Starting out with Sonoff

Tinuva said:
those are probably best sourced from banggood.com
Click to expand...

I had planned on asking the same question this morning, now I don't need to.

I've been holding back on Aqara purchases because I hadn't decided if I wanted to use Zigbee devices from other manufacturers yet. I'm going to give Aqara a shot though - it's really just the look of their motion sensors that I'm not too keen on.
 
Vades said:
I had planned on asking the same question this morning, now I don't need to.

I've been holding back on Aqara purchases because I hadn't decided if I wanted to use Zigbee devices from other manufacturers yet. I'm going to give Aqara a shot though - it's really just the look of their motion sensors that I'm not too keen on.
Click to expand...
When you buy into zigbee, the most important thing you need do is this #1 and the rest in order:

1.Most important decision, is the zigbee gateway you go with. I personally prefer my sonoff gateway flashed to tasmota. Then you can set it in serial to tcp mode, use either ZHA (built-in HA) or zigbee2mqtt mode.
If you have an open gateway like in #1, the brand of zigbee devices really doesn't matter, you can mix them

2. Get as many routers as possible. I bought the sonoff zbasicr3 and then I added 3 pin plugs, and plugged them in to as many plugs around the gateway and house to extend the range of zigbee in the house. This is also very important, unless you stay in a small flat etc.

3. Now you get all your sensors, and really you can mix them. I have both sonoff and aqara temp/humidity sensors. I also have aqara buttons so that I can just press buttons in certain rooms to trigger a few manual automations. This is by far the biggest advantage of zigbee, the other being that their batteries last at least a year to 3 years and generally being smaller than the wifi versions.
 
Tinuva said:
When you buy into zigbee, the most important thing you need do is this #1 and the rest in order:

1.Most important decision, is the zigbee gateway you go with. I personally prefer my sonoff gateway flashed to tasmota. Then you can set it in serial to tcp mode, use either ZHA (built-in HA) or zigbee2mqtt mode.
If you have an open gateway like in #1, the brand of zigbee devices really doesn't matter, you can mix them

2. Get as many routers as possible. I bought the sonoff zbasicr3 and then I added 3 pin plugs, and plugged them in to as many plugs around the gateway and house to extend the range of zigbee in the house. This is also very important, unless you stay in a small flat etc.

3. Now you get all your sensors, and really you can mix them. I have both sonoff and aqara temp/humidity sensors. I also have aqara buttons so that I can just press buttons in certain rooms to trigger a few manual automations. This is by far the biggest advantage of zigbee, the other being that their batteries last at least a year to 3 years and generally being smaller than the wifi versions.
Click to expand...
Thanks for this, not doing the Tasmota thing (yet). I see banggood do not have a wide range of Aqara devices available, just 16. I might just start off with some local purchases as the pricing does not seem too unreasonable.
 
I want to make some more extension plugs containing a Sonoff basic. I made 1 a year ago for the aquarium lights but I don't like leaving the Sonoff exposed. What is the best way to close it up? The waterproof box from Sonoff is about R90. I don't see another electrical box that will fit and is cheaper. What do you guys use?
 
What great answers.

Anyone got an easy, NB, easy, way to use nfc with Google home?

I bought 2 from takealot but seems I jumped the gun. Apples shortcuts has made plans for this but need android..

My plan was to put an nfc thing on my security gate and swipe my phone to open.

Any ideas.
 
petum said:
What great answers.

Anyone got an easy, NB, easy, way to use nfc with Google home?

I bought 2 from takealot but seems I jumped the gun. Apples shortcuts has made plans for this but need android..

My plan was to put an nfc thing on my security gate and swipe my phone to open.

Any ideas.
Click to expand...
HomeAssistant has great support for nfc, what are you using to open the gate?

I'm bought a bag off nfc tags off amazon for cheap cheap, and am using it for some automations around the house.
 
ItherNiT said:
HomeAssistant has great support for nfc, what are you using to open the gate?

I'm bought a bag off nfc tags off amazon for cheap cheap, and am using it for some automations around the house.
Click to expand...
Wheres the support?

Don't want a 3rd party app.
Bought this.

Check this out on takealot: DFRobot, NFC Tag (Round)

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Planning on using any sonoff smart switch. Simple n/o 12v lock
 
Vades said:
I had planned on asking the same question this morning, now I don't need to.

