Matter is delayed, MotionBlinds availability & more on the HomeKit Insider podcast

Been listening with interest to Stephen’s new build project as I am about to embark on a pretty major renovation myself where 66% of my house will be stripped back to the bare walls. This obviously gives me the ability to consider some pretty major backhaul changes so thought I’d offer my thoughts to where I have got to. A few things:

• I’m UK based, so this limits my access to some products somewhat - availability and electrical wiring wise;
• Vendor hubs… I don’t like them generally and my goal is to minimise them as much as possible so I’m very interested in the future of Thread and Matter
• I follow the principle that if a network device is in a fixed location it will be wired in via Ethernet (POE if possible) - living in a highly populated city the WiFi spectrum is far too congested to be reliable (I can see and grab data from over 80 different networks not including my own) so interference is a big issue. Moving as many static devices to wired connections keeps their performance high - Apple TV’s, computers, cameras, etc.

Like Stephen I’ve already opted for a UniFi based system, however I have added an additional POE switch to support the volume of cable connections I will need. I have chosen to run CAT8 throughout as it provides ample headroom for a future move to 10Gb despite the up front cost. I also plan to run at least 2 cable lines to each end point thereby giving me back up lines should any be impacted in the future and for multiple device connections. Device wise I have the following:

• UDM Pro
• USW Pro 24 POE
• UAP IW HD (1 for each “room”)
• U6 LR (for my ground floor)

The aim of the UAP IW HD is to provide a POE passthrough and 4 port switch in each room point plus a WiFi hot spot that will ensure each room has a powerful network connection point for WiFi connected devices. One or two will have their AP turned off as they won’t be needed, but the flexibility will be there. My internal walls are and will be heavily insulated for sound and heat and so WiFi signals don’t tend to move through my walls very well. this gives me good in room signal, and also means I have a tidy connection point to say a TV + Apple TV combo. WiFi 6 on the ground floor is because that floor is the main entertainment space, open plan, and extends out into the garden.

HomeKit Hubs
Each bedroom and the living room will have an Apple TV, thereby providing a Thread border router everywhere and all will be wired into the main network so they can utilise the full speed back haul as needed. I also have a couple of HomePod mini’s in a couple of areas but we find our main use of voice is in the main entertainment space (includes the kitchen and living room).

Speakers (non-HomePod)
Our primary sound/music in all rooms is delivered through Sonos - Arc, Beam, Sub(s), SLs, and an Amp (for outdoor speakers) - and the type of speaker in each location is dependent on that rooms use case. Unfortunately, you can only wire in a single Sonos device (it them creates its own WiFi network) which is kind of annoying as to my mind it would be far better to have this run on a low latency ethernet network. Why don’t I go fully HomePod? No auxiliary input means it doesn’t connect to our TV as we don’t watch everything through the Apple TV. If this changed, then maybe the decision would be different.

Cameras / Doorbell / Security
HomeKit integrated security systems is a major issue in the UK. Abode is here but many of its sensors, etc don’t seem to work well with HomeKit (or are not even supported) and you must have a subscription in the UK market. I tried it for about a year and then got rid of it. I won’t say which one I use now, but it does have a HomeBridge plug-in which provides adequate integration for the moment. This is one area that is a big weakness in the HomeKit realm IMO.

The best door / window contacts I’ve used are the Thread enabled Eve ones… they are excellent, rock solid, and very fast to notify. I would like many of their other products - window sensors, motion, etc - that I can acquire in France / Germany when I visit to be available directly in the UK but I suspect they have a manufacturing constraint due to supply issues… silence from them upon enquiry.

The Eve Smoke, which is again excellent (as it is Smoke/Heat/Combo capable and suitable for kitchens), is always out of stock but for the UK a mains powered version is a must due to the fire safety regulations my property falls into. There are really no other options with the same capabilities at this time.

After much trial and error, I have gone with the UniFi Protect camera system which includes their Doorbell. There are a number of reasons for this, but in essence it comes down to the cameras being POE and there is really good HomeBridge support where I can link the doorbell button to an automation which turns on the front lights (motion activated isn’t good when the door is effectively on the public street!). Getting cable to their locations is not an issue given the scale of renovation and so its a good fit for me as I can keep my WiFi reliance on camera connectivity to a minimum - the doorbell. I’ve tried Arlo cameras and whilst they have been pretty good (the doorbell is rick solid), long term they have proved to be unreliable with frequent drop outs and mis activations. I have also tried cameras from Eve and Logitech but the WiFi interference around me means they also suffer reliability issues.

