Home Automation - Smartkit

[xrapidx]

The end of my wireless pain and trauma.

Is there any difference between mounting them like that, or in the actual ceiling?

 

[ebendl]

Is the older POW or the R2?

Older POW. I also have POW R2's and the track layout completely changed (and incidentally, no more fuses).

I ran it for 2 hours last night on the same heater (around 6A running through it constantly) after I redid the solder and it didn't even feel warm afterwards, so I'm fairly sure it was a bad solder joint. Still, that's the level of Q/A that goes into them...

 

[SauRoNZA]

Is there any difference between mounting them like that, or in the actual ceiling?

While I haven't tested it in the ceiling I did have it in a cupboard virtually at the same location and I did notice at least a one bar difference to the furthest reaches of the house.

If you use a few and place them reasonably I see no reason why they wouldn't work in the ceiling.

They also let you remote reset them using the PoE Injector so you don't necessarily have to go find them in the ceiling but there is always that risk.

I've never needed to touch one again after an install though.

If you become really keen let me know as I can hook you up for a reasonable price since you are in Cape Town.

 

[rodga]

While I haven't tested it in the ceiling I did have it in a cupboard virtually at the same location and I did notice at least a one bar difference to the furthest reaches of the house.

If you use a few and place them reasonably I see no reason why they wouldn't work in the ceiling.

They also let you remote reset them using the PoE Injector so you don't necessarily have to go find them in the ceiling but there is always that risk.

I've never needed to touch one again after an install though.

If you become really keen let me know as I can hook you up for a reasonable price since you are in Cape Town.

Isnt the benefit of having them in the ceiling is that there are usually no walls in the ceiling, so the signal has to travel through a thin ceiling board, actually giving a stonger a signal?

I have no experience with this, but just what makes sense to me with regards to a ceiling instalation

 

[SauRoNZA]

Isnt the benefit of having them in the ceiling is that there are usually no walls in the ceiling, so the signal has to travel through a thin ceiling board, actually giving a stonger a signal?

I have no experience with this, but just what makes sense to me with regards to a ceiling instalation

Yeah ultimately the idea which is why fitting them on the ceiling is the preferred option for the best of all worlds.

The difference will be marginal whether it’s in ceiling or on ceiling, assuming it’s a normal ceiling of course.

The same “in room” signal would be better on ceiling but the further distance areas should be better covered in ceiling.

Ultimately depends on roof construction and design as well.

 

[xrapidx]

If you become really keen let me know as I can hook you up for a reasonable price since you are in Cape Town.

Thanks.

My problem is the walls, so I don't think above or below the ceiling board would make a difference.

The red is a floor to above roofing double brick walls. I was thinking of putting one at each blue circle in the hopes of covering the entire house. I currently have "random" routers at each of the green points - which provides "ok" coverage, but its three separate wifi networks all connected over Ethernet - I'd like to get rid of them as the routing in the house isn't great, and wifi is also a pain for anything slightly intensive.

 

[SauRoNZA]

Thanks.

My problem is the walls, so I don't think above or below the ceiling board would make a difference.

The red is a floor to above roofing double brick walls. I was thinking of putting one at each blue circle in the hopes of covering the entire house. I currently have "random" routers at each of the green points - which provides "ok" coverage, but its three separate wifi networks all connected over Ethernet - I'd like to get rid of them as the routing in the house isn't great, and wifi is also a pain for anything slightly intensive.
View attachment 660556

If the green jobbies worked now then it should happily work in those locations.

Assuming you run Ethernet to them and wire them up which is of course the easiest with power as well due to the PoE.

Going by the size of that car you could possibly get away with just one unit in the middle blue zone but you'll probably struggle on the outer reaches.

My setup was not unlike yours.

My signal is solid but not full in the right side of the house so I would ultimately down the line install another unit there.

 

[ebendl]

If the green jobbies worked now then it should happily work in those locations.

Assuming you run Ethernet to them and wire them up which is of course the easiest with power as well due to the PoE.

My setup was not unlike yours.

My signal is solid but not full in the right side of the house so I would ultimately down the line install another unit there.

My setup. The blue dot (where I'm sitting at the moment) is the existing TP Link router. Red blocks are where I struggle with decent connectivity - mostly due to the number of walls in between (5 between the blue and green dot). So my plan is to put a Ubiquity down where the existing TP Link router is (blue dot), and then another where the green dot is.

Outside is useful because I have Sonoff switches switching on outside lights and my gate motor.