I've been holding back on Aqara purchases because I hadn't decided if I wanted to use Zigbee devices from other manufacturers yet. I'm going to give Aqara a shot though - it's really just the look of their motion sensors that I'm not too keen on.
Click to expand...
I like there motion sensors with the build in light meter. Works a treat to setup automations for lights to only switch on when the ambient light is below a certain lux.
 
I am contemplating sonoff switches - neutrals were pulled last week so all good there.

2 questions.

1. After proper set up - assuming wifi and internet totally goes down indefintely (not that 7 days) do the switches essentially just become dumb switches? In other words you just operate it as a normal light switch?
2. Should I sell the house in the future how easy is it for this to be set up by the new owner do I just delete all switches from my profile and they start set up from scratch?

i might tasmotise eventually but this is not part of the questions.
 
Snyper564 said:
I am contemplating sonoff switches - neutrals were pulled last week so all good there.

2 questions.

1. After proper set up - assuming wifi and internet totally goes down indefintely (not that 7 days) do the switches essentially just become dumb switches? In other words you just operate it as a normal light switch?
2. Should I sell the house in the future how easy is it for this to be set up by the new owner do I just delete all switches from my profile and they start set up from scratch?

i might tasmotise eventually but this is not part of the questions.
Click to expand...
1. if you use the mini, you would wire the switch into the unit and it would change the state. I can't see how you would have power for the lights and not the wifi router, but if you did they would operate independently.
The switches will work on lan mode so if you have no internet then you should still be able to control them via lan. ( I have not actually tested this tho).

2.I made a gmail account and used that to set up a master account with all the units on it and then shared those switches with all the other accounts, so if I should sell I would just give that gmail to the new owner and revoke all the shares. My intention, that I have not done yet, is to get a separate wifi lan just for the smart switches. That seems to be best practice and you can put your phones and pc's ect on a separate channel reducing congestion.

The ultimate goal is to install tasmota onto them and run openhap or something similar, but I have not gotten there yet. Ewelink really has improved leaps and bounds since I started with sonoff so the urgency has kinda gone.
There are still some amazing advantages to this tho, like being able to desolder the led and use that as another output/input for non powered applications (temperature ect..) and you could technically use any sensor that has a arduino library on it then
 
Mars said:
1. if you use the mini, you would wire the switch into the unit and it would change the state. I can't see how you would have power for the lights and not the wifi router, but if you did they would operate independently.
The switches will work on lan mode so if you have no internet then you should still be able to control them via lan. ( I have not actually tested this tho).

2.I made a gmail account and used that to set up a master account with all the units on it and then shared those switches with all the other accounts, so if I should sell I would just give that gmail to the new owner and revoke all the shares. My intention, that I have not done yet, is to get a separate wifi lan just for the smart switches. That seems to be best practice and you can put your phones and pc's ect on a separate channel reducing congestion.

The ultimate goal is to install tasmota onto them and run openhap or something similar, but I have not gotten there yet. Ewelink really has improved leaps and bounds since I started with sonoff so the urgency has kinda gone.
There are still some amazing advantages to this tho, like being able to desolder the led and use that as another output/input for non powered applications (temperature ect..) and you could technically use any sensor that has a arduino library on it then
Click to expand...
Thanks for this liking the sep gmail account specifically for the sonoff so will def look into that.

On the first point I am not referring to power being out. I run solar so not concerned about that. Asking more if there is the bizarre occurrence of total wifi and internet being out. So I am assuming from your msg that it would just act like a normal light switch in this instance?
 
The sonoff touch switches works like normal light switches when wifi / Internet not available. Not sure about the minis. Have an idea they might work as well.
 
Snyper564 said:
Thanks for this liking the sep gmail account specifically for the sonoff so will def look into that.

On the first point I am not referring to power being out. I run solar so not concerned about that. Asking more if there is the bizarre occurrence of total wifi and internet being out. So I am assuming from your msg that it would just act like a normal light switch in this instance?
Click to expand...
Also, any timers and schedules that are set are saved on the device, so they don't need internet at all.
 
Snyper564 said:
Thanks this confirms my assumptions its a very extreme case but was just wondering.
Click to expand...
I use Sonoffs and Minis extensively in my house. I don’t have the connected to the internet. I flash them with Esphome.

Regardless of the firmware they run; they operate normally when there is no server connection.
 
Thanks all I can get the T0 switches at a great price any reason I would not take them over T2. The 433 remote doesnt really bother me just want to make sure there isnt something else im missing apart from the looks
 
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