Hello folks, I bet this has been asked a zillion times before, bur extensive search here (and elsewhere) did not point me in the right direction. And it may well be that I’m completely wrong here alltogether.
“Home Assistant” is a great piece of software. I did install it on my Synology NAS in a docker and it popped up quite some of my devices, including my Roomba and even my Robonect controlled mower (sort of). Nice.
But the reason I started interest on this topic at all was, that I dropped the “Elero MultiTel 2” once again which as usual crashed the display rendering it unusable. Another 100+€ to spend on a new one and all the hassel to get the 14 window blinds learned - with no control at all until then.
I did some research for more “intelligent” solutions, like the “Elero Centero” server + Appp - which everybody seems to hate intimately. Which brought me to the “mediola AIO” solution that should do the same - but better. And quite expensive.
On the other hand, there are great solutions like “Home Assistant” that pretend to do all the same - and more flexible. But this is all about software. Everybody seems to agree that all these remote devices have to be accessed somehow and most of them are not visible on the WLAN, so IP is not an option. The Elero remote works on 868MHz and I learned that this is just ONE of several competing (and incompatible) wireless frequencies and protocols. That’s why the “mediola AIO” is equipped with a lot of different radio devices.
I found that Home Assistant promotes the use of the “ODROID-N2+” as a base hardware. That’s OK, since I learned recently that the Synology NAS I use now will drop support for almost every USB device with the next update. But again I have to fit all the necessary wireless needs somehow. When I finally go and add some “intelligence” to my home, these Elero blinds have to get integrated.
So how do YOU knit it all together? Is there some kind of general 868MHz antenna that I have to attach? Am I tied to the Elero USB stick to control my blinds that does not work with any other 868mHz device out there I might buy? Is it supposed to buy the “Elero Centero” and then control THAT one via Home Assistant over the LAN?
At the time when we ordered “remotely controllable blinds” for our house we were never asked “what kind of system”. And we would not have known an answer if we had been asked. So I now HAVE those Elero devices on all of our blinds and they will stay there for the next years to come. So whatever “intelligent house solution” will be installed, it has to deal with that. And it definitely has to be “wife usable” not “linux nerd usable” - once it is all set up.
What if I finally find a working solution to remotely monitor my house drainage sink and pump (that flooded my house twice before) and a remote water warner too. So I probably have to deal with a complete new set of wireless sensors and I will certainly have to add another antenna to - where?
Do I sound like a complete idiot? Well, I am. At least on this topic. So could someone please kick me into some direction?
Thanks for listening,
Robert