Our guide of definitions is here: automateyourlife.net/products/smart-home-definitions-defined Links For Other Tutorials related to today's video Zigbee vs Z-Wave vs Thread vs Bluetooth vs Matter - ua-cam.com/video/3zaTIRiFemQ/v-deo.html 5 Tips For Easy and Amazing WiFi - ua-cam.com/video/avwtJYBiiUM/v-deo.html The Way Everything You Need To Prepare For Matter - ua-cam.com/video/HTOYHn5NUn0/v-deo.html The Best Smart Gadgets With Alexa - ua-cam.com/video/k2N9LfqSXdQ/v-deo.html Our Full Playlist of the Best Smart Home 2022 Advice - ua-cam.com/video/tWp5AFSiDJ4/v-deo.html
My thoughts on this video. I wish I would have seen something like this a few years ago. I made so many expensive mistakes because of my lack of knowledge in home automation. The onset of UA-cam streamers in the past few years, like yourself, has been a great help in reducing my expense and improving my home automation. With the constant development I suspect in a couple of years time this video will probably be a bit dated. But for now thank you. 👍🏻
@@AutomateYourLife No problem. The downside is that I have to watch Mr Hibbert every Saturday morning. He just baits me in with his video titles. He is the master Bai.....................oops. test card now showing😂. Love you really Paul
I’ve been a long time subscriber, UA-cam stopped recommending your videos for the last year. I gotta say your camera presence and on screen speaking has improved dramatically. Truly incredible how good you’ve become on camera. Keep it up and thanks for the great content.
As someone who is just getting into smart home tech, I really appreciate this video. It contains very thorough explanations of all the basic knowledge you need to get started. Looking forward to a new hobby of automating my home!
I'm only 15 minutes into this video and have learnt so much. I am only just starting to look into setting up a Smart Home system so this is a great video for me. On a side note, your presenting style is fantastic! Calm, relaxed and easy to understand. Top marks, a new subscriber for sure!!
Skip to time stamps!? Never! I'm here to keep those YT metrics up, amigo! I'm playing every second, and watching every ad. (Might even click on a few....) HAPPY NEW YEARS!
I'm 1/5th through the video and you explaining how this would improve people their troubleshooting. That was the best way to explain something so easily overlooked. You have my respect and I have no clue what your profession is; but you should teach! This is not just a 101 in a terms of guides. Great video!!!
Finally a guide I can refer to anyone asking about home automation. Brian while I donn't like the way you talk, but the level of sincerity you show in helping your viewers kept me subscribed to your channel, and you just showed how much you care with this informative video. Thank you sir
@@AutomateYourLife a walk through of your current set up would be nice. Obviously you have hundreds of automations built into your business and home but perhaps at look at the normal day and how automation looks for you currently
Only thing to add here is 1st thing of all for someone building a new home is to focus on as much cabling as possible and infrastructure for cabling. Then go on a huge PoE switch connected to a router and spread as many modern Access Points possible/needed to have good 5/5.8Ghz data coverage in your mobiles and good connection range for other infrastructure devices… today I’d simply go back this route and use cheap Tuya devices…
Great video. The only things I don't quite agree with you on is, what folks will start with first. For example, I simply bought a Ring doorbell and Amazon Echo Dot, since they were on sale. I then added some basic smart plugs and a smart bulb or two. Once I started liking how things worked together, I jumped into the ancillary (Tier 2/Tier 3) devices. People's experience may vary, but IMHO, it's been my personal experience that devices like Dots and Ring Doorbells are way more likely to be the "gateway devices" that most folks use to begin building a smarthome.
Oh I agree that people start with those products...but I'm hoping people will listen here and approach building the smart home the right way. Those products are like gateway drugs to get you hooked on an ecosystem :)
This video is fantastic!! I am buying a new home next month and I am still torn about buying too much HA equipment now versus waiting for Matter to shake out. I've subscribed and think you will be a great resource to track the progress. Thank you.
Just found your video. and it is very informative , As a long time Google user I can tell that despite my hatred for Amazon and their business model Now (Jul 2023) Amazon's Alexa is (for me) by far the most useful, accurate and almost instantaneous . Yes I would have never thought I would say this about an Amazon product. Google has taken a dive lately. Simple commands take forever to complete or I get nothing. I use a combination of Amazon and Homekit and seems to be ok.Again this is my own personal experience
@@AutomateYourLife Don't think this come as a surprise.Google has made drastic personnel cuts and I'm pretty sure their Assistant team is now reduced to close nothing IF there is anyone still working on it. Since everyone is hopping on the AI bandwagon don't think anyone is paying much attention to these "smart assistants" Maybe they will be "infused" with some AI but only the future will tell
Great video brian! watched the entire 45mins. One thing I would like to add is what devices are available and supported is different from region to region or even country to country, so consumers please research and reference from local context
I realize this video is over a year old. That being said I have watched many videos and your content seems to be the most informative. My question is I have a home built in the 60s and I am an older person. I dont plan on using alot of the automations you talk about but I would like to set my home up so it can be compatible with smart systems. What plugs, switches etcetera should I have installed so my home's resale value goes up.
I think if you're looking at switches/smart lighting, then I'd go with Lutron Caseta. It gives you physical control of lights/fans/blinds, BUT it also has smart home style control and major compatibility. It requires a neutral though...sooooo...could be tough in your home. However, most smart improvements don't pay for themselves this way. Here's a video we did where we spoke to a realtor who has sold a lot of smart homes. He talks about where value can be found: ua-cam.com/video/6zXGnUJrzD8/v-deo.html
4G routers are another option for isolated smart homes, vehicles (caravans) or people on a budget like myself. For about $10 Australian a month you can have reasonable internet and a smart home to-boot. I have been in the Smart Home wilderness for the last 12 months due to financial hardship and not having internet access. But now I'm back after buying a TP-LINK X20-4G router with good data limit and Mesh capability. I'm loving the 4G flexibility as it can be placed in any room with a reasonable 4G signal and then connecting via Ethernet to devices.
@@AutomateYourLifeTHANK YOU. It's great to be Back to the Future!! ...Fortunately I live in an area (Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia) that has a good 4G (and even 5G) signal. I've done speed tests and results from 8 Mbps to as high as 106 Mbps depending on the time of day. ... I had to learn a whole new set of terminology, like Carrier Aggregation (4G+), Cat 4 or Cat 6 devices. Mine is 4G+, Cat 6 with Wi-Fi 6. Also it could potentially connect to 150+ devices. ...So I'm gradually digging out my smart devices from their year-long hibernation and reconnecting them to the new router. Time will tell on whether lag will pose an obstacle, but I don't have a huge number of devices.
Thank you for the information and your service to us through teaching, Brian. I am a grandmother in my 70's and some of this information is hard for me to grasp. I have a daughter that lives in a not very good rural area and has had her 3-bedroom home broken into 3 times by people looking for drugs. She has two teenage kids. I bought her (with the limited funds I have) an "Amazon Echo Show 10" in January 2024, and some light bulbs. two Sengled soft white, one colored (Sengled - Smart A19 LED 60W Bulb Bluetooth Mesh Works with Amazon Alexa - Multicolor). Then kids wanted their own colored bulbs, so I bought two Wyze Bulbs Colored, 1100 Lumen WiFi RGB and Tunable White A19 Smart Bulb, and they all say they work with Alexa, so I am assuming they work with the Amazon Echo Show 10. My question is: What would you recommend I buy next that is not over $200 to make them safer, and that will pair with the Echo Show I bought her. She is not tech-savvy and is a bit intimidated in setting anything up yet, but plans to this week. Any advice would be helpful.
Hey Marlene! You know what helps with safety? Knowing when someone is coming in the door. You bought an Echo Show 10, which has what's called a Zigbee Hub in it. That means you can buy inexpensive door sensors like this: amzn.to/3vI5ok3 (Amazon affiliate link). So, if it's after a certain time you can get the smart bulb to come on or you can get an announcement out of the Echo Show 10 when the door opens. This is a great way to have some security. Cameras that work great with the Echo Shows come from Ring and Blink, but those require a subscription. Wyze also makes cameras like the Wyze Cam Pan V3 amzn.to/3O8l0Uf (Amazon affiliate link) or the Wyze OG (amzn.to/48H9fMK) that are both good and can be displayed through the Echo Show. They also have a Wyze Cam Floodlight (and maybe just maybe...but I can't say for sure *wink wink nudge nudge) a new version is coming of that. Those will require subscriptions (very cheap...couple bucks a month per camera) to get them to announce when a person is detected.
It doesn't really matter what door sensor you have. Google can't do anything with a door sensor right now. You need a hub to do anything with it. Amazon has a number of options though!
