Smart bulbs revisited.

In The right / best way to control a light I discussed how switches vs smart bulbs depends on install. Here I'd like to update with some of the experiences I've have with smart bulbs since then. To summarize here are my note in my compare sheet.

Note you can get some crazy cheap deals on SYLVANIA / Lightify / Osram stuff right now.
Like this $9 bulb and gateway bundle still on sale. I got a bunch to sample to eval on sale. For less than $75 I got 5 bulbs, a gateway, a motion sensor and 2 dimmers. Awesome deal except only the bulbs worked OK for me. I even bought the Sylvania Smart Home 74099 Sylvania LIGHTIFY Smart Switch 8 Functions/ 4 Buttons, White, still only $10, which did at least seem to work controlling the bulbs but is not seen by Homeseer and so can't be use as a general remote. Homeseer did see the bulbs and motion detector did turn the lights on most of the time it should though seldom off. The dimmers worked for a bit then died. They were not seen by Homeseer. So all in all pretty much a waste of money and time. Too bad give a 4 pack of white Lightify bulbs is going for as low as $16 onsale versus a 4 pack of Hues which go for around $40.  Though I did stumble a 6 pack once $50 a couple years back. Which brings us to price.

I see a lot of posts saying Hue bulbs are too expensive. I think that is mainly because people seem to compare the Hue color bulbs to white version by others. If you compare a 4-pack of white bulbs they cost about the same as Sengled Smart LED Soft White A19 Bulb 4-pack.  Or Cree 60W Equivalent Daylight (5000K) A19 Dimmable LED Light Bulb in the (6 Pack) compared at a per bulb price.  You even here people going on about the new Wyze bulbs but they are about the same price and do not work with anything other than the Wyze app.

I had planned on using then instead of upgrading the Hue gateways after Hue basically cut V1 one users off.

Other than the price I'm liking the Hue motion sensors more and more. Homeseer does not always seem to get non motion event updates from them but otherwise it is nice to have them automatically turn the lights full on and off without need of setting up events. Especially after having to redo all my lighting related events after the v1 to v2 upgrade.

The Lifx bulbs seem like a good alternative if you want to avoid getting a hub though the white bulbs cost more.  And like I've said above, the one I got for eval had a lot of issues. Still the outdoor BR bulbs with IR look interesting but if you do the math, unless you want to light your yard in color, even at the $50 sale price you can get a Z-Wave switch, 2 LED bulbs and a 2 serious IR floods for about the same price.  And the IR floods turn themselves on and off as needed automatically. If you want smart flood light bulbs, Hue has new outdoor bulbs. 2 for $50.  Still cheaper to go with 2 LED floods and a switch though.

Tp-link (kasa) bulbs cost even more and they require cloud access. I have a couple of their outlets I got on Prime sales for $5. The cloud link fails way too often.

Even the TRÅDFRI bulbs are more now.

Etekcity, while I like their smart plugs for non critical stuff. Very cheap and so they have been more reliable the the TP-link ones despite being cloud based as long as you call their API directly. Going through IFTTT stopped working awhile back. I don't know if they ever fixed it because talking directly was so easy to do. But their bulbs are more than the Hues so why?

Z-wave bulbs like Aeotec LED Bulb Gen6 Multi-White are even more.

There are more of course many others, some even cheaper than Hue but one of the main things to remember is what do they works with? So in the long run you will probably end up tossing them unless remote control via your is all you ever want.

Linking TP-Link HS100 Kasa WiFi Smart Plugs to your hub

TP-Link HS100 Kasa WiFi Smart Plug, No Hub Required, Works with Alexa Echo & Google Assistant

I got some of these last year as $5 addons and linked them via IFTTT similar to how I did the Sonoff switches. They have been working fine that way but I came across the article Reverse Engineering the TP-Link HS110 today which shows how to control them locally without a bridge or reflashing the firmware. I definitely sounds easily doable from a program if not a script. Someone already did a Domoticz plugin for tp-link HS100/HS110 smartplug in Python. So I'm putting creating a Homeseer version on my todo list. Assuming someone else does not do it first of course.

