Home Automation

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Home automation is the residential extension of building automation.

It is automation of the home, housework or household activity.

Home automation may include centralized control of lighting, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), appliances, security locks of gates and doors and other systems, to provide improved convenience, comfort, energy efficiency and security.

Warning: Working with electricity can result in injury, property damage, or even death if it is not done properly. Please keep this in mind while assisting others. If you are not sure about what you are doing, hire a licensed professional.

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What you wish you should have done smarter if you were building a house to accommodate all of the IOTs connecting to HA (alien.top)

submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I am building a house and trying to avoid power bricks and cables hanging on the wall for motion sensors, blind shutters, "add next smart house blinky here".

This is just an aexample photo:

example HA rooms

So I was thinking each IOT needs to have internet connection anyway. What about if I run a single CAT cable to each room, and position a switch in each room to split to couple CATs in each room (power socket, tv socket, window, ceiling fan). Main CAT from each room to go to the server room router. That way I can have one cable per room coming out from the router. And with some inexpensive POE switches in each room I can split to extra IOTs.

That way I wont be saturating the home wireless and needing expensive APs. And in the same time can deliver POE. Alternatively I can modify the CATs to run only 4 wires for 100MB network and remaining 4 for 12V if POE injection is complicated or routers cant deliver required IOT current.

I must say most IOTs will be DIY ESP/Arduino/MCUs

Is it possible you guys think?

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (9 children)

Don't run cat wire, run conduit in the walls. In 20 years you might want to fish something completely different. Put conduit to every room and every thing you think might need it and you can EASILY put whatever low voltage you want through.

For your electrical, just do all 4 conductor instead of 3. Someday you might want it and it's a modest increase in cost. Run 10g where you require 12, run 12g where you require 14. You waste less electricity in the walls losing less to heat.

No, you shouldn't run 1 wire to a room and a little pocket switch for each room. That's an IT nightmare. Have a closet with homeruns. Have all your POE on ONE switch and you can have a battery backup on it, you can MANAGE your devices there. Pocket switches are last resort in any deployment as an afterthought, not a forethought.

You're gonna eventually "saturate your house with wireless" Just plan now around a few good accesspoints.

It's all going to move to matter and thread in the next few years if they can get the spec together but you should design around flexibility.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (7 children)

OP, please listen to this. IT closet, conduits.

You keep mentioning IoT/5V/12V. Very few items in day-to-day use will be powered like this.

I started with Z-Wave, but ended up moving away from that due to too many devices and single-point-of-failure (the hub). Due to how messages are relayed, one bad or failing device can create a broadcast storm and take down everything. Zigbee competes with the same part of the radio spectrum as WiFi and also has a single-point-of-failure (the hub). I now exclusively use wifi for things. TPlink Kasa for switches and outlets, plug-in switched outlets, Shelly for motion sensors, relays (garage door)

Networking - Router: Use something like pfsense or opnsense. This will control DHCP, DNS, inter-VLAN routing. A separate VLAN and associated firewall rule will allow you to block your "IoT" items from getting out of the network.

Networking - Switching: for ease of use, use UniFi switches. These will control port PoE, VLAN port assignment.

Networking - Wireless: again, for ease of use, use UniFi WAPs. These are easy manage and for a second or third SSID, tagged to a "IoT" VLAN that you block from internet access. Strategically place WAPs for best coverage. At any given time, I have ~75 things on the wireless network amongst 4 WAPs

Home alarm system: 2-wire all door and window reed sensors to the IT closet. Use Konnected or something like that.

Cameras: All good cameras nowadays are PoE. Use a non-consumer grade of ONVIF/RTSP camera, think Axis, or possibly even UniFi Protect. Condiut and ethernet to external (or internal) camera location. Mind your field-of-view angles to insure coverage.

Voice control: Google Home/Alexa/Apple speaker pucks. This is where you will want to find creative places to stick power outlets. Most of these things have their own power brick.

Home audio: For both whole home or TV/theater - Sonos is the 800lb gorilla here. They need mains and ethernet. They can make their own mesh via wifi, but I prefer hard-wiring everything, especially if you can plan it out.

Someone mentioned window shade control. This is where you may need some 12V or proprietary plug; that recessed box would be good for this.

Also, don't forget a low-voltage conduit from the house's telecom/data service entrance. You may have copper or coax provider handoff now, but they could give you a fiber handoff one day.

Run one more empty conduit to an area near your mains panel. If you get solar, the combiner panel needs network.

I could go on and on...

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

For more budget friendly recommendations, the unifi switches are great but expensive while used Aruba 2920 POE's are $130 on eBay. Unifi UAP pro can handle 50 devices on 1 AP, most houses can be covered by 2 maybe 3.

Axis cameras are big money bad value and good for commercial use if you're going Exaqvision over Blueiris, Dahua are great value and can do color night vision now for much less. There are some solid Amcrest offerings around too. Avoid wireless cameras over wired.

I wouldn't recommend buying wifi devices without matter support at this point. Thread solves congestion issues. Zigbee might be 915 or 2.4ghz but your demanding devices will run on the 5ghz anyways.

Good point on the home theater! You can run all your speaker wires now. Don't forget power for smart door locks!

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