I have a few ESP32’s on order and looking to use them as bluetooth proxies for some bluetooth thermostats. Looking to get some info about my use case.
Thanks for the info. Do you know if the proxies work as good as a good bluetooth adapter? I only need it for 1 floor at the moment, but have thick walls. If I need to spread a few ESP32’s in order to get similar coverage to a good dongle, I could just buy a dongle.
I have a couple of ESP32-C3s and couple of ESP32-CP2012 38pin, on order but was planning to use them for building some presence sensors.
I use my proxies for BLE plant sensors, and they work as expected. I have 5 spread out over a 3 story house. My server runs in the separate garage so never tried with a dongle. Check out the M5Stack Lite, they’re awesome.
Looks cool and tiny. Can just hide them around the house :).
Definitely can, almost all of mine are other devices that I added BT Proxy to after the fact. Its just something you add to the ESPHome YAML file.
I’ve found the range to be less than a dongle. Not terrible, but definitely less.
Can you please share an example yaml? Is it just creating the yaml and flashing this onto ESP32?
If I understood it correctly, I will create and flash the presence sensor first and once that is working, I just add a block of code for bluetooth proxy and flash the ESP32 again. Is this right?
I also have a couple of the ATOM Lite proxies. I don’t have a BLE dongle (can’t use one with my Synology NAS). I’m using these for my Yale locks so I can have local control. I have one by the front door and one by the back door. The range of a single proxy isn’t quite good enough to cover the distance for both locks.
They are decent, but a little slow. I’m not sure if that is the fault of the proxy or the Yale locks. Also, every once in a while I have to unplug one and plug it back in to get it to reconnect.
Just follow this:
What presence sensor are you referring to? If it’s not part of ESPHome, then you can’t do both.
Exactly. For example my wall switches (m5 sonoff) were already installed and doing their stuff and I just added the few lines in the yaml so they also work as ble proxy while continuing with all the other tasks they do without any issues.
The power from esphome is the freedom to let the devices do what you want/need.
LD2410 attached to esp32.
As long as you’re using ESPHome, you’ll be fine.
Hi You’re the first person I found with the same scenario as me
I too have synology running DSM 7.2 so i can’t use a Bluetooth dongle either without installing drivers and doing a bunch of crap in he terminal I’m too scared to do lol
If I buy an ESP32 I can plug it in to a power adapter anywhere in my house within range and it will use Wi-Fi to connect to Home Assistant?
And then I’ll be able to use its Bluetooth capability to connect to switch bot curtains just as an example?
Meaning any Bluetooth device that is. Formally compatible with a Bluetooth dongle in HA
As long as your curtains are capable of connecting to HA via Bluetooth, you should be good. It was relatively easy to get it to work.
Just pick one up and experiment with it. They are cheap. Worst case, you’re out a few bucks.
Once you have one, plug it in to your computer and configure/flash it here:
HA should find it after you have flashed it. And once it is added, HA should find any devices (like your curtains) that are compatible.
You’ll also need to keep the firmware updated. You can do that using the same web page. Or you can do over-the-air updates. For that you’ll need either the ESPHome HA add-on or a docker container running ESPHome.
Good luck!
Cool thanks. Is there one you can recommend, or that you prefer that you know works? Preferably one that has a case on it? I just need to open and close curtains via Bluetooth. Nothing crazy lol Just don’t know what’s compatible and what’s not. I’m just getting started
One more question you’ve been a big help so far. I got plenty of time to research while the one you recommended will be here in 20 business days lol.
The curtains I want to control a set of two curtains spanning a big window
I read that ESP 32 can only connect to one device at a time. Does that mean I would need two of them to control two curtains? Or am I understanding that wrong?
Even further down the road, let’s say I decide to do a couple other window curtains in my house. I plan to have them all grouped together as one button in the app and one button in Home Assistant.
Just want to make sure I don’t need an ESP 32 for every single device or this might not be what I’m looking for
Thanks
Full disclosure here - I am nowhere close to being an expert on ESP32. But as far as I know they can handle multiple devices concurrently. If I understand it correctly - There are some differences between active and passive connections, where an active connection maintains an ongoing connection to a device and limits the number of connections. But something like a lock or blinds would not be subject to that. You should be fine. The biggest limiting factor is Bluetooth range, which is why I have one ESP32 device by my front door and one by the back door.
Note
A maximum of three devices is supported due to limitations in the ESP32 BLE stack
Hello. Is that three simultaneously? I only need this for switch bot to control two curtains. Because Synology doesn’t have Bluetooth. Can it open and close the two curtains at the same time seeing how that’s technically two devices?
