My name is Jeff. I have a passion for learning, and for sharing that knowledge. I've worked in IT for over 25 years, so you could say I'm a bit of a nerd. My goal is to take all the super-complicated smart home stuff I've learned and break it down into bite-sized, easy-to-understand chunks that I can turn into videos and share with you.
On this channel, I focus on home automation and smart home tech, including how-to videos and product reviews, as well as related products such as security cameras, network and power equipment, computers, and storage. If it's related to smart homes and I haven't covered it yet, I probably will!!
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One of mine done this pulled power (mine are wired through the door no batteries) then recalibrated never had a problem again but on the lock in general you can control it with bluetooth from home assistant but it's slower then the cloud sometimes minutes later drives me crazy
@fasthowto the power part or the really slow over bluetooth? Lol I noticed after commenting you made a video about using esp bluetooth proxy that's what I did. Is yours not slower then the cloud?
@fasthowto I don't know how to add pictures or if you can. Send me an email or something; I'll send you some pictures. I just took it apart, figured out where I could slip a wire through, drilled it out, and then ran the wire through the door. I was going to use a powered hinge but ended up using a cable whip. But on the Bluetooth proxy, it's terrible. I always thought it was the locks. The cloud is literally faster. I don't know, I'm going to have to dig some more now that I know it's not the lock.
It's possible, though I've not bothered with it. That would make each file unique, which means you would be chewing up storage saving all those old files. Without a specific use case, didn't seem worth it to me. Since I'm capturing the images from my NVR, I already have historical footage of all the events saved. This was just meant for real-time notification. Thanks for watching!
I don't have any tuya devices, but there are multiple integrations you can use to get local control of tuya. Check the documentation and the forums for more info. If I ever get any tuya devices, I'll be sure to make a video about how to do it. Thanks for watching!
Great video as usual Jeff. Couldn't help trying to figure out how much each mouthful of whisky cost 😀I know I have some Tuya stuff that could be changed to local control in Home Assistant, I just need to get and do it. Thanks again - Eddie
Thank you for the kind words! Yeah, I don't currently have any tuya devices (yet?), but if and when I get some, I'll make a video about them. Upcoming videos include roborock S8 pro ultra (next), tempest weather station, and Bond RF blaster, among others. As for the whiskey, anybody who consumes this stuff by the mouthful is much better off than I am. Lol little sips at a time, this bottle will last me over a year, just like the last one. Lol Thanks for watching!!
Some functions with local control are a bit more challenging and limited: robovacuums, thermostats, and sprinkler controllers. I am still fighting through my HAC diet (not HACS) - no Hubs, no Apps, and no Cloud.
In my experience, even the cloud versions of the integrations do not expose the full featureset of the native app - for example, defining rooms or flooring types in the roborock app, or specifying the room priority in the resideo (honeywell) app. Because of that, the local versions of the integrations aren't really at much of a disadvantage. That said, I'm sure there are probably other integrations where the cloud-based version *does* expose more, but depending on what the specific missing feature(s) was/were, I'd likely still take the hit.
Love your channel! You should do some keyword research but something like "How to Smart Home" or "Smart Home How to" might show up better for your audience. Keep posting... it really helps. I set up Home Assistant 6 mo. ago because I'm trying to get away from SmartThings.
Actually, the issue is the "How to" in the channel name, so neither of those will work. Thank you for the suggestions, though, and thanks for watching! :)
Im bad with names but what about "Rapid SmartHome Guides." Or you could go with something like "Frankly Smart Home" which would be a play on your blunt honesty around products and then the fast how tos and whiskey fridays are more segments within your channel so people dont hold you to 5 minutes videos. Lol
Yeah, I'm pretty bad at the 5 minutes... I just liked the alliteration. LOL If you like how blunt I am about product, just wait until you see my next video... Roborock S8 Pro Ultra review (and integration, of course). I do kind of like "Frankly Smart Home" though, or something along those lines. I'll add it to the list, thank you, and thanks for watching!
Time is definitely the biggest difficulty to overcome lately for me, especially now that summer is here. Maybe one day I'll get everything done that I want (doubt it, but it's good to dream, right?)... Thank you for the kind words, and thanks for watching!
