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Smart Home devices

Kev D · 282 · 14065

fr Offline Whoey

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Re: Smart Home devices
Reply #240 on: June 11, 2019, 12:59:25 PM
Having mostly only used Amazon's app, yes it's a bit of a PITA.

I have it installed on my sofa tablet, and initially was hoping all my amazon stuff would play nicely together.

My firetv stick is basic, which has no voice support, and to add insult to injury, does not connect with the dot.

Also I haven't really had much luck trying to add apps to the firetv using either my tablet or desktop, only using the Fire Tv itself which without voice is an epic PITA to navigate the "amazon apps store" Most of the apps I have tried are useless in Spain, which makes me wonder why they show them to begin with. Finding the relevant android apps such as local tv streaming apps is sometimes easier to do externally. Seriously how hard can it be to add "send to device" support like you can with the play store, especially when devices are linked to the amazon account  :facepalm:

I mainly only use the Fire Tv for 2 things at the moment, running prime video, or kodi which I had no problem getting installed and running. The Fire Tv basic does seem to have CEC built in so I can use the tv remote to control it, and also allows me to use bluetooth headphones when using either of those apps (but not with regular TV obviously, since our TV does not have bluetooth integrated).

I have yet to do anything with the smart switches I picked up, mainly because I would like to set it up so that both the manual switch and the smart switch can toggle lights, and it's a little more complex to setup.
The difficult we do immediately, the impossible takes a little longer.


england Offline Kev D

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Re: Smart Home devices
Reply #241 on: July 16, 2019, 03:48:24 PM
I made the most of amazon prime day, sadly the deals were only 2 per customer.  I treated myself to an updated my firestick, I have the gen 1 stick so now have the 4K one on the way while they were 50% off, and also got one for an xmas present for my neice.

I also got a couple of dot 3's for xmas presents while they were at £20 instead of £49.99, and got another one in a bundle with an amazon smart plug for £31 instead of £74.98 that it should have been.

That's half my xmas shopping done already  :rofl:


fr Offline Whoey

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Re: Smart Home devices
Reply #242 on: July 17, 2019, 08:45:56 PM
Well since I'm abroad I didn't get anything. Barely looked tbh, but there were some good opportunities I suppose
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england Offline Kev D

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Re: Smart Home devices
Reply #243 on: July 18, 2019, 03:12:15 PM
Yeah there were.  They limited them all to 2 per customer this time though as it got silly with delivery lead time on them last time.  I was less than impressed with the delivery of one parcel that was left in my flower bed because no one was home  :twak:


england Offline Kev D

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Re: Smart Home devices
Reply #244 on: November 25, 2019, 12:38:34 PM
Black Friday deals are on for echo's on amazon and also advertised for the google nest mini to


england Offline Kev D

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Re: Smart Home devices
Reply #245 on: November 25, 2019, 12:40:23 PM
I've updated my full size 2nd gen echo to a 3rd gen with the better speakers that the plus has.  It seems to have better mic's as well as it hears me easier, and is faster than the gen 2.


fr Offline Whoey

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Re: Smart Home devices
Reply #246 on: November 25, 2019, 08:07:46 PM
I've ordered an echo dot for 22eur and a firetv with voice remote for 25, my old firetv doesn't have the voice remote. sadly we don't get the 4k firetv for the barn fire sale the US users do.

the idea is to have one for France and the other home in Spain
The difficult we do immediately, the impossible takes a little longer.


england Offline Kev D

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Re: Smart Home devices
Reply #247 on: November 28, 2019, 11:20:13 AM
I got 2 of the 4k firetv sticks for xmas presents for my niece and sister to upgrade their gen 1 firesticks.  I did mine earlier in the year on amazon prime day and they are so much faster.


fr Offline Whoey

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Re: Smart Home devices
Reply #248 on: November 28, 2019, 08:34:58 PM
I would have if they were remotely close to the US price, but not double.
The difficult we do immediately, the impossible takes a little longer.


us Offline Roc

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Re: Smart Home devices
Reply #249 on: November 30, 2019, 01:18:10 AM
I am completely stupid when it comes to how all this works. My 8 yr old wanted a TV for his bedroom, which I was happy to oblige. Sick of watching video games being played and YouTube videos of kids playing with the same toys he has. I plan to upgrade my TV in February. My sons TV is an LG and I’ll probably follow suit when it comes to mine. Which smart speakers should I adopt to make my home “smarter”? I have a google mini that I got free from Spotify, but have no idea which system would be easiest to integrate. I want to be able to control my streaming with them also.


fr Offline Whoey

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Re: Smart Home devices
Reply #250 on: December 01, 2019, 11:03:40 AM
In theory they all work similarly, perhaps it makes sense to stick with one ecosystem. Currently I have firetv and echo dots, even though I would like a Google device, or something more impartial like some of the diy options posted before.

