Do you use smart devices?

 

Really I did not want them due to security, but once we got new HVAC the thermostat is online, so that opened the door. I have the smart devices on a guest network, not our regular wireless SSID.

Now we have smart light bulbs and smart outlets.

I am trying to limit the vendor so they can be handled with one app, or for security with the hopes they have it.

Everything is TP Link Kasa, and 2 outlets are amazon.

Honestly I like clicking power on and off with the phone, it's convenient, but the outlets also act like and have replaced timers.

The smart bulb outside would allow for on/off even while on vacation. Before, we left the light off. I've noticed some leave it on 24/7 when not home. All of these indicate a change in the pattern and for maybe someone observing, they know nobody is home....

I just got 2 LED shop lights from Costco (not wifi), these are different than the 3 I already installed. Now they have remote control and motion sensing? Only $20 lol

I have a bunch of smart stuff too.

For me it started with the garage doors. I had a bad habit of leaving them open. So I added the hardware to make them smart. Newer openers have it built in. So now if I leave either of the doors open. I will get a notification on my phone after 45 minutes. As an added benefit. When riding my motorcycle. The phone can be used to open close the door. One less thing to carry.
Installed a smart thermostat. Was not happy with the Nest one and changed to an Ecobee. It works much better.
Installed a bunch of Kasa switches. They work well. Also a Kasa smart plug on my gas water heater. So it can be turned off and on remotely.
Setup a Harmony hub to control my TV/Entertainment system. May need to look for a better solution someday.
Two outdoor Nest cameras and a Nest Hello doorbell camera. They work very well. I have talked to people at my front door when I was not home.
Placed a whole series of Google smart speakers and a couple screens. The screen in the bedroom is the most useful. Shows the time like any alarm clock. Tell it what time to wake me up and does that. In the morning I tell it good morning. It turns the bedroom and kitchen lights on. Tells me what the weather is like. Reminds me of any appoints on my calendar that day. I have a smart speaker in the garage. As I am leaving. I tell it goodbye. It turns all the lights off in case I forgot some. Turns off the water heater.
The most power full thing about smart devices is the automation that can be done.

Smart devices

I have Alexa and I have my lights on smart plugs. I am thinking about getting a smart thermostat. I like the smart lights b/c i can verbally turn them on and off. I also have a smart lock but I have to use the keypad b/c the app is unreliable.

Be careful

A Canadian TV program (CBC Marketplace) did an exposeé where they had a couple of ethical computer crackers crack someone's complete home "Security" system. They were able access everything including locking and unlocking the doors. EVERYTHING in the house.
Watch this episode and be amazed !

https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/smart-home-hack-marketpla...

Just something else just like Alexa which I will never ever have in my home.

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Nuvi 2797LMT, DriveSmart 50 LMT-HD, Using Windows 10. DashCam A108C with GPS.

there

is of course a lot of caveat emptor or beware.

So for me, it's the practicality--meaning, we all know 15 years ago, it took all of 1 min. for wireless networks to be hacked, it was WEP back then. Now, we know, with WPA2, it would be more practical to look around someone's house/office for the password written on a Post-it, rather than try to crack it.

So I suppose I made the determination I've opened things up with the TRANE thermostat, may as well open the floodgates and get with the times! Actually, one year ago, I observed my wife's 70 y.o. uncle get a new ADT system and saw how fascinated he was trying all the features.

Here's some food for thought. Would it be wise for us to go ahead and use the Verizon or Comcast gateway that comes with the service? Everyone has one, is it easily hacked?

I did a seminar 2 years ago, and as a result was give a free Meraki wireless access point (lol eBay was flooded with them for around $400-$500, they have legit 3 year licenses). That is a co. Cisco bought. It was only 1 access point, but since cloud based, it came with a full blown 3 year license. Meaning, just to setup one access point, is no different than say a co with 50,000. It's still a full blown cloud account with all the features. This opened my eyes to how elementary the fanciest Verizon FiOS gateway really is.

Also, my uncle did a facetime with me and he showed me how a brand new 2020 car wash was setup, network-wise. Think of it...payment travels through that LAN, control, such as arms going up, what car wash was selected, etc., and then it heads out to the internet. The scary thing? it's not even enterprise class, it's not too dissimilar from a home network with higher end amazon purchased devices!

