I’ve read and could not find the answers to my question. I’m new to HA and I’m currently in the tinkering/learning phase as I’m trying to figure out if I like Hass IO (88.1) or Hass OS (so far, I like hass OS better).
Anyways, I have Sonoff Basic and was able to flash it and I can also see it on my router.
Here are my question (keep in mind that I’m tinkering / learning right now).
I have 1 Sonoff and will connect it to 1 light.
Do I need to use a MQTT just for simple turning the light on/off using the IOS app?
If you installed Home Assistant by using a RPi Hassio image then you are using HassOS to run Home Assistant. Hassio is the version of Home Assistant that runs on HassOS.
HassOS is the operating system that hassio is installed on top of. Hassio is the version of Home Assistant that includes a bunch of add-ons to generally/reportedly make things easier to install. Home Assistant is the basic home automation platform/app and is exactly the same on whichever installation method you choose.
Yup, I was able to connect to my Wi-Fi and access it’s menu and this is where I stopped as I got busy. I’m hoping that I can finish the rest and connect the Sonoff to a lamp that coincidently someone accidentally curt the power cord.
Okay, I will proceed with my tutorial. Yes, I did install mosquito and added my credentials to it and this is where I stopped as well. Well I think the next stop in the tutorial I was following was to install mosquitto.
Sorry, my mistake that’s what happens when I should be sleeping instead of asking questions.
I meant to say that I used (not at the same time) Hassbian and HassIO. I have a few Pis but they are all in use so I could not run both at the same time.
I started with Hassbain which I really liked. I’m in IT support and have no problems navigating the CLI. HassIO on the other hand when I SSH, I see that other CLI thats modified. The Configurator comes in handy but it’s not the same.
I actually like HassIO and it’s add-on on the console, however, there is no VPN. I found some threads on how to add VPN but have not made time to follow up. I know I can use DuckDNS and NGinx to secure my connection but my paranoia will only Allow VPN. Maybe I’ll get another Pi so that I can play with NGinx.
But, I might use them instead of VPN as I know it will make it easier when I start to automate and use the iPhone Add.
The ‘killer’ for using a VPN for me is I want Google Assistant to be able to control my devices (without paying for the Home Assistant cloud) and you’ll never get Google to talk to HA with a VPN.
A reverse proxy, be it NGINX or Caddy increases your security and works with GA. Functionally, I don’t see that it’s that much of a security issue… depends on what else is running on your network I guess but short of running the international space station… it’s an acceptable risk for the functionality you get. IMO.
Yes, I saw may similar answers. I guess it’s mainly my paranoia that I could be hacked and I like to keep things off the cloud as much as possible. I don’t have much (yet) but I will give it a try and make good use of UFW and Fail2Ban and hopefully see what tool would be best to aggregate various logs and notify me of important things like bad log in attemtps.
I’ve seen similar responses from you (and others) for similar questions/comments so I guess I will give it a go and use DuckDNS and a reverse proxy.
It’s ok to be paramoid… some people really are out to get you… but there’s a lot of easier targets around that you with some simple precautions. For instance, as well as using Caddy, I also used a high numbered port instead of 443 for https…
I exclusively use a VPN for pretty much the same reasons as you but I also use the HA cloud so I don’t have any issues with getting my Echo’s integrated. If I didn’t use the HA cloud I would probably just use NGINX/Letsencrypt/Duckdns and did for quite a while before I decided that HA cloud a was reasonable alternative and the other stuff was less secure. Especially before all of the new auth system was implemented. before the only thing that protected you was a simple single password.
finite - yup, I will have go to down that route NGINX/Lets Encrypt and Ducks DNS. This will be temporary as I may eventually go back to Hassbian. Although I’m liking the Add-On store. Maybe something similar can be added to Hassbian ?
Okay finally I got Mosquito, the Sonoff basic connected to a laptop that someone had accidentally cut the cable and it appears to be working but not 100%
I can turn it on, using the HassIO web page (the iPhone app has an issue)
I can turn I on using the push button Sonoff.
I “can’t” turn it off using the HassIO web page.
I can turn it off using the push button on the Sonoff.
Questions.
Where can I look to see if the command to turn off is being sent?
Does mosquito has it’s own web page or a way that I can see what’s going on ? (I’m on HassIO)
Could it be possible that the problem is the lamp?
The lamp is a touch to turn on/off type of lamp and I think someone screwed it up as it turns on when plugged in but won’t turn off?
I know it’s probably the lamp but I would like to use this as a learning experience to look where things are at.
Thank you
By the way, I’m super exited that I was able to turn the light on. My wife gave me a look like I’m a genius which is always good
