smart home opinions

[JASinIL2006]

Love Alexa. We have 3 in this house 2 in another and another 2 in another. My life isn't that interesting that I am worried about being spied on.

My concerns are more opening possibly yet another avenue to folks trying to get info with which they can steal my identity. I also don't like subsidizing others' connectivity needs with the bandwidth I'm paying for.

 

[bruceb58]

My concerns are more opening possibly yet another avenue to folks trying to get info with which they can steal my identity. I also don't like subsidizing others' connectivity needs with the bandwidth I'm paying for.

How are they stealing your identity?

 

[aspeck]

Amazon devices will soon automatically share your Internet with neighbors

Amazon’s experimental wireless mesh networking turns users into guinea pigs.

arstechnica.com

Just leaving this here.

Amazon devices to start sharing connections with neighbors

Echo, Ring and other smart devices will soon connect to each other automatically, raising potential privacy concerns.

www.cbsnews.com

Trying to figure out if this is actually a good thing or a bad thing and it amazes me that the tech gurus are not sure if it is good or bad ...

 

[JASinIL2006]

How are they stealing your identity?

By using this as a backdoor to eavesdrop on any conversations in the vicinity (e.g., my wife asking me - for the hundredth time - what the last 4 of my SS# is so she can pay my credit card bill by phone).

 

[KJM]

How are they stealing your identity?

I'm like you, I love my alexa's. I'm not planning any terrorist attacks so the most interesting thing anyone will spy off me is whats for dinner. As for stealing my identity, sometimes you just gotta spin the wheel and take your chances!

 

[bruceb58]

I'm like you, I love my alexa's. I'm not planning any terrorist attacks so the most interesting thing anyone will spy off me is whats for dinner. As for stealing my identity, sometimes you just gotta spin the wheel and take your chances!

Exactly...not planning any insurrection or coup in the distant future.

As far as paying my credit card by phone, who in the heck does that? It's all paid online.

 

[GA_Boater]

Me - Alexa, pay my Amazon card balance for this month.

Alexa - Right now it's 84 degrees and the low tonight will be 64 degrees. Have a nice Thursday.

 

[jbcurt00]

Me - Alexa, pay my Amazon card balance for this month.

Alexa - Right now it's 84 degrees and the low tonight will be 64 degrees. Have a nice Thursday.

I dont think she likes your southern drawl...

Its definitely not her, so its gotta be yo....
....

 

[redneck joe]

Who pays credit card bills by phone??

 

[redneck joe]

Life is a roll of the dice on many fronts. The technology is going to happen, I choose to take the very small risk and embrace the amazing world we live in while I still have time left on this planet.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Who pays credit card bills by phone??

My wife.

 

[Rabbit929]

Still no "smart" home stuff for me. We dont really spend enough time indoors anymore to need it. If we are indoors, we are either eating, sleeping, or cleaning up after tornado children.
I feel that the would voice activated stuff is more novelty than anything, but i do use it while driving now as my 2020 Ram has a really smooth mic setup so it actually understands you and comes in very clear.

I just put a $12 remote on a few outlets for hard to reach lamps and call it good. Cheap, efficient, and i dont have to argue with yet another woman in the house trying to control TV's and lights and such.

 

[redneck joe]

Just hooked up my Google mini. First test out of the box was the ultimate avian question and I liked her answer over Alexa. Hers came with facts as well as humour, Alexa just gives an attempt at humour.

Points awarded for anyone who know of what (movie) question I'm speaking of. Old movie, but the 'kids' now think its great and cannot believe we laughed at it because we are old and stupid.

Side note, you can choose a male or female voice; my wife chose the latter. And she seems to speak faster than Alexa.


I've only imported one of my smart things accounts but it was seamless and functional at first try. Thankfully I've kept my smart home ecosystem pretty small, only four total to import since Next is part of Google.

 

[briangcc]

We purchased a (2pk) of Meross mini plugs for use with my fish tank and my son's fish tank to turn lights on/off on a timer. No remote access to either device (as I don't have a home hub) and you had to scan the barcode on the plug to add it to the Meross app - so you're not getting that either unless you're already in my home.

Directions to do all that were severely lacking....it kinda left out the important step of scanning the barcode on the side of the plug to add it to your home WiFi and subsequently to the app.

Eventually I'll just replace my aquarium light with a Fluval which is bluetooth and fully programmable negating the need for the plug. Son's tank has a lit bubbler which is on a timer now...bright enough to light the tank on its own.

Built in timer function seems to work ok.

 

[redneck joe]

For my tanks I use the tp link minis. No hub, but then again I've never tried remote on them.

I try to keep my ecosystem small, brand wise. TP link has rocker light switches for $17 versus the $65 Lutron I started with. Not sure why I didn't go with TP Link first. Anyway my wife really dislikes the push button of the Lutron so now that I can put in rockers the ENTIRE house will be converted over the winter.

 

[KJM]

For my tanks I use the tp link minis. No hub, but then again I've never tried remote on them.

I try to keep my ecosystem small, brand wise. TP link has rocker light switches for $17 versus the $65 Lutron I started with. Not sure why I didn't go with TP Link first. Anyway my wife really dislikes the push button of the Lutron so now that I can put in rockers the ENTIRE house will be converted over the winter.

Why not use smart bulbs and leave the switches as they are? Up here I can get a set of 3 bulbs at Costco for about $27 CAD. Likely cheaper down your way....

 

[redneck joe]

Why not use smart bulbs and leave the switches as they are? Up here I can get a set of 3 bulbs at Costco for about $27 CAD. Likely cheaper down your way....

I do use smart bulbs where it makes sense but in situations where I have say, 10 can lights in the sunroom, or 8 in the kitchen, or want to turn on a fan, the switch is the answer.

 

[KJM]

Yeah, that makes sense!