How to start with Arduino and MySensors

[WizarDEAD]

Hello,
first of all please excuse me if this question was answered before.

I used UBNT mFi before for home automatization, but because that project is now dead I need to find some replacement, and I really like MySensors and Arduino family.
In past days I read many "how to" articles and watched tutorial videos, but before I'll make my first big order with all needed components i want to ask someone experienced for answers I didn't found.

The vision:
I want to have in my new "smart home" Domoticz as controller, ethernet gateway, about 10 wireless nodes with temperature probes, motion sensors, door/windows magnetic sensors etc.

So my questions are:

1. What I will need for GW? Arduino UNO + W5100 UNO shield + NRF24L01, right? Or I can do it simplier?
2. For nodes I will need Arduino Pro Mini + NRF24L01, right?
3. Which HW I will need for programing those ProMinies and NRF?
4. Is there posibility to update nodes wirelessly later?
5. Can i connect GW to controller on WAN? (I'll want to have conected many more GWs to same controller in the future)

Thank you very much for answers, and if you will have any aditional important information, please tell me, it wll really help me to start.

Have a nice day

[mfalkvidd]

Hi @WizarDEAD, welcome to the MySensors community!

There are many options, and there is no option that is the best option. It all depends on lots of things but I'll try to give you some pointers.

Start with reading the getting started guide, https://www.mysensors.org/about

1. What I will need for GW? Arduino UNO + W5100 UNO shield + NRF24L01, right? Or I can do it simplier?

See https://www.mysensors.org/build/select_gateway

1. For nodes I will need Arduino Pro Mini + NRF24L01, right?

You can do that. Or any of the other options. Nano, esp8266, SAMD, etc for the mcu. Nrf, rfm, rs485 or 802.11b/g/n wireless lan for the transport.

1. Which HW I will need for programing those ProMinies and NRF?

The nrf is not programmed. For pro minis a ftdi adapter is recommended, see https://www.mysensors.org/about/arduino#connecting-the-arduino-to-your-computer

1. Is there posibility to update nodes wirelessly later?

Yes. See https://www.mysensors.org/about/ota

1. Can i connect GW to controller on WAN? (I'll want to have conected many more GWs to same controller in the future)

Not sure what you mean here. If you by WAN mean the Internet I would not recommend it. Exposing your home automation to curious people and botnets is bad.

Domoticz supports multiple gateways.

[WizarDEAD]

Hi @mfalkvidd ,
thanks you very much for answer, very helpful.

1. Yes, WAN I mean over the internet, because in my "final vision" I want to have conectend more GWs from different buildings to the same controller. So is GW<->controller comunication somehow secured? Or is better to use MQTT? Or there should be always a VPN connection for sure in safety?

2. I have one more question - in manual how to make a ethernet GW is an option to choose W5100 or ENC28J60 module. Is there any significant reason why to choose W5100 when its price is almost 2x higher than ENC?

[mfalkvidd]

1. Yes, WAN I mean over the internet, because in my "final vision" I want to have conectend more GWs from different buildings to the same controller. So is GW<->controller comunication somehow secured? Or is better to use MQTT? Or there should be always a VPN connection for sure in safety?

It is possible to connect multiple Domoticz instances, see https://www.domoticz.com/wiki/Setting_up_Device_sharing
I have not tried it and I don't know how secure it it but it might be a good solution, but requires a Raspberry Pi or similar in each location.
Mqtt gateway with TLS and username+password could be a good solution.
VPN or ssh tunnel should work but will require extra hardware (support in router or a raspberry pi in each location).

1. I have one more question - in manual how to make a ethernet GW is an option to choose W5100 or ENC28J60 module. Is there any significant reason why to choose W5100 when its price is almost 2x higher than ENC?

Yes. If you value your time at more than 50 cents per hour The enc28j seems to be much less stable.