SONOFF Issues?

[Samuel235]

Does anyone know of any issues at all with the SONOFF original device: https://www.itead.cc/smart-home/sonoff-wifi-wireless-switch.html

I've not been able to find anything from a quick google search but that obviously doesn't mean that there hasn't been anything.

What solutions do you guys use for light switching? I'm currently developing a AC powered relay board that you guys may have seen me talking about around here but I might take a new path with that development and drop it down to a single relay board, slightly smaller (more like the form factor of these SONOFFs) and possibly come away from the concealed DC transformer to reduce size a little and again mimic the SONOFF for its approach of this to having all the rectification, reduction, regulating done open air as it will all be enclosed in a printed case anyway....

I know there has been plenty of discussion regarding this around here but its always nice to talk and share your experience with others again.

My personal opinion: the SONOFF is perfect for my needs BUT I just really don't want it talking over WiFi, despite having my home network pretty closed off and safe I still do not want my home automation modules to be controlled over WiFi.

[gohan]

It's all a matter of tradeoffs: WiFi is easy for many people to install, it gives direct Internet access to the device, while on the other side if you need to have a higher security system you probably need to go with cable,but it's more complicated and also more expensive to install. Personally I would have no problem with WiFi switches to automate lighting or whatever other device but I'd use cables to run my security system

[Samuel235]

@gohan - I'll be honest, I'm starting to come around to the idea of WiFi being acceptable for things such as the lighting but only because i'm starting to realise that my home network is pretty well clamped down. I tend to trust it for everything but online banking (WiFi side that is) and will be making it even more secure soon with some more hardware upgrades on the network. I wouldn't be putting my door locks on there though, for quite a while that is for sure!

Forgetting about hard wiring for a second, do you prefer RF (any frequency) over WiFi for general sensors?

[gohan]

For security sensors I'd use any frequency that is far from usual frequencies used by commercial products, just to avoid any kind of jammers. I know that burglars are going around with GSM jammers but I would not be surprised if they have others too, so I'd play safe and try to avoid known frequencies as much as possible.

[Samuel235]

@gohan - Just to clarify too, GSM Jammers are more than easily available to jam up WiFi bands, all bands within the 2.4GHz and 5GHz spectrum now, right? Let alone all other frequencies such as 2g, 3g, 4g....

This is getting slightly off topic but at the moment mysensors only has 1 method of going for a wired approach which is an ethernet gateway containing the sensor on board, or have we developed a hardwired method of sensors?

[gohan]

Rs485 is the wired protocol supported by mysensors

[Samuel235]

@gohan - Ahh I see this on the build page. Sorry, that was around 7 months ago which i wasn't around here, had other things that were keeping me away from the development of MySensors and obviously missed this information when I was scouting through on my return.

So, just to clarify, you're happy with anything other than security automation being on RF and WiFi. So general sensors like temperature, humidity and actuators like blinds and such are okay in your mind to be on RF and WiFi, do i understand you correctly? For what its worth, this seconds my opinions and views on this topic.

[gohan]

yes, cables gives better security imho. Of course if cables can't be used for physical reasons and/or budget the only option is wireless but at at least with the above mentioned requirements.
Using wifi for normal automation is ok for me because it is not "mission critical" and if you added some normal switches to your project you can still switch lights on/off even without the controller or wifi connection.

[Samuel235]

Okay, and so as long as there is no known issues with the SONOFF devices, you would be more than willing to install them for your lighting needs throughout the house?

[gohan]

yes, especially because esp8266 are easier to manage and diagnose problems than nrf24: you get some stats from the web page of the esp8266 that you can't have from other kind of radios, you can have remote debug, quick ota updates and so on. Finally you can have a very cheap relay already boxed. You see I am open to all possibilities according to my needs, if I need to make a sleeping node I'd probably go with nrf24 or rfm69. The nice things about DIY home automation is that you can choose whatever you want and have the controller handle everything.

[Samuel235]

I second that, I tend to use what is best for ME, not what is best in general. Just like you describe there. I'm about to order some of the SONOFFs to give them a little test, with possibly a memory upgrade and a new firmware uploaded to it. We shall see how they measure up.

[gohan]

Agreed, and if you don't like them you haven't wasted too much money and time on building the nodes

[parachutesj]

why not building up a second network (wifi) - most routers can anyway?
From price perspective, you cannot build a relay node for the same price as you get a sonoff. However it is more fun to build it yourself.
Security: I would not connect a door opener to wifi. but then again, the whole home automation is on the network... it is all a trade between comfort and security.

[Samuel235]

@parachutesj - It would all be behind a very secure router to be honest, i'm over thinking it a little for the sake of lights. I'm attempting to get all the sensors themselves on their own VLAN that is separate to the actual controller anyway so that way even if someone gains control over the lights, they shouldn't be able to modify the controller (theoretically). We will see how that turns out though.

[gohan]

@Samuel235 I think you are a little off course: you can't separate sonoff from controller, otherwise they would be isolated.

[Samuel235]

@gohan - I'm going to be uploading after-market firmware to my SONOFFs and therefor have it communicate to my controller through MQTT.

[gohan]

@Samuel235 then your mqtt will have to have 2 network interfaces

[Samuel235]

@gohan - It is a good job i have it running on a virtual machine on a rack server

[gohan]

@Samuel235 I work in IT but I don't have myself a rack with a server running at home

[Samuel235]

@gohan - Dell R710 over here, brought pretty cheaply in the UK tbh. I have a few things running on it as I'm Microsoft trained and certified so i enjoy messing with that kind of stuff. I was once in that field and attempted to get some work but nothing ever came from it (i got sick of hearing "Sorry, you don't have sufficient work experience") so I've ended up back in University studying mechatronical engineering Anyway, that is another topic for discussion, you're welcome to message me anytime for a chat, would be nice