I would suggest make a package that integrates well/easily with HA: beacon+detector
Thanks for the responses! BarryHampants, the Logitech Pop looks pretty interesting and kind of what I had in mind and had already built for myself. Pretty sure it can be done for cheaper than $40 as well itās just not so easy for me to get the tooling in place for a fancy and nice-looking enclosure like they have. If you notice my kits, I donāt have an enclosure yet but hope to be able to make them one day.
For a phone, yes you would need some kind of app to make it act as a BLE beacon. The detectors pick up Bluetooth Low Energy advertisements, and canāt speak Bluetooth classic to just see them if their bluetooth is on, sorry.
I looked hard to find decent beacons and the ones Iām selling are, IMO, pretty good. But the nice thing about regular beacons is there are lot of manufacturers and you can find some that have a form-factor you like. Some are available as key-fobs, others as little button-like things (like mine), and others even have kids-style silicone wristbands with little cartoon animals on them.
Claudio, thatās kind of already what I hope Iām selling but I agree I do need to work harder on making the system more user-friendly for easier HA integration. Right now it requires a bit of setup to get the presence-server going and working. Iāve done my best to document things as well as I can but will try to write more, like a tutorial for Hassbian specifically.
Thanks again for all your feedback.
@happybubbles your website says the presence detectors are out of stock. Any idea when more will be available?
Yes, they should arrive late-December or early-January.
Great - Iāll order a pack when they are back in stock, Iāve signed up to be notified.
Would the beacons be thin enough to slot into a phone case?
you ship to Italy?
Which one are you selling. Sorry I am confused, I see only the detector/receiver without enclosure
BarryHampants, they are about 35.1mm in diameter and about 8mm thick. Not sure it would fit into a phone case but it depends on your phone-case I guess. There are companies that make smaller stick-on beacons that may work better on a phone case. The detectors work with any of them so youāre not obligated in any way to use the ones I sell.
These https://minew.en.alibaba.com/product/60211482787-220649015/Only_3_3mm_height_and_low_cost_BLE_iBeacon_sticker_with_Eddystone.html look like they might be pretty thin and could work well for you. I buy my beacons from those guys and could order more in my next shipment, or you could try to order from them directly.
Claudio, sure! Iāve already shipped an order to Italy in fact.
I am selling both. The detector is something Iāve designed myself, the hardware/firmware, and that is the one without an enclosure.
The beacons Iām selling are made by a Chinese company and have an enclosure and everything, they look like this: https://www.happybubbles.tech/images/beacon.jpg
Ok, your website is not clear, after putting in basket it directs right to a paypal payment (without notce if shipping cost are included, which kind of shipment tracking/no tracking express or not, nothing about custom duty or vat).
Like this you scare customer away, and is not good for your business
Sorry to hear that. But Iām just one person doing this right now and I rely on Paypal for all of that. I donāt have the resources to figure out duty and VAT for each country, it is a big challenge. I already have enough work developing/making this product, shipping it, etc.
Price includes shipping?
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No, international shipping is $14 USD.
which shipping method?
Standard international mail, it has a tracking number though.
Anyone knows if the Apple Watch can be tracked as an iBeacon? That way I would be able to track myself around the house, as I always wear the watch at my wrist. Iām also planning to buy another one as a gift to my gf, so we will be both tracked.
I donāt have an Apple Watch, so Iām not sure. But one way you could check is if you install the Nordic debugging app on your iPhone: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/nrf-connect/id1054362403?mt=8
Use it to scan for iBeacons and if you notice one with a low RSSI (-50 to -40 if your Watch is close) then that might be your Apple Watch advertising, in which case it could be used for tracking. Iād love to know if it does actually work. Good luck!
This seems to work, though I canāt seem to get it to play nicely with OwnTracks (iOS). OwnTracks sees it, but HA isnāt being updated when I enter/leave the iBeacon zone 
So far Iāve had the best success with geofencing, but itās still not as precise as Iād like. Itās tricky for me because my home and work are less than 400 meters away.
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Nope, Apple watch doesnāt advertise as a beacon, so my plan canāt be done ATM.
Off the subject here, but [quote=āanilet, post:2, topic:7404ā]
before setting it up in our new home being built.
[/quote]
Make sure you talk to your builder and tell them you want a common wire available at EVERY wall switch. Especially 2 and 3 way switches. That way the GE Master and GE Addon type switches will work. If they wire switches wherever you are the way they wire them here, your second and additional switches that control a single or group of lights, wonāt have a ground wire and it will make it a royal pain if not impossible to use the Master/Add-on switches.
This sounds just like what I am looking for. I have a few questions.
- what is the power source for the presence detector?
- what is the range on the presence detector?
If I understand correctly, the presence detectors, sense a beacon walking by. Then a MQTT message gets sent to our MQTT hub. Does the presence detector send the MQTT message, or does the server send the MQTT message? Which also brings the question, is the server required?
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if on the same local network, are there any other ways to communicate with the presence detectors without using MQTT?
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Have you tried it with one of the trackr devices?
Thanks
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