Awesome Tips This article made me ANGRY! Defending a DIY Smart Home
Should you build your own smart home, or pay someone to do everything for you? I’ll explain why a DIY smart home might actually be the best option.
Should you build your own smart home, or pay someone to do everything for you? I’ll explain why a DIY smart home might actually be the best option.
Thanks to Topgreener for sponsoring this video. Check out their desk grommet charging station here:
3 1/8 inch hole saw:
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Hubitat:
Home Assistant:
HomePod Mini:
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0:00 Intro
0:35 DIY or Professional
1:19 Size and Complexity
2:32 Too many apps
3:24 Privacy and Security
4:03 Too many remotes
4:50 Topgreener desk grommet
6:02 Programming scenes and automations
7:11 Wi-Fi demands/network failures
8:24 Other arguments
9:26 Aly Kardashian?
———
MUSIC
The End by EVA
Deals for Days. Big home savings are happening now.
So wait… how ARE you supposed to cut a cucumber? 🤔
Thanks to Topgreener for sponsoring this video. Check out their desk grommet charging station here: https://amzn.to/3R45uHt (affiliate)
Got any tips on how to juice an orange, my eyes are really stinging after each glass.
I used to do in Home consultations for the Home theater/ smart home installation department at my old job and compared to the DIY method i have at my home it is an insane difference in just about every aspect. It's completely overkill for 90% of all the installations they would do, and usually was for a wealthy elder person without a clue as to how to even use technology.
I think the only real reason to go with the installer route would be to do some work to get things mapped out for future proofing when someone is building a new property. or when doing some complicated installations with something like in wall/ in ceiling fixtures. But, for the most part, I feel like I answered more phone calls and sent out a tech to fix a bug/ or issue it was usually related to how it was set up. With my home, 90% of the time its a latency issue with one of the devices that relies on google or something like a Tv just going offline and requires a quick unplug for a few seconds.
I definitely enjoyed your “cyber-smack”. Has anyone figured out yet how to get Alexa to deliver the same custom message to each of the echo devices without having to set up a routine for each device separately? For instance, I have a sensor on my mailbox that when opened triggers a voice notification to my echo devices saying “you’ve got mail” but I have to add that routine to each of the echo devices throughout my home.
Plus, to a lot of people this is actually fun!
I'm sensing just a little sarcasm, lol
Using a router that allows you to isolate all your IoT devices on a separate physical network solves the security problem.
DIY is a form of freedom！
Hi. I am building a house and I woudl love some advice on how to approach the smart part. What not to forget, best practise etc. Could you share some resources please?
Hello Mr. Smart Home love all your videos, do you have a process to alert when the dishwasher finishes cleaning?
Excellent video. I've previously done the whole Control4 thing. I called them out on all this on their blog years ago and got lampooned and bullied off the forum by the dealers. I got so upset about how I was treated telling them all the truth, I never added another Control4 device since and have slowly been removing it from my home for years. I am left with one small C4 controller running a couple entities. Hopefully that will be gone as well within a year. I have been swapping to Amazon when it first came out and now I just moved to Home Assistant and couldn't be happier. I did learn alot from that C4 experience though.. watching it all and being actively involved which has made the switch to a system like Home assistant way easier. You are totally 100% correct. The Dealer only model of Home auto is dead. Just MO
1 huge note. Zwave does indeed allways "work" by meshing as the company creatin zwave chips is the only 1 doing it. Zigbee however is a very loose protocol, where OEM's can implement it how they want, and those devices dont allways mesh together with devices from other manufacturers. On zwave all manufacters of devices will mesh
In the end, the only meshing hubs are those getting mains power. Battery devices will almost never do mesh hopping, they are the end point on the network (Sensors mostly)
Most people don't know the difference between what wifi is and ethernet. Or even after you setup all the system, no one wants to login to home assistant to use it or check it out. at least that is my experience.
So for 90% of the people out there, they will rather pay someone to do it, even though Home Assistant is better.
Hi, whilst I don't disagree with a lot of what you say, why are you arguing with a blatant advert? It's not an "article" at all. To be fair to them, it's an all singing "bells and whistles" advert that doesn't hide the fact that they're trying to sell you a product. Not just any product…… their product!
I'm more concerned that you don't think your audience can tell the difference between a genuine debate of the pros and cons of DIY, versus a Pro install.
Clickbait title?
This article is a dated position. They have not kept up with the current state of the industry.. They need to wake up or the industry will be leaving them behind. It seems a little desperate.
true true and true 💪
I am curious what you think the best hub will be after matter comes out, which one would u recommend with the changes coming?