Security

No matter what you do someone can hack in to your network, devices or accounts. But the reality is it will not likely happen if you do the basics to protect yourself. It's just too much work for the evil doer. They will just move on to an easier target. Start with your Wi-Fi router. If the router name and password are still admin, admin or any other factory name, password. That's a problem. Change it. If the Wi-Fi SSID and password are still the default printed on the bottom of router. Change it. This goes for any other devices you may get. Use strong passwords and don't use them more then one device or account. Use a password generator if need be.

Yes I use a smart thermostat and dishwasher

I use a smart thermostat. It figures out when it needs to start heating the house to warm it to the temperature set for the time when I return home, and when I wake up in the morning. The start heating the house time varies depending on how cold the temperature is outside.

I also use a smart dishwasher that varies the cycle time/water use depending on how dirty the dishes really are. That's an energy saver.

I am not interested in a thermostat or dishwasher that connects to internet.

Smart Phone Only

Just a smart phone here.

Yes, i do

I use an Ecobee thermostat because there is no monthly fee. I also use smart switches, plugins, and dimmers to control lighting automatically.

The outside house lights are programmed for sunset on / sunrise off. Again, none of these need a subscription to work. If you have a data connection, you can control them manually from anywhere if desired.

I use a commercial grade keyless entry lock, which has wifi connection.

Lastly, I have a 4K security camera system in the same vein. Inet, and no sub.

Done with forethought, it is very reasonable for cost, and self-maintainable. Three apps control it all, via very strong passwords.

--
nüvi 3790T | Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, will make violent revolution inevitable ~ JFK

hate to admit

I am not even sure how the devices work, it's like there are so many things now how many do we want to know everything about, how many do we want to "assume" or "trust" others on?

If the front door light is now wifi, and I can turn it on/off with a schedule, or a smart app, how is it hacked? On the cloud, or at my house? Again, I don't know, I'm not a hacker. I would guess from the cloud. I scanned for devices and don't actually see the smart devices, but again, I'm not a hacker.

Then, I'm thinking, let's assume you can hack into these smart devices, you're on a guest SSID, not the user one all our normal devices are on. Now, I'm putting some trust on the Verizon gateway. I'm just applying a basic understanding. Probably a hacker would say, you got it all wrong, buddy. You installed that stuff, I'm now able to access your banking, drive your car, hold you ransom, etc lol

Let's talk about a very basic well known hack--7 years ago, Foscam wireless cams. people were talking to babies through the cams. I would have to think it's done at the cloud, not from outside someone's house. So that's on the mfg of the devices...

I have Alexa control my TV

I have Alexa control my TV and thermostat and will likely connect others later. To access my thermostat the complex enforced hashed password would have to be cracked on the server/cloud side (not likely). Many are worried Alexa is listening/recording everything heard. Not true. It may (not sure) record if someone tells Alexa (after awakening her) they need emergency help. It does, however, have a log of everything asked her. So when I ask her to turn on the tv, or adjust the volume, or anything else, that will be in the logs. I am more concerned about Windows 10 spying on me since we are the product they are selling. If it's free then you are the product. I am a privacy advocate and work hard to keep my personally identifiable information private, but I am not paranoid about it.

A few

I have security cameras and "smart" lights & outlets. I'm limited to what I can do by my poor rural cell coverage and sketchy internet connection. Neither are reliable enough to trust.

Smart Thermostat

We have a Lyric T6 Pro Wi-Fi and a Lyric T5 Wi-Fi which were both easy to install and we love' em.

We can check and control the temps in the house when on a trip. Also have a flock of Ring cameras for peace of mind on trips.

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rvOutrider

Happy week y'all

Something to consider - whatever app(s) you choose to control IOT devices, make SURE you dig into the permissions of these apps and turn off permissions not pertaining to the operation of a device, i.e., a smart socket does not need permission to control your device storage, camera and microphone among other permissions. Read them carefully, they are all turned on by default!

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Nuvi 660

use a manager

billybovine wrote:

No matter what you do someone can hack in to your network, devices or accounts. But the reality is it will not likely happen if you do the basics to protect yourself. It's just too much work for the evil doer. They will just move on to an easier target. Start with your Wi-Fi router. If the router name and password are still admin, admin or any other factory name, password. That's a problem. Change it. If the Wi-Fi SSID and password are still the default printed on the bottom of router. Change it. This goes for any other devices you may get. Use strong passwords and don't use them more then one device or account. Use a password generator if need be.

