HomeKit

[Alan Browne]

Just ordered a couple smartplugs to handle the XMas lights. I had
ordered one a couple years ago from the Apple Store. It did not work
well at all. (Not the co. they sell now).

The new ones are from TP-Link - at least a brand I know well and trust.

Also ordered a widget to interface to my garage door opener.
Chamberlain make this weird, alas - we'll see how it goes.

This will find its home (hub) on the Apple TV downstairs.

Anyone have experience to share?

Must have widgets?

--
“Markets can remain irrational longer than your can remain solvent.”
- John Maynard Keynes.

[gtr]

On Dec 12, 2023 at 10:56:55 AM PST, "Alan Browne" <bitb...@blackhole.com>
wrote:

>
> Just ordered a couple smartplugs to handle the XMas lights. I had
> ordered one a couple years ago from the Apple Store. It did not work
> well at all. (Not the co. they sell now).
>
> The new ones are from TP-Link - at least a brand I know well and trust.
>
> Also ordered a widget to interface to my garage door opener.
> Chamberlain make this weird, alas - we'll see how it goes.
>
> This will find its home (hub) on the Apple TV downstairs.
>
> Anyone have experience to share?
>
> Must have widgets?

I forget the brand I sent back a few years ago. I now have a number tp-link
gizmos around the house mostly connected to with halogen standing lamps or
other non-stock lightbulbs.

For those that take the regular mount I use VOCO bulbs. I really like them
because I can bark out a command "Hey Siri, set the worklamp to 20%. It's
particularly handy at night with the lamp in the living room with the TV. When
the screen is too dark it's nice to dim the room lights.

We set two last xmas for red and green, it was a fun novelty and we turned it
off after a few mintes.

I have another VOCO on the porch, it's set to come out X minutes after dark
and turn on X minutes after sunrise. Around the house various lights turn on
or off at certain times.

And night "Hey Siri, goodnight." It turns off any home pod mini, all lights.

At some level, I suppose it's kinda silly, but turning off everything
everywhere at bedside remains a delight ever day!

[gtr]

On Dec 12, 2023 at 10:56:55 AM PST, "Alan Browne" <bitb...@blackhole.com>
wrote:

>

> Just ordered a couple smartplugs to handle the XMas lights. I had
> ordered one a couple years ago from the Apple Store. It did not work
> well at all. (Not the co. they sell now).
>
> The new ones are from TP-Link - at least a brand I know well and trust.
>
> Also ordered a widget to interface to my garage door opener.
> Chamberlain make this weird, alas - we'll see how it goes.
>
> This will find its home (hub) on the Apple TV downstairs.
>
> Anyone have experience to share?
>
> Must have widgets?

I sometimes take a nap in late afternoon. It starts my audio of rain falling,
turns off the nearby reading lamp, sets the phone to "do not disturb", and
sets it to turn "do not disturb" to on a 5 pm.

Hmm, technically that's an app, rather than a widget. It's a shortcut that
appears on my phone/ipad's desktop. I sometimes poke it and sometimes summon
it via siri.

[Alan Browne]

Nice summary - I doubt I'll go that far, X-mas lights is about enough
for now. And on the non-homekit side being able to open the garage
door from outside w/o getting into the (locked) car will be handy for us.

Considering a new thermostat for the central furnace but somewhat
expensive and I doubt I'll get any savings v. the ancient programmable
thermostat that I have presently (20 y. old anyway).

Turns out SO's son has an unused Blink doorbell - so I'll see if that
can be used w/o signing onto their web oriented system. No way I'll do
that. Installed their iOS app on my Mac ... wants to set up an account...

[gtr]

On Dec 12, 2023 at 3:49:47 PM PST, "Alan Browne" <bitb...@blackhole.com>

We got a forced air system a few years back with a Honeywell thermostat.
Luckily it was BT ready and there's an app for it. it would be nicer if it was
homekit, but as long as I can operate it while sitting on my ass, I'm happy.

[Jolly Roger]

On 2023-12-12, Alan Browne <bitb...@blackhole.com> wrote:
>
> Just ordered a couple smartplugs to handle the XMas lights. I had
> ordered one a couple years ago from the Apple Store. It did not work
> well at all. (Not the co. they sell now).
>
> The new ones are from TP-Link - at least a brand I know well and
> trust.
>
> Also ordered a widget to interface to my garage door opener.
> Chamberlain make this weird, alas - we'll see how it goes.
>
> This will find its home (hub) on the Apple TV downstairs.
>
> Anyone have experience to share?
>
> Must have widgets?

We have an Eve Energy smart plug, and it's great. You can set up onboard
schedules based on time of day and sunrise/sunset, read your power usage
data from it, and it works very well with HomeKit through Siri etc. I
bought it to reset a hard-to-reach power connection to a network camera
that was giving me trouble.

We have a bunch of smart bulbs around the house in various rooms - all
from Hue. They're ok, but the occasional "xxx bulb is not responding"
reply from Siri is irritating. I'm not sure if other brands are better,
or even if this is an issue with the bulbs / Hue Bridge as opposed to
some Siri / Homepod issue.

