I could have gone with more traditional surveillance cameras from companies like Axis or Planet, but they are much pricier, and would generally require a wired connection. Too bad that they also come with those pesky clouds (though there are ways to turn that stuff off). There are some awesome networked cameras out there, especially the Xiaomi Xiaofang/Wyzecam devices have impressive specs and are surprisingly affordable.

So when I started looking for ways to add some cameras to the system, I quickly realized that «reasonably priced» and «no cloud» don’t mix.

I’ve also invested in a USB stick for Z-Wave integration. I’ve successfully mixed and matched light bulbs from IKEA and Philips.

No walled gardens, please!įor instance I ended up with IKEA Trådfri for my lights, partly because of this short review by Matthew Garrett. I have a couple of other guiding principles as well: devices and systems based on open source is preferred, and whenever that is impractical, the stuff I buy should at least be based on industry standards. For one thing, I don’t want my devices to suddenly stop working because of service disruptions, bankruptcy or outright planned obsolescence, but more importantly: I want to control my personal data. I have a couple of basic requirements for anything I add to it: It shouldn’t break the bank, and I don’t want any cloud features. For the last few months I’ve been slowly building out my home automation system, based on Home Assistant.

Home assistant raspberry pi zero wifi