The Lutron Caseta switches, which don't require a neutral wire, also don't need a hub of any sort like the article states. They communicate directly with the AppleTV, Home Pod, or iPad. Their cost is comparable to other wall switches.
So far I've seen no reason to install HomeKit or ANYhome automation system. It still feels like a solution looking for a problem.
Lights that come on when I get home? I have motion sensor lights outside my house that do just that, simply, automatically, without any iffy WiFi connection. and it makes no difference if I've forgotten my phone.
A thermostat that turns up and down when you are home? I have one of those. Like most people we keep a fairly regular schedule. It's warm when we are there, cool when we aren't. I programmed it a few years ago and it's worked flawlessly since then without Siri, or WiFi, or anything.
Ceiling fan? We have a remote on the table in the living room. Usually when I'm sitting on the couch my phone is across the room charging so this is far easier, and it always works.
Sure I might leave a light on in the far store room. You know how long I could run an LED bulb before I'd pay for a system that may or may not turn it off when I tap my phone? Oh that's right, my phone is upstairs charging at night so I would have to get up and turn it off from there. Well, if I'm up anyway, it would be easier to just turn off the switch.
I still see no reason to adopt any of these Home Automation systems. Simpler, more reliable, and cheaper alternatives have been out there for decades.
Then you’re lacking in imagination. And you’re ignorant about how these systems work if you believe forgetting your phone poses some sort of problem. It’s not about replacing light switches with futzing around on a phone to operate. That isn’t how you use them. You define scenes and schedules that are responsive to the time of day or other sensors. This is why it’s called home “automation”. You don’t need your phone on you for the system to work effortlessly.
But thanks for announcing you don’t have any interest in how these products work. I’ll rest easy.
Oh so then I'll be debugging programming issues with my house. No thanks, I've got better things to do. With one significant exception, the HomeKit devices I've seen replace proven, reliable technologies that just work. Motion sensor lights, programmable thermostats, and such. They just work. The one exception would be connected door locks. Those strike me as the WORST OF BAD IDEAS. Get too cold and the locks brain freezes up. Can't fix that with a spray can of lock deicer. And my locks aren't connected to WiFi so nobody is going to drive by and hack them remotely. Home Automation is still a geeky solution that is cool and all, believe me I understand the appeal. But it is trying to replace solutions that just work without adding useful functions. Ooh I can turn my living room lights on to pale green. No thanks, I want to see what I'm doing. I had a friend that installed a really expensive lighting automation system. He demoed it while we were over there. Later my wife and I were talking about it and we agreed, it was stupid and pointless. Yes he could have different colours and disco chasing light effects, but why. It was a pointless waste of money. Now I do have one thing that could be considered Home Automation, a Roomba. I set it up and it just works, I don't have to do anything else with it. My WiFi could go down, I could delete the app, and it would just work. That's what Home Automation should be; simple, just work, and solve a real problem. So far I haven't seen anything, HomeKit or otherwise, that meets that criteria. "Oh you can use your phone to open your blinds". Thanks, I'm standing next to the window, it isn't that hard, and my system works during a power outage. I learned at an early age the KISS principle. Keep It Simple Stupid. Avoid unnecessary complexity. The Home Automation systems I've seen add unnecessary complexity without adding enough value to make them worth the investment. Maybe in a decade. Until then; pass.
The primary use for home automation setups like HomeKit is, well, automation. If all you are doing is using them as a simple switch then you're right, there's not much point. Of course if you extend your argument, there's no point in having a switch on the wall. Wall switches are for people who are too lazy to walk over to the light to turn it on.
To give you an idea of some of the things that can be done - - Once in a while we leave our garage door open so I have the controller alert us if the garage door is open after 10PM. - If we come home after dark, the controller turns on the mudroom and kitchen lights automatically so it's not dark when we come in - I have the controller turn on and off the lights while we're away to make it seem like we're home. - I have a water sensor in the sump pump well so if the sump pump fails we get an alert - If the door opens while you are away, turn on the web camera an record for 30 seconds so you can see who came in and send a text message to your phone. These are just basic things; you can get more complex if you like. Home automation systems also let you do things like control lights, etc in multiple rooms with one switch, or you can add a wireless switch someplace to control lights without having an electrician come and start drilling holes in your wall.
