home automation

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Everything about my smart home and homelab setup
2 months ago
- The author's home network uses entirely Ubiquity hardware for a balance of power-user features and ease of use, acknowledging it's overkill for average homes.
- Router: Cloud Gateway Fiber with three 10 Gbps ports and PoE+; AP: U7 Pro XG (WiFi 7) with 10 Gbps uplink; Switch: Flex 2.5G connected via fiber for 10 Gbps link.
- DNS uses Pi-Hole on a Raspberry Pi 3b with Unbound, selectively enabled to avoid guest issues; VPN via WireGuard on router for remote access to Pi-Hole and admin console.
- Network supports IPv4/IPv6 dual stack with VLANs: VLAN1 (Management), VLAN10 (Trusted), VLAN20 (IoT with no internet), VLAN90 (VPN).
- Wi-Fi uses three SSIDs: Max (5/6GHz, WPA3), Legacy (2.4GHz for older devices), and IoT (isolated); radio scanning optimizes channel and power settings.
- Home automation centers on Home Assistant (Raspberry Pi 5 with 8GB RAM, NVMe SSD) and Alexa for voice control and Matter bridging.
- Devices communicate via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee (majority), and Matter/Thread; Zigbee usage expected to decline as Matter becomes more common.
- Bluetooth proxying via ESP32 S3 bridges Wi-Fi to Bluetooth devices like curtain motors; ESPHome addon simplifies setup.
- Automations include adjusting light color by sun position, motion-based lights with exceptions, red-shifting lights at night, and 'Travel mode' to disable automations.
- No smart locks used due to security concerns; setup aims to simplify life through meticulous organization.
Controlling your home with tiny, cheap touchscreens
2 months ago
- The author was inspired by a friend's post about a cheap AliExpress touchscreen used to control Home Assistant lights.
- They had a problem with motion-sensing lights in their home office turning on at night, and wanted a simple way to adjust brightness and color.
- Using an AI coding tool (Codex), they adapted existing code to create a two-button interface for their Philips Hue bulbs.
- They 3D printed a mount for the touchscreen and placed it near the office door, allowing anyone to easily change lighting scenes.
- The solution cost about $16–$21, is highly hackable, and the author plans to buy more for other rooms.
- They recommend using the ESP32-S3 touchscreen with Home Assistant and suggest searching for custom mounts on Makerworld.
IKEA TRÅDFRI for Rebooting a Server or Modem - Bert Hubert's writings
2 months ago
- The author needed an automated solution to power cycle a problematic modem and used IKEA TRÅDFRI equipment.
- Required hardware: TRÅDFRI remote control, wireless control outlet, and gateway; plus a phone/tablet app.
- Initial setup involves pairing the remote control with the gateway via the app, then pairing the power outlet.
- From a Linux computer, install libcoap with DTLS support to control the outlet via CoAP commands.
- A preshared key (PSK) is obtained from the gateway and stored; it expires after 6 weeks but is renewed automatically in the provided script.
- The bash script listed in the article can check device status and toggle power on/off for a specific outlet.
Show HN: Connecting my dumb garage and car's homelink buttons to Home Assistant
2 months ago
- Problem: Difficulty opening garage door after walks with baby and wanting car Homelink buttons to lock/unlock front door without using phone.
- Solution: Use Zooz Zen16 multirelay for smart garage control and Liftmaster 850LM to receive Homelink signals for automations.
- Installation: Wire 850LM to Zen16 switches, connect reed sensor to detect door open/close, and wire garage door opener to Zen16 relay.
- Home Assistant configuration: Set Zen16 parameters to define door sensor, momentary switches, and relay behavior; exclude/re-include device for sensor entity.
- Security: Rolling codes mitigate some risks; presence check or wiring remote through Zen16 can prevent unauthorized garage access.
- Outcome: Smooth stroller return and easy door unlocking via car buttons.
Reverse-engineering is cheap now
2 months ago
- Coding agents are being used by people to reverse-engineer and automate home devices, illustrating the impact of reduced code writing costs.
- Previously, reverse-engineering home devices was possible but rarely worth the effort due to low ROI and the burden of maintaining unstable APIs.
- Coding agents drastically lower the effort and cost of trying and failing, and reduce the psychological baggage of future maintenance.
- Recent articles include: Kimi K3 and the pelican benchmark (July 16), new GPT-5.6 family (Luna, Terra, Sol) (July 9), and sqlite-utils 4.0 with schema migrations (July 7).
Two nasty surprises in Home Assistant's config
2 months ago
- Motorized rolling shutters for automated control via Home Assistant.
- Created automations for temperature-based shutter management using boolean sensors.
- Encountered timezone issues affecting automation triggers, related to daylight saving time.
- Configured timezone in YAML, which reset UI settings, requiring full reconfiguration.
- Identified two bugs in Home Assistant: time-based automation offset and UI settings loss.
RF hacking my cloud-controlled ceiling fan
3 months ago
- The author replaced their bedroom ceiling fan with a cloud-controlled Dreo fan and wanted local control via Home Assistant to avoid cloud dependencies.
- They decoded the RF remote's commands by identifying the carrier frequency, modulation method (ASK/OOK), and payload structure, using an RTL-SDR to capture and analyze the signal.
- To replay commands, they used a Xiao ESP32-C6 board with an RFM69HCW transceiver, manually toggling the data pin with decoded pulse timings and debugging with the RTL-SDR.
- The setup integrates with Home Assistant via MQTT, with the ESP32 subscribing to topics to trigger RF commands and maintaining an internal state for fan and light controls.
- The project successfully enables reliable local control without cloud reliance, with the transmitter working stably for nearly a year and controlled via Siri.

home automation

Everything about my smart home and homelab setup

Controlling your home with tiny, cheap touchscreens

IKEA TRÅDFRI for Rebooting a Server or Modem - Bert Hubert's writings

Show HN: Connecting my dumb garage and car's homelink buttons to Home Assistant

Reverse-engineering is cheap now

Two nasty surprises in Home Assistant's config

RF hacking my cloud-controlled ceiling fan