This has worked for a lot of folks, alongside the other two videos in this series. If it's not helping you, then you can book a consultation on our site and I can tell you exactly how I'd do it in your home
Hey thanks for the detailed video, I have been looking into smart home (automation) for the last month or so and your has been the best, explaining everything from the ground up. I have one question though - I am more tech savvy as well as a programmer, do you have videos/playlists that can go well with that background? Thanks a lot again, this has been very helpful to understand the basic terms and requirements :)
Hey, so in general I focus on systems that don't require a lot of in-depth knowledge like yours. You might eventually end up looking at something like home assistant if you want to flex that programming skill which I don't tend to cover. I just don't believe the time and effort is worth the difference in capability. So I don't really have an advanced playlist but if you continue in the series of 101 videos you'll eventually end up at one with some more advanced ideas for automation methods
Great and very informative video. But I had to limit the experience to sound only, because that constant "zooming in" (or however its called) caused great discomfort. Besides that, the information "output" was amazing.
Before building my house, it took me time to figure out, what "smart home" infrastructure to choose. My advantage was that I could do the necessary electric wiring to avoid the "various smart wifi device Zoo". At the end I have 4 Siemens LOGO 230RCE main modules coupled with 8 extension modules (total of 96 inputs and 80 output channels). LOGO runs it's own software and controls house's "electro mechanical part", means, all the switches, sensors (input side), lights, motors and power outlets (output side) are physically wired (230V) to LOGO and can function even without wifi or Internet connection. Additionally I have Home Assistant running on Mac mini M1 (16Gb/512Gb) Debian VM that communicates with Siemens LOGO and sends commands to it to switch on or off different light groups or power outlets according to various automatisations.Home Assistant can also read (via LOGO M blocks) status of more than dozen presence sensors wired to LOGO. At the moment I have only 2 devices primary controlled by Home Assistant over Wifi (Shelly 1 rely connected to garage motor and wifi card of Brink Flair climate control system). Still have to connect 6 PoE surveillance cameras, necessary cat6 wiring is already in place.
Good Day, I currently have three systems used to automate my home: Nest: Front Door Camera, Two Outside Cameras, Three Smoke Detectors, 2 Nest Displays, 5 Nest Mini, Thermostat. Wyze: 7 Cameras (Pool Shed, 2 baby room, upstairs hallway, Garage, Living Room, My antique car remotely) Wemo: 11 Devices, (Controlling 8 lights, 2 Air purifiers, Garage Door Opener) My Wifi system is a UniFi Network, with four access points throughout my home. I’m looking to add a water sensor to my system. My question is what’s the best water sensor device that would work with my current Nest system (Google Home)? I want to be notify through Google, we have a elderly mother in law living with us. P.S. Keep the videos coming. Thanks…
Sadly, Google doesn't allow this yet. You need a true hub. I'm putting together some videos on how to deal with the limitations of Google Routines, but right now...there's no good option.
Great video! So I've always struggled having multiple platforms like Google assistant, Alexa, Smartthings, and ITTT and where to "house" everything. I know some products like Wyze don't work with ST, so that makes it even more confusing. Any suggestions or tips on where/what to house both automation and the products themselves?
Hey Darin, yeah that's a tough one to answer! It becomes even tougher when you add in things like Wyze that don't play with a lot of other platforms. I think with Matter coming, your life is going to get easier. I find that SmartThings is a great house for all your stuff (200 device limit currently though). Wyze would be the oddity there, but they were talking about Matter support. Alexa I find clunky still, and if Google had enough automation options, I would say you could just go there. So again, when Matter comes out...you'll have good options.
@@AutomateYourLife silly question, but can you run smartthings to run automations and GH hub for turning off lights, air con etc. Or is one or the other. Great video BTW
@@guidoabarcia1926 I'm not Brian, but yes, you can run automations via ST or GH (ST gives you a lot more options for automations), and use GH for voice commands.
Thank you - do you provide consulting? I am in an apartment but am moving to a house in the near future and want to ensure I get the right system for what I want to do.
Hey there! Yep! It's not cheap because I'm pretty busy, but keep in mind I answer questions on the channel always. Also, there are channel memberships that allow you to get minor consulting done. Maybe check that out first!
So looking for some advice in my attempt to set up a smart home from scratch. I am looking at acquiring an Apple Homepod Mini and the new 2022 4K Apple TV with ethernet. We love in a bungalow with a finished basement. We have our TV in the basement which is where I plan to install the Apple TV. The Homepod Mini will go on our main level. So the very first obstacle I will run into is our main modem/router is located in the basement and because we had poor wireless coverage on the main floor, I hardwired another router using Cat 5 cable on the main level which gives us great wifi coverage! However, I have given that wifi network (main floor) a different name to differentiate the two. Both networks are running on the 2.4 Ghz signal. Going forward, will that break in wifi networks cause problems when setting up my smart home? Currently, we have an Echo Dot on the main level and 4 wifi smart plug receptacles (not Home Kit compatible). I just ordered a switchbot switch for my coffee machine but that is the extent of progress thus far. I am hoping to make an Apple based smart home and get in on some Black Friday deals so any advice/help would be greatly appreciated.
I don't know how your mesh wifi system is doing it, but it will potentially mess with you. It shouldn't be a big problem, as all you'll have to do is put each device on the right wifi network and otherwise your routers should manage it, however traversing that network with the right permissions is something that you'll have to think about if it doesn't work without changing settings.
Hi, great video, very helpful as I begin to get into home automation. maybe you can help me with a couple of things. I live in Costa Rica where homes do not have a neutral wire. What is the best solution you have found for 2-way switches, ideally 2 pole as well with no neutral and also I cannot find any no neutral wire switches for a light/ceiling fan combination. Do you have any advice on how to address that?
That's actually going to depend on what else you're going to use in your home. There are lots of neutral wire-less options. :) Dimming and fans is fairly hard to do that way though. But maybe have a look at Lutron Caseta and see what'll fit your home?
@@AutomateYourLife Thanks. Yes Lutron Caseta is about the only option I have found so far. One way single pole no neutral switches are easy to find, I have a couple of GE Cync ones which work fine. But 3-way or two pole or dimmable gets a lot harder. I have a smartthings hub and eero 6 mesh router plus a few other hubs, yo-link, philips hue, Aquara and Moes Tuya - no neutral seems to make hubs more necessary.... oh and I am using Alexa
Would you say it's worth using Alexa, specifically Echo and echo dot 5th gens to start a smart house? Want to do things like lights, temp and smart switches
You can use those but in general that's not going to let you expand very far in the future. It'll really just give you voice control. Which is great if that's all you're after!
I just started following you so forgive me if this is something you’ve covered. Have you covered smart home vents? I have a forced air heating/ac system and don’t want to heat/cool empty rooms and I assume there are automated vents I can install to open/close via an app?
I actually haven't. There are just a few out there today. I wish there were more, honestly. In my home, I have these weird circular vents so I haven't been able to test much either. Sorry!
You showed some apps have more options/conditions than the others, I know it's subject to change, but which app has the most options as of now? thanks.
So many options. I really want to get a doorbell with facial recognition, and a smart door lock. The other thing I want is a motion sensor floodlight with a camera. I have apple phones and Amazon devices in the home. Any suggestions?
One of the big things to think of if you are looking at a lot of IP connected devices, this includes WiFi and Ethernet cable connections, is the number of IP Addresses available. Moajority of devices aimed for a home network allow Class C subnets, which only gives you a maximum of 254 IP Addresses, with 1 of them used by your router, which gives you 253 for all your other wired and wifi devices. This may be worth taking into account when you are looking at WiFi devices, especially if you have a few laptops or mobile phones in the house too. It could be worth looking at a router that can do Class B subnetting to give that flexibility.
Great video Brian! I'm new to smart home devices and am trying to get my head around a setup for lights. I have an echo dot (4th gen) which came with Philips Hue bulbs, so I'm wondering should I buy more Philips Hue bulbs even though they cost more or can I just buy any smart bulbs once they work with my echo dot. I would like to be able to create voice command automations for the lights.
Hey Michael, you definitely don't need to buy more Hue bulbs. There are reasons to do that, and in general I don't mind the extra cost vs the options I get with them, plus their local control options with so many systems. So go for it, but don't pick too many systems and try to pick one that's going to work with your hubs and controllers!
Hi Brian, you don’t mention Homey at all. This is a really good system and can be hub or cloud based. It allows for automations called flows that can be quite simple but also range to very complex. For the record I spread my home across two products Homey and Smartthings so that I have resilience should either fail. In a friend’s house I split between Homey and Hubitat for the same reasons. You didn’t seem to touch on backing up at all in your video. My thoughts is that this is really important after all you put a lot of effort into setting up your automated home and start to depend on it. It’s a nightmare when you have to redo everything. Homey and Hubitat have backup available albeit for a subscription; as far as I can discover Smartthings does not. Of course it goes without saying that Home Assistant has local backup facilities.
