Cloudy with chance of local WiFi use

[G+_Rud Dog]

Cloudy with chance of local WiFi use.

Why do we need cloud services for IOT devices? It seems there must be an easy way to have a sensor tell me via my LAN that something has changed. Or am I missing something?

[G+_Paul Hutchinson]

To allow you to securely get the information when you're not on the local LAN. Without using a cloud service about the only secure option* is to have the custom IoT device send an email.

 

*of course it is possible to allow secure remote access but it's risky unless you are willing to learn a lot and then spend a lot of time monitoring and updating/fixing your systems.

[G+_David Peach]

I haven't caught up on all the recent episodes so I may not be addressing something specific that was mentioned. But I would say you can certainly do it yourself. You will need to set up a server inside your network that gives out that information. How it does that can be done probably dozens of different ways.

 

Since this is Internet of Things and not just Local LAN of Things you will need to give that server access to and access from the Internet at large. How you do that can be done extremely safely or easily open you up to having your whole network hacked.

 

Personally, I prefer to roll my own solution as opposed to trusting a service that may go away and I will never remember 2 years from now how I set it up. With that said, that is also the reason I have not done too many "connected to the Internet" projects.

 

The services take away much of the friction for reaching into your network and getting the info you need.

[G+_Rud Dog]

Paul Hutchinson thank you for your input. Question pops to mind and I am no expert at all. But why could you not have a signal alert a computer on your LAN to send you an email or sms?

[G+_Glenn Nelson]

AFAIK, MQTT can do the job. Your sensor device might be on ethernet or might use WiFI (such as ESP32). You can run MQTT on R-Pi on your LAN. Or you could setup MQTT on your own cloud computer - say AWS or Azure.

[G+_Paul Hutchinson]

Rud Dog That's what I said was a workable method for remote alerts with no security issues. No need for another computer, I have a RasPi Zero W that sends me an email whenever the dehumidifier in my basement needs to be emptied. (it also emails me a daily status report so I know it's alive)

[G+_Rud Dog]

David Peach You probably hit on my reluctance with out knowing it but tired of having to pay or use some service with all the available breathing devices on my LAN. Of course if it were that easy I am sure it would be in place or would it? I can remember just writing script in UNIX environment to contact me via an email.

[G+_Travis Hershberger]

It's mostly because the companies want monthly payments from you. Nothing stops them from enabling remote access the normal ways.

[G+_Robert Hafer]

The super nerdy way to do this is with OpenHAB

openhab.org - openHAB

[G+_David Peach]

Haven't watched it, but a couple of years ago FLOSS Weekly talked with the OpenHAB people:

[G+_Rud Dog]

Going to have to watch the OpenHAB video cause visiting their website did not give me an idea what they do. Thank you for the alternatives, just the same.

[G+_Scott W]

Robert Hafer OpenHAB has come a long way since I last used it. I got tired of writing all the code needed to display my sensors on my local lan page, so went with a Vera Lite Home automation controller. It does it all and easy to setup.

[G+_Ben Reese]

I just started experimenting with MQTT/OpenHAB a few weeks ago. Still feels like it takes a lot of manual edits to config files. Still an excellent solution if you want DIY and can put a little time into it. I'm sure it can plug into a dozen different notification systems. Perhaps a quick KH tutorial on the free AWS SNS?