I have a completely ludicrous amount of IOT devices, some with flashed open source firmware, on their own VLAN (UniFi setup) so I at least have a false sense of some security. I’m talking my washer, dryer, vacuum, thermostat, lights, home NAS, door locks, alarm system, garage door openers, AV system, Ring doorbell, Google Homes, smart outlets, contact sensors on every door and window, RPi Zeros in three rooms for presence detection, motion sensors in every room, among others. I even bought a Geiger counter to eventually hook up.

I’ve always had a dream of living like the Jetsons and Home Assistant is an awesome way of building it out. However.... it seems destined to be an always-beta something-isn’t-working-right project. Right now, my lights turn off when I open my windows instead of flash briefly. Google Home doesn’t connect to several devices, and it lets me know every time I ask it to do something.

The reality is I don’t have time for this, but I’d be lying if I said it isn’t a whole lot of fun to solder some Alitove addressable LED strips to my NodeMCU and have them turn on with Christmas animations along with Christmas music, but only when it’s below 50 degrees outside and both me and my fiancé are home. Just kidding, that’s not setup yet - still trying to figure out why my bedroom lights turn off 10 seconds after the living room lights, when only the living room light Lutron dimmer switch was pressed.