USE a Password Manager = there is no "need be" about it. I have been using LASTPASS for many years. There is no way to make unique secure passwords for everything you need and remember them without writing them down. So how do you keep that piece of paper secure? Put it into a safe? Anything you do is less secure than LASTPASS.

smart devices

My needs are similar. Most of my smart devices are set on a schedule. I do not need to connect them to the internet. I am probably not getting the full functions of the devices by not being on the internet but I don't have the time to explore that aspect.

again

my main thing is just on/off with a schedule.

IoT can really go far, like having a valve on the water meter that closes if water detected.

When the furnace was 20 years old (I had it 17 was installed by seller), I suspect the blower was weakened. The filter that I used in 2003 would no longer work circa 2016, furnace turned on, then off, then on, etc.--short cycled. It was a $7 3M. HVAC guy came out, said you are strangling your system with this filter, get the cheapest you can find, < $1. Anyway I found 3 for $5.xx, and changed them every month, instead of 3 months. All was ok.

Imagine if we were on vacation, the furnace were smart or thermostat that is, and I saw that the house temp were 30F...and we're 400 miles away. Would that be good, or bad? Can one imagine the 400 mile drive home?

Oddly, say we agree that we should use a < $1 filter for airflow. My buddy said so too.

Today, with the new HVAC, we have an Aprilaire 413 that is around $40 each (I bought 4 for $121). What happened? One day a filter should be $1 so as to be not restrictive, next year we're using $30-$40 filters?

How

sunsetrunner wrote:

Many are worried Alexa is listening/recording everything heard. Not true. It may (not sure) record if someone tells Alexa (after awakening her) they need emergency help.

So just how do you suppose "Alexa" knows when to respond to a command unless the darn thing is listening 24/7/365 !

--
Nuvi 2797LMT, DriveSmart 50 LMT-HD, Using Windows 10. DashCam A108C with GPS.

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Fan

I have an amazon Echo that can also control a fan in the summer. My house is rather dumb compared to others...

We have a few:TV's, 5.1

We have a few:
TV's, 5.1 Receiver, BR, Smart Phone, Kindle Fire, couple iRobots, and 11 security cameras-- that we bought cheaply, due to their firmware "back door"... (Fixed with firmware update and blocked in Router Firewall)...

A good Router, with good Firewall, and program's that update regularly, to packet sniff: To block 'bad stuff' from 'Bad Guys' is essential these days.... With all the stuff 'Phoning Home' there is so much activity.... a plain vanilla WIFI router just won't cut it anymore!!!
$.02

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A 2689LMT in both our cars that we love... and a Nuvi 660 with Lifetime Maps that we have had literally forever.... And a 2011 Ford Escape with Nav System that is totally ignored!

??

Melaqueman wrote:
sunsetrunner wrote:

Many are worried Alexa is listening/recording everything heard. Not true. It may (not sure) record if someone tells Alexa (after awakening her) they need emergency help.

So just how do you suppose "Alexa" knows when to respond to a command unless the darn thing is listening 24/7/365 !

Alexa is an open MICROPHONE people! Why is anyone surprised when what they say shows up somewhere else? This is caused by hackers, not necessarily Amazon.

yes (and how much can we understand of everything)

JanJ wrote:

a plain vanilla WIFI router just won't cut it anymore!!!
$.02

hehe I guess I've gotten older where yes I like to understand, but not necessarily everything. Probably much less than the past generation but more than the new generation. Example...as a kid I broke my dad's fuel line on his car, as the line was twisting with my wrench. My dad had zero interest in cars, he was an aerospace engineer, but did what he could to save money--off to the plumbing supply house, bought a tube bender and flare kit, bent his own fuel line. I'm still "scared" to remove a 15 y.o. metal brake line going to the rubber hose, at the caliper, because I don't want it to break (although I did an ABS pump that required 6 to be undone at the pump-no corrosion there so not scared).

So when I got that Meraki access point, along with a free 3 year license and account, yes, I saw that the features on an enterprise system doesn't even come close to a home gateway from Comcast or verizon. But since it's not my field I'm not into it and it's sat in the box lol (others sold on eBay for $400 but I bet they took 1/3 of that). Maybe in that case, each type or mfg of smart device can have their own SSID with serious restrictions, esp amazon. But with my verizon, I can only have 1 guest SSID (unless I'm missing something)

What is packet sniff

What is packet sniff and how do I know if my equipment has this ability?
Haven't been keeping up with all I need to these days and stuff is getting ahead of me.

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Mary, Nuvi 2450, Garmin Viago, Honda Navigation, Nuvi 750 (gave to son)