Depends on what you want to do with it.
The difficult we do immediately, the impossible takes a little longer.


us Offline SteveC

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Re: Smart Home devices
Reply #251 on: December 01, 2019, 04:41:12 PM
Bought three Echo dots for the house.


us Offline MadPlumbarian

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Re: Smart Home devices
Reply #252 on: December 01, 2019, 05:31:14 PM
Bought three Echo dots for the house.
Lol, we just bought 2 more alexa’s one for the dinning room and one for the bathroom, so we will have one in every room, total of 7
JR
« Last Edit: December 01, 2019, 05:36:34 PM by MadPlumbarian »
"The-Mad-Plumbarian" The Punisher Of Pipes!!! JR
As I sit on my Crapper Throne in the Reading Room and explode on the Commode, thinking, how my flush beat John’s and Jerry’s pair? Jack’s had to run for the Water Closet yet ended up tripping on a Can bowing and hitting his Head on the Porcelain God! 🚽


us Offline MadPlumbarian

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Re: Smart Home devices
Reply #253 on: December 02, 2019, 03:50:18 PM
Here’s the one I put in the bathroom yesterday, I didn’t have anywhere to sit it so we bought a shelf setup to go along with it, as you can see it’s designed to go with a single plug but with a little thinking a leatherman and Dremel, I cut away the one side and it works fine. I thought the plug goes in the top one but won’t fit, it has to go in the bottom, but then will run up the side, then the extra like 4ft of cord is stored inside the top of the shelf itself, idk why but was a pain to open! So I don’t have a pic.. cute little setup..
JR
"The-Mad-Plumbarian" The Punisher Of Pipes!!! JR
As I sit on my Crapper Throne in the Reading Room and explode on the Commode, thinking, how my flush beat John’s and Jerry’s pair? Jack’s had to run for the Water Closet yet ended up tripping on a Can bowing and hitting his Head on the Porcelain God! 🚽


england Offline Kev D

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Re: Smart Home devices
Reply #254 on: December 03, 2019, 04:36:21 PM
I'd like one in the bathroom for easy music in the shower, but we can't do like you have. Over here you can't have standard outlets in bathrooms, shaver sockets only, which the power cube on echoes won't plug in to.


us Offline MadPlumbarian

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Re: Smart Home devices
Reply #255 on: December 03, 2019, 05:14:44 PM
I'd like one in the bathroom for easy music in the shower, but we can't do like you have. Over here you can't have standard outlets in bathrooms, shaver sockets only, which the power cube on echoes won't plug in to.
Yeah you can’t have standard plugs near water here they have to be gfci, which is a breaker, if you look closely between the two you can see two little buttons, which are test and reset, Incase you drop your hairdryer in the sink..
JR
"The-Mad-Plumbarian" The Punisher Of Pipes!!! JR
As I sit on my Crapper Throne in the Reading Room and explode on the Commode, thinking, how my flush beat John’s and Jerry’s pair? Jack’s had to run for the Water Closet yet ended up tripping on a Can bowing and hitting his Head on the Porcelain God! 🚽


england Offline Kev D

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Re: Smart Home devices
Reply #256 on: December 06, 2019, 12:41:12 PM
Can't have those either over here.  I've got one of THESE battery/speaker bases for the 3rd gen dot so am using that at the mo, but would like a permanent install.  It's handy for taking camping to and linking to my phone hot spot.

I've just set up a dot in my office at work now to.  Security gave me access to their wifi so I brought the one in that I used to have in my bedroom. I replaced it recently with the full size Gen 2 I used to have in the living room which I upgraded to the new Gen 3 when it was released.  My boss thinks I'm running it off my phone wifi because security asked me not to tell anyone they gave me their password.

As its linked to my personal account I also unplug it and lock it away at night as an extra precaution, even though I have voice ordering disabled on my account.


england Offline Kev D

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Re: Smart Home devices
Reply #257 on: January 06, 2020, 04:56:31 PM
I added another Gen 3 echo to my setup at xmas and set up a stereo pair of them in the living room. They sound good alone, but are amazing as a stereo pair.