I have a question about Smart Devices. I am a beginner in Smart Home and need some help. I am thinking about using Alexa as my Smart Platform. Can I plug an old pellet stove into a smart outlet? The pellet stove did not come with its own thermostat. Therefore, all I want to do is to turn the pellet stove off remotely (by cell phone) if my Ecobee thermostat reads it is 80 degrees or above in the house. Also, would you tell me if it is possible to create the following program in Home Assistant or another Smart Device Program. “If the Ecobee thermostat reads 80 degrees or above in the house it would turn off automatically the pellet stove smart outlet. When the temperature drops below 70 degrees, turn the Pellet Stove smart outlet back on and turn on the furnace (the Ecobee thermostat is connected to an oil furnace)”. Thanks for your help.
It all sounds do-able to me. Check that your smart plug can handle the pellet stove though. I'm not familiar with how they start to comment. Also check that ecobee will allow you to start a routine based on temperature in the platform you're choosing.
Thanks for this video! Great first steps for everyone! I am wondering about a few things however.... If you point out Home Assistant, why not mention Domoticz as well? And even better: why does everyone seems to be forgetting about Homey and Homey Pro? I switched from Domoticz to Homey Pro about a year ago and it is really a great system! It connects everything. All brands, all protocols....out of the box!
Hey Rudi - Thanks for watching! If you watch the smart home hubs one (the next video in this series), we focus more on hubs and more of those systems (just Homey and Homey Pro in the next one). I couldn't tackle everything in this one, as I'd be here all day. Still, good to mention these other systems for others to go research. :)
@@AutomateYourLife , haha! That one is in my "Watch later" list, will get to it soon! And you're right: when doing the basics, stick to the basics. Don't over complicate. Your channel, the one from Reed (Smart Home Solver) and Paul Hibbert's are the best. Practical, right amount of humor, useful and generally independent.
I have watched a lot of UA-cam videos, but I cannot find anywhere where they talk about setting up away. I have all my devices in home, but nothing in a way.
In the States you can own your own modem and doesn't have to be the one your ISP generally provides. Also you need to be more specific to modem, router or modem/router combos
Will the thread and matter sensors be able to work on all devices no matter the manufacturer, ie could a thread/matter philips hue sensor control a linx smart bulb? Cheers
In general, that's what should happen. There's some older devices where that won't be the case and there could be exceptions. So I can't guarantee it yet, but that's how it should go in the long run.
Hey there! Thanks so much for this video!! One question: does one NEED the Smart things hub for it to work, or can you just use the app on your samsung/android phone?
So do I start with smarthings and transition to home assistant when I get more comfortable or just go all in? Mostly Hue/Nanoleaf/lutron currently as well as Eufy for security but eufy doesn't play nice with anyone anyways 🤣
Yeah Eufy's kinda funny. They gotta work on those integrations more. I think it sounds like you could use Apple HomeKit, given Hue/Nanoleaf/Lutron. Eufy also has some compatibility with HomeKit or at least they keep planning to. I think ST is enough for most, but if you think you're gonna transition to Home Assistant anyways, dig in now and go for it.
My HomeKit system with my smart switches are operating on 2.4 gigahertz frequency of my WiFi yet my HomePods are using the 5 gigahertz frequency. Since the HomePods are HomeKit nodes does the different frequency mess up my smart home system? Do I need at least one Apple device node using the 2.4?
Though the Aqara stuff is great but why can you not put other ZigBee devices on their hub? This is why I currently use a Tuya ZigBee Hub which also works in Home Assistant and basically any make of ZigBee device works in it
I've been testing that lately, and I found just some Zigbee stuff connects to the Tuya Zigbee hub. It's not everything, but it is definitely better than Aqara's in that regard!
Aqara made the choice not to allow third party. I bet Homekit's restrictions on third party devices played into it. You can have zigbee from hue, ikea, sengled, and aqara for example, all homekit certified with their own hubs. But try to use one brands bulb on another's hub and homekit refuses to see it. Alexa and google for example see them just fine. Aqara probably forclosed altogether on third party to avoid confusion. Hopefully Matter will over come this restriction.
I don't want to have a load of hubs and like the idea that the Tuya Hub connects with most and what the hub sees Home Assistant sees so a win win as won't need the USB ZigBee stick. I need the hub as running HA on a virtual server under Windows so when Windows goes down (auto reboots etc.) I still have the backup of the hub
@@AngloYorkshire matter is coming in a few months. Chances are everything will change. I just think back to when I lost my smartthings hub. I forgot where I plugged it in and it was knocked down behind a cabinet. Everything still worked so never looked too hard for it. While homekit requires all these hubs, I find it all still more reliable than my HOme Assistant was.
I think one of the most confusing things when it comes to smart devices is, what do we need and not need. For example, I have 30-ish smart lights (almost all Phillips Hue), motions sensors to trigger these lights on/off, contact sensors, & I have RING for security / camera functionality. I also have Phillips Huge hub, Samsung S.T. hub, Ring hub, & several Alexa & Google devices across the house. I primarily use Alexa for my routines. All in all, I have routines set up in Alexa, smart lighting automations for lighting / motion sensors in S.S.T. & I have a wake up and goodnight routing set up in Phillips Hue. Do I really need a Hue hub & S.S.T. hub? Do I need either? Can I simply use Alexa for everything or Google Home? I've also been considering purchasing a display (Show or Google Nest), but then I'm just adding another device...I've added these over the course of the last 5-10 years & I honestly don't know why I'm using all of them anymore & I would love to downsize....... .....HELP??
That's a great question. You know what you should do? Watch the next video in the series. Smart Home Hubs 101! ua-cam.com/video/sYhRfApfvwk/v-deo.html The real answer to your question is whether or not you want to get more complex with automation, or you just want the ones you have. :)
@@AutomateYourLife thanks Brian! It will take time, but I plan to watch most of your videos, but if you have any that are ideal for a person like myself who's needing to go back to the basics, could you point me in that direction, please? Also, I created a brand new routine in the Alexa App to automatically turn on a hue light once motion was detected on one of my Samsung ST motion sensors & it did NOT activate the light, so I'm puzzled to my issue even more now. The MS is detecting motion & the hue lights work if I manually turn them on by the light switch & if I give Alexa the command to turn on, but they will not turn on via a rule in either Alexa app or smart lighting within my Samsung ST app / hub. Makes zero sense.
Many cameras can! And I found this one that's a bit hard to find that's kind of in between camera/sensor. ua-cam.com/video/kJVKzByspn0/v-deo.html Your basic motion sensor can't do it though. It's just an on/off type of device (saw motion, don't see motion), so that's why you kinda have to step up to a camera.
Brian I have some very important news to tell you, about boosting your WiFi when you have a Mesh system. Is there any way, that I can get the message to you? So you can share it with your subscribers? It's really good info for the smart home.
@@AutomateYourLife OK, I was experiencing slow Wi-Fi from out of nowhere. And every now and then this would happen. Didn't know what was causing the problem at the time? And the issue seemed to come and goes at will. Now I have Nest Wi-Fi Mesh system (4 nodes with 2 beinga routers) and I have Google WiFi mesh (2 nodes with both being routers). I bought so many because of the ongoing slow Wi-Fi problems. 4 of the nodes are routers for a wired connection, And a couple of Switches. But my WiFi internet would still move slow every now and then. I took 4 nodes off the system, thinking I had too many. And they were interfering with each other. Even though I have tons of devices and tons of cameras. My house ain't that big. I tried everything to troubleshoot the slow Wi-Fi. Restart network, restart nodes, unplug/replug, factory reset individual nodes, factory reset the entire system. In the Home app and the hidden button that's on the actual node. Nothing really work forever. I called Google help center and they switched channels, changes DNS settings, same results (great service). Every time I ran an internet speed test, I was getting over 900 DL and over 30 upload. So I factored out my isp being the problem. I had my modem in bridge mode, so that wasn't the problem either. So, what was it 🤔? I changed ethernet cables, checked all the lines, rebooted my switches and modem, same results 🤔. I was about to return my Nest WiFi since I paid for the extended protection plan. But I said to myself, let me try one more thing. Then finally, I tried connecting my laptop, directly to my modem by ethernet. (Even tho I was getting great internet speeds, when I connected anything by ethernet through the router.) Bypassing the Nest Mesh Router. Just to see, if I would get the same great internet speeds. Can't hurt to try. I connected the laptop to the modem (only the one jack since it was in bridge mode) and ran an internet speed test. I got nothing, no internet at all. 2nd try = 1 - 6 kbps. 3rd try = wouldn't even refresh. I said, OMG. I found the problem and *IT'S NOT GOOGLE* (That's what you should title this topic LOL) I called my isp (Xfinity) and explained my slow WiFi. I said, it's weird, cause when I test the internet speed through my Nest Router, I will get almost 1 GB up. But when I test the speed Bypassing the router, I would barely, if at all, get internet. It took awhile after running some troubleshooting with the agent at Xfinity. She had to up my case to a higher level. (Great customer service by the way) But still she scheduled a technician to visit my home. _5 hours laters._ I received a text message saying, Xfinity seemed to think that they solved my issue. Told me to check to see if it was working as should. And to let them know if I should cancel the Xfinity technician. I checked my internet speed 100 times from Google, Fios, Speednet, Xfinity internet speed test. And all were giving me superb 👌🏾 👏🏿 Wi-Fi speed. So superb, that I only needed 2 nodes. Probably 1 but, I didn't wanna take it that far. I say all that to say, if you're suffering from slow Wi-Fi, connect your laptop directly to the modem. Never mind you having high read outs on your ups and downloads when asking your Google Assistant to test the internet speed. That don't mean a thing. You can get read outs of superb internet speeds by testing that way, through your router. It could be something internal. I hope this helps millions. 🙏🏾 Thanks Brian for being so patient and getting this message out. If you so choose.
