DIY home security thread

[Barnes]

For switches...(and many other things)

https://www.getzooz.com/

https://inovelli.com/

Inovelli being my preference, for no real reason other than I asked a support question about a complex 4-way circuit where line and load were in separate boxes on a Sunday and the president got back to me that evening.

I have both and both are great.

The in box controllers are limiting. I have an aeotec one and even in a simple single pole switch, it was a pain to have to find different gauge of wire to jump to the switch and then cram it all behind the switch. The physical toggle position also becomes meaningless which bothers my OCD as well.

The switches above can be used in 3-way, 4-way without having to replace all the switches, can be automated for multiple taps etc...

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Barnes

For switches...(and many other things)

https://www.getzooz.com/

https://inovelli.com/

Inovelli being my preference, for no real reason other than I asked a support question about a complex 4-way circuit where line and load were in separate boxes on a Sunday and the president got back to me that evening.

I have both and both are great.

The in box controllers are limiting. I have an aeotec one and even in a simple single pole switch, it was a pain to have to find different gauge of wire to jump to the switch and then cram it all behind the switch. The physical toggle position also becomes meaningless which bothers my OCD as well.

The switches above can be used in 3-way, 4-way without having to replace all the switches, can be automated for multiple taps etc...

Ya I reversed course on Shelly, I don't want to do that much wiring. I looked a lot at Zooz but damn they're pricy. For now I decided to pick up a couple of these

https://www.kasasmart.com/us/product...t-switch-hs200

Going to start with my exterior and garage light switches to see how I like them. The reviews I've read are all great and I like how they don't require a hub. $15 each on Amazon, so even if they're crap oh well, I'll bite the bullet on Zooz then and swap them out

[CroFlames]

About Kasa switches...

I had two Kasa switches and one smart plug in my old house. Worked great on the app. Even remotely.

I recently moved and reinstalled them in the new house and they work like 5% of the time. Might a user problem and not a hardware problem, but I used them flawlessly before so not sure what the problem is.

[keratosis]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

About Kasa switches...

I had two Kasa switches and one smart plug in my old house. Worked great on the app. Even remotely.

I recently moved and reinstalled them in the new house and they work like 5% of the time. Might a user problem and not a hardware problem, but I used them flawlessly before so not sure what the problem is.

How's the signal around the devices?
I have a couple of older CE smart plugs that just wouldn't work on one wall till I upgraded my wifi.

Sent from my SM-A715W using Tapatalk

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by keratosis

How's the signal around the devices?
I have a couple of older CE smart plugs that just wouldn't work on one wall till I upgraded my wifi.

Sent from my SM-A715W using Tapatalk

It could be that, but the router is closer to the smart plug in this new house compared to the old house.

I plan on updating the router and getting extenders at some point, but I also want about 1,000 other things at the same time, like a new PC

[Isbrant]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Ya I reversed course on Shelly, I don't want to do that much wiring. I looked a lot at Zooz but damn they're pricy. For now I decided to pick up a couple of these

https://www.kasasmart.com/us/product...t-switch-hs200

Going to start with my exterior and garage light switches to see how I like them. The reviews I've read are all great and I like how they don't require a hub. $15 each on Amazon, so even if they're crap oh well, I'll bite the bullet on Zooz then and swap them out

The Kasa switches can be a bit hit or miss. The integration worked for me for a while but then some switches keep being dropped in home assistant. I switched them to a config file and it seems to work with fixed IP addresses assigned to each switch.

[Aleks]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Can anyone recommend good smart light switch replacement that work with Home Assistant? I'm looking for stuff that will work with Home Assistant, and I need single and double switches

I've had really good luck with these, they've worked flawlessly.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[kevman]

We've got a few camera locations prewired with Cat 6 and I'm in the process of researching camera providers and have a few questions.

-Are there any brands that we should stay away from? Lorex seems to be heavily advertised and always pops up in my searches. Hikvision is reccomended by our electrician but I heard they had some security issues. Our siding is black so we'd like a black housing which does appear to rule out a few manufactures.
-How are the various web interfaces if we use our own NVR? Is there an advantage to having our own NVR vs. web based other than avoiding the fees?
-What is the best camera style for wall mounted applications? Can domes be flush mounted to a wall and still get a good field of view?

[Raekwon]

Originally Posted by kevman

We've got a few camera locations prewired with Cat 6 and I'm in the process of researching camera providers and have a few questions.

-Are there any brands that we should stay away from? Lorex seems to be heavily advertised and always pops up in my searches. Hikvision is reccomended by our electrician but I heard they had some security issues. Our siding is black so we'd like a black housing which does appear to rule out a few manufactures.
-How are the various web interfaces if we use our own NVR? Is there an advantage to having our own NVR vs. web based other than avoiding the fees?
-What is the best camera style for wall mounted applications? Can domes be flush mounted to a wall and still get a good field of view?

Lorex is always sending emails and deals after I bought a system a few years ago, besides that I can say that I have had no issues with Lorex at all and their picture quality for the model I bought was great. They have a nice app to view the cameras remotely and easily. When I upgrade I will probably use Lorex again, the new models seem a bit pricey but if you catch a sale its not too bad for what you get.

[kevman]

Do you have your lorex cameras run directly to the NVR? I asked them on their online chat and they said they all need to be run home-run to the NVR. I was under the impression that IP cameras could be behind a switch - or at least that's what my electrician told me. If that's not the case I'm a few wires short getting camera signals from our garage back to the house.

[Hack&Lube]

Here's some good suggestions for DIY home security if you have burglary problems

Spoiler!

[Raekwon]

Originally Posted by kevman

Do you have your lorex cameras run directly to the NVR? I asked them on their online chat and they said they all need to be run home-run to the NVR. I was under the impression that IP cameras could be behind a switch - or at least that's what my electrician told me. If that's not the case I'm a few wires short getting camera signals from our garage back to the house.

All of the cameras will connect to the NVR which provides power over ethernet also and then that NVR just needs to connect to the network. The NVR is a switch.

[CroFlames]

I have an NVR right above my switch and my wooden network rack looks so cool because it looks like I know what I'm doing (I don't).

[Titan2]

I am nowhere as sophisticated as most of you but I would like add cameras.

I do have an old ADT system with motion sensors. I saw this deal on Blink cameras and a door switch.

Is this a good price? Are they a good product? Anyone have experience with them?

Thanks.
https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product...black/B0016739

[fundmark19]

Originally Posted by Titan2

I am nowhere as sophisticated as most of you but I would like add cameras.

I do have an old ADT system with motion sensors. I saw this deal on Blink cameras and a door switch.

Is this a good price? Are they a good product? Anyone have experience with them?

Thanks.
https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product...black/B0016739

That is a good price but one thing to know is Blink is switching to a subscription based service at the end of the month. Kind of sleezy after not having it for the past year.

[flamesrule_kipper34]

Quick couple of questions for folks:

1. I live in a house which has an Honeywell Vista wireless system with window contacts/motion sensors and instead of paying a monthly monitoring fee I'd love to re-purpose it with some sort of system to use a phone app to get alerts and being able to arm/disarm and etc. I had at one point come across Konnected (which I don't think works for wireless systems) and Envisalink (EyezOn) which I do think will work...anyone have experience with this? Thoughts? And know anyone who may be able to do this sort of set-up/install for me locally?

2. I have various 'smart devices' (e.g. thermostats, lights, cameras) all of which I believe would be supported with HomeAssistant...similar question, does anyone know of who I could go to locally to potentially set-up a couple of hubs for me at my house to be able to use with this?

Thanks in advance!