Hi! Thanks so much for this. Unfortunately the instructions in the video description area appear to be incomplete. When I click the 3 dots and type balena nothing appears. It's hard to see because of the video quality but it appears that you issue an install type command for etcher but this in not in the instructions. I am new to linux so it is entirely possible I'm doing something wrong. Help! :)
Great question! Depending on the system, I've had issues in the past where some extra non-printable characters, such as line feeds or carriage returns, were inserted into files. It may no longer be an issue, but ever since then I've always just used a native editor to prevent that type of problem. Thanks for watching!
Won't work manually? Can you still unlock the door using the key? Sounds like something else might be wrong there. In any event, that sucks. Is it still under warranty? Did you contact August about it? If you watch my follow-up video, they eventually replaced mine, and I've not had any issues with the replacement. In fact, now that I've gotten local bluetooth control working, I've added several more. Hope you get it sorted, and thanks for watching!
@@fasthowto Well I have a Adaproxy that came with my fingerbot which worked to connect to the BLE Tuya lock, and it showed up within HA but it has no controles in it; so I’m thinking it’s not compatible with HA. But I was thinking of making my own gateway as mentioned in the video would make it compatible with HA. 🤔
Really great video! This shit has been confusing me on the different install types, this really helped spell it out. I'm fairly new to HA, I got started with it about 6 months ago by purchasing HA Green. It's been solid. I feel like I have noticed a very SLIGHT decrease in speed. Out of curiosity, since I back up my HA with Google Drive Backup Add-on, if I were to purchase a Intel NUC to set up HA, could I simply restore that HA instance with my google drive back up? or would I essentially have to start from scratch? I feel like my Zwave/Zigbee DOngles would be messed up immediately with new USB ports, but I dunno.
Yes, your zigbee stuff would be messed up, but there is a process to migrate zigbee stuff. I've not done it before, but I've read about it. Doesn't seem too complicated, although based on reports on the forums it appears the success is mixed depending on the individual devices. Thank you for the kind words, and thanks for watching!
You absolutely ROCK. Thank you for this! HAOS is loading now on my Beelink, I tried about 15 different ways to do this and yours is the only one that works well!
Followed step by step but Virualbox didn't like it. Also, due to the passage of time and updates, VB no longer looks like it does in this video. Good video though and has pointed me in the right direction. Thank you
Am I correct to assume you chose Chromecast over Chromecast Audio to broadcast RU-vid because it only allows you to output to a video source rather than an audio-only device?
/This/ is the video I wanted to see. The other one was too basic for me personally. I also use Chromecast in multiple locations, but I've been looking for a Home Assistant solution that's separate from Google. I hate being tied to Google. Having 1 Chromecast or a few of them, but I can choose one for each zone however I want would be way better.
You're only "tied to Google" in so much as you need to use the Google home app to configure them, after that they are locally addressable and don't rely on the cloud. This is no different than many other products, such as kasa switches. In the video, I demonstrate exactly what you describe. I have 1 chromecast that plays to all zones at once, and I also have individual chromecasts per zone for different music in different rooms. I'm glad you liked the video, though! Thanks for watching!
@@fasthowto in that case I can’t wait. I’m on the fence to buy two more eufy locks for my last two exterior doors. Without spoiling should I wait or should I buy and expect that I can use them down the road 😂😂.
@@Masrimadden flip a coin, I guess? I didn't even try hard and came up with half a dozen examples of products that have either lost functionality, or no longer function at all, because the manufacturers either abandoned them or made changes. If it were me, I'd buy something you can control locally.
Nice on Jeff, had tried to get my Yale lock working on Bluetooth but gave up and went the cloud route instead. Didn’t realise it was this easy now. I’ve already got the Bluetooth proxies which work great with my Switchbot tilt blinds so I’ll try adding my Yale lock next. Thanks, Eddie.
Just wanted to send massive thanks from Scotland, Ive been in and out trying to solve this issue with my Apollo Solo and OBS and you have just sorted it for me in 5 mins, can't thank you enough mate
@@seanys you know what the entire world wants to see? That is extremely useful information. Do you offer that as a service, or do you just run around randomly dropping little nuggets of gold like a modern-day superhero?
For a cheap case to contain a generic ESP32 board, I use a cheap travel soap box from "Wally World". I cut a slot in one end for the power cable. Costs about $0.97 each.