Thanks DJ! I think for this it's a very specific situation actually. XFinity seemed to have misconfigured something? Like they had to fix it on their side. Did they tell you what they did? That's a very interesting story about the high read out coming from Google Assistant though. I wonder what that's about....
I am using a TP-link Motion activated dimmer switch KS220M, ES20M in my bathroom. I would like to set up a routine using my Alexa Voice activation to communicate through the switch using the word “shower”. What I would like the routine to do is when I am ready to take a shower, I would like for the light to stay on for at least 15 minutes or longer. When I'm in the shower the light keeps going out after one minute, and I must constantly wave my hands to trigger the motion detector to get the light to turn back on while I am in the shower. Is there a way that I can create a routine to trigger the light for the light to stay on while I am in the shower for at least 15 minutes or longer. I am also using a Smart Things controller as well as Alexa.
If you can't see the motion detection status on the TP Link Dimmer, you're toast. That device is doing everything on its own. However... If you can see that Motion Detection Status in the bathroom in SmartThings, then here's what I'd do: 1. Create a virtual switch called "ShowerTime" in SmartThings. Make sure that shows up in Alexa's app. 2. When you run the routine Shower Time by saying Shower to Alexa, then turn on ShowerTime. 3. Your routines in SmartThings (yes, you gotta do this there) will manage the lights in the bathroom from here on out. Leave Alexa out of it. 3a. SmartThings routine to turn on lights whenever motion detected in bathroom. 3b. If ShowerTime is off, you may turn off the lights. 3c. ShowerTime goes off however you'd like. Maybe just let it go for 30 minutes after it's turned on. The Auto Turn Off feature in SmartThings works well for this. 30 minutes cause you like long showers! Ahahahaha...I get to joke after all that help. This might not be perfect. I just wrote it off the top of my head, so you might have to play a little to make it fit.
Take a bit then! Come back and watch it again. This stuff can be tough, but this is intended to be really introductory with a lot of concepts I think you need to build a successful smart home.
BRAIN, i'm in deep, i have an ATT Fiber, with 2.4 & 5 Gh with same name and password, and a guest channel 2.4 separate name and password. i have a camera, some outlets, lamps, L;ED strips, Air fryer, rokus, TVs, fire TV, chrome cast, plus phones, and computers and ALEXA. I have six or seven brands each has created home , with rooms, and devices. I HAVE Skills for alexa but not everything shows up and devices are evil, turn on/off/ change colors all by them selves. help. do they all need to be under one home name and rooms
I think yes, eliminate complexity. Get them under one home and get them put into the right rooms in the Alexa app. If everything isn't showing up, then you miiiiiiiight need to look at different devices in the long run. But start there and start to make it easier on yourself to see the issues you have.
Well if you're fortunate enough, to have a place to call home, where it,s warm,safe, and dry, and you're not cold,hungry,or thirsty, and if anybody's got the time, somebody to talk to. I know that,s pushing the boat out a bit,but,. Anyway, big TVs fancy phones all the fancy bling bling, forget all those kind of things, then you can say you've got a smart home, basically just be basic. Keep it simple, and life will be a lot sweeter. 😉
I got started with Logitech Harmony Hub and the Zigbee extender. What-a mistake-a to make-a! (ua-cam.com/video/fAnGGPdF9Ew/v-deo.html) Since realising my mistake there, I have switched to SmartThings and am really enjoying their setup, but I really can't understand why Samsung don't do more with it and encourage more innovation. They seem to be taking an ice age to roll out the new drivers, and I'm still not convinced what advantage they will bring me.
@@AutomateYourLife Yes, I know that's the intention, but the API is still telling me all my Z-Wave devices are still on the cloud even where I have tried to upgrade them. The process is not trivial and I fear they are going to botch the roll-out with many customers having to delete and then re-add thier devices. I hope SmartThings get it right, but technology firms have a bad history when it comes to upgrades.
Our guide of definitions is here: automateyourlife.net/products/smart-home-definitions-defined
Links For Other Tutorials related to today's video
Zigbee vs Z-Wave vs Thread vs Bluetooth vs Matter - ua-cam.com/video/3zaTIRiFemQ/v-deo.html
5 Tips For Easy and Amazing WiFi - ua-cam.com/video/avwtJYBiiUM/v-deo.html
The Way
Everything You Need To Prepare For Matter - ua-cam.com/video/HTOYHn5NUn0/v-deo.html
The Best Smart Gadgets With Alexa - ua-cam.com/video/k2N9LfqSXdQ/v-deo.html
Our Full Playlist of the Best Smart Home 2022 Advice - ua-cam.com/video/tWp5AFSiDJ4/v-deo.html
I’m struggling to download load the list, getting server error
Any luck yet anthony? Never saw this...sorry.
@@AutomateYourLife yes, all good 👍🏻 thanks
Thanks for the List it will be very helpful.
My thoughts on this video. I wish I would have seen something like this a few years ago. I made so many expensive mistakes because of my lack of knowledge in home automation. The onset of UA-cam streamers in the past few years, like yourself, has been a great help in reducing my expense and improving my home automation. With the constant development I suspect in a couple of years time this video will probably be a bit dated. But for now thank you. 👍🏻
Just glad you're getting the help you need now!👌. And thanks!
@@AutomateYourLife No problem. The downside is that I have to watch Mr Hibbert every Saturday morning. He just baits me in with his video titles. He is the master Bai.....................oops. test card now showing😂. Love you really Paul
It's alright you can learn something from that experience it maybe expensive but learning is priceless 👍
Thanks!
oh my gosh Bryan. That's just way too kind sir. Blown away.
@@AutomateYourLife these are the kind of videos the smarthome diy needs. I appreciate everything you do.
Bryan coming in hot, I love it!
I’ve been a long time subscriber, UA-cam stopped recommending your videos for the last year. I gotta say your camera presence and on screen speaking has improved dramatically. Truly incredible how good you’ve become on camera. Keep it up and thanks for the great content.
I appreciate that! Thanks Tony!
UA-cam doing that is very annoying, but I knew it was going on for some folks. :)
As someone who is just getting into smart home tech, I really appreciate this video. It contains very thorough explanations of all the basic knowledge you need to get started.
Looking forward to a new hobby of automating my home!
Glad you enjoyed it! We actually have 3 101 level videos today and I'm building more. So when you need help with the next topic, check us out!
I'm only 15 minutes into this video and have learnt so much. I am only just starting to look into setting up a Smart Home system so this is a great video for me. On a side note, your presenting style is fantastic! Calm, relaxed and easy to understand. Top marks, a new subscriber for sure!!
Thank you so much! Check out the other smart home 101 videos! 😃
Skip to time stamps!?
Never!
I'm here to keep those YT metrics up, amigo!
I'm playing every second, and watching every ad. (Might even click on a few....)
HAPPY NEW YEARS!
ahahahhaa! Ohhhh Happy New Years sir!
I'm 1/5th through the video and you explaining how this would improve people their troubleshooting. That was the best way to explain something so easily overlooked. You have my respect and I have no clue what your profession is; but you should teach! This is not just a 101 in a terms of guides. Great video!!!
Oh gosh, thanks Daniel! Too kind.
Finally a guide I can refer to anyone asking about home automation. Brian while I donn't like the way you talk, but the level of sincerity you show in helping your viewers kept me subscribed to your channel, and you just showed how much you care with this informative video. Thank you sir
ahhahaha, but you don't like the way I talk!? Ahhh well, I'll take it. :)
Paul Hibbert sent me, I was not disappointed great content.
Good ole Paul! Welcome!