Sonoff switch linkage to home automation

Hooking up a Sonoff 4 Gang Smart Switch, Interlock Switch for Generator, Inching/Self-locking WiFi & RF Wireless Switch 90~250V AC/ 5~24V DC,Work with Alexa,& Google Home & IFTTT (1-16s delay in inching mode) to Homeseer.

There are other versions of these switches that these instructions will work for too. The single switch unit bought in packs can be way cheaper than this 4 switch unit but are also AC only. In my case I'm wanting to switch individual cameras connected to a single power supply so the above switch is the way to go. Note unlike most WiFi smart switches, these are all inline units meaning you need to connect wires to them.

The most helpful instructions I found To help save time you will also want to know:

Make sure your phone is connected to the 2.4 GHz WiFi you want the Sonoff unit to use.before adding a new switch to the app. Note in this app, this just works. No need to find and connect to WiFi coming from the unit.

Unless you want it to work in the default, only one active relay at a time mode, you need to change the switches.

Remove power from the unit before changing any switches!

You do not need to take the cover off to connect up the relays. There is a hinged hatch but taking the lid off  might make connecting the wires easier. The connections are of the pinch type so smaller gauge wires may not be held well. In most you are probably using 18 ga though which work fine.

Tools you will need:

To get the lid off so you will need a larger phillips screwdriver but with a thin bit so you can get enough torque to turn the tight screws and fit in the small holes to get to them. Something that looks like this.

There is a film cover K5 and K5 that is hard to see but will need to be removed to toggle the switches. You will probably want a good pair of fine point tweezers for this. If the are not sturdy enough to toggle the K5 and K6 switches you may need something else for that.

The switches are tiny.so you may want some sort of magnifying glasses.

Setting the switches:

The text can be a bit confusing. Such as it will say "Toggle to the right" when the pictures are not all the same rotation.

To set it up to turn off on each of the 4 channels separately and immediately the config you want is:
S6 toggled "right" (toward the LEDs)
remove film cover on K5 and K6 switches.
K5 (mode) and K6 (delay) toggle all the switches to 1, ON (toward the terminals.)

Note the yellow tint to the switches. It is from these film covers. (Photographed through magnifying glass.)

Wiring

Hook up your 12 volt wiring like this

I'm using these cables for the wiring.

Software config

Note if this unit loses power it returns all relays to the off position. So for instance if you are using this as a camera power reset you probably want to reverse the actions as in ON in your home automation is "OFF" / NC on the switch. 
Also note a lag of up to a couple seconds in not unusual going through IFTTT. 

Create Homeseer device

First you will want to create a virtual device in Homeseer like this.

Note it might take IFTTT a few minutes to pick up changes so best of create your virtual devices all up front then wait a bit for proceeding.

Link through IFTTT

As with all such IFTTT linkages you will want at least and off and on IFTTT applet for each direction.

First to control the plug when the Homeseer device changes create and applet like this

To get Homeseer to reflect changes to the Sonoff relays by others create applets like this

Note there are other options out there that involve flashing the single switch unit by soldering a USB port to the single switch board to get local control. With the stock firmware I scanned mine and found there are 0 open ports on the unit so reflashing might be the only way to make these cloudless. Though this blog post seems to say you can control one locally by pointing at a local Node.js server as a bridge. Since I'm mainly looking for a cheap way to repower hung cameras on an infrequent basis it seems more than it is worth. If the Sonoff / IFTTT connection starts playing up like the Etekcity one has been then it might be worth looking into.

