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Can you get smart-plugs that don't need an app?

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  • d000hg
    replied
    Originally posted by adubya View Post
    Buy a Sonoff Wifi plug and put Tasmota on it. No more phoning home to China, all controlled via your home LAN with Alexa compatability if you so desire.
    I actually got a Sonoff device to try out the other day: SONOFF Smart WiFi Switch Mini 2 Way Light Switch,Works with Alexa/Google Home/IFTTT,APP Remote Control Switch,Voice Control,Timer Function,Support LAN Control,No Hub Required (2 Pack): Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools

    This one seems pretty neat - you can wire in a switch to manually flip the state which is a very clever addition I've not seen on other products.
    It also claims "LAN control" but I've not looked into that.

    Oddly, other Sonoff devices on Amazon don't seem to have either of these functions. Never heard of Tasmota, is that like a firmware flash? Is it specific to Sonoff, and are Sonoff a known brand or just another random Chinese company?

    edit: Sonoff DIY - Tasmota

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  • adubya
    replied
    Buy a Sonoff Wifi plug and put Tasmota on it. No more phoning home to China, all controlled via your home LAN with Alexa compatability if you so desire.

    Leave a comment:


  • Paralytic
    replied
    Originally posted by WTFH View Post
    INKSPE.

    Only ONE butler?

    Don't you have a sommelier for the wine?
    I was simplifying things. The sommelier takes the wine to the butler who delivers it to me. That way, I don't need to know the sommeliers name. Both use the app.

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  • wattaj
    replied
    Originally posted by ladymuck View Post
    I get the butler to do it.
    Scotland. We don't use the electricity unless we have to.

    Leave a comment:


  • WTFH
    replied
    Originally posted by Paralytic View Post
    I get the butler to use the app, so it doesn't impede the delivery of my drinks.

    INKSPE.

    Only ONE butler?

    Don't you have a sommelier for the wine?

    Leave a comment:


  • Paralytic
    replied
    Originally posted by ladymuck View Post
    I get the butler to do it.
    I get the butler to use the app, so it doesn't impede the delivery of my drinks.

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  • ladymuck
    replied
    Originally posted by d000hg View Post
    Maybe your house is so small that's not a problem
    I get the butler to do it.

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  • d000hg
    replied
    Originally posted by wattaj View Post
    Or, one could simply get up and switch on/off the light.
    Maybe your house is so small that's not a problem

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  • d000hg
    replied
    Originally posted by Paralytic View Post
    I don't believe it will end up with a single standard. If it takes off, I believe it will be a common interface onto 3 (assuming Google/Apple/Amazon) standards. So, 4 standards.
    Well yes. But in theory manufacturers only need to worry about the common interface when designing?

    Originally posted by Lance View Post
    you're missing the advantage of doing it through an app.
    It will be updated, secured, patched etc. by a provider who knows what they are doing.
    You're very trusting. The quality of apps doesn't give me much confidence it's not just a couple of guys hacking away in most cases
    And most apps I've looked into are basically wrapping some HTTP API which is easily reverse-engineered. Honeywell, Simplisafe, Blink - homebrew projects allow you to access all of these for example.

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  • Lance
    replied
    Originally posted by d000hg View Post
    I'm grudgingly coming round to the idea that some of these IoT gadgets are actually quite neat. But one bug-bear is every single smart-plug or whatever wants you to install its own (cr)App. You can typically control them once installed via Google et al, but I don't want cruddy apps everywhere. And while we're at it, I dislike the idea that sat on my sofa, a command to turn a light on requires a round-trip to the internet.

    Can you get products that avoid one or both of these irks? I assume in time some sort of standards will emerge, I know some product ranges use hubs but then the hub needs an app and none of these platforms seem very mature so chances are by the time you want to add another plug, the hub is outdated.

    Must be some gadgety types here who have embraced this properly?

    edit: this seems a good starting point: Smart plugs no App required? : amazonecho

    I hadn't thought that everything needs a roundtrip via the manufacturer's server as well... that just sounds a nightmare with all these dozens of copycat factories churning this stuff out.
    you're missing the advantage of doing it through an app.
    It will be updated, secured, patched etc. by a provider who knows what they are doing.

    10 years ago all this was done as you desire, and it was hacked and made into botnets. Various routers, web cams, etc.

    Leave a comment:

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