Re: hacking a home with free technology and Debian
On 15/09/18 10:40, Lucas Nussbaum wrote:
> Hi Daniel,
>
> On 15/09/18 at 00:45 +0200, Daniel Pocock wrote:
>> Hi everybody,
>>
>> I've got an interesting opportunity to completely replace all the
>> sockets, lights, heating controls and appliances in my Dublin house with
>> things that are free or easily hackable.
>>
>> Which direction are other people in the Debian and free software world
>> going with such projects? Searching the wiki, the only significant page
>> I found was a reference to X10 protocol[1]
>>
>> Other people have mentioned having some success hacking proprietary
>> devices that use Zigbee and ZWave.
>>
>> Can anybody comment on these or any other related technologies?
>>
>> Being more specific, at a bare minimum, I envisage having a small rack
>> with a Debian server, smart power sockets to control things like the
>> boiler and immersion heater and a range of lights around the house
>> controlled centrally.
>
> My experience in the world of home automation is that, when selecting
> the technology (X10, ZWave, etc.) you should look at the whole chain:
> - whether you can find software to control it
> - whether you can find hardware to control it (typically a RF transmitter
> device)
> - whether you can find end devices (switches, thermometers, etc.) that
> do what you need
>
> Whether the protocol is open or not does not matter much, unfortunately.
> What really matters is whether it has been sufficiently reverse
> engineered.
>
> The fancy new technologies don't have that many end devices available,
> or they are fairly expensive. (Or you might want to design your own
> devices, but that's not something I was willing to do)
>
> I've had some success with:
> - software: domoticz (not in Debian, but Debian-friendly, and there's an
> ITP). I mostly use it through its REST API to automate stuff or get data
> (into a munin plugin for example)
> - hardware controller:
> + a USB ZWave dongle
Did you mean the Z-Stick[1] or another model?
Z-Stick is rated highly in reviews[2] and the web site claims it is
aimed at open source and cloud-averse users.
> + RFPlayer, a multi-protocol gateway that understands many
> (proprietary) protocols (but the firmware is closed source). There's
> another one on the market with a different set of protocols, called
> RFXCom
Another one I came across is Zigate[3] for Zigbee. Like the Z-Stick, it
appears to eliminate the need for a proprietary hub or controller. It
was crowdfunded and appears to originate in France.
Using Z-Stick and Zigate together appears to cover both major protocols.
Can anybody comment if they give a genuinely plug-and-play experience,
without needing firmware blobs or proprietary tools to get up and
running? Or are there even better alternatives for the
freedom-conscious Debian user?
Looking at some alternatives, like XBee, I noticed they require[4] a
Windows tool for firmware management, this appears inconvenient.
Regards,
Daniel
1. https://aeotec.com/z-wave-usb-stick
2. https://buildyoursmarthome.co/reviews/best-z-wave-usb-stick/
3. https://zigate.fr/
4.
https://www.domoticz.com/wiki/ZigBee#Using_Digi.27s_X-CTU_.28XCTU.29_Software
Reply to: