The Bluetooth range conundrum Bluetooth low energy (BLE) smart home devices can make outfitting your smart home easier but they have a range problem. BLE is low power, so a small battery can power many wireless devices. Your bluetooth motion detectors, door or window sensors, water leak detectors, temperature probes, air quality monitors, physical buttons or dimmers, and many other convenient devices will not need frequent battery changes. Sensors put the “smart” into smart home. Truly automated actions require events or triggers to initiate them. The plethora of BLE sensors provides a rich set of building blocks to choose amongst. But BLE has a big problem - a relatively short bluetooth range when used indoors. There’s a lot of “it depends” waffling, even from the chip manufacturers themselves. It is common to only get good communication within 5 to 15 feet depending on physical layout and building materials. When using personal devices such as BLE headphones or earbuds, the range is not a problem. Most of your BLE devices communicate with your smartphone directly. The smart home poses a big problem - sensors need to work as a system, not just near your smartphone. Apple HomeKit hidden BLE repeaters Apple HomeKit has a workaround that has existed since 2017. With a HomeKit Hub in your smart home setup, the hub can act as a BLE range extender or repeater. Any HomeKit BLE certified devices close to the HomeKit Hub will communicate …
Automation Systems
HomeKit hub is Apple’s HomePod Mini secret
Apple HomeKit basics Apple’s HomeKit hub smart home system, using the Apple Home app, is one of several popular solutions for controlling and automating devices in our home. HomeKit has several key advantages. Apple promotes the protection of our privacy and security for HomeKit devices. One of the other benefits is the ability to start small and grow incrementally. We can purchase a single HomeKit certified smart plug, smart bulb, or other accessory and have a working system. The software to install, setup, and use the device is built into every iPhone and iPad. The Apple Home app is straightforward to use and covers all the basics. Hub or hubless? This setup doesn’t require a special hub device or bridge to operate, so it is often called a “hubless” automation system and not having to buy that $50, $100, or even $500 hub is a strong selling point. But this is misleading! Many of the capabilities of HomeKit to truly automate and not just control the devices in your home require a hub device. The hub is a separate computer that must be turned on 24 x 7 x 365. The hub runs scheduling and automation software where the magic happens. If you want a light to turn on or off at a certain time, have a motion sensor turn on the lights when you walk up to your front door, or do any other combination of tasks automatically will require a hub. A hub also provides secure remote access from outside your home. Want to manually turn on the heat or adjust …
Afraid to install smarthome products?
Are you afraid of smarthome systems? Try this easy starter kit When I first started installing smarthome products, I was! You might find that home automation systems seem complicated, expensive and scary. You have to make choices about which eco-system to use, which products to buy, and to figure out how to get them all to work together. Being afraid to make the wrong choice, it is easy to fall into analysis/paralysis and simply avoiding doing anything. Try a simple approach There is no substitute for doing. No matter how much reading you do, talking with friends, or watching Youtube videos, it is harder to understand smarthome products without experiencing it yourself. Why not try experimenting with some hands-on tests first? Don’t worry about choosing the perfect system, the ideal products, or having everything work together flawlessly. The key to jumping in headfirst is making it affordable and easy. How much do you think you need to spend to give it a go? Five thousand dollars, one thousand dollars, one hundred dollars, fifty dollars? Is it worth it? What if you could get started for less than 8 dollars? Yes, I’m not kidding. I’ve put together suggestions for trying out a real smarthome product spending as little as 8 dollars. Some ground rules first You will need to have a good Wi-Fi network in your home. Solid networking is the foundation for any home automation system. No worries, in this case I’m not suggesting run …
Logi Who?