I definitely used to build myself a mess of confusion if I tried to automate too many things at once all over the house because I'd be chasing issues all over and getting lost in what I was doing. I finally made a living OneNote where I list all my rooms and brainstorm automation ideas in each. Helps me prioritize them. I focus on perfecting one automation at a time now.
Control4 is a company that sells their services to rich idiots who have money to burn. They are not important voices in the industry.
Love it, great video
I would love to see you do a smart toilet next.
Hello first time to your channel I would like to know where did u find the Batman light my family would love this for the TV room
Love your videos, Reed.
5:22 However, that product is lame. IMHO. Drill a giant hole into your desk to be left with room for only one charging brick? 🔌 … Yeah, I don’t think so. 🤔
Control4 is pretty amazing. Most definitely geared toward million+ dollar homes (which I do not own) but from an enthusiast perspective I can appreciate its capabilities.
I like homekit
I built my own smart home, but even after having a lot of repeaters, i am facing the issue of too many devices than my router can handle and I am unable to connect them all. I am planning to replace my existing router with a latest one.
Can you please suggest a good Router for smart home that can handle lot of devices (at least 50) even on 2.5Ghz. Should I go for a mesh router?
Hi Reed, this was an awesome video. I was wondering if you could make a video on setting up and using Smartthings (both the hub and the app). I am really struggling with it. It seems like most of the videos I find just talk about how you CAN use Smartthings but not how to actually set it up when you're also using Alexa (for example, all my devices keep duplicating which messes up Alexa). I'm sure you've covered this kind of stuff in other videos, but consolidating it into one video where you explain like I'm 5 would be really helpful for me. Thanks Reed!
Great video but that grommet looks lethal. You’re one coffee spill away from a potential disaster. No thanks!
You forget Hubitat is DIY, Local, Does Not Sell your data, Also One App!
I ran into the same type of haters on my TikTok channel. The guy that was defending a professional system spent over 85,000 on his.
Plus HA like a really hard puzzle. Keeps me busy
You literally sold the pro system here. Here's what you left out with HA.
Installing HA and it doesn't even boot.
Oh wait, SD card was formatted wrong or glitched.
Bare with me now while I spend a few hours learning how to use HA. Adding integrations. Finding the right drivers. Hoping they work. Once you've added everything now learn how to create routines and automations knowing what device is what and does what.
Oh wait, that reolink cam module I installed doesn't work. Back to the Devs I guess for some arrogance fuelled, belittling in the forum's. Sorry, I didn't learn Linux console, apparently I'm not even allowed to use it if I'm not a AAA level tech. I used an rpi. Isn't it unified hardware? Why does every user get 15 different results? Even on fresh installs?
Now, what on earth is yaml??!! Cus now I've gotta learn how to program. Whoops, I didn't put enough spaces before I typed, nothing worked! Wtf?
I woke up this morning to a blank screen. Hrrmmm? Try to log in and the root passwords changed itself.
Back to the forums, but don't you dare get frustrated, cus it's free and you're an ungrateful douche who should go try writing some free software yourself.
Turns out I have to reinstall my whole system. Can't back it up, can't get into the backend.
Yeh, use console ya dimwit. Shit! Back to the classroom.
Now, I can use my phone to control my system anywhere. Oh .. wait. Need a VPN now.
Followed the instructions. Didn't work. Need to configure router, but what to change?
Got it working now. But I have to find/pull my phone out just to turn on my tv.
Oh sorry that it's too loud hunny, I'll just grab my phone, unlock it and run the app and when it's loaded, I'll turn it down. So easy!
I need a touch screen. Cool. I'll get this tablet and run HA on it. Oh no, the UI now doesn't fit the screen. Back to frontend editing. Back down the yaml code rabbit hole.
Oooooof.
I've been running HA for years now. I've been integrating pro systems such as C4, lutron, Cbus, Dynalite etc for 15yrs.
Unless you're a tech guru or love to play alot, there's no way a HA or similar system will ever compare unless it's about price. But even then, it can take a long time for the vast majority of people to learn the basics. Let alone integrate a whole home.
Your perspective might be realistic for you, but it's not for the real world.
LOL. Awesome video.
Hi, saw your light switches video but was still a bit indecisive over what to pick.
I'm just now looking into changing all the switches in my house for smart switches . Need different types like on/off, on/off with sensor and dimmer switch.
I would really like something reliable that doesn't need wifi (so they can be used without internet)
Any chance you could help with recommendations?