Lifx after a year

LIFX Mini White (A19) Wi-Fi Smart LED Light Bulb, Dimmable, Warm White, No Hub Required, Works with Alexa, Apple HomeKit and the Google Assistant

WiFi / Reliability

I bought one of these a year ago to see if it would work better in a area I have where RF devices seem to have issues. Hue bulbs and even Z-wave devices out there  Unfortunately the WiFi is so weak in these bulbs that it is no more reliable than the Hue bulb I had in the same place. Note Hue and WiFi operate in the same frequency range so strength of signal is the main deciding factor between them working reliably. Hue tends to operate at shorter distances but works in a mesh so the distance to the next bulb is more important than distance to the hub. How bad you ask. Here is the signal strength stats for it and a Wyze v2, which has the worse WiFi performance of any IP camera I've tried, sitting near each other. The Unifi Outdoor+ AP is less than 20 feet away though a single interior wall.

It also seems these bulbs can occasionally just lose WiFi connection and have to be setup again to get them back. Adding them back is fairly simple but you probably do not want to have deal with doing it without a serious feature to balance that out. Especially since you are paying extra.

Note after adding mine back in today I noticed there was a firmware update so I attempted update the bulb via the Android app. So far it has failed 4 times over 7 hours even with that 92% signal strength. I tried to get the Windows app too but it seems to be hanging at install. That might mean there are Lifx server issues. The bulb does seem to work fine from the Android app but not Homeseer till I also restarted the plugin.

Price

A 4 pack of Hue white bulbs will run you around $40 to $50.

As I write this the Mini White I have is going for $25 each. Even the cheapest used price is $14 so cost is not really a pro.

Oddly however if you want off white, LIFX Mini Day & Dusk (A19) Wi-Fi Smart LED Light Bulb is running a dollar cheaper right now.

I also thought about getting some of their LIFX + (BR30) Wi-Fi Smart LED Light Bulb with Infrared for Night Vision, Adjustable, Multicolor, Dimmable, No Hub Required, Works with Alexa, Apple HomeKit and Google Assistant bubs. In 4 packs they can be had for about $60 per. Last year they dropped as low as $46 per in a 4 pack. Still though unless you need color it is a hard sell given IR floods like the Univivi Infrared Illuminator, 850nm 6 LEDs 90 Degree Wide Angle IR Illuminator Night Vision,Waterproof LED Infrared Light IP Camera,CCTV Security Camera go for $23. If you are wanting color outdoor lighting though Lifx is competitive even if you do not need IR illumination. As a white flood / IR combo though a Z-wave switch on regular floods and adding the above IR flood would seem to be the most cost effective and reliable solution. Especially if you already have a home automation hub.

Etekcity WiFi Smart Plug

Test Etekcity WiFi Smart Plug, Voltson Mini Outlet with Energy Monitoring (2-Pack), No Hub Required, ETL Listed, White, Works with Alexa, Google Home and IFTTT

So far have not found an API to allow Homeseer to talk to them directly though you can easier connect them via IFTTT.  Note however I found I needed to reconnect IFTTT to Etekcity at least once so far to get things working again even though no errors seemed to be reported anywhere in the chain. So a heartbeat system might be in order.

Update: 

I did find this sample code for control via Python you might find useful for creating a plugin or bridge. There is no documentation I could find for this API and the examples people have posted seems to vary some but I was able to use it to create a Homeseer VB script documented at the end of this post. While still cloud based it is working as I write (update) this while the IFTTT still appears to be broken over 2 weeks past my original post.

Create Homeseer device

First you will want to create a virtual device in Homeseer. Since this maker supports state change triggers for off. on, online and offline make it dimmable 

and with and status values like this.

Link through IFTTT

Note it might take IFTTT a few minutes to pick up changes so best if create your virtual devices all up front then wait a bit for proceeding.

As with all such IFTTT linkages you will want at least and off and on IFTTT applet for each direction. In this case we will also want a 5th applet to send offline notices back to Homeseer.

First to control the plug when the Homeseer device changes create and applet like this

To go back the other way create on like this

Note about the time I started writing this the IFTTT Etekcity linkage seems to have quit working. Checking back a week later it is still not working.