The Ultimate Universal Remote Control? Logitech is the undisputed king of programmable universal remotes. They have sold millions of their popular Harmony line. These handy gadgets let you control your television plus a slew of related audio/video equipment from a single handheld device. The Logitech Harmony line is affordable offering different models with a range of prices. Starting with the Harmony Companion for only $149 which is a full featured system including both the handheld remote and the Harmony Hub that makes it all work. All Harmony products work with both Apple and Android smartphone apps. If you only want app control and don’t want the physical remote, the Harmony Hub is available by itself for $99. Not as crazy as it sounds - all Harmony remotes work with Amazon Alexa voice control or Google Home so that makes a voice-only solution at a lower price. Moving up the product line, the Harmony Elite for $349.99 adds a miniature color touchscreen built right into the remote itself and additional smart home integrations. With the touchscreen, you aren’t limited by the built-in buttons on the remote, and can select TV channels from colored icons with each network’s respective logo instead of having to remember channel numbers or names. Please note these prices are the nominal retail price and you’ll find better deals online at the usual suspects or your local big box stores. Not Your Basic Remote Control Logitech makes a lot (and I …
Smarthome Spring and Fall cleanup?
That time already (Springtime or Fall)? This year, for the first time in a hundred years, we welcomed the Spring season a few days early on March 19th and Autumn as usual on September 22nd. With everything going on right now, it sure doesn't feel like a new season! Nonetheless, to keep things upbeat, here are my favorite tips for sprucing up your smart home this time of year if you’re tired of Netflix, Youtube, and endless Zoom online meetings! Check And update firmware Everything seems to need firmware updates these days - even the darn toaster oven! Check all your devices - computers, smartphones, tablets and of course, of your Internet of Things (IoT) smart devices and make sure they have the latest firmware upgrades. Proceed cautiously - read the release notes or upgrade notifications and make sure you understand what changes are included. Better security and new features are good to have, but not if stable/reliable equipment becomes buggy and problematic. The old adage “ain’t broke, don't fix it" is tempting, but with proper attention to the details you’ll gain more by keeping your devices up to date with very little risk. Label everything Time to go Marie Kondo and get out your label machine or markers and tape. You should label all network cables, USB cables, serial cables, HDMI cables, thunderbolt cables, power cords, and connectors. It may seem tedious, but trust me, it is really useful when 6 months from now …
Label Everything – Power Tip
Don't Ignore Power Cables Previously I gave some tips on how to label wires and connections to clean up and better manage all your smart home device connections. I want to add one more thing - Don’t ignore power cables. Ethernet cables, video cables, and USB cables tend to get all of our attention. After all, power cables are standardized and look identical, right? Power cords also come in different, wait for it, power ratings. The maximum amperage varies with the quality of the cable and the equipment. A power hungry audio video amplifier may need a bigger cord than an automation hub or controller. Too Detail Oriented? Labelling low voltage power cords used to be something I safely ignored. But I have avoided several problems and made equipment swaps much easier by labelling those thin cables going from the plug-in wall-wart or on the floor brick style power supply modules. Anyone that has agonized over “center positive or center negative” when looking for a replacement direct current (DC) power supply has been there. Save yourself the hassle by labelling all power cords with the both the voltage, polarity, and the name of the device or equipment it is intended. Although many low voltage devices now use standard USB or micro-USB connectors; different devices have very different power and amperage requirements. The new reversible, never-plug-it-in-backwards-again USB-C style connectors also have a variety of voltage and current …
SmartPlug Innovation?
Everything that can be Invented has been Invented Attributed to Charles H. Duell, the Commissioner of US patent office in 1899, this apocryphal quote seems apropos to the ubiquitous smart plug. Every introductory blog, video, or online article about starting a smart home seems to start with smart plugs. Is there really anyone left in the modern world that /doesn’t/ have their coffee maker automatically turning on with a swipe on their mobile phone or a command to their voice tube in the kitchen? Smartplugs are available from just about every major home automation device company and tons of smaller ones you may never had heard of. Online shopping or offline browsing the brick and mortar aisles of Best Buy, Target, Walmart, and even Ikea will turn up a selection of these “must have” gadgets. (My apologies to my European and Asian friends for name-dropping only US big box retail store names). Perhaps not surprising, but innovation in smart plugs seemed to grind to a halt. I’ve used a variety of different products and they all are pretty similar. Compared to security systems, video cameras, and even multi-room audio systems, smartplugs are downright pedestrian. And Now For Something Different I just completed testing a new smart plug and I’m very impressed. This product is not just a me-to device vying for my attention with a low price, well-known brand name, or just gimmicky useless bell and whistles. Instead of competing head-on with all the …
Can You Solve SmartHome Automation Challenges With A Proxy?
