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Ive bought a sonoff and am going to flash the fw with something (possibly tasmota).
I still need to dig into MQTT broker and the Home Automation sw
Has anyone done the MQTT broker and used Home Automation?
Looking to get some hints on where to start...
Not so much using MQTT at the moment but have Homematic thermostats and a few smart switches set up.
Using Homeassistant as a central hub for it all. All set up with an nice UI for phones and commands via Google Homes.
Not so much automation beyond that at the moment - standard heating shedules etc but in time may move on to stuff like presence detection.
Whats the online server that is between the devices / switches and home assistant?
I thought you needed a proxy or broker like MQTT?
Depends on the device I guess. The homematic devices have their own hub that Home Assistant interacts with via the network.
Similarly my TP-Link smart switches connect via wifi and have a home assistant component that connects over the network. Some Yeelight wireless lights I have are the same.
This all happens locally.
The Sonoff stuff generally gets integrated via MQTT but even then you can run your own broker locally. If you're looking to do stuff from outside the house you'll need to open ports on the router somewhere along the line, external MQTT broker or not.
Will follow this with interest, I've started to install some bits but I chose Alexa, Nest and have some smart bulbs (one Philips and some ikea). I have some TP-Link plugs but not worked out where to put them yet.
I think I will set up a ubuntu VM to run some code which should allow voice control of my TV, I hope I can then add it to routines in Alexa.
I use these flashed with tasmota. I have a samsung smartthings hub and it all integrates very well. They control a few lamps. 1 light fitting, Couple of heaters (very small 2kw) and a couple of fans. Because I have smartthings hub and the smartthings community have created webcore I have all sorts of "rules" for some of the sonoff's - eg - the heater comes on when room temp < 16 degrees and goes off at 20. Couple of table lamps go on at 30 mins before sunset.....ect ect. All done as cheap as chips and works well for me.
Also have alexa and everything responds to voice control but to be honest we use alexa mainly for music....but the odd time its kinda cool to tell her to switch on the living room light ect.
The sonoff flashing I think is straightforward (famous last words), but i am yet to get my head around what i need to do from the switch / sonoff / device and the app that lets me control them. Any advice?Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidF
Its the MQTT / broker side that i havent sussed out yet...
Whoa there cowboy you have me confused with someone who knows wtf they are doing lol. Sonoff comes with an app with which you can control your device from anywhere in the world - http://sonoff.itead.cc/en/ you can also control your sonoff with voice using the software that comes with it if you have google home or alexa...
Now if you want a more full choice of ways to control the sonoff (more features basically) then you need to look at either 1. Buying a samsung smarthings hub to control your sonoff with (As I have done which gives me the features i mentioned above...it also has the added bonus of spending a mini fortune on "stuff" as you begin to automate your house)
Stuff like having things go off/on when someone arrives home for example
Having things go off/on at sunrise/sunset or indeed any pre time you want
Having things happen when it's going to rain/shine or whatever weather event you choose
That's what the hub can do for you BUT you can also do it yourself without a hub
So 2nd way is build yourself a home automation server with something like Domoticz
This is where I learned about the sonoff https://www.letscontrolit.com/forum/...f27833a2d61d36 - now on there they talk about their own firmware espeasy which was the 1st one to make the sonoff compatible with other ha servers (well 1st one i heard of lol) but now Tasmota has taken the bat with more firmware features and updates also covers more itead/sonoff products than esp easy seem to ....but im sure they will both be good.
Hope that kind of gives you a few ideas.