--
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

JR

[Jolly Roger]

On 2023-12-13, Jolly Roger <jolly...@pobox.com> wrote:
> On 2023-12-12, Alan Browne <bitb...@blackhole.com> wrote:
>>
>> Just ordered a couple smartplugs to handle the XMas lights. I had
>> ordered one a couple years ago from the Apple Store. It did not work
>> well at all. (Not the co. they sell now).
>>
>> The new ones are from TP-Link - at least a brand I know well and
>> trust.
>>
>> Also ordered a widget to interface to my garage door opener.
>> Chamberlain make this weird, alas - we'll see how it goes.
>>
>> This will find its home (hub) on the Apple TV downstairs.
>>
>> Anyone have experience to share?
>>
>> Must have widgets?
>
> We have an Eve Energy smart plug, and it's great. You can set up onboard
> schedules based on time of day and sunrise/sunset, read your power usage
> data from it, and it works very well with HomeKit through Siri etc. I
> bought it to reset a hard-to-reach power connection to a network camera
> that was giving me trouble.
>
> We have a bunch of smart bulbs around the house in various rooms - all

> from Hue*. They're ok, but the occasional "xxx bulb is not responding"

* Philips 🙂

[Alrescha]

Jolly Roger <jolly...@pobox.com> wrote:

> We have a bunch of smart bulbs around the house in various rooms - all
> from Hue. They're ok, but the occasional "xxx bulb is not responding"
> reply from Siri is irritating. I'm not sure if other brands are better,
> or even if this is an issue with the bulbs / Hue Bridge as opposed to
> some Siri / Homepod issue.

RF interference is common. I have a USB3 drive on my desk, and if I turn
it on all the nearby Hue lights go “Not Responding” for the duration.

If HomeKit doesn’t work but the Hue app does, that’s a strong hint that
some network device (router, switch) isn’t properly handling mDNS traffic.

[Jolly Roger]

On 2023-12-13, Alrescha <ne...@alrescha.com> wrote:
> Jolly Roger <jolly...@pobox.com> wrote:
>
>> We have a bunch of smart bulbs around the house in various rooms - all
>> from Hue. They're ok, but the occasional "xxx bulb is not responding"
>> reply from Siri is irritating. I'm not sure if other brands are better,
>> or even if this is an issue with the bulbs / Hue Bridge as opposed to
>> some Siri / Homepod issue.
>
> RF interference is common. I have a USB3 drive on my desk, and if I turn
> it on all the nearby Hue lights go “Not Responding” for the duration.

That's what I suspect is going on.

> If HomeKit doesn’t work but the Hue app does, that’s a strong hint that
> some network device (router, switch) isn’t properly handling mDNS traffic.

I'll try that sometime.

[Alan Browne]

On 2023-12-13 09:32, Alrescha wrote:
> Jolly Roger <jolly...@pobox.com> wrote:
>
>> We have a bunch of smart bulbs around the house in various rooms - all
>> from Hue. They're ok, but the occasional "xxx bulb is not responding"
>> reply from Siri is irritating. I'm not sure if other brands are better,
>> or even if this is an issue with the bulbs / Hue Bridge as opposed to
>> some Siri / Homepod issue.
>
> RF interference is common. I have a USB3 drive on my desk, and if I turn
> it on all the nearby Hue lights go “Not Responding” for the duration.

Did you try a different cable?

If the drive has its own power supply, then perhaps change the power supply.

[Alrescha]

Alan Browne <bitb...@blackhole.com> wrote:
> On 2023-12-13 09:32, Alrescha wrote:
>
>> RF interference is common. I have a USB3 drive on my desk, and if I turn
>> it on all the nearby Hue lights go “Not Responding” for the duration.
>
> Did you try a different cable?

It’s the only USB3 drive I own (blue connector), so no. It’s a backup
drive I use once a month, I just leave it turned off.

[gtr]

On Dec 12, 2023 at 5:26:23 PM PST, "Jolly Roger" <jolly...@pobox.com> wrote:

> On 2023-12-12, Alan Browne <bitb...@blackhole.com> wrote:
>>
>> Just ordered a couple smartplugs to handle the XMas lights. I had
>> ordered one a couple years ago from the Apple Store. It did not work
>> well at all. (Not the co. they sell now).
>>
>> The new ones are from TP-Link - at least a brand I know well and
>> trust.
>>
>> Also ordered a widget to interface to my garage door opener.
>> Chamberlain make this weird, alas - we'll see how it goes.
>>
>> This will find its home (hub) on the Apple TV downstairs.
>>
>> Anyone have experience to share?
>>
>> Must have widgets?
>
> We have an Eve Energy smart plug, and it's great. You can set up onboard
> schedules based on time of day and sunrise/sunset, read your power usage
> data from it, and it works very well with HomeKit through Siri etc. I
> bought it to reset a hard-to-reach power connection to a network camera
> that was giving me trouble.
>
> We have a bunch of smart bulbs around the house in various rooms - all
> from Hue. They're ok, but the occasional "xxx bulb is not responding"
> reply from Siri is irritating. I'm not sure if other brands are better,
> or even if this is an issue with the bulbs / Hue Bridge as opposed to
> some Siri / Homepod issue.

FYI, I have the same "not responding" thing with both the TPLink ac adaptors
and the VOCO bulbs. The TPLink adaptors can simple turned off and back on,
there's a button the side. With the bulbs I turned it off/no 3 times quickly
and it can usually reset.

It is the occasional nuisance. I blame it on HomeKit. I find odd wholes and
cul-de-sacs with Siri, too.

[Jolly Roger]

I'll have to try that sometime. 🤣

> It is the occasional nuisance.

Yes. Amusingly (and thankfully) even when it says it's not responding,
it does actually respond.