To your post about locks and security, yes, there is the risk of a security breach, but there are also increased capabilities. When we have people coming over to check on the house while we're on vacation we can give them a different code and then erase it afterwards. one can do the same if there are workers coming while you are away. If my wife has to work late and doesn't get home before the kids get home from school, all they have to do is enter a code to unlock the door. No need to worry about whether they have a key or if they've lost the key. You can also enable or disable codes remotely, so if something's up while you're away, you can program a code for your neighbor to get in the house. Edit - I live in Minnesota. We had one of the coldest winters on record with periods where the temperature did not get above 0º F for several days and the lock never froze, so your concerns about freezing are unfounded. Beyond that, you can use a key if you really want to.
It's kind of analogous to the internet. Having your computer connected to the internet is a security risk but it also gives it capabilities that it wouldn't otherwise have. If you don't have any use for these capabilities then there's no point in paying for the equipment, but a lot of people find them useful.
I wanted to try automation out and went with tp-link Smart wi-fi mini plug and Alexa just as a test. Like many others have experienced, the tp-link often disconnected from my WiFi (an AirPort Extreme) until it finally stopped connecting altogether. This doesn’t happen with my iPhone, iPads, or laptop so it appears not to be a problem with the airport. The reviews I’ve read indicate the same thing happens with HomeKit devices. And this seems to be a common issue. How are people getting around this problem?
A few days ago, I started using Google Home Hub, Google Home app and Google Assistant. It was fantastic from the first hour. "Hey Google" or "OK Google" is definitely much, much better than "Hey Siri". I spent ten years on Apple, but I'm not sure I'll continue my spending on it. I give a go on Google, and it's not disappointing me.
I still don’t get HomeKit. I much prefer a system isolated from the internet, and OpenHAB works well for that. You can pretty much be guaranteed that if it works with HomeKit it will work with OpenHAB, along with a lot more devices.
One (or maybe two) points that this review and every review either misses or glosses over: 1) "To hub or not hub -- that is the question". For myself and many others, I want as little between the device and my phone as possible. In addition, I look on hubs as just a door for some company to hack me or spy on me. I trust Apple. Period.
2) Every review proclaims: "You just control it with YOUR iPhone or Apple Watch". But what if your spouse wants to control it with her iPhone?
For the second, I ran into that face first when I set up a pair of LifX bulbs for my grandson's gaming room: To surprise him I installed the bulbs (meaning I screwed them into the socket!) and than activate them through and into Homekit. When he got home he loved them -- but we could not get them connected to Homekit on his iPhone -- they simply wouldn't connect. Finally, I delete them from my Homekit on my iPhone and they connected right up to his, no problem.
Since then I have seen instructions where I could have 'shared' them with his Homekit from my phone. Or, better yet, have set them up on what amounts to an Apple Hub (Homepod, AppleTV or iPad that never leaves the home) and shared them from that -- which also enables remote control via the web instead of having to be on the same WiFi as the device.
To me, these are the kind of issues that drive people crazy -- and it's exacerbated by the overly simplistic "just use your iPhone".
I love HomeKit..it works extremely well in my experience. The one very annoying thing not specific to HomeKit is the requirement of ,say, Hue and Lutron hubs (that do not use WiFi to talk to their devices ) to be physically connected by Ethernet to the router. That can be a problem if the location of the router means the distance from the router to the Hue devices is too far and communication is patchy or fails. The only way I solved this was to buy a mesh WiFi (orbi) and connect the hubs to a satellite WiFi..
I love HomeKit..it works extremely well in my experience. The one very annoying thing not specific to HomeKit is the requirement of ,say, Hue and Lutron hubs (that do not use WiFi to talk to their devices ) to be physically connected by Ethernet to the router. That can be a problem if the location of the router means the distance from the router to the Hue devices is too far and communication is patchy or fails. The only way I solved this was to buy a mesh WiFi (orbi) and connect the hubs to a satellite WiFi..
Hue uses Zigbee and Lutron uses ClearConnect RF. Both Mesh based low power signals ...you don't need a Mesh Wifi router you need just a signal boost. Lutron recommends for those people that have longer distances between bulbs that they use a lamp dimmer which also acts as a signal booster.
I don't know if there's a corollary Zigbee booster for Hue.
Is there any way to extend the wireless range of the Smart Bridge?
Yes, the first plug-in lamp dimmer added to the system will automatically be assigned as a range extender. Limit of one (1) range extender per system.
The lamp dimmer must be installed within 30’ from the Smart Bridge, and the range extender provides an additional 30’ radius of Clear Connect RF coverage.
Example: Serena shades were installed in a bedroom at the far end of the home away from the Smart Bridge just outside the wireless range, and could not be added to the system. Placing a lamp dimmer assigned as a range extender will add an additional 30’ of wireless range and allow the shades and any other Caseta devices in that area to be added to the system.
