Smart LED 8W Downlight $13.99. On Sale Wed 7th May.
If it goes through a Google server is it any better?
Well, it would be nice to have local voice control too, but I'd settle for timers, switches and motion sensor control working locally.
Siri control of lights does work locally. Google voice can also, if set up with Home Assistant, or newer Matter hardware. But you are correct that it typically uses clound.
I use the earlier ones I got with localtuya in HA, but have left them cloud connected for direct use with my voice assistants also.
I haven't gotten around to checking out the HA's local voice assistant yet…
I like to stay neutral and send to both
i trust China more than America with my data
Says undercover spy. 😆
says someone who is salty about China? 😆
says the frog in the well
Entering US will subject you to a search of your socials, and if you say anything bad about Donny, then you're going to get sent to El Salvador.
@xslasherzz: So that sounds like zero convictions tho…? If I said "xslasherzz was a bad person, send them to Christmas island" I'm sure you'd want to chance to dispute that before being sent
@First Pavlova: He entered the country illegally, then filed an I-589 application for asylum which was denied.
So in this case deporting illegal immigrant back to their country of origin.
If I am found to enter Australia illegally, no visa, deport me to where I come from.
@xslasherzz: I think you're missing the part where the immigration judge granted him "withholding of removal" status which barred his deportation to El Salvador. That's pretty important
@xslasherzz: Restraining orders mean nothing. OTOH, if he was charged with violating a restraining order, then it would be a black mark. The guy probably is a gang member, but that does not excuse the way he was deported.
@bargaino: @bargaino yes, but he entered the country illegally, then later filed an I-589 application for asylum which was denied.
So in this case deporting illegal immigrant back to their country of origin.
Don't know how you can possibly come to that conclusion, despite recent events.
Are you worry about the Chinese Government is beneficial for knowing when your lights are on?
Nice try, CCCP
Thanks, LNP
lol
The CCP are going to use light warfare on you. When everyone is asleep they will turn on all your lights so you can't sleep!!!
Or turn on your lights during bombing raid.
My ccp case agent be like ayo why this dude keep googling ‘how many minutes to cook hard boiled eggs’ smh
Not sure if this was meant to be a joke, but to clarify, the problem is not your downlight. You basically enable the outside server to connect to your home network and access anything that is on the same network, including your security cameras, computers, phones, TVs etc, unless you have configured your router to use network isolation or VLANs.
I am not an IT expert but if "enable the outside server to connect to your home network" is a problem, then us Temu users (to browse in any Chinese websites) probably doomed long time ago anyway.
@Leonard0880: No, it's not the same thing. Visiting Temu is completely irrelevant as a web site can not execute arbitrary software on your PC (unless there is a vulnerability in your OS or web browser, which is not totally unlikely, but rare).
The downlight, on the other hand, is a device that connects to your WiFi, running an unknown software. Even if you can audit the software today and find it to be safe, it can be remotely updated in the future.
@bio: Thanks for the explanation. So us Dreame/Ecovas/Xiaomi/Roborock/OPPO/Haier (whatever brands you can think of from China and has WIFI connection) users are still doomed long time ago anyway. I am an Ecovas user since 2016 so I am doomed for nearly a decade already.
@Leonard0880: By the way, this is not specific to Chinese products. IoT is generally insecure:
https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2023/05/rings-priva…
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/google-home-s…
@Leonard0880: Yes, so I avoid all of them in my home as much as possible. My smart things are mostly running on Zigbee which wouldn't have access to WiFi and thus I feel more comfortable sourcing from China manufacturers.
Nice try lights diddy
That isn't the issue. It means you are likely opening up a two way tunnel into your network, which means there is an opportunity to attack your network from the inside where you are no longer protected by your ISP or your router's firewall. It also means that the device could be used for the hacking or attacking of other networks from your network. These attacks don't have to come from the IoT device manufacturer or their software vendor. There can simply be security vulnerabilities in the device software or the services they use, which allows criminal actors to take control of your devices.
This has happened many times before with IoT devices.
isn't it more of an issue giving them access to your router AKA every wifi device in your house?
A little from column A, a little from column B.
Assuming these are the same Tuya based ones, out of the box using their app you'll be relying on China servers.
I believe Tuya does have LAN support so they can work without internet connection once set up.
If using Home Assistant, you can control them directly with localtuya.
It may also be possible to flash them with an alternate firmware that doesn't rely on Tuya at all (cloudcutter)
It's almost certainly a Tuya device, so it's going to be cloud-based rather than local control.
I can confirm Smart is relabelled Tuya.
Rule of thumb: Google and Alexa support, with no Apple Home support, very likely means cloud controlled junk.
If it's Tuya as most of the smart home devices that Aldi sells tend to be, it'll rely on an AWS instance in Europe.
Guess who's Arlec branded switches power-cycled their end devices when AWS Europe had an outage and restarted their server…
What a great world we live in where a minor server outage in Europe means you can't use your lightbulbs.
RBG option….
RBG. This is the way.
The lights are Really Bloody Good
Really Bloody Good.Different
FTFY
They're lighting up for gender equality and abortion rights
or Selfishly hanging on to require replacement at an inconvenient time….
Sometimes RGB isn't as bright as the equivalent white counterpart
Aldi's smart stuff usually works on the Tuya platform, which means there are both cloud and local ways to control via Home Assistant.