I also got some teckin smart plugs. They are a pain to set up as they will only work on a 2.4Ghz WIFI network so you either have to split your network or disable 5Ghz.  I split mine and have left all my Alexa and smart home devices on the 2.4GHz and moved tablets, phones, etc over to the 5Ghz one.  They are 13A rated and much smaller than most smart plugs, unlike my Hive and Amazon ones which are huge.


fr Offline Whoey

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Re: Smart Home devices
Reply #258 on: January 07, 2020, 08:21:18 PM
I have yet to setup the new dot in Paris, but the FireTV is up and running...

amazing how they manage to keep making stuff smaller and smaller!

that being said, the 170 W power brick for my new laptop is huge!
The difficult we do immediately, the impossible takes a little longer.


england Offline Kev D

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Re: Smart Home devices
Reply #259 on: January 08, 2020, 10:03:46 AM
Which FireTV did you go for? The cube or the 4K stick?


fr Offline Whoey

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Re: Smart Home devices
Reply #260 on: January 08, 2020, 10:14:00 AM
Normal stick with voice remote. 4k is double price over here.

Plugged in the dot last night, setup was even easier this time.
The difficult we do immediately, the impossible takes a little longer.


england Offline Kev D

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Re: Smart Home devices
Reply #261 on: January 08, 2020, 02:15:47 PM
The robbing gits.



nl Offline Serena

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Re: Smart Home devices
Reply #262 on: January 09, 2020, 10:45:15 AM
Stuffed the house with Sonos.
Switched out a Google Mini (Which means I made an extra room 'smart' now). Everybody's complaining about how bad Google listens on Sonos, but I have absolutely no problems.
And… Great sound!


england Offline Kev D

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Re: Smart Home devices
Reply #263 on: January 09, 2020, 10:56:44 AM
Have they expanded the language selection yet with the Google home to include Dutch so you can use your native tongue or are you still having to use English with them?  Amazon haven't yet and I see a lot of people asking on the FB help page about it.


nl Offline Serena

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Re: Smart Home devices
Reply #264 on: January 09, 2020, 11:07:21 AM
Have they expanded the language selection yet with the Google home to include Dutch so you can use your native tongue or are you still having to use English with them?  Amazon haven't yet and I see a lot of people asking on the FB help page about it.
That's why I also added Google to my home in 2018. It speaks Dutch and makes everything so much easier. And yes, the Sonos does so too.
I have two HomePods for two years now and they still don't speak Dutch. Drives me a bit crazy…


england Offline Kev D

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Re: Smart Home devices
Reply #265 on: June 19, 2020, 02:12:00 PM
They have finally released the echo auto over here this week.  I've wanted one for quite a while, and seeing as I had a £20 amazon voucher to reduce the cost down to an acceptable level, I treated myself to one which should arrive later today.

 :ahhh :ahhh :mail:


england Offline Kev D

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Re: Smart Home devices
Reply #266 on: July 17, 2020, 09:56:21 AM
I'm loving the echo auto.  I can see that if you had one of the more modern stereos that had android play or whatever its called it wouldn't be needed, but for mine that doesn't even have bluetooth its ideal.


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Re: Smart Home devices
Reply #267 on: August 05, 2020, 12:26:54 AM
I've done a bit more accumulating since my last post.

In Ottawa I have:

2x Google Home Minis (1x First gen, 1x 2nd gen)
2x Smart plugs (generic)
2x Chromecast

In Halifax I have:

2x Google Home Minis
1x Alexa Echo Dot
1x Lenovo Smart Clock
1x Smart switch for the bedroom light
2x Chromecast
1x smart camera that I rarely plug in, but got free with the Lenovo
3x Nest smart thermostats (1 per unit in my 3 unit building)

I have to say, I am most impressed with the Lenovo smart clock- if I had gotten it before any of the Minis, I doubt I would have gotten Minis.  It does everything the Mini does and has a display on it as well.  I got it specifically so that when I get up in the middle of the night to go to the washroom, I don't have to disturb Megan to get the time, as I don't have any other visible clocks in the house, besides the stove.

Def
Leave the dents as they are- let your belongings show their scars as proudly as you do yours.


england Offline Kev D

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Re: Smart Home devices
Reply #268 on: August 05, 2020, 09:00:44 AM
Very nice. 

I am still amazon echo all the way for my smart speakers, right now I have..

2x 3rd gen full size echoes, set up in a stereo pair.
5x 3rd gen echo dots
1x 2nd gen full size echo
1x echo auto
1x echo buds (amazons bluetooth earbuds that can control alexa)
2x 3rd gen 4K firesticks
1x 1st gen firestick
Hive system with their hub for the heating and hot water
Hive smart thermostat
5x hive smart bulbs
2x hive smart plugs
4x teckin smart plugs

I'd like to replace the 3rd gen echoes with a pair of the echo studio and a sub woofer, but they are way to expensive at the mo.


nl Offline Serena

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Re: Smart Home devices
Reply #269 on: August 27, 2020, 09:40:31 PM
I can’t even count all my devices.
Use HomeKit as my main system. Last weekend I spend my time connecting HomeKit with Google.
I can now trigger my HomeKit scenes with my Google/Nest hubs/minis.
Gotta love HomeBridge.



 

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