Such an important video. I’ve watched it several times. I love that you taught the concept so anyone with any ecosystem can take to and run.
Thanks so much Brian! I'm so glad it's helped you already. Feel free to suggest our next topics too.
@@AutomateYourLife a walk through of your current set up would be nice. Obviously you have hundreds of automations built into your business and home but perhaps at look at the normal day and how automation looks for you currently
This is exceptionally well done video Brian, I think this just might be the best explainer video of its type I've watched yet!
Wow, thanks! What a nice thing to say!
This is the first video I’ve seen that gives a description on how these things work. 👍🏾
Glad you liked it!
Wow, amazing work that you did. Great video! Thanks a lot for this. Really looking forward for next episodes!
There's a few on the channel today! Check out the playlist here for 2 others: ua-cam.com/play/PLFPS7-631cZEZ38AUb4jpzHZj-rYnY-jl.html
Only thing to add here is 1st thing of all for someone building a new home is to focus on as much cabling as possible and infrastructure for cabling. Then go on a huge PoE switch connected to a router and spread as many modern Access Points possible/needed to have good 5/5.8Ghz data coverage in your mobiles and good connection range for other infrastructure devices… today I’d simply go back this route and use cheap Tuya devices…
You definitely can and should add cabling if you're building new! 100%!
Excellent, Brian and your definitions guide is excellent, too. Thank you.
My pleasure! And thank you sir!
Excelent video, complete, mature... you are my new hero on youtube!
Wow, thanks!
Great video.
The only things I don't quite agree with you on is, what folks will start with first.
For example, I simply bought a Ring doorbell and Amazon Echo Dot, since they were on sale. I then added some basic smart plugs and a smart bulb or two.
Once I started liking how things worked together, I jumped into the ancillary (Tier 2/Tier 3) devices.
People's experience may vary, but IMHO, it's been my personal experience that devices like Dots and Ring Doorbells are way more likely to be the "gateway devices" that most folks use to begin building a smarthome.
Oh I agree that people start with those products...but I'm hoping people will listen here and approach building the smart home the right way. Those products are like gateway drugs to get you hooked on an ecosystem :)
@@AutomateYourLife Yeah, when I typed "gateway," that thought _did_ cross my mind 💊😁
This video is fantastic!! I am buying a new home next month and I am still torn about buying too much HA equipment now versus waiting for Matter to shake out. I've subscribed and think you will be a great resource to track the progress. Thank you.
Good luck and see you soon!
Just found your video. and it is very informative , As a long time Google user I can tell that despite my hatred for Amazon and their business model Now (Jul 2023) Amazon's Alexa is (for me) by far the most useful, accurate and almost instantaneous . Yes I would have never thought I would say this about an Amazon product. Google has taken a dive lately. Simple commands take forever to complete or I get nothing. I use a combination of Amazon and Homekit and seems to be ok.Again this is my own personal experience
Sad how Google's let this all become worse...they do have some interesting things coming soon but I don't know that it's enough.
@@AutomateYourLife Don't think this come as a surprise.Google has made drastic personnel cuts and I'm pretty sure their Assistant team is now reduced to close nothing IF there is anyone still working on it. Since everyone is hopping on the AI bandwagon don't think anyone is paying much attention to these "smart assistants" Maybe they will be "infused" with some AI but only the future will tell
Awesome and comprehensive content
Glad you think so! Much appreciated!
Great video brian! watched the entire 45mins. One thing I would like to add is what devices are available and supported is different from region to region or even country to country, so consumers please research and reference from local context
Oh Alex! Hi! It's great to have a celebrity come by!
You're totally right. Perfectly put that regionality is a big concern.
You are an excellent teacher. Thank you and keep on doing this please!! 😁
Thank you! Will do!
There are now 3 of these on the channel on different topics, so check those out!
superb presentation. got more things to my knowlege
Glad it was helpful!
Super helpful video! Thank you so much.
So happy it helped! Thanks 😃
I realize this video is over a year old. That being said I have watched many videos and your content seems to be the most informative. My question is I have a home built in the 60s and I am an older person. I dont plan on using alot of the automations you talk about but I would like to set my home up so it can be compatible with smart systems. What plugs, switches etcetera should I have installed so my home's resale value goes up.
I think if you're looking at switches/smart lighting, then I'd go with Lutron Caseta. It gives you physical control of lights/fans/blinds, BUT it also has smart home style control and major compatibility. It requires a neutral though...sooooo...could be tough in your home.
However, most smart improvements don't pay for themselves this way. Here's a video we did where we spoke to a realtor who has sold a lot of smart homes. He talks about where value can be found: ua-cam.com/video/6zXGnUJrzD8/v-deo.html
4G routers are another option for isolated smart homes, vehicles (caravans) or people on a budget like myself. For about $10 Australian a month you can have reasonable internet and a smart home to-boot.
I have been in the Smart Home wilderness for the last 12 months due to financial hardship and not having internet access. But now I'm back after buying a TP-LINK X20-4G router with good data limit and Mesh capability. I'm loving the 4G flexibility as it can be placed in any room with a reasonable 4G signal and then connecting via Ethernet to devices.
Excellent! Welcome back too! 😃😃 And how are you finding the lag or delays on 4G? Any delays that make your devices think they aren't connected?
@@AutomateYourLifeTHANK YOU. It's great to be Back to the Future!!
...Fortunately I live in an area (Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia)
that has a good 4G (and even 5G) signal. I've done speed tests and results from 8 Mbps to as high as 106 Mbps depending on the time of day.
... I had to learn a whole new set of terminology, like Carrier Aggregation (4G+), Cat 4 or Cat 6 devices. Mine is 4G+, Cat 6 with Wi-Fi 6. Also it could potentially connect to 150+ devices.
...So I'm gradually digging out my smart devices from their year-long hibernation and reconnecting them to the new router.
Time will tell on whether lag will pose an obstacle, but I don't have a huge number of devices.
Thank you for the information and your service to us through teaching, Brian. I am a grandmother in my 70's and some of this information is hard for me to grasp. I have a daughter that lives in a not very good rural area and has had her 3-bedroom home broken into 3 times by people looking for drugs. She has two teenage kids. I bought her (with the limited funds I have) an "Amazon Echo Show 10" in January 2024, and some light bulbs. two Sengled soft white, one colored (Sengled - Smart A19 LED 60W Bulb Bluetooth Mesh Works with Amazon Alexa - Multicolor). Then kids wanted their own colored bulbs, so I bought two Wyze Bulbs Colored, 1100 Lumen WiFi RGB and Tunable White A19 Smart Bulb, and they all say they work with Alexa, so I am assuming they work with the Amazon Echo Show 10. My question is: What would you recommend I buy next that is not over $200 to make them safer, and that will pair with the Echo Show I bought her. She is not tech-savvy and is a bit intimidated in setting anything up yet, but plans to this week. Any advice would be helpful.
Hey Marlene!
You know what helps with safety? Knowing when someone is coming in the door. You bought an Echo Show 10, which has what's called a Zigbee Hub in it.
That means you can buy inexpensive door sensors like this: amzn.to/3vI5ok3 (Amazon affiliate link). So, if it's after a certain time you can get the smart bulb to come on or you can get an announcement out of the Echo Show 10 when the door opens. This is a great way to have some security.
Cameras that work great with the Echo Shows come from Ring and Blink, but those require a subscription. Wyze also makes cameras like the Wyze Cam Pan V3 amzn.to/3O8l0Uf (Amazon affiliate link) or the Wyze OG (amzn.to/48H9fMK) that are both good and can be displayed through the Echo Show. They also have a Wyze Cam Floodlight (and maybe just maybe...but I can't say for sure *wink wink nudge nudge) a new version is coming of that.
Those will require subscriptions (very cheap...couple bucks a month per camera) to get them to announce when a person is detected.
Whats the best door sensors to go with Google???
It doesn't really matter what door sensor you have. Google can't do anything with a door sensor right now. You need a hub to do anything with it.
Amazon has a number of options though!
@@AutomateYourLife i hav a google max hub.. tryin to get a good door sensor.. jus wonderin wat u use for ur door sensors???
Nice video, very informative and useful for someone that wants to automate a home and is a beginner like me
So glad to help! Go forth!
I have a question: How to build a smart home? you've succeeded to illustrate so many things but you fails to explain the process.
This has worked for a lot of folks, alongside the other two videos in this series. If it's not helping you, then you can book a consultation on our site and I can tell you exactly how I'd do it in your home
Hey thanks for the detailed video, I have been looking into smart home (automation) for the last month or so and your has been the best, explaining everything from the ground up.
I have one question though - I am more tech savvy as well as a programmer, do you have videos/playlists that can go well with that background?
