I want to set up some simple programmable buttons to run scenarios at my house and my (elderly) mother's.
Factors:
Wi-Fi enabled houses
I have a background in IT - but only done vaguely intelligent plug and play for the last 10 years.
No hubs existing.
Trying to stay cost effective.
Recommendations?
I have existing home automation scenarios, so pretty easy.
Mum's will be all new, but the most important one will be one that sends an alert of some sort to me on activation.
@Andrea If I was looking for something with those parameters, plus remote admin, and notifications - I’d be looking at a combination of:
- #HomeAssistant running Open Thread Border Router on a Raspberry Pi;
- and IKEA’s Matter buttons and sensors;
- Tailscale (Wireguard) or another secure remote access solution.
The only problem I can forsee is time taken to get started, and still the lack of maturity with Matter for device onboarding.
@twcau thanks.
I've started looking at the IKEA matter system as an option, but I was concerned it wasn't mature enough.
I might start there, and take the easy first step of using the IKEA hub - which should solve most of the local needs. The solution for the messaging alert button is the tricky one and I expect I'll have some fun exploring that in the next few months.
@twcau @Andrea I have this setup. The only difference is that I'm using Nabu Casa for remote access. Its seamless and directly supports the developers of #homeassistant which I feel is absolutely worthwhile.
Edit: I'm running the thread/matter setup as a test alongside a mature #ZigBee network with 50+ devices.
@Andrea The #HomeAssistant tag here on the fedi has some really knowledgeable people contributing to it; and there’s some great Aussie who use HA like @trib @mattrobertson and myself.
I’m always open to answering questions where I can
@twcau @Andrea @mattrobertson I'm certainly learning a LOT. This week has been about weather stations, air quality, and ApexCharts.
And I also very happy to help with any problem I can.
Could you tell us more as what you’re looking to control? Lights? Power switches? Something else?
I have built and tested quite a few components in my own house so when it came to my mother we just did Hue for lights. Yes, they’re more expensive but I have also not had an issue with one nor the bridge in over 13 years. So I would say they’re worth it compared to IKEA stuff which lasted about 3 years all 30 lights I bought. The things you run remote has to be super stable. I mean, re-linking 30 devices 3-4 times isn’t as fun as it sounds.
Using Hue and connecting it to HA opens up layers of control and functions. Hue has nice buttons to put on walls that can control lights directly but also make things happen in HA.
@jens I'll be linking home Assistant scenarios. So everything will already be programmed into scenarios that work.
My house is currently WiFi lights & Wi-Fi fans - it all works fine.
I'm not looking for Wi-Fi devices, just a smart button solution to run already set up home assistant scenarios.
Once I have a system that's supported then I *may* look to expand it if I can to control other, already existing, devices - like smart blinds. I'll also look into a solution that connects a button with a remote alert. I have no time frame on those. Other solutions exist so they aren't strictly necessary.
Ah ok, you’re just looking for buttons.
The only ones I use with just HA are actually Flic with a Flic hub. For them, I use webhooks to get into HA.
It’s been quite reliable. But I have only used the, for 2-3 years. The biggest drawback is when they’re not used often and the battery runs out. More so with the older button that has a smaller battery. Today, there are several versions to choose from.
The Flic Twist has probably the best battery (dual AAA).
@Unixbigot battery powered.
My use case is for guest convenience.
My stuff is a whole mish-mash of stuff on different apps. Most Wi-Fi, some Bluetooth with proprietary Wi-Fi hubs. Then I've got about half (lights, fans) working with home automation scenarios. That's the stuff I want to put on buttons - for random guest convenience.
I also have tuiss smartview blinds that use Bluetooth that I'd like a button for - I've found a reddit post that gives me an option there and I'm looking at the SwitchBot mini hub which includes IR blaster - which may solve that problem. More research needed.
Mum will eventually also have the smartview blinds. But my main use case for her are "call me" buttons in case she has a fall when her phone is not nearby. A more interesting and complex solution needed there.
She doesn't really care about the buttons yet, but has fully embraced the ring cameras I gave them years ago and the eufy smart door lock more recently.
@Andrea the thing about wifi for home automation buttons is that WiFi is a battery pig³. If you don't already have a home hub that supports other lower-power radio bands, your options are either "get one¹ , build a home-assistant hub with a low-power wireless bridge, or get a self-contained bridge and some zigbee or matter buttons²". There is a saying "when setting out to install HomeAssistant, first dig two graves".
¹ I have several spare google home minis which you may have one or more of if this helps
² ikea https://www.ikea.com/au/en/p/dirigera-hub-for-smart-products-white-smart-90503407/ https://www.ikea.com/au/en/p/bilresa-remote-control-white-smart-dual-button-50617868/
³ these do work but unsure of battery life https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006081884094.html also https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005010524995760.html
If you want to explore build-it-yourself no-evil-cloud options for ideological or recreational reasons, I have designed all the necessary hardware and have stock.
@dzwiedziu I'm trying to stay away from zigbee, based on the belief that it will eventually be phased out / replaced by matter.
Is this an erroneous thought?
@Andrea
Honestly I didn't know about that.
Personally I only had trouble getting the power measuring plug from IKEA in France.
Still the devices I have work, and the admission cost difference between ZB and WiFi was ~20€ for the USB controller vs. a separate isolated WiFi setup.
Still with Home Assistant being recommended here already you can mix systems to your heart's content.
@Andrea I use these for that functionality. But like the Sonoff's mentioned earlier, these are also zigbee so you'd need to add a zigbee dongle to your setup. Single press, double press, long press options for running automations.
Andrea
I can’t believe its not @twcau
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