I’m already hosting pihole, but i know there’s so much great stuff out there! I want to find some useful things that I can get my hands on. Thanks!

Edit: Thanks all! I’ve got a lil homelab setup going now with Pihole, Jellyfin, Paperless ngx, Yacht and YT-DL. Going to be looking into it more tomorrow, this is so much fun!

  • @sylverstream
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    1201 year ago

    Home Assistant. It’s a rabbit hole, but it’s great. I’ve got motion enabled lights, thermostats for “dumb” heaters, and I track device usage (tablet, xbox) of my kids.

    • a1studmuffin 🇦🇺
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      351 year ago

      And it’s so nice having zero dependence on the cloud. If the internet drops out, everything still works, including the mobile app.

      • @sylverstream
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        -21 year ago

        Not necessarily, I have devices that are cloud dependent. Locally in NZ there aren’t a lot of options, all smart plugs are cloud dependent. Also things like weather integrations will stop working.

        • a1studmuffin 🇦🇺
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          41 year ago

          It’s up to you to make it cloudless, but Home Assistant is the only solution I know of out there that even allows this possibility. I refuse to use anything in my home that requires a third party app or cloud connection (aside from initial pairing so I can flash it with ESPHome or some other local-only firmware). Admittedly it complicates things, but the payoff is so worth it.

          • @[email protected]
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            31 year ago

            I use Home Assistant as well, but Apple HomeKit (and the new Matter protocol) can also be cloudless I think.

            • @[email protected]
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              31 year ago

              Yup, HomeKit can 100% work without internet. It’s a requirement of being HomeKit certified. I block internet access to all my HomeKit devices and they work just fine.

          • @sylverstream
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            11 year ago

            Yeah you are right, think all other alternatives require the cloud. I’ve just started with HA so I’m still pretty new to it. I’ve found some good Zigbee plugs on Aliexpress that pair well with ZHA. Over time I can replace the un-flashable cloud based smart plugs from TP Link and Brilliant.

        • redcalcium
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          21 year ago

          There should be plenty of zigbee stuff in the market, right? Ikea and Phillips stuff are mostly zigbee and can work with homeassistant + zigbee dongle (zha). Some tuya switch and smart plugs are zigbee too and can pair directly to homeassistant + zha without using a cloud account.

          • @sylverstream
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            01 year ago

            Locally in NZ we only have Hue which is very expensive. Aliexpress has options but is a bit hit and miss quality.

            • redcalcium
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              31 year ago

              If you can buy stuff from aliexpress, then look for tuya devices with explicit zigbee support as they usually can work with ZHA. Avoid tuya wifi devices if you can.

        • @[email protected]
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          21 year ago

          Look for z-wave or zigbee plugs. You’ll need to buy a hub, but unless NZ has banned the protocol, it should get you smart switches, outlets, thermostats and more.

          • @sylverstream
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            21 year ago

            Yeah, I’ve recently bought a HA SkyConnect & some plugs from AliExpress and they work well. Whenever I’ll be in Australia I’ll get some Ikea stuff too. Locally the only Zigbee option is Hue which I find too expensive.

          • @sylverstream
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            01 year ago

            Unfortunately not. I mostly get my stuff from Aliexpress; I’ve found some good Zigbee plugs there.

            New Zealand is awesome, but not if you want to have many online shopping options :)

    • @[email protected]
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      31 year ago

      I’ll second this, it’s a great thing to have around and there is always something to tinker this. It’s basically a new hobby though if you like automation and monitoring things so budget your time and money accordingly haha.