Thanks a lot again, this has been very helpful to understand the basic terms and requirements :)
Hey, so in general I focus on systems that don't require a lot of in-depth knowledge like yours. You might eventually end up looking at something like home assistant if you want to flex that programming skill which I don't tend to cover. I just don't believe the time and effort is worth the difference in capability.
So I don't really have an advanced playlist but if you continue in the series of 101 videos you'll eventually end up at one with some more advanced ideas for automation methods
Well done, awesome video...😁👍
Thank you!
Awesome video, very well done! Keep the great content coming
Thanks so much Brandon! You too!
I never know if these videos are still relevant by the time I find them.
That video should be relevant for about 3 years before I need to update it
Great and very informative video. But I had to limit the experience to sound only, because that constant "zooming in" (or however its called) caused great discomfort. Besides that, the information "output" was amazing.
Sorry to hear that!
@Automate Your Life Fantastic Video I learned some things ty for your hard work
My pleasure! Thank you!
Before building my house, it took me time to figure out, what "smart home" infrastructure to choose. My advantage was that I could do the necessary electric wiring to avoid the "various smart wifi device Zoo". At the end I have 4 Siemens LOGO 230RCE main modules coupled with 8 extension modules (total of 96 inputs and 80 output channels). LOGO runs it's own software and controls house's "electro mechanical part", means, all the switches, sensors (input side), lights, motors and power outlets (output side) are physically wired (230V) to LOGO and can function even without wifi or Internet connection. Additionally I have Home Assistant running on Mac mini M1 (16Gb/512Gb) Debian VM that communicates with Siemens LOGO and sends commands to it to switch on or off different light groups or power outlets according to various automatisations.Home Assistant can also read (via LOGO M blocks) status of more than dozen presence sensors wired to LOGO. At the moment I have only 2 devices primary controlled by Home Assistant over Wifi (Shelly 1 rely connected to garage motor and wifi card of Brink Flair climate control system). Still have to connect 6 PoE surveillance cameras, necessary cat6 wiring is already in place.
Good stuff 😃😃😃
Don't know if homey is avaliable in the US, but man it's the most user-friendly and advanced hub ever, plus it runs every protocol.
Hoping to have one in soon!
How did you get an Apple home app notification when you rang your nest doorbell?
With this: ua-cam.com/video/Q4wukgaoq3Y/v-deo.html
Hi Brian, does the V3 hub have thread support?
It has it, but it's not been enabled. Still no guarantee
Good Day,
I currently have three systems used to automate my home:
Nest: Front Door Camera, Two Outside Cameras, Three Smoke Detectors, 2 Nest Displays, 5 Nest Mini, Thermostat.
Wyze: 7 Cameras (Pool Shed, 2 baby room, upstairs hallway, Garage, Living Room, My antique car remotely)
Wemo: 11 Devices, (Controlling 8 lights, 2 Air purifiers, Garage Door Opener)
My Wifi system is a UniFi Network, with four access points throughout my home.
I’m looking to add a water sensor to my system.
My question is what’s the best water sensor device that would work with my current Nest system (Google Home)?
I want to be notify through Google, we have a elderly mother in law living with us.
P.S. Keep the videos coming.
Thanks…
Sadly, Google doesn't allow this yet. You need a true hub.
I'm putting together some videos on how to deal with the limitations of Google Routines, but right now...there's no good option.
Great video! So I've always struggled having multiple platforms like Google assistant, Alexa, Smartthings, and ITTT and where to "house" everything. I know some products like Wyze don't work with ST, so that makes it even more confusing. Any suggestions or tips on where/what to house both automation and the products themselves?
Hey Darin, yeah that's a tough one to answer! It becomes even tougher when you add in things like Wyze that don't play with a lot of other platforms.
I think with Matter coming, your life is going to get easier. I find that SmartThings is a great house for all your stuff (200 device limit currently though). Wyze would be the oddity there, but they were talking about Matter support.
Alexa I find clunky still, and if Google had enough automation options, I would say you could just go there. So again, when Matter comes out...you'll have good options.
@@AutomateYourLife Never heard of Matter, but will take a look. Thanks!
It's in that playlist at the end of the video!😃. It's a new standard coming in October
@@AutomateYourLife silly question, but can you run smartthings to run automations and GH hub for turning off lights, air con etc. Or is one or the other. Great video BTW
@@guidoabarcia1926 I'm not Brian, but yes, you can run automations via ST or GH (ST gives you a lot more options for automations), and use GH for voice commands.
Thank you - do you provide consulting? I am in an apartment but am moving to a house in the near future and want to ensure I get the right system for what I want to do.
Hey there! Yep! It's not cheap because I'm pretty busy, but keep in mind I answer questions on the channel always.
Also, there are channel memberships that allow you to get minor consulting done. Maybe check that out first!
So looking for some advice in my attempt to set up a smart home from scratch. I am looking at acquiring an Apple Homepod Mini and the new 2022 4K Apple TV with ethernet. We love in a bungalow with a finished basement. We have our TV in the basement which is where I plan to install the Apple TV. The Homepod Mini will go on our main level. So the very first obstacle I will run into is our main modem/router is located in the basement and because we had poor wireless coverage on the main floor, I hardwired another router using Cat 5 cable on the main level which gives us great wifi coverage! However, I have given that wifi network (main floor) a different name to differentiate the two. Both networks are running on the 2.4 Ghz signal. Going forward, will that break in wifi networks cause problems when setting up my smart home? Currently, we have an Echo Dot on the main level and 4 wifi smart plug receptacles (not Home Kit compatible). I just ordered a switchbot switch for my coffee machine but that is the extent of progress thus far. I am hoping to make an Apple based smart home and get in on some Black Friday deals so any advice/help would be greatly appreciated.
I don't know how your mesh wifi system is doing it, but it will potentially mess with you. It shouldn't be a big problem, as all you'll have to do is put each device on the right wifi network and otherwise your routers should manage it, however traversing that network with the right permissions is something that you'll have to think about if it doesn't work without changing settings.
Hi, great video, very helpful as I begin to get into home automation. maybe you can help me with a couple of things. I live in Costa Rica where homes do not have a neutral wire. What is the best solution you have found for 2-way switches, ideally 2 pole as well with no neutral and also I cannot find any no neutral wire switches for a light/ceiling fan combination. Do you have any advice on how to address that?
That's actually going to depend on what else you're going to use in your home. There are lots of neutral wire-less options. :)
Dimming and fans is fairly hard to do that way though. But maybe have a look at Lutron Caseta and see what'll fit your home?
@@AutomateYourLife Thanks. Yes Lutron Caseta is about the only option I have found so far. One way single pole no neutral switches are easy to find, I have a couple of GE Cync ones which work fine. But 3-way or two pole or dimmable gets a lot harder. I have a smartthings hub and eero 6 mesh router plus a few other hubs, yo-link, philips hue, Aquara and Moes Tuya - no neutral seems to make hubs more necessary....
oh and I am using Alexa
Great info and review for the Smart home.👍
Hey Lany!
Would you say it's worth using Alexa, specifically Echo and echo dot 5th gens to start a smart house? Want to do things like lights, temp and smart switches
You can use those but in general that's not going to let you expand very far in the future. It'll really just give you voice control. Which is great if that's all you're after!
I just started following you so forgive me if this is something you’ve covered.
Have you covered smart home vents? I have a forced air heating/ac system and don’t want to heat/cool empty rooms and I assume there are automated vents I can install to open/close via an app?
I actually haven't. There are just a few out there today. I wish there were more, honestly. In my home, I have these weird circular vents so I haven't been able to test much either. Sorry!
You showed some apps have more options/conditions than the others, I know it's subject to change, but which app has the most options as of now? thanks.
Home Assistant has the most
So many options. I really want to get a doorbell with facial recognition, and a smart door lock. The other thing I want is a motion sensor floodlight with a camera. I have apple phones and Amazon devices in the home. Any suggestions?
Here's a good combo to check out ua-cam.com/video/V4SLX0l10Kc/v-deo.html😃
Nice one.
Thank you! Cheers!
I've got Samsung Smarthings on my mobile but find it complicated to use...This as just gone right over my head buddy!
Sorry man, you know...if you want a walkthrough of the app, this might help: ua-cam.com/video/yr6-X5h8jaE/v-deo.html
One of the big things to think of if you are looking at a lot of IP connected devices, this includes WiFi and Ethernet cable connections, is the number of IP Addresses available. Moajority of devices aimed for a home network allow Class C subnets, which only gives you a maximum of 254 IP Addresses, with 1 of them used by your router, which gives you 253 for all your other wired and wifi devices. This may be worth taking into account when you are looking at WiFi devices, especially if you have a few laptops or mobile phones in the house too. It could be worth looking at a router that can do Class B subnetting to give that flexibility.
Great tip sir!
