j2fusion

One of the things I found with HomeKit is it is not always the vendor that has issues. For example, I have Fios at my house and I’ve had a lot of problems with iDevices products going off line. Yet I have another location I help out with that has Comcast as the IP for, among other things, HomeKit and have never had an issue. Turns out the older Verizon Actiontec routers do not properly follow the RFC guidelines for DHCP and iDevices have issues although they are not the only ones. On Comcast where it is much easier to use your own router, I have an AirPort Extreme providing DHCP and almost never have issues with HomeKit. Before I realized it was the Actiontec, I thought the iDevices were junk. One could argue that iDevices should be more forgiving with DHCP but they are not the only vendor I’ve had issues with using the Actiontec. Verizon makes it difficult to use a router other than their own because the guide, on-demand, caller ID and the DVR all require a special IP connection to operate that only a Verizon router provides. 

The thing I don’t like about Wemo they require an account for updates etc. My credentials are on enough servers, I don’t need any more. I wish a HomeKit requirement from vendors was not to require an account for updating. 

I use the Honeywell Lyric which currently has HomeKit integration that works great. In order to activate it, you have to sign up with a monitoring service. I used Alarmgrid out of Florida as they have no contract and you can sign up for one month, get HomeKit integration cancel the next month and still have HomeKit integration. I elected to stay with the monitoring because of firmware updates and DIY support but it’s not necessary for HomeKit. 

Another alternative is a cloud backup service such as Backblaze or Carbonite. These services keep multiple versions and are a good defense against physical loss such as a house fire or burglary. I’m not sure about Carbonite but Backblaze which I use is quite inexpensive. 

I am worried that the transition will curtail or eliminate access to low level system functions. For example, iOS does not allow access to MAC addresses on the local network limiting the usability of network scanners. This is just one example that could limit the effectiveness of many utilities. We all don’t just want to run Word and Photoshop. I also hope companies like VMware see the worth in developing an emulator for Intel processors.