Only pain is that there's a firewall (physical one) in the roof -- shown with the black line. So I would have to pull an ethernet cable through, then lift tiles to get into the roof where the green dot is

 

[Sinbad]

My setup. The blue dot (where I'm sitting at the moment) is the existing TP Link router. Red blocks are where I struggle with decent connectivity - mostly due to the number of walls in between (5 between the blue and green dot). So my plan is to put a Ubiquity down where the existing TP Link router is (blue dot), and then another where the green dot is.

Outside is useful because I have Sonoff switches switching on outside lights and my gate motor.

Only pain is that there's a firewall (physical one) in the roof -- shown with the black line. So I would have to pull an ethernet cable through, then lift tiles to get into the roof where the green dot is

View attachment 660778

moar pics of significant other pls

 

[SauRoNZA]

My setup. The blue dot (where I'm sitting at the moment) is the existing TP Link router. Red blocks are where I struggle with decent connectivity - mostly due to the number of walls in between (5 between the blue and green dot). So my plan is to put a Ubiquity down where the existing TP Link router is (blue dot), and then another where the green dot is.

Outside is useful because I have Sonoff switches switching on outside lights and my gate motor.

Only pain is that there's a firewall (physical one) in the roof -- shown with the black line. So I would have to pull an ethernet cable through, then lift tiles to get into the roof where the green dot is

View attachment 660778

Yeah your house is similarly shaped to mine where the extreme corners are a little problematic.

In your case with the bottom zone you'll probably have a bit of trouble so best bet would just be to get two units from the word go and park then near the thw "axis" of the roof either side of the U.

 

[ebendl]

moar pics of significant other pls

Lol, yeah right.

But thanks, I'll take that as a compliment.

Yeah your house is similarly shaped to mine where the extreme corners are a little problematic.

In your case with the bottom zone you'll probably have a bit of trouble so best bet would just be to get two units from the word go and park then near the thw "axis" of the roof either side of the U.

Yup, except that I do like the 5Ghz in the study to be strong for my notebook, so will likely keep it where it is and just replace it with a Ubiquity. Reception on that side of the house seems quite good.

LR or normal AP? I don't really think I need the pro.

 

[SauRoNZA]

Nobody needs the Pro, it just adds a daisy chain Ethernet port and fancier PoE standard.

LR has more antennas and slightly higher 5ghz speeds than the Lite while not costing much more money.

Also if you live in Taiwan the output power is higher...

 

[Tinuva]

I like how you have also gone for the LR after initially saying its not really needed over the Lite
But I can see why you decided to go with the LR. Its more than just the range. Those extra antennas are awesome.

 

[xrapidx]

Quick question, is it possible to have more than one wifi network with the LR? e.g. one for "normal" household usage, and a guest network?

 

[SauRoNZA]

I like how you have also gone for the LR after initially saying its not really needed over the Lite
But I can see why you decided to go with the LR. Its more than just the range. Those extra antennas are awesome.

At the time hadn’t done proper research into the new AC units.

Digging deeper the LR is essentially the same as the Pro without the unnecessary extras.

You’ll recall though that my argument was 1 LR bs 2 x Lites.

I was right in that regard, would definitely need two Lite’s.

 

[SauRoNZA]

Quick question, is it possible to have more than one wifi network with the LR? e.g. one for "normal" household usage, and a guest network?

Yes absolutely.

You can even have a hotspot with vouchers to charge people for guest access.

However you must have the controller running 24/7 in that use case as I recall.

Think with the normal Guest access it’s a normal SSID just segregated.

 

[ToxicBunny]

Yes absolutely.

You can even have a hotspot with vouchers to charge people for guest access.

However you must have the controller running 24/7 in that use case as I recall.

Think with the normal Guest access it’s a normal SSID just segregated.

Yeah, I have 2 SSID's at home...

1 is my network, which has unfettered and unlimited access and speed...
the other is the guest network, which can only access the internet and its rate limited as well.

 

[xrapidx]

Can anyone clarify whether the new 0.9?.* version of HA stream component supports audio for the camera's?

 

[SAguy]

Yes absolutely.

You can even have a hotspot with vouchers to charge people for guest access.

However you must have the controller running 24/7 in that use case as I recall.

Think with the normal Guest access it’s a normal SSID just segregated.

Yeah, I have 2 SSID's at home...

1 is my network, which has unfettered and unlimited access and speed...
the other is the guest network, which can only access the internet and its rate limited as well.

And a login page

 

[ToxicBunny]

Nah, no need for the login page really... it has a password that I give to guests, so when they come back it just works...

I could do the login page with the OpenMesh stuff I have, but no real need in my opinion....