Great video Brian! I'm new to smart home devices and am trying to get my head around a setup for lights. I have an echo dot (4th gen) which came with Philips Hue bulbs, so I'm wondering should I buy more Philips Hue bulbs even though they cost more or can I just buy any smart bulbs once they work with my echo dot. I would like to be able to create voice command automations for the lights.
Hey Michael, you definitely don't need to buy more Hue bulbs. There are reasons to do that, and in general I don't mind the extra cost vs the options I get with them, plus their local control options with so many systems.
So go for it, but don't pick too many systems and try to pick one that's going to work with your hubs and controllers!
@@AutomateYourLife I'll have a look at other ones on Amazon and see what's best. Thanks for the info :)
Hi Brian, you don’t mention Homey at all. This is a really good system and can be hub or cloud based. It allows for automations called flows that can be quite simple but also range to very complex. For the record I spread my home across two products Homey and Smartthings so that I have resilience should either fail. In a friend’s house I split between Homey and Hubitat for the same reasons.
You didn’t seem to touch on backing up at all in your video. My thoughts is that this is really important after all you put a lot of effort into setting up your automated home and start to depend on it. It’s a nightmare when you have to redo everything. Homey and Hubitat have backup available albeit for a subscription; as far as I can discover Smartthings does not. Of course it goes without saying that Home Assistant has local backup facilities.
Yeah Homey is good. I get what you're saying about backup too 😃
I have a question about Smart Devices. I am a beginner in Smart Home and need some help. I am thinking about using Alexa as my Smart Platform.
Can I plug an old pellet stove into a smart outlet? The pellet stove did not come with its own thermostat. Therefore, all I want to do is to turn the pellet stove off remotely (by cell phone) if my Ecobee thermostat reads it is 80 degrees or above in the house.
Also, would you tell me if it is possible to create the following program in Home Assistant or another Smart Device Program. “If the Ecobee thermostat reads 80 degrees or above in the house it would turn off automatically the pellet stove smart outlet. When the temperature drops below 70 degrees, turn the Pellet Stove smart outlet back on and turn on the furnace (the Ecobee thermostat is connected to an oil furnace)”.
Thanks for your help.
It all sounds do-able to me. Check that your smart plug can handle the pellet stove though. I'm not familiar with how they start to comment.
Also check that ecobee will allow you to start a routine based on temperature in the platform you're choosing.
Thank you for your response, it was helpful.@@AutomateYourLife
Hmm.. to bad you do not mention Homey Pro. it's the one i did choose. And man.. that thing can control so damn much.. it's awesome and works localy.
Gotta have it to talk intelligently. Maybe some day ;)
Thanks for this video! Great first steps for everyone!
I am wondering about a few things however.... If you point out Home Assistant, why not mention Domoticz as well? And even better: why does everyone seems to be forgetting about Homey and Homey Pro? I switched from Domoticz to Homey Pro about a year ago and it is really a great system! It connects everything. All brands, all protocols....out of the box!
Hey Rudi - Thanks for watching! If you watch the smart home hubs one (the next video in this series), we focus more on hubs and more of those systems (just Homey and Homey Pro in the next one). I couldn't tackle everything in this one, as I'd be here all day. Still, good to mention these other systems for others to go research. :)
@@AutomateYourLife , haha! That one is in my "Watch later" list, will get to it soon! And you're right: when doing the basics, stick to the basics. Don't over complicate. Your channel, the one from Reed (Smart Home Solver) and Paul Hibbert's are the best. Practical, right amount of humor, useful and generally independent.
I have watched a lot of UA-cam videos, but I cannot find anywhere where they talk about setting up away. I have all my devices in home, but nothing in a way.
Like this? ua-cam.com/video/-pNBsiRACLw/v-deo.html
In the States you can own your own modem and doesn't have to be the one your ISP generally provides. Also you need to be more specific to modem, router or modem/router combos
You can own them here too :)
Will the thread and matter sensors be able to work on all devices no matter the manufacturer, ie could a thread/matter philips hue sensor control a linx smart bulb? Cheers
In general, that's what should happen. There's some older devices where that won't be the case and there could be exceptions. So I can't guarantee it yet, but that's how it should go in the long run.
Hey there! Thanks so much for this video!!
One question: does one NEED the Smart things hub for it to work, or can you just use the app on your samsung/android phone?
You can connect some things into Smartthings (app) without a hub. Most things work better with the hub though because you get more local control
So do I start with smarthings and transition to home assistant when I get more comfortable or just go all in? Mostly Hue/Nanoleaf/lutron currently as well as Eufy for security but eufy doesn't play nice with anyone anyways 🤣
Yeah Eufy's kinda funny. They gotta work on those integrations more.
I think it sounds like you could use Apple HomeKit, given Hue/Nanoleaf/Lutron. Eufy also has some compatibility with HomeKit or at least they keep planning to.
I think ST is enough for most, but if you think you're gonna transition to Home Assistant anyways, dig in now and go for it.
Brian, my biggest concern is phantom power. My electric bill has drastically increased.
Great topic!
My HomeKit system with my smart switches are operating on 2.4 gigahertz frequency of my WiFi yet my HomePods are using the 5 gigahertz frequency. Since the HomePods are HomeKit nodes does the different frequency mess up my smart home system? Do I need at least one Apple device node using the 2.4?
Nope! You're good! Your router will manage transferring between 2.4 and 5 GHz networks
@@AutomateYourLife thanks
Though the Aqara stuff is great but why can you not put other ZigBee devices on their hub?
This is why I currently use a Tuya ZigBee Hub which also works in Home Assistant and basically any make of ZigBee device works in it
I've been testing that lately, and I found just some Zigbee stuff connects to the Tuya Zigbee hub. It's not everything, but it is definitely better than Aqara's in that regard!
Aqara made the choice not to allow third party. I bet Homekit's restrictions on third party devices played into it. You can have zigbee from hue, ikea, sengled, and aqara for example, all homekit certified with their own hubs. But try to use one brands bulb on another's hub and homekit refuses to see it. Alexa and google for example see them just fine. Aqara probably forclosed altogether on third party to avoid confusion. Hopefully Matter will over come this restriction.
@@AutomateYourLife Connecting to a hub, and the hub's software knowing what to do with it are different points. Echo's and Ikea buttons for one.
I don't want to have a load of hubs and like the idea that the Tuya Hub connects with most and what the hub sees Home Assistant sees so a win win as won't need the USB ZigBee stick. I need the hub as running HA on a virtual server under Windows so when Windows goes down (auto reboots etc.) I still have the backup of the hub
@@AngloYorkshire matter is coming in a few months. Chances are everything will change. I just think back to when I lost my smartthings hub. I forgot where I plugged it in and it was knocked down behind a cabinet. Everything still worked so never looked too hard for it. While homekit requires all these hubs, I find it all still more reliable than my HOme Assistant was.
I think one of the most confusing things when it comes to smart devices is, what do we need and not need.
For example, I have 30-ish smart lights (almost all Phillips Hue), motions sensors to trigger these lights on/off, contact sensors, & I have RING for security / camera functionality.
I also have Phillips Huge hub, Samsung S.T. hub, Ring hub, & several Alexa & Google devices across the house. I primarily use Alexa for my routines.
All in all, I have routines set up in Alexa, smart lighting automations for lighting / motion sensors in S.S.T. & I have a wake up and goodnight routing set up in Phillips Hue.
Do I really need a Hue hub & S.S.T. hub? Do I need either? Can I simply use Alexa for everything or Google Home? I've also been considering purchasing a display (Show or Google Nest), but then I'm just adding another device...I've added these over the course of the last 5-10 years & I honestly don't know why I'm using all of them anymore & I would love to downsize.......
.....HELP??
That's a great question. You know what you should do? Watch the next video in the series. Smart Home Hubs 101! ua-cam.com/video/sYhRfApfvwk/v-deo.html
The real answer to your question is whether or not you want to get more complex with automation, or you just want the ones you have. :)
@@AutomateYourLife thanks Brian!
It will take time, but I plan to watch most of your videos, but if you have any that are ideal for a person like myself who's needing to go back to the basics, could you point me in that direction, please?
Also, I created a brand new routine in the Alexa App to automatically turn on a hue light once motion was detected on one of my Samsung ST motion sensors & it did NOT activate the light, so I'm puzzled to my issue even more now.
The MS is detecting motion & the hue lights work if I manually turn them on by the light switch & if I give Alexa the command to turn on, but they will not turn on via a rule in either Alexa app or smart lighting within my Samsung ST app / hub.
Makes zero sense.
Question, have you ever come across a zigbee or wifi motion sensor that can differentiate between a cat, dog and human?
