Device tracker not updating

Configuration
1

I am currently trying to figure out how the device tracker works. I went through and it found every device on my network, i then set all of the “track” variables under “known_devices” to false except my phone, then turned off the wifi connection on my phone. When i click the bubble on the top of the overview it states i am still home, and that it last saw me 7 minutes ago. I have been trying to figure this out for a while, and have restarted everything.

device_tracker:

  • platform: nmap_tracker
    hosts: 192.168.1.0/24
    interval_seconds: 10
    consider_home: 15
    track_new_devices: false
2

What you have done is correct.

Are you using an iPhone?

Nmap stopped being reliable for me after updating to iOS 11.4.1. Before that it was my most reliable tracker (which isn’t saying much).

I tried numerous other trackers, ping, homekit, iOS GPS location, Owntracks GPS location, all were spectacularly bad.

Now I have 5 cheap Bluetooth ibeacons scattered about the house (all with the same UUID) and use Owntracks on my phone to see if I am in this zone (no GPS, iBeacon only) and let HA know via the HTTP method. It has been rock solid for a week. Fingers crossed it stays that way.

3

No i am using an Android, my current router is Ubiquiti Unifi, so i might try using this next. I tried scanning my entire network with my phone off (Via Angry IP Scanner), it was unable to find my phone, so i am confident it is an issue with HASS/Nmap. I want to figure out Nmap though for another network i am managing w/o a Ubuquity router, and i will reply back if i find a fix.

That bluetooth idea is cool, but i often keep bluetooth turned off to preserve battery.

4

Bluetooth LE has remarkably little effect on my battery life. I’m more concerned with the security and privacy risk of leaving Bluetooth enabled in public.

While there aren’t likely to be any competent hackers in my local backwater I do know the supermarkets nearby use iBeacons for tracking.

1 Like
5

Hi @Jemjem787,

I’m using the Unifi component for presence detection and I’m not 100% happy with it.
It takes a little longer to discover me getting home than I like to - so I’ve put a quick ‘add-on’ in place that uses the same technique as the Dash Button solution (detects me now within a max of 15 seconds).
The status change to not_home still takes about 10min, but I have no critical automation depending on it, so fixing it is not too urgent

I was following this thread:

So I might put the Raspberry Pi Zero W solution in place, eventually: