Secure IoTs? Depends on what you mean by that. Standards like Z-Wave and Zigbee are already somewhat safer from remote tampering than WiFi-enabled devices since they operate on their own network. Hacking into them remotely or making them send data to a 3rd party involves hacking the central controller (if that controller even is connected to the Internet, though it often is). Certainly possible but it's a considerable extra hurdle. The networks themselves are fairly easy to hack, though the new version
The real problem with the IoT is that everyone and their brother is trying to be the One True Provider of All Home Automation, and they want to do it in the cloud so they can charge you for integrating with everyone else's clouds. Nest has the whole Nest-Certified thing, running in the cloud. Samsung has the Samsung Smart Home, running your washers, dryers, and air conditioners in their cloud. AssureLink will happily run your garage door openers in their cloud. Honeywell has their thermostat system, in
OpenHAB is one option, with a Z-Wave/Zigbee USB stick it might be able to replace a SmartThings/Nest kind of set up - if you don't mind a lot of work getting it all working (kinda like using Linux in the early days)
Also look for devices that don't need the cloud but use it for additional features. Philips Hue lights talk to a hub that does talk to the cloud for remote control, but that hub has a simple REST API for local control. If you wanted to, you could block the hub from talking to the internet and use
Yeah, I looked at OpenHAB for a while, but their grandly named "OpenHAB Designer" turned out to be nothing more a copy of Eclipse running a text editor to modify the necessary half-dozen configuration files and check them for syntax errors. It is definitely not ready for an advanced installation professional, let alone the average homeowner.
I've had great luck so far with Vera (getvera.com). It can use the cloud if you let it, but everything is configured and run locally. Configuration is not quite plugThe only reason for the cloud is secure remote access, as their API is unsecured and I wouldn't expose it to the web. The best thing about Vera is the very active community; they have developed literally hundreds of various applications that support all kinds of external devices. Some devices are locally accessed (OpenSprinkler), others reach out to web services to allow integration with a device that doesn't provide a local interface (Honeywell thermostats, for example.) All Vera's plug-in modules are defined in XML and written in lua, and you can run and test everything locally, so there are no giant hurdles to development.
The bulk of my home runs on Z-Wave. I've had a lot of disappointing results, but once you finally discover and get rid of the troublesome devices from your Z-Wave network, things can improve. Essentially it's become one big experiment where I'm testing its ease-of-use on friends and family. I've learned a lot, I've bought a lot of crap, and I'm getting better at recognizing the stinkers.
Very similar to my experiences with SmartThings - despite being sold here in the UK in a major high street store, it's not really ready for primetime, but you can work around the limitations. I haven't gone beyond lights and a plug socket yet, plus the motion/door sensors that come in the starter kit. It's been a bit of fun, I like playing with gadgets, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone just yet
Sounds like the big difference, when compared with Vera, is that ST is cloud based and the development options
Too late (Score:5, Insightful)
The convenience is worth the risk. The dumb-ass majority has spoken.
Re: (Score:5, Insightful)
Fair point. But did they have any other options?
Are there secure IoTs?
Maybe, just maybe, the developers/manufacturers are at some fault.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:5, Informative)
The real problem with the IoT is that everyone and their brother is trying to be the One True Provider of All Home Automation, and they want to do it in the cloud so they can charge you for integrating with everyone else's clouds. Nest has the whole Nest-Certified thing, running in the cloud. Samsung has the Samsung Smart Home, running your washers, dryers, and air conditioners in their cloud. AssureLink will happily run your garage door openers in their cloud. Honeywell has their thermostat system, in
Re: (Score:2)
OpenHAB is one option, with a Z-Wave/Zigbee USB stick it might be able to replace a SmartThings/Nest kind of set up - if you don't mind a lot of work getting it all working (kinda like using Linux in the early days)
Also look for devices that don't need the cloud but use it for additional features. Philips Hue lights talk to a hub that does talk to the cloud for remote control, but that hub has a simple REST API for local control. If you wanted to, you could block the hub from talking to the internet and use
Re:Too late (Score:2)
Yeah, I looked at OpenHAB for a while, but their grandly named "OpenHAB Designer" turned out to be nothing more a copy of Eclipse running a text editor to modify the necessary half-dozen configuration files and check them for syntax errors. It is definitely not ready for an advanced installation professional, let alone the average homeowner.
I've had great luck so far with Vera (getvera.com). It can use the cloud if you let it, but everything is configured and run locally. Configuration is not quite plugThe only reason for the cloud is secure remote access, as their API is unsecured and I wouldn't expose it to the web. The best thing about Vera is the very active community; they have developed literally hundreds of various applications that support all kinds of external devices. Some devices are locally accessed (OpenSprinkler), others reach out to web services to allow integration with a device that doesn't provide a local interface (Honeywell thermostats, for example.) All Vera's plug-in modules are defined in XML and written in lua, and you can run and test everything locally, so there are no giant hurdles to development.
The bulk of my home runs on Z-Wave. I've had a lot of disappointing results, but once you finally discover and get rid of the troublesome devices from your Z-Wave network, things can improve. Essentially it's become one big experiment where I'm testing its ease-of-use on friends and family. I've learned a lot, I've bought a lot of crap, and I'm getting better at recognizing the stinkers.
Re: (Score:2)
Very similar to my experiences with SmartThings - despite being sold here in the UK in a major high street store, it's not really ready for primetime, but you can work around the limitations. I haven't gone beyond lights and a plug socket yet, plus the motion/door sensors that come in the starter kit. It's been a bit of fun, I like playing with gadgets, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone just yet
Sounds like the big difference, when compared with Vera, is that ST is cloud based and the development options