The Smart Home Technology thread

[Digitalnametag]

Anyone else bought some 'Smart Home' stuff? I started down the rabbit hole by looking at controllable light bulbs. Then I went a little crazy with it over the last few weeks and have Amazon Alexa control in nearly every room now. This stuff is neat. It takes a bit of effort and frustration to set everything up (multiple apps and several websites) but the pay off is pretty awesome.


The technology isn't quite ready for everyone to use yet. If you like simple programming though this stuff was made for you. Turning all the lights out when you say 'Alexa good night' or starting up multiple devices with one command is worth it. It isn't perfect yet either (Alexa can't do everything I want it too and sometimes misunderstands) but it will only keep getting better.


I'm so impressed going forward every major electronic device I purchase must have Alexa capability. That will add some excitement to when the washer/dryer/oven/microwave/car got out in a few years. Hopefully after that stuff gets a bit cheaper.

[Digitalnametag]

And then the long post.

List of stuff I have bought so far. Spent around $1500 at this point.


Amazon Echo Plus - Bought this hoping it would be an all in one hub for my lights. Unfortunately it seems to have a limit of 6 lights at the moment. It will find other devices okay still but I needed like 50 more lights than 6. I imagine this will change but if I could do it over I would've just bought a regular Echo. Currently in my bathroom for morning tunes. Decent sounding solo speaker for music. Not nearly as good as a dedicated system but decent for the cost. Plus you get Alexa with it. For a kid living at home this would work great or maybe with a small apartment. You could always switch from smart bulbs to smart switches too if you don't mind some wiring and not having control over individual bulbs.

Ecobee4 Thermostat - I was planning on getting a programmable thermostat anyway and this one has Alexa! You can also purchase extra sensors for more temperature control throughout the house. It comes with one extra sensor which I put in the master. Controlling the thermostat without getting up is the ultimate in lazy. Thumbs up.


Amazon Dot - Scattered a few of these across rooms in the house. If you want to listen to music I would get an Echo as the speaker on these is poor for that. These I just use to interact with Alexa.


Amazon Spot - Has that creepy camera on it but if you disable that in the options it makes the perfect alarm clock. You can turn the screen off too for night time and it keeps your alarms on. Very neat.

Logitech Harmony Hub - Used to control devices via infrared. You can get them with a remote but a smart phone works as well so I just bought the hub. You can easily program routines to turn on different inputs on a TV and Receiver. Works with Alexa too. Has some integration with video game consoles (it will turn on my PS4 and Wii U) but unsure how well it works for controlling them. My Dad has one of these and said it even found his 20 year old CD player so I imagine it works with most devices like any good universal remote.

Smartthings Hub - Needed a hub for all those lights. Decided on this one and so far have been pleased with the app. You can set rooms and routines (Scenes) easily enough. And of course you can send them to Alexa.

Sengled Element Bulbs - Lotsa these. Lots. Two dollars per bulb cheaper than the Phillips stuff but the reviews were about the same. Hopefully these will last 10 years. I wouldn't want to purchase these regularly.

New Modem and Router - My seven year old rented COX gateway wasn't quite cutting it for all the new internet traffic. Could've probably bought these a couple times over with the money I gave COX over the years... Bought a NETGEAR Orbi router and an ARRIS SURFboard. That brought the speed up. Should've done this years ago. Curse my laziness!

Amazon Music Unlimited Subscription - I'm behind the times on this one. I've just been using iTunes and CD's despite my buddies using Spotify or other streaming services. I stuck with Amazon because of the Prime sub discount and general laziness. I listen to mostly classic rock and so far it has found everything I have asked for.



Stuff I'm thinking about getting.

Amazon Show - Could be useful for the kitchen and cooking with the display. It doesn't do a whole lot now but I'm confident it will continue to improve. Amazon has 5,000 people working on it.

Color changing bulbs - These could be awesome for watching movies or parties. Expensive though. The Phillips ones are $50 a pop. I'm thinking about getting 8 or so for what I want to do. Not sure it is worth that.

Smart lock - These look neat. I'd have to realign some of my doors to get them to work and reviews seem to be hit or miss on how well some of the key less ones work.

Video door bell - I do plan on getting one of these. Notifications could get annoying but knowing who is outside or when a package is delivered without looking would be nice. Sorry Mormons/Lawn Care Professionals/Girl Scouts not opening the door today.

Robot Vacuum - Wanted one of these for a while and Alexa control might just tip the scale. Also very expensive. And I just bought a nice vacuum so also very unnecessary. But oh so cool.

[lurker]

Too bad IoT stuff has notoriously lax security (or none at all).

[Digitalnametag]

Well aren't you a bunch of fun. I suppose if someone wanted to screw with my lights or troll my thermostat they could with a bit of effort. Someone could swipe my log in for PayPal and rack up a bunch of purchases too. Or smash my window and steal my stuff. All of those are pretty unlikely though.

I understand the privacy concerns people have (hell I still won't use any social media) but to me the benefits outweigh the potential negatives. If Amazon wants to listen to me sing poorly or masturbate that's on them.