The hidden API way

As mentioned above I found a very few posts claiming "direct control" (still through Vesync servers) of the plugs. Many refer to hosts and ports that seem to be incorrect or no longer active. But I did get this sample code for control via Python to work.

While you can install python and required modules then modify the scripts to be called from Homeseer events (I did this as a test) you lose logging and remote editing options so I did the work of converting it to VB. vesync.vb us pretty much standalone but I keep all my logins in a seperate file to make sharing easier.

To leverage the above objects in GUIs I created on and off events triggered state change of the matching virtual object (see above). They should look something like this

Lastly add a reset event

Then you can add a rest event to tie it all together. Note since this controls the virtuals and the virtuals trigger controls this works with the IFTTT, API call method or both. My reset events look like this.

Note for triggers I'm using MyMonitor to set Homeseer virtuals based on state info from Blue Iris. You could also use the Blue Iris Plug-In by Highpeak Software plugin. I have multiple Blue Iris servers though and the Highpeak plugin only supports one. Also MyMonitor can run on a seperate PC which can be helpful if load or number of plugins is an issue. Plus of course MyMonitor lets you monitor about anything accessible from the network and it is open source / free to use.

Arris cable modem issue / securing your home network

If you have an Arris cable modem, especially if you have AT&T internet you should read this. It shows why you ALWAYS want a router between you and your cable modem.BTW TWC uses Arris too but unclear at this time is have same bugs.

To check to see if your modem is exposed even it not an Arris

The easiest way to check is to go to Steve Gibson's ShieldsUP and see if any ports are responding on your cable modem.
Check "All service ports" then a custom port scan on port 49955 61001 49152 8080

You want to see all green

Stuff to fix / check

Lastly if you have never changed your routers password or see ports open in the above tests from a browser go to the Arris web interface
Change the password if still using the default. (Basic settings -> login settings). Make it something random and at least 12 characters.

On LAN Settings Enable UPnP should be unchecked. (Allows stuff to open holes in your firewall.)

I would turn off the WiFi on the modem if you have any other access points. All WiFi should be encrypted no matter what provides it or be ahead of any router you use to protect your devices.

If you have something you need to access outside the home like a webcam first find and add your router to the reserved IP list so its address will not change.

Add a port forward at the modem to the router the cam (or device / PC) is on

If you have multiple cams / devices / ports you can forward a range like this.

You will then need to forward each port to the correct cam / device on your router. That is diff depending on brand and even version so you will need to goggle that bit if it is not obvious from the router's interface. Look for something that says port forwarding. For instance on a Unifi router the instructions look like this.

One last thing

You actually want to have a couple routers. One for your PCs and phones and one for all the rest of your stuff like Blu-ray players, cams, TiVos, home automation hubs .... All the things that might not be all that secure. As an added measure you set that router's firewall to only allow those things you KNOW need to call out to the internet to do so. There have been a lot of reports lately for instance of webcams being shipped with malware on them. If they can not call home or be connected to directly from outside they can not be used in bot nets or as platforms to attack your other devices.

Nest / WiFi Adventure

I've been merging my IoT and AV class C networks into 1 class B network so the automation can talk to the home entertainment devices easier and bring back order to my IP addresses for better filter of what has access to what. For the most part it has just been tedious updating the info close to 200 devices. While I was reconfiguring the house WiFi APs (Access Points) , I set them to enable roaming (AP swap you off to closest AP automatically) which in the case of Unifi APs assumes WAP2 encryption. Most devices handled this just fine but others had a real problem with it. For instance my wired (AC powered) Nest Protect continued to work fine but the battery powered one and the thermostat, in the house, both switched to the shop network I had not changed yet. So technically they were connected but not with enough signal to actually work. Some devices just reconnected no problem while others required a reboot, reconfig or, as in the case of the Nests, flat out refused to connect. So I've had to forget the roaming / zero hand off setup and use a configuration that support multiple encryption methods.