I was wondering if they changed their design/compatibility?
Meh I have 40+ WiFi devices running on Home Assistant with zero issues. My Zigbee devices have been nowhere near as reliable.
I'm in the same boat as you. I hated zigbee with how unreliable it was. Then I saw IKEA has zigbee repeater smart plugs. I got 2 to put at the ends of my house and one more for the middle of the house, I haven't had a single zigbee drop out since. Best $36 I spent!
@Opaquer: Best thing is that bulbs (or anything non-battery powered) also act as router/repeaters, so they actually make your zigbee mesh better!
@NigelTufnel: Until that IKEA trip, I didn't have any mains powered zigbee things! It definitely didn't help the network, that's for sure!
@Opaquer: I'm slowly moving all of my wifi bulbs over to zigbee. I've certainly found them more reliable to reconnect to the smart home after your other family members turn them off at the wall.
At least, more reliable than my ancient yeelights.
@NigelTufnel: We got in wall local WiFi switches to avoid that issues! Now it doesn't matter if someone turns the light off at the switch, things will continue to work and be smart thankfully!
def an issue with how your zigbee router has been configured. All my devices have been completely rock solid, with not a single issue in the over one year I have had them. On the contrary, my wifi devices are consistently dropping out at inopportune times.
Do you think these meet Aus standard? Have you purchased from these guys before?
I have a number of these from previous sales and have flashed them with ESPhome to get them to reliably work with Home Assistant.
Used the Tuya app before that with localtuya but would disconnect
Sorry could you helped me understand if I got 18 of these aldi ones would they all individually connect to my router and overload the bandwidth?
Probably depends how many device your Router can handle?
@BewareOfThe Dog: What I mean is, is there a way to connect it to a hub like hue lights so there's only one connection to the router
@WilhelmBargo: I have 6-8 of these, and you can group them. Ie 2 lights for the Study. 2 lights for Front Room Rear, etc
@BewareOfThe Dog: Nah sorry all good mate
What I mean is each of the lights seem to make an individual connection to your modem which puts unnecessary strain on the router rather than connecting to a hub as a single connection to the router
@WilhelmBargo: It's unlikely to make a difference. Even a cheap crap router can easily handle 30 clients.
most of the downlights in my house have old wiring, have to get a sparky to get the 3 pin plugs installed.
Do you mean surface socket?
It’s worth it I think just get everything changed over and save yourself a headache later on - especially if you’re still running halogen . unless you plan to move soon.
So what's the modern setup - three pin surface sockets for each downlight? And they're still switched in a group from a wall switch, but folks leave them on and use the wireless control? Or are they just wired in without a wall switch at all?
Surface socket or the clamp on ones are fine.
Yes they need to be left on if you want to control them.
If you turn off from wall switch you won’t be able to control till powered on again.
Mine's just hardwired with no socket in sight. Downlight —- driver ——- ceiling void
Serious question, what make the HPM easier than those no-named from on eBay?
@timhn: Quick-connect is easier than screw-terminals. Especially in a cramped roof-space. OK, I didn't scroll far enough on the ebay search - they have some too.
Would this work if my downlights doesn't have an earth connection?
this is the way
What are these used for?
It's very easy to do yourself… just saying… and the results are great. Seems pretty cheap. But id buy extra to keep as spares. Maybe an extra box if you did the whole house.
I'm a qualified electrician and I agree with. Wiring these things up is a piece of piss.
Just for a point of reference my sparky wanted $50/downlight changed from transformer/pin style to plug in sockets - only job
If it was other things I think it may have been cheaper
From seeing how he was doing it, it looked very easy to swap over but due to our laws, probably best to get a licensed person to do it
Yes, sparkies are very particular about following the laws. Will that be a cashie mate? Or do you want to pay extra for an invoice and certificate?
We had that issue. Cash. Arlec fan died (the remote sensor). We had an electrician wire the replacement fan, then used his install invoice, to say it was installed.
50 bucks… you can do it yourself and it takes 5 mins at most.
And void your insurance. Not worth it.
@WatchNerd: If you do electrical work yourself and it causes a fire there would likely be an investigation as to the cause of the fire. If it was identified that incorrect installation of an electrical product caused the fire your insurance company would be asking questions.
If you did your own electrical work and there was a fire that was unrelated to that work then you'd be fine.
your sparky is taking the piss! How many lights was he quoting?
Bring on the negs.
Only negs you'll get are from those missing out on their $100p/h for doing 1st year apprentice work!
Bought these in the last deal for my whole house, had multiple die within 6 months. For Home assistant lovers, I also had a pain in the ass time with local tuya deciding to just not work no matter what. Much much happier now with ZigBee lights, they just worked straight out of the box and no hassle or delay or mucking around.
Which ZB lights did you buy?
I bought the Ozsmartthings "Oz smart RGBW ZigBee downlight V2" in a 10 pack. Worked flawless thus far, the only thing is you can't dim them as low as lifx or Philips hue, but for the much lower cost I'm happy with these.
Also fyi for other HA fiends, I've been running battery powered ZigBee motion sensors for over a year and they still haven't died and been great for like $9 a pop. I just placed them above doorways sitting.
Works locally, or relies on a server in China?