Lighting
I have been a big user of Hue lights and I still really like them. This is one area where my consideration of a hub is very mixed, but given the number of lights / switches I would need to support I need multiple hubs… and there-in lies the biggest issue with Hue at the moment. I am really hoping Thread and Matter resolve this so that I can get the wide array of Hue bulb options without the need for the hub. I do have several Nanoleaf bulbs / strip lights under the essentials line and I do really like them. The main issue I’ve had is how they get updated… they are a pain in the backside on that front. But then I run into the main issue with Nanoleaf… they don’t have a broad enough selection of bulbs. No GU10’s for instance is glaring omission in the “essentials” category. If they just fixed this one omission I could drop my need for Hue almost completely and shift completely to Nanoleaf.

And then we get to Stephen’s switch problem. I agree, switches have been a big issue and they are one of the reasons I have stuck with Hue for so long. I quickly moved to bulb based control rather than switch based control because the UK doesn’t have neutral wires which have been a problem for much of the smart home lighting kit. I’m therefore a big proponent of smart bulbs. All my Hue lights run off Hue switches, usually dimmer switches at the moment. I managed to get a friend to bring me a Wemo Stage Scene Controller from the US with him recently and I’m sold completely. I will be fitting everything out with these because a single controller can replace up to 3 of my existing hue dimmers.

I personally retain my existing switch plates in the UK, because taking the smart kit with me will be easier if I chose to sell and move in the future (hopefully not soon!) and so I fit mounting plates over the top of my existing switches which I get from a small scale 3D printing business. These work great for my Hue dimmers and I can do the same with the Wemo Stage Scene Controllers. My 3/4-way switches are typically in 2/3 switch plates and so I have 2/3 hue switches for each one. With Wemo I can cut this down to 1 controller in each location as each button on the controller can be assigned to a given lighting circuit / bulb group / scene. The same applies for double switch fittings elsewhere in my house where a single Wemo will replace multiple Hue dimmers. Now all I need is Hue bulbs that don’t need a hub!

Heating
Regardless of the push for “green” here in the UK we’re still largely gas based for heating. We have no space for a heat pump and so it will be interesting to see how our government deals with that conundrum in the future - badly no doubt. What we do have is a Tado controlled system though and it has been a massive money saver - at least 40% a year from where we were before I fitted it. It integrates with HomeKit, but its real power is in its own App. I was an early adopter so I got in before the monthly subscription was brought in for the Geo-based features which make sit less appealing to me if I had to buy into it fresh.

But again this is an area that is poorly served in the UK market as it pertains to HomeKit. Ecobee is not really much of an option though I must say I would like to benefit from it given the Siri integration and how it would be an extremely effective way of putting Siri in every room without the need for a HomePod - given I already have Sonos - and every room needs its own thermostat control.

I did look at the other TRV options from Eve and several others but without proper on-demand boiler control I just don’t consider them effective options at this time.

Other Sensors/Devices
I do have several other sensors that I use to collect information which I use to help me make energy improvement decisions (or for basic monitoring). These are the Eve Weather, Eve Room, Eve Aqua, and Eve Energy. Sure the Eve Energy can be used to control things on/off and I do have one or two things where this is the case, but it’s main function to me is energy use monitoring for appliances and other items. It helped me spot my fridge/freezer was breaking before it actually did, and it helps me understand how much energy my network and server infrastructure uses so I can charge my business for it.

Eve Weather, Room and Aqua are used to help us understand air quality and its impact on when the heating is turned on, quantify savings from insulation measures, and assist with watering the garden and how much water we use for that. Eve has been a primary go to company because it allows you to get hold of the data history for all of its devices and this is a brilliant feature I wish more devices had and provided access to - I only wish it was easier to automate it!

Anyway… Andrew and Stephen were looking for listener stories of their HomeKit / Smart Home setups and thoughts, so here is mine. Keep up the good work guys.

Need to reconnect your Meross HomeKit device and don’t feel like removing the faceplate (Or the HK code sticker fell off the outdoor plug, like happened to me)?
Just get an android device, install the Meross app on it, and sign in using your account. It displays the HomeKit codes for all Meross HK devices.
One more thing: Meross products are also sold under the brand Refoss. As far as I can tell they’re identica, up to the product code, and they all work in the Meross app.