Many cameras can! And I found this one that's a bit hard to find that's kind of in between camera/sensor. ua-cam.com/video/kJVKzByspn0/v-deo.html
Your basic motion sensor can't do it though. It's just an on/off type of device (saw motion, don't see motion), so that's why you kinda have to step up to a camera.
How do you feel about HOOBS? Its the open source, raspberry pi hub that lets people actually code their IFFF logic
I think if you build it yourself it's a good idea. It just adds another layer like a hub so it's a bit of a failure point.
God dammit i love your content Brian ! you're getting better and better. I wanna come work for you ! What a perfect breakdown!
oh man, too kind! Whatcha wanna work on?
Brian I have some very important news to tell you, about boosting your WiFi when you have a Mesh system. Is there any way, that I can get the message to you? So you can share it with your subscribers? It's really good info for the smart home.
Hey sir! Right here, or you can reach me on Twitter!
@@AutomateYourLife OK, I was experiencing slow Wi-Fi from out of nowhere. And every now and then this would happen. Didn't know what was causing the problem at the time? And the issue seemed to come and goes at will. Now I have Nest Wi-Fi Mesh system (4 nodes with 2 beinga routers) and I have Google WiFi mesh (2 nodes with both being routers). I bought so many because of the ongoing slow Wi-Fi problems. 4 of the nodes are routers for a wired connection, And a couple of Switches. But my WiFi internet would still move slow every now and then. I took 4 nodes off the system, thinking I had too many. And they were interfering with each other. Even though I have tons of devices and tons of cameras. My house ain't that big. I tried everything to troubleshoot the slow Wi-Fi. Restart network, restart nodes, unplug/replug, factory reset individual nodes, factory reset the entire system. In the Home app and the hidden button that's on the actual node. Nothing really work forever. I called Google help center and they switched channels, changes DNS settings, same results (great service). Every time I ran an internet speed test, I was getting over 900 DL and over 30 upload. So I factored out my isp being the problem. I had my modem in bridge mode, so that wasn't the problem either. So, what was it 🤔? I changed ethernet cables, checked all the lines, rebooted my switches and modem, same results 🤔. I was about to return my Nest WiFi since I paid for the extended protection plan. But I said to myself, let me try one more thing. Then finally, I tried connecting my laptop, directly to my modem by ethernet. (Even tho I was getting great internet speeds, when I connected anything by ethernet through the router.) Bypassing the Nest Mesh Router. Just to see, if I would get the same great internet speeds. Can't hurt to try. I connected the laptop to the modem (only the one jack since it was in bridge mode) and ran an internet speed test. I got nothing, no internet at all. 2nd try = 1 - 6 kbps. 3rd try = wouldn't even refresh. I said, OMG. I found the problem and *IT'S NOT GOOGLE* (That's what you should title this topic LOL) I called my isp (Xfinity) and explained my slow WiFi. I said, it's weird, cause when I test the internet speed through my Nest Router, I will get almost 1 GB up. But when I test the speed Bypassing the router, I would barely, if at all, get internet. It took awhile after running some troubleshooting with the agent at Xfinity. She had to up my case to a higher level. (Great customer service by the way) But still she scheduled a technician to visit my home. _5 hours laters._ I received a text message saying, Xfinity seemed to think that they solved my issue. Told me to check to see if it was working as should. And to let them know if I should cancel the Xfinity technician. I checked my internet speed 100 times from Google, Fios, Speednet, Xfinity internet speed test. And all were giving me superb 👌🏾 👏🏿 Wi-Fi speed. So superb, that I only needed 2 nodes. Probably 1 but, I didn't wanna take it that far.
I say all that to say, if you're suffering from slow Wi-Fi, connect your laptop directly to the modem. Never mind you having high read outs on your ups and downloads when asking your Google Assistant to test the internet speed. That don't mean a thing. You can get read outs of superb internet speeds by testing that way, through your router. It could be something internal. I hope this helps millions. 🙏🏾 Thanks Brian for being so patient and getting this message out. If you so choose.
Thanks DJ! I think for this it's a very specific situation actually. XFinity seemed to have misconfigured something? Like they had to fix it on their side. Did they tell you what they did?
That's a very interesting story about the high read out coming from Google Assistant though. I wonder what that's about....
I can't find the downloadable "How to Build a Smart Home 101 - Smart Homemade Definitions, defined
Links are in the text description!
It's also at automateyourlife.net
I am using a TP-link Motion activated dimmer switch KS220M, ES20M in my bathroom. I would like to set up a routine using my Alexa Voice activation to communicate through the switch using the word “shower”. What I would like the routine to do is when I am ready to take a shower, I would like for the light to stay on for at least 15 minutes or longer.
When I'm in the shower the light keeps going out after one minute, and I must constantly wave my hands to trigger the motion detector to get the light to turn back on while I am in the shower.
Is there a way that I can create a routine to trigger the light for the light to stay on while I am in the shower for at least 15 minutes or longer.
I am also using a Smart Things controller as well as Alexa.
If you can't see the motion detection status on the TP Link Dimmer, you're toast. That device is doing everything on its own. However...
If you can see that Motion Detection Status in the bathroom in SmartThings, then here's what I'd do:
1. Create a virtual switch called "ShowerTime" in SmartThings. Make sure that shows up in Alexa's app.
2. When you run the routine Shower Time by saying Shower to Alexa, then turn on ShowerTime.
3. Your routines in SmartThings (yes, you gotta do this there) will manage the lights in the bathroom from here on out. Leave Alexa out of it.
3a. SmartThings routine to turn on lights whenever motion detected in bathroom.
3b. If ShowerTime is off, you may turn off the lights.
3c. ShowerTime goes off however you'd like. Maybe just let it go for 30 minutes after it's turned on. The Auto Turn Off feature in SmartThings works well for this.
30 minutes cause you like long showers! Ahahahaha...I get to joke after all that help.
This might not be perfect. I just wrote it off the top of my head, so you might have to play a little to make it fit.
Where is the list of terms?
Check the pinned comment!
A word, Wow.
Thanks!
Shame there are no smart window winders....
🤣
right.. so buy ardino.. and make my own hub
If you can do it, go for it
Hi, good news, Google have improved it's automation capabilities since this video was published. 😊
Yep! Totally!
My brain is exploding 😅, I’m actually more confused after seeing this.
Take a bit then! Come back and watch it again. This stuff can be tough, but this is intended to be really introductory with a lot of concepts I think you need to build a successful smart home.
HomeAssistant is not just one deveoper, one gets bored another will take over.
That's the hope! They used to say that with lots of projects like this though. Always risk, but that's okay!
Amazon sells some smart showers with Alexa.
Ohhhh I don't think Amazon has their own brand of them, but there are lots of those 😃
BRAIN, i'm in deep, i have an ATT Fiber, with 2.4 & 5 Gh with same name and password, and a guest channel 2.4 separate name and password. i have a camera, some outlets, lamps, L;ED strips, Air fryer, rokus, TVs, fire TV, chrome cast, plus phones, and computers and ALEXA. I have six or seven brands each has created home , with rooms, and devices. I HAVE Skills for alexa but not everything shows up and devices are evil, turn on/off/ change colors all by them selves. help.
do they all need to be under one home name and rooms
I think yes, eliminate complexity. Get them under one home and get them put into the right rooms in the Alexa app. If everything isn't showing up, then you miiiiiiiight need to look at different devices in the long run. But start there and start to make it easier on yourself to see the issues you have.
Just buy a router that you can separate channels and bands what I did
Yep you can! Not all of them let you though. 🤦
Well if you're fortunate enough, to have a place to call home, where it,s warm,safe, and dry, and you're not cold,hungry,or thirsty, and if anybody's got the time, somebody to talk to. I know that,s pushing the boat out a bit,but,. Anyway, big TVs fancy phones all the fancy bling bling, forget all those kind of things, then you can say you've got a smart home, basically just be basic. Keep it simple, and life will be a lot sweeter. 😉
72 Degrees F is 22.22222222... Celsisus
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I got started with Logitech Harmony Hub and the Zigbee extender. What-a mistake-a to make-a! (ua-cam.com/video/fAnGGPdF9Ew/v-deo.html)
Since realising my mistake there, I have switched to SmartThings and am really enjoying their setup, but I really can't understand why Samsung don't do more with it and encourage more innovation. They seem to be taking an ice age to roll out the new drivers, and I'm still not convinced what advantage they will bring me.
The new drivers' biggest advantage will be that they'll work with (nearly) all devices of a certain type. Ie. Zigbee Motion Sensor = All, locally :)
@@AutomateYourLife Yes, I know that's the intention, but the API is still telling me all my Z-Wave devices are still on the cloud even where I have tried to upgrade them.
The process is not trivial and I fear they are going to botch the roll-out with many customers having to delete and then re-add thier devices.
I hope SmartThings get it right, but technology firms have a bad history when it comes to upgrades.