Proxy-Powered Home Automation The dictionary defines the word proxy as “the authority to represent someone else” which is close to what it means in software programming too. In a nutshell, a proxy is when one thing stands in for another. You manipulate one thing, and the results are applied to the second. You might think of it as a mirror image or a clone; that’s another way to describe the important concept of two things that are kept in lock-step synchronization with each other. One of the most powerful techniques to solving home automation problems is the use of a proxy device. This is both a basic and an advanced technique and there are many different ways it can be used. I realize this may not be applicable to everyone, and you may never want to implement an advanced proxy solution yourself, but it worthwhile to understand the basic concepts and why it can be useful. The Basics: At Some Level, Everything Is A Proxy I don’t want to play semantic games, but many aspects of a smart home system use proxies without us even thinking about it. A great example is the common motion detector. You might have a few of these that are part of a self-contained simple device like an outdoor floodlight or part of a large smart home system. A dumb or regular floodlight works with a manual switch. Switch it on - the lights turns on, switch it off, the light turns off. With a motion detector, the floodlight turns on or off automatically as the sensor …
The Hub Is Dead! Long Live The Hub?
“The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated” Mark Twain It’s a bad time to be a smart home hub, because if you believe the trade press and media, you’re dead! I wrote about this over a year ago ( Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Hub? ) but I guess the editors didn’t get the memo! This year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2019 edition just wrapped up a few weeks ago in Las Vegas. Almost two hundred thousand people came to town to try and cover almost 3 million square feet of exhibit space and visit over 4500 exhibitors. (I stayed home.) As some of you know from reading here, I try to avoid covering current events or news stories because they are well documented elsewhere. I won’t hype the latest vaporware or fad (and there are always tons of them at CES), but I am upset that the totally false narrative about the “death of the hub” seems to be one of the big takeaways by the idiots that claim to be home automation professional journalists. Why The Negative Hype About Smart Home Hubs? In a word - boredom. This year’s CES did not have any revolutionary new smart home products. No big breakthroughs to “write home about”. Bloggers and media people don’t care about what you and I want - real improvements, even if incremental, that move the home automation industry forward by solving the humdrum, boring, but serious problems or impediments to using technology to make our lives better in our homes. Bloggers are always looking for “click bait” - that sensational sound bite (real or …
Secrets Of Voice Controlled Lighting
The Challenge with Big Lighting Systems Having recently completed a major project for a client (installing a lighting automation system with a large number of dimmers and switches), I was confronted with figuring out an optimal configuration for voice control options. Sure it’s exciting to work on a large multi-room installation but when you get into a system of this size, there are a lot of things that you can’t ignore or sweep under the rug. There’s several key “lessons learned” and tips from different aspects of this particular installation, but I want to focus on voice control - it’s one of my favorite features and very popular with the explosion in smart speakers from Amazon, Google, and Apple. The challenge is as follows: With so many rooms and individual lights / light fixtures, how do you architect a voice control solution that preserves simplicity and ease-of-use? Voice control is very convenient, but lacks the physical, tactile and visual feedback we expect to guide our interactions. If you have worked with voice control, even in a single room, you probably know that naming all the lights and keeping things straight can be a real problem. Current voice control technology is fairly primitive and requires strict or structured voice commands and a lot of memorization to identify the correct room and desired light. Divide And Conquer The first thing I did was to set the right objectives. Since this project has other means of lighting control, the …