Smart networks and emergencies?

[IrvineHimself]

This may be of interest to many members, so I am going to give a bit more detail than is strictly necessary for the intended question.

With my ever increasing infirmities in mind, my latest project is building a smart IoT network. Ultimately, when I move to my new place, along with a small robot vacuum cleaner and the dongles listed below, I hope to use dongles to open curtains/blinds, windows and doors.

Currently, for experimental purposes, I have gradually built up the following test network:

• 3 * mood lights in library/bedroom area
• 1 * LED strip light also in library/bedroom area
• 2 * mood lights in office/living area
• 1 * Chromecast smart TV dongle
• 3 * smart plugs for heater, kettle and coffee machine

A major part of the project is to secure the IoT stuff and isolate it from the rest of my home network. With this in mind, i have feelers out for an old laptop with which I can use DD-WRT to reconfigure as a custom firewall/router. Unfortunately, in order to facilitate the collection of personal data, the IoT is being built with a fundamental security flaw whereby much of it is routed through the various manufacturers websites This means that my firewall will require a hole for each manufacturer. As a result, it is obviously preferable to minimise manufacturers,

So, when I noticed that Argos were doing a special offer for a Google Nest mini + TCP smart plug at half price, [a saving of £35] and this was the same equipment I was already using, I just had to splurge.

Which leads us to my question: When setting up my Nest-mini, I noticed the possibility to link to Ask my Buddy. This a free service which would allow me to use the Nest-mini to call for help, see YouTube videos here. Anyway, has anyone actually used this service, heard anything about it or know of similar free services which works with Google Nest?

Irvine

Edit: I am aware of the IFTTT app and have already rejected it on the grounds that it is a data sponge.

 

[Docb]

Are you OK to build any of your kit or will you be wanting to buy things that work leaving you with the problem integrating a load of software to make it all work from your phone?

PS, you might have seen from another thread that I am happily monitoring the level of a well in Oxfordshire from my bedroom here in Lancashire. All the kit has been home built and the software to run it written ourselves (mostly by my brother who is quite good at that sort of stuff). You find out an awful lot about how these systems work, including the pitfalls, when you build something from scratch and it helps when you come to making the decisions you are asking about.

 

[IrvineHimself]

I am building the basic system myself by, (subject to available funds,) taking advantage of special offers when they occur. Most of this stuff is supplied with software (ie an app,) which can be integrated into the Google Home App. The primary focus of the project is voice control and security,

Noting that I am still in the early design and experimentation phase, I have the following limitations:

• Limited finances
• Have yet to move into new place, hence do not yet know the exact specifications for the mechanical aspects

Currently, the project is focused on the software aspects, such as building the firewall/router. Once I get my hands on an old laptop, (it dosen't need to be fancy or even have a screen,) the firmware I intend to use is open source and based on the linux kernel, it's a professional grade product, and considered to be one of the most popular commercial grade drivers in the industry. Which probably means a big steep learning curve which should keep me occupied for a few months.

With regard to the mechanical kit, As I said, I do nor yet know the final location, so I am limited to researching basic components and associated software. In particular, As I mentioned, I am more concerned with security than ease of integration. (As an aside, I am actually fairly technical and, have previously maintained a number of patches to the Linux kernel, along with a couple of other patches, which were ultimately adopted by the big distros.)

The ultimate goal is to have the network operate by Voice via Google Nest, .

 

[Docb]

Should keep you busy! Good luck with trying to keep the data mining out of your system if you are using anything with "google" in the name. At least if you have some background in the subject, you will have a head start over most.

Must admit that I have always in the back of my mind that the basics of what you want to do are quite simple and the workings of most of the commercial kit is common, widely available and dirt cheap and somebody somewhere will have written open source software to make it work. As such it makes what you want to do an interesting project. All you have got to remember that it all works on 433Mz (I believe) which makes the wireless world very noisy and very congested. Sorting out signals from noise and then getting items to react to particular signals and not to others will give you hours of fun.

Have you looked at Raspberry Pi and its little brother the Pi Pico microprocessor and avoiding the complications of a laptop? They are linux based and so are quite easy to get into.

 

[IrvineHimself]

..... Good luck with trying to keep the data mining out of your system if you are using anything with "google" in the name. ....

Unfortunately, I just have to accept that Google knows me better than my old mum ever did, as does Facebook and Amazon, The real irony with the latter two is that I do not have, and have never had, accounts with either of them. In particular. I have never even visited the Facebook site, yet it still collects more data on me in a couple of hours than the old Stasi collected on the entire East German population between 1950 and 1990.

As you pointed out, there is open-source software for most things, much of it written for and maintained by multi-billion pound commercial organisations. IBM, RedHat, Apache, DD-WRT..... etc. For the ordinary consumer, the problem is not finding the required package, but rather understanding documentation which is written for professional engineers with years of experience.

You are also correct that bandwidth is a problem, though typical channel frequencie are 2.4 and 5 Ghz, Despite the massive amounts of bandwidth these frequencies imply, a recurring topic in the results of my current Google searches is available bandwidth and packet collision. Manufacturers get around these problems by placing artificial limits on how many clients can be connect to their proprietary device. This is a secondary reason for my interest in building my own router. The other being a decent firewall:

In the past, for consumers, devices were generally limited to PCs and Laptops, which had their own firewalls. So, proprietary routers were able to opt for simplicity as oppose to effectiveness.

In this regard the IoT is a game changer. There are reliable reports of parents finding their young children having conversations with perverts who have hacked their networked nanny-cams. More concerning thought is the potential for serious, malicious, physical attacks.

Way back in the day, I recall one of the earliest computer viruses simply switched the hard disk off and on. After a few weeks, the hard disk would burn out. This was long before Motorola's 68000 family of processors introduced the concept of having a privilege switch to restrict what software can do. Even so, years later the CIA used the same technique to physically destroy Iranian reprocessing tech.

So, forget about making malicious 999 calls to make someones life a misery, with smart plugs attached to electric heaters and kettles, along with variable current smart light bulbs and god knows what else, a hacker that has it in for you, could literally set your house on fire.

So, I would strongly urge anyone reading this to get a decent firewall for your home network and learn how to use it effectively.

 

[Deleted member 21371]

My house runs on Alexa.
Can I ever shut anyone out?
Certainly conversations are listened to, and find their way to targeted adds.
To turn on a light, I tell Alexa, she tells the server she is on somewhere to tell another company on a different server to tell my lightbulb to turn on.
The other company wrote an app so I can do it from my phone, but again, that just goes to a server somewhere.
And the other company wrote the software Amazon uses to interface Alexa.
And they all have all my passwords.

Even though my router is locked down, there are so many other holes, I just don't worry about it.

 

[IrvineHimself]

After very careful consideration, and talking it over with Streetwork, I signed up to the Ask My Buddy emergency call service and linked it to my Google Nest Speaker. Streetwork were very supportive and have given me a contact number and email to use with the service. In fact, the manager suggested she would "put together a pack" to inform others.