The fight for the smarthome market is far from over. I'd advise people to buy accessories that work with all three (or at least two) ecosystems. Most of the products others have recommended meet this criteria.
Well I got fed up of waiting for Homekit years ago and went all in on Alexa.
For me there is no turning back. Apple was far too little and far too late for me especially living in the UK.
The author makes it sound like only Homekit can set up zones, turn lights on when you walk into a room and off again when you leave. I've had LightwaveRF light switches/sockets/relays/PIR etc. for over 7 years with LED bulbs (potential saving of over 2.5kw) and even now I don't need a neutral wire in my switches.
I see with interest another comment that mentioned;
Doorbell
Netatmo - Coming
Interestingly Ring promised Homekit compatibility years ago but I got fed up of waiting.
Likewise Canary also promised Homekit compatibility and I got fed up of waiting for them also.
Not necessarily Apples fault (although can't be sure) but Homekit was a massive letdown for me.
Like someone else said Apple should have had Home Automation tied up well before now but they completely missed the boat on this one IMHO.
Like someone else said Apple should have had Home Automation tied up well before now but they completely missed the boat on this one IMHO.
The boat hasn't even taken off yet. The current incarnation of Home Automation technology is just trial run. The 3rd generation is coming and will coincide with the push to Wifi 6.
Members of the Thread Group of note
Apple
ARM
Cisco
Amazon
Samsung
Texas Instruments
Intel
Legrand
Google
Siemens
Silicon Labs
Signify (Philips)
Yale
Qualcomm
OSRAM
Ikea
Crestron
Thread is low power IP based with built in encryption. It's self healing because you have have multiple border routers that be leveraged in fail-over. Because it's IP addressable it can be network efficient and that's where Wifi 6 comes in with OMFDA and the more intelligent use of bandwidth
If we're lucky we'll be able to upgrade our router to Wifi 6 nodes and these will function as the necessary bridges that we need (so long as RF is not necessary) for controlling out Home Automation gear.
HomeKit is much further along and far more mature than the author lets on.
The problem is that there is can still be a dramatic difference in quality from 1 HomeKit-compatible product to another. And the ones that are good are so expensive that it will make you puke. $70 for a fucking light switch.
There is also an overemphasis on features that make no sense in the real world. All of the proximity-based features for various products are completely impractical...I guess they are all designed for people who live alone, because they are useless to a house with more than 1 person.
LIFX lights with Homepod/Siri = Stupid Home! ( hey Siri turn on bed room light - can’t find it, repeat hey sir turn on bedroom light - ok done... I’m constantly repeating myself. Siri with HomePod = stupid home. Siri what’s the weather - don’t know where you are, repeat hey what’s the whether = it’s 17 Bla bla Bla... I’m constantly repeating myself. ..not to mention that Siri is slow and dumb... other than that I still love my smart bulbs lol
LIFX lights with Homepod/Siri = Stupid Home! ( hey Siri turn on bed room light - can’t find it, repeat hey sir turn on bedroom light - ok done... I’m constantly repeating myself. Siri with HomePod = stupid home. Siri what’s the weather - don’t know where you are, repeat hey what’s the whether = it’s 17 Bla bla Bla... I’m constantly repeating myself. ..not to mention that Siri is slow and dumb... other than that I still love my smart bulbs lol
Lifx owners are just going to struggle with each major change. The advantage of other systems is established protocols like Zigbee or Bluetooth. Lifx has to roll their own and even my bulb acts up ever now and then. I recommend them when people just have a few bulbs they want to add but they'd be a poor choice for someone that wants to grow their system to cover most of their home.
LIFX lights with Homepod/Siri = Stupid Home! ( hey Siri turn on bed room light - can’t find it, repeat hey sir turn on bedroom light - ok done... I’m constantly repeating myself. Siri with HomePod = stupid home. Siri what’s the weather - don’t know where you are, repeat hey what’s the whether = it’s 17 Bla bla Bla... I’m constantly repeating myself. ..not to mention that Siri is slow and dumb... other than that I still love my smart bulbs lol
Lifx owners are just going to struggle with each major change. The advantage of other systems is established protocols like Zigbee or Bluetooth. Lifx has to roll their own and even my bulb acts up ever now and then. I recommend them when people just have a few bulbs they want to add but they'd be a poor choice for someone that wants to grow their system to cover most of their home.
Huh? So you're suggesting going with 3rd party hubs instead of connecting directly to HomeKit? For me and many others, that's a non-starter.
As for LifX, the bulbs I got for my grandson have been working perfectly.
Comments
To give you an idea of some of the things that can be done -
- Once in a while we leave our garage door open so I have the controller alert us if the garage door is open after 10PM.
- If we come home after dark, the controller turns on the mudroom and kitchen lights automatically so it's not dark when we come in
- I have the controller turn on and off the lights while we're away to make it seem like we're home.
- I have a water sensor in the sump pump well so if the sump pump fails we get an alert
- If the door opens while you are away, turn on the web camera an record for 30 seconds so you can see who came in and send a text message to your phone.
These are just basic things; you can get more complex if you like. Home automation systems also let you do things like control lights, etc in multiple rooms with one switch, or you can add a wireless switch someplace to control lights without having an electrician come and start drilling holes in your wall.
To your post about locks and security, yes, there is the risk of a security breach, but there are also increased capabilities. When we have people coming over to check on the house while we're on vacation we can give them a different code and then erase it afterwards. one can do the same if there are workers coming while you are away. If my wife has to work late and doesn't get home before the kids get home from school, all they have to do is enter a code to unlock the door. No need to worry about whether they have a key or if they've lost the key. You can also enable or disable codes remotely, so if something's up while you're away, you can program a code for your neighbor to get in the house. Edit - I live in Minnesota. We had one of the coldest winters on record with periods where the temperature did not get above 0º F for several days and the lock never froze, so your concerns about freezing are unfounded. Beyond that, you can use a key if you really want to.
It's kind of analogous to the internet. Having your computer connected to the internet is a security risk but it also gives it capabilities that it wouldn't otherwise have. If you don't have any use for these capabilities then there's no point in paying for the equipment, but a lot of people find them useful.
1) "To hub or not hub -- that is the question". For myself and many others, I want as little between the device and my phone as possible. In addition, I look on hubs as just a door for some company to hack me or spy on me. I trust Apple. Period.
2) Every review proclaims: "You just control it with YOUR iPhone or Apple Watch". But what if your spouse wants to control it with her iPhone?
For the second, I ran into that face first when I set up a pair of LifX bulbs for my grandson's gaming room: To surprise him I installed the bulbs (meaning I screwed them into the socket!) and than activate them through and into Homekit. When he got home he loved them -- but we could not get them connected to Homekit on his iPhone -- they simply wouldn't connect. Finally, I delete them from my Homekit on my iPhone and they connected right up to his, no problem.
Since then I have seen instructions where I could have 'shared' them with his Homekit from my phone.
Or, better yet, have set them up on what amounts to an Apple Hub (Homepod, AppleTV or iPad that never leaves the home) and shared them from that -- which also enables remote control via the web instead of having to be on the same WiFi as the device.
To me, these are the kind of issues that drive people crazy -- and it's exacerbated by the overly simplistic "just use your iPhone".
I don't know if there's a corollary Zigbee booster for Hue.
https://www.casetawireless.com/Pages/FAQs.aspx
Yes, the first plug-in lamp dimmer added to the system will automatically be assigned as a range extender. Limit of one (1) range extender per system.
The lamp dimmer must be installed within 30’ from the Smart Bridge, and the range extender provides an additional 30’ radius of Clear Connect RF coverage.
Members of the Thread Group of note
Thread is low power IP based with built in encryption. It's self healing because you have have multiple border routers that be leveraged in fail-over. Because it's IP addressable it can be network efficient and that's where Wifi 6 comes in with OMFDA and the more intelligent use of bandwidth
If we're lucky we'll be able to upgrade our router to Wifi 6 nodes and these will function as the necessary bridges that we need (so long as RF is not necessary) for controlling out Home Automation gear.
The problem is that there is can still be a dramatic difference in quality from 1 HomeKit-compatible product to another. And the ones that are good are so expensive that it will make you puke. $70 for a fucking light switch.
There is also an overemphasis on features that make no sense in the real world. All of the proximity-based features for various products are completely impractical...I guess they are all designed for people who live alone, because they are useless to a house with more than 1 person.
Siri with HomePod = stupid home. Siri what’s the weather - don’t know where you are, repeat hey what’s the whether = it’s 17 Bla bla Bla... I’m constantly repeating myself. ..not to mention that Siri is slow and dumb... other than that I still love my smart bulbs lol
For me and many others, that's a non-starter.
As for LifX, the bulbs I got for my grandson have been working perfectly.