i forgot about that stuff iot security and user friendliness. That south park episode had eveyone's alexa ordering big stinky donkey balls and stuff hahaha, i thought that was pretty funny. I can just imagine someone at Tesco checking the system and seeing 148 thousand orders for "stinky shit faces" hahahaha.

You are righ tthough security and getting annoying bugs out will be hard. Trying to allow the algorithm for interpreting commands work with someone having a speech impediment for example. My mate has a stammer, he would end up with 300 thousand fridge magnets for the letter F xD

 

[Southern]

I'm also paranoid and don't like the idea of Alexa listening to everything I say - even if she can turn the heat up or make me a brew.

Finally smart door locks - wtf...scares the shit out of me.

You should be paranoid. Imagine all the government monitoring/surveillance if everyone had a house like that

 

[smudgedj]

Anyone delved into this? I'd like to know your experiences.

I like the idea of smart lighting, especially from a security perspective, but find it to be expensive (£12 a bulb?!).

I'm also paranoid and don't like the idea of Alexa listening to everything I say - even if she can turn the heat up or make me a brew.

Finally smart door locks - wtf...scares the shit out of me.

My house is, I use Lifx bulbs (colour in the living room and bar area, white everywhere else) the only place I don't use wireless lights is in the bathrooms. Wemo plugs (on the smart TV, kettle, coffee machine, water dispenser, bar) I use Flic for guest as they don't 'normally' speek de inglissh. Everything is controlled by Alexa. Even the wife loves it! I like Alexa even if it does allows GCHQ to cross reference with my Samsung TV to see if they have missed any of my conversations.

A nest smoke detector so if that goes off all the lights come on.

If you'd asked me a few years ago I would be updating the firmware in my lightbulbs I would have laughed.

Never had a problem with anything.

 

[DiscoSteve]

I've got some of this stuff running.

Mandatory Philips Hue colour lights throughout the house along with the odd Innr ones (to avoid some of the eye-watering costs of Hue bulbs - std colour ones are 50 quid each)
Amazon Echo Dot (aka Alexa) knows all about the lights "Alexa... make all the lights blue!" really does work in my house
I have some Energenie Plugs which are distinctly average so I could (if I could get them to work reliably) turn mains operated stuff on/off
I have a clutch of Raspberry Pi's half hacked in so I can crudely control those plugs and my Sonos from Alexa and some of the Hue Lights from a map of the house on any phone on the Wifi
I also have a Nest Smart Thermostat waiting to go in and a stack of Amazon Dash Buttons waiting to be smart switches.

Trouble is football season is back on so it'll all be left til Christmas before I pick it up again