Be mindful where you place them in rooms as bluetooth signals go through walls. Keep distance low enough to see when seated on sofa or chairs in lounge etc.
Other than ESPresense monitoring our cell phones to determine room location, I've never found a Bluetooth device to connect to HA. What BT devices do you have?
I showed the devices and discussed them in the video (August/Yale locks). As mentioned, my next video will be about adding them to HA. Thanks for watching!
I use a Govee Bluetooth Hygrometer Thermometer to monitor the temperature of my chest freezer in the garage. I have automation set to alert me if the temperature exceeds a set threshold.
Thanks for the video. Just ordered 2 devices to play with. I run HAOS as a VM in Proxmox on a mini PC. Bluetooth breaks every time HAOS or Proxmox release a new kernel version since they're not in sync. I'm hoping your solution will resolve this issue for good.
Yep, that's a GREAT use case for these little things! Be sure to report back once you get them and set them up, I'm always interested to hear real-world feedback. Thanks for watching!!
Things did not work for me as shown in your video. I plugged the Atom Lite to my PC via USB and was able to flash it and configure the wireless network successfully, however, it never showed up in the ESPHome dashboard. I was able to add the Atom Lite manually as an ESPHome integration by using it's IP address. Once added, it immediately connected to my Govee temperature sensor and have been rock solid since. I suspect this is because the way my Home Assistant and network is configured. Here is my setup in case you're interested: I run the Home Assistant OS as a VM in a Proxmox Virtual Environment. Proxmox is the host OS on a dedicated mini PC. I use TP-Link Omada gear and my network is segregated using VLANs for added security and ease of management. I have dedicated VLANs and wireless networks for my network devices (router, switches, access points), PCs, wireless clients and wireless IoT devices.
Sounds to me like things worked exactly as they were supposed to. If you are knowledgeable enough to configure a complicated network, you're probably knowledgeable enough to understand broadcast domains and mDNS and why you have to manually add devices... ;) Glad to hear you figured it out and that they are working for you though!!
Been a minute! How about - Automation - How To. More specific but keeps a link to your old channel name. Got a couple of these M5s. Will go try this. I'm told the BT person presense sensor approach is very finicky.
Thank you for the suggestion! I've added that to the potential list. :) Yeah, I've read the person detection can be finicky as well. I suspect it's much like everything else, where the devil is in the details (config). I've already found some configuration specifics that I needed to set for my August locks with just the regular BT that I covered in this video. I'll get into those in the next one. If and when I do the BLE presence detection, I'll do the same thing I always do - fight with it until I'm happy with it, and then make a video, or scrap the whole thing and never speak of it again. LOL
@@hepatitisjaynot at all. You're just complaining about irrelevant nonsense. Instead of complaining, go watch a video that's relevant to you, and enjoy it.
do all kasa devices work without internet? on the home assistant integration they mention that the newer devices all need cloud authentication. I wonder if internet is just required for the intial set-up, or also for operation
Somehow i cant get stereo sound out of it. I mean when i listen back, i only hear the left side. Thank u again for the vid, great tutorial! but half working for me, hope u can help!
No, the solution in the video works, you've messed something else up. The virtual cable isn't stereo or mono, it just "is". Since you've not really given much information to go on, I'm going to assume that listening to most things plays back in stereo, so you have a problem with your source - which is outside the scope of this video (not to mention I'm certainly no expert with this thing). Best of luck, hope you are able to get it sorted!
@@fasthowto Just few hours after my post, i got it working! Thank you so much for the video! It has been really helpful!!! <3 I changed to mono in OBS and now it works on both sides!
There we go. Perfect! We don't want mess around with yet another box on the network when we already have PCs with power to spare, better hardware, easier to use, no frogging around, and we end up with a system that is portable to PC we upgrade to.
Love your videos. Subbed. So do you find that having all these devices on your network effects the overall bandwidth much? Is something like Lutron better since they use RF instead of Wi-Fi? That’s one of the things that’s really keeping me on the fence.
Thanks! I have no issues with them on my network, no, but - I use ubiquiti network gear, and have 6 APs, so there's plenty of wireless to go around. I'm planning to make a video about my network soon. Thanks for watching!
@@ZZFilm check out some of the other ubiquiti videos I've already done, like automating your firewall rules and automating changing your guest wifi password - including adding a QR code to the dashboard for guests to easily hop on your network.
