Mozilla debuts implementation of WebThings Gateway open-source router firmware • Hacker News Board

Re: Mozilla debuts implementation of WebThings Gateway open-source router firmware

#51

Post by _pmf_ » Fri, Jul 26, 2019, 11:38 AM UTC

icebraining wrote: post #32

m12k wrote: post #16

What's HN's thoughts on IoT? To me it looks like yet another buzzword from the "wouldn't it be neat?" crowd (the same people who previously gave us a lot of hype about Semantic Web and P2P social networks) but as before none of the applications are actually worth the hassle, this prevents critical mass from ever being reached, and in reality it's mostly just a way for appliance companies who are already overcharging…

IoT is a great success - in industry. At home, from what I can tell, it mostly divides into: - People who apparently live in warzones and need military-level surveillance of their home - People who want to feel like they're living in the Star Trek universe - People with very specific needs, who might take advantage of a commercial IoT device or two in their overall setup

> IoT is a great success - in industry

We're just rebranding gateways that have existed for 20 years.

Re: Mozilla debuts implementation of WebThings Gateway open-source router firmware

#52

Post by pbhjpbhj » Fri, Jul 26, 2019, 11:45 AM UTC

xiaomai wrote: post #6

sirtoffski wrote: post #4

It's kind of sketchy to upload your floor plan...or is it just me?? https://iot.mozilla.org/docs/gateway-user-guide.html

It's uploaded to your device (router / raspberry pi / etc.), it doesn't go to mozilla or other 3rd parties.

At present. Maybe all the routers get auto-enrolled in a 'voluntary' program in the future??

Mozilla have shown they're not trustworthy in such situations; I think it will take a couple more years to see if they've learnt from their indiscretions.

Re: Mozilla debuts implementation of WebThings Gateway open-source router firmware

#53

Post by zaarn » Fri, Jul 26, 2019, 11:48 AM UTC

Chris2048 wrote: post #25

I'm trying to kit my own apartment out with IoT stuff, my biggest concern isn't voice functionality, or compatibility with social media. It's security. A NodeMCU device can connect to WiFi via build-in password, but I'd prefer per-device certificate credentials in order to control what a device can do. This would mean enterprise WiFi and radius, Maybe VLANs. Making this easier is the main thing for me.

I would recommend to setup a separate Wifi for IoT devices. This has an additional advantage; you can put it on a different spectrum, meaning your normal Wifi will be more free to handle other traffic and keeps the spectrum cleaner.

Re: Mozilla debuts implementation of WebThings Gateway open-source router firmware

#54

Post by joekrill » Fri, Jul 26, 2019, 11:52 AM UTC

rohan1024 wrote: post #39

sjwright wrote: post #5

The article seems to lack a TLDR so here's one. It is a "software distribution for smart home gateways which allows users to directly monitor and control their smart home over the web, without a middleman." Devices supported: - Raspberry Pi - Turris Omnia Protocols supported: - HomeKit - ZigBee - Thread - MQTT - Weave - AMQP Framework languages supported: - JS (Node.js) - Python - Rust - Java - C++ (for Arduino) Home…

> without a middleman Are you saying that I should be able to connect to my home directly over the Internet? How does it bypass NAT.

"without a middleman" means it won't rely on some 3rd party to work. As a contrast, for example, a SmartThings hub requires an internet connection to work because (almost) everything is sent to Samsung first.

Whether you want to connect to your home directly over the internet is up to you, in this case.

Re: Mozilla debuts implementation of WebThings Gateway open-source router firmware

#55

Post by windexh8er » Fri, Jul 26, 2019, 11:59 AM UTC

sjwright wrote: post #5

The article seems to lack a TLDR so here's one. It is a "software distribution for smart home gateways which allows users to directly monitor and control their smart home over the web, without a middleman." Devices supported: - Raspberry Pi - Turris Omnia Protocols supported: - HomeKit - ZigBee - Thread - MQTT - Weave - AMQP Framework languages supported: - JS (Node.js) - Python - Rust - Java - C++ (for Arduino) Home…

Another great open source competitor is Home Assistant [0] which has been around much longer and is relatively mature.

[0] https://www.home-assistant.io/

Re: Mozilla debuts implementation of WebThings Gateway open-source router firmware

#56

Post by sdiepend » Fri, Jul 26, 2019, 12:10 PM UTC

icebraining wrote: post #23

Jonnax wrote: post #13

My wish is to have the equivalent of Google home hub running locally. Really my only use cases are: * glancing at the screen to see the weather * Asking it to turn on or off or change colour of Hue lights * Timers for cooking I've since unplugged my google box because I felt the sacrifice of privacy with an always listening box wasn't worth it. At the end of the day the functionality I use isn't that complex and even…

HomeAssistant can do all that (using Snips for offline voice recognition).

Any articles/tutorials on this?

Re: Mozilla debuts implementation of WebThings Gateway open-source router firmware

#57

Post by MrGilbert » Fri, Jul 26, 2019, 12:10 PM UTC

windexh8er wrote: post #55

sjwright wrote: post #5

The article seems to lack a TLDR so here's one. It is a "software distribution for smart home gateways which allows users to directly monitor and control their smart home over the web, without a middleman." Devices supported: - Raspberry Pi - Turris Omnia Protocols supported: - HomeKit - ZigBee - Thread - MQTT - Weave - AMQP Framework languages supported: - JS (Node.js) - Python - Rust - Java - C++ (for Arduino) Home…

Another great open source competitor is Home Assistant [0] which has been around much longer and is relatively mature. [0] https://www.home-assistant.io/

Yes, that's what I'm running at home for almost a year now. There is so much stuff already in this system, it is amazing.

I always found the scripting a bit annoying (programmer by day, so I could, if I would want to, but...).

That's why my HA install is accompanied by a NodeRED instance. I really like just clicking my flows together. And if there is something missing, you can be sure that someone already built a matching node.

Re: Mozilla debuts implementation of WebThings Gateway open-source router firmware

#58

Post by jon_richards » Fri, Jul 26, 2019, 12:12 PM UTC

jsty wrote: post #44

jon_richards wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd love to have blackout blinds that close every night and open 30 minutes before my alarm goes off. I haven't been able to find a quality (quiet!) product that does this.

I saw IKEA launched some 'smart blinds' a couple of days ago, and this [0] review mentions timers [0] https://www.trustedreviews.com/news/3865106-3865106

Not available in the US until October, unfortunately. I'll have to wait and see how loud they are.

Re: Mozilla debuts implementation of WebThings Gateway open-source router firmware

#59

Post by tialaramex » Fri, Jul 26, 2019, 12:28 PM UTC

eb0la wrote: post #37

tialaramex wrote: post #29

This the closest we have so far to an answer to the point raised in the IETF 105 Technical Plenary a few days ago. Encrypting everything means that IoT devices represent an unknown threat - your "smart" TV connects to Sourceforge and downloads... something every week. What for? Your "smart" thermostat calls the IP of the vendor, maybe to get firmware updates, but it also calls the Disney corporation - what for? You c…

> if we can popularize a safe option, we can just flag all the unsafe approaches I am not a lawyer, but I think under european privacy laws those approaches are probably ilegal, too. If some manufacturer (probably chinese) wants to grab data from people in Europe, they must comply with EU laws even if they don't have an office in the EU. Not beign able to sell to a huge market is probably a better tactique, but not t…

One of the things mentioned in that Plenary is that partial technical solutions embolden regulators and legislators.

We don't have to make everything bad impossible. We can make it a bit harder to do the wrong thing, and then the regulator says "Hey, do the easy thing these nerds recommend or else if we find you did the wrong thing you're in bad trouble".

Re: Mozilla debuts implementation of WebThings Gateway open-source router firmware

#60

Post by SamuelAdams » Fri, Jul 26, 2019, 12:29 PM UTC

m12k wrote: post #16

What's HN's thoughts on IoT? To me it looks like yet another buzzword from the "wouldn't it be neat?" crowd (the same people who previously gave us a lot of hype about Semantic Web and P2P social networks) but as before none of the applications are actually worth the hassle, this prevents critical mass from ever being reached, and in reality it's mostly just a way for appliance companies who are already overcharging…

It's a great idea, but companies are building products that no one wants. Here's a few ideas of products / services / suites of items I would actually buy for my home:

- Machine to completely do my dishes. End to end. It puts them from the sink to the dishwasher. Runs the dishwasher. Takes them out of the dishwasher and puts them in the cabinet. I do not care if this takes 5 hours - it can run overnight. I just don't want to think about it.

- Lets the dog out. If I can do this manually, say when I'm on vacation or something, cool. I saw a post about some dude who used facial recognition software on his cat's door flap to see if the cat was bringing in a dead rodent: it barred the cat from entering unless he dropped the rodent. That's a good start. But I don't want to hire a dog sitter. Just have siri or Alexa or whatever home assistant you have do it.

- I want automated recycling. Basically I don't want to think about organizing my garbage. Apparently there's a long list of items that can't be recycled. I honestly can't remember them all, so forcing me to do this manually is always going to result in error.