I’m thinking of buying a Topens AT602 kit to automate my gate, and I see it has a push button terminal that will open the gate when shorted. I don’t have WiFi coverage down at the gate.
However I am likely going to be running a PoE+ cable down to install a doorbell, so I will have ethernet there. Anyone know of something I could use, that would connect over ethernet and could short a terminal on HA’s orders ? Also would like a contact sensor to know if the gate is opened or closed.
My first throught would be an ESP32-PoE, I’ve never used these but apparently they’re compatible with ESPHome and presumably it shouldn’t be too hard to stick one in a weatherproof enclosure and make it do both relay and contact sensor.
Then I need to find a small switch that takes PoE+ in and can split it into two PoE out, one for the doorbell and one for the esp32. Ubiquiti doesn’t seem to have one sadly, but other brands do.
Does that sound reasonable, worth trying ?
If not my plan B could be to setup a wifi AP down there and use a shelly, but that seems a bit overkill.
I suppose that could be an option, but I’d rather put a G4 Doorbell Pro (when they come back in stock at least) down there to have a camera and two way audio there. It also has a fingerprint reader, I don’t know if the HA integration supports it yet but that could be a neat way to unlock the gate in the future, as a bonus.
That QuinLED-ESP32 has a non PoE ethernet port, interesting option, it could probably be connected to the batteries that run the gate instead of the PoE cable. Worth looking into, thanks !
Probably could do that, but I’d rather avoid wireless stuff if I can, it’s never as reliable as a good old Ethernet cable.
Especially since I need Ethernet down there anyway for the doorbell, so if I am forced to go WiFi it’d be easier to just install an AP there rather than run cables back up to the house.
I’m kind of hoping someone knows of some device like a shelly but that connects to Ethernet instead of WiFi, that’d be ideal. An ESP32-PoE is the DIY version of that, assuming it works that should be a decent option. Assuming it works
Don’t be, it might be easier to power it through USB-C from the batteries than to find a PoE+ switch with two PoE out ports, I found a couple of netgear devices that do that but they’re not in stock. Certainly good to know it exists.
I had another idea to use a Unifi Access hub, which would have made managing access a breeze and has built-in support for a DPS. The whole family could have easily registered new cards, phone apps or whatever for guests themselves without going through me, plus it can work independently even if HA and it’s own controller are down.
Sadly looking into it more it seems the API has been “on the roadmap” for years, so no HA integration possible. And the bit that really rubs me the wrong way is the lack of an unlock button in the app, which they reserved for their UID cloud service instead. Could wire an esp32 to it’s push button terminals as a workaround but I don’t know if I want to support them by buying the product on this.
I think I’m going to go with the ESP32 directly on the gate controller, seems like the cheapest and simplest solution.
Thanks !
I use Mighty Mule’s wireless system (haven’t gotten it to work with HA yet – I’m a recent refugee from Insteon’s meltdown and loving HA so far but new) hooked into a wifi AP and you’re right, hardwired would be better (but as @BebeMischa suggested, having wifi there is a nice bonus generally).
I believe that Unifi’s Flex can do what you describe (take POE++ in, and output POE) but the two I have are sitting on my workbench awaiting time to install.
That looks like PoE++ to PoE+, that would do but my switch only goes up to PoE+ unfortunately. I suppose if it’s just one cable I could always use an injector, not as neat but it’s an option, thanks !
I ordered a few ESP32-PoE and they work great, neat little thing so I’m going to go that route and maybe add a Unifi Access Hub later on, to get fancy access controls.
But first I need to go dig out the front of the gate and make sure it’ll close, then run a cable down, plenty of work !
