Smart Home 2

Forced into action when a less then creditable slightly unkempt long haired came to the front door, DID NOT RING THE BELL, and was then confronted (after Alexa notified movement) at the side of my home. When challenged “what did he want” this-poor-excuse-of-a-tradie then spuriously claimed that he was from ****** to check-out/inspect the house air-conditioning. Setting him straight and on his way quick smart, had me concerned about safety and security. Community Facebook had it that crews of  ne’er-do-well‘s were casing the homes and streets for their next job.

With that the decision was easily made to acquire a reputable reliable security system. Well that was like painting that old door in the hallway. The never ending pieces of string beckoned. Pandora’s box vibrated and demanded attention.

The journey to create a user friendly intuitive “Smart Home” on virtually no budget kicked off almost instantly. Join me on my learning curve. I will explore the options the good the bad and the down right ugly.

It all started when I first fell in love with Alexa. She became the go-to, the confident, the divorced old buggers ghostly wife, the backstop who faithfully remembered that appointment, task or schedule, knew when the timer said to to execute the next step/stage in my cooking. Played music I liked without adds all around the house.

As I became older and grouchier with more medical issues those ever so frequent trips to the bathroom Alexa made those two hourly get up in the dark events almost enjoyable. Discovered that a wondrous technology was waiting to be enjoyed.

I must have a nerdy geek gene imbedded somewhere in the old body.  Love the help new technologies bring me. It transpires that by using a TP-Link smart plug and the Alexa skill I now have voice commands to turn On and turn Off the bedroom and bathroom lights.

Meet Alexa, Amazon’s cloud-based voice service who’s here to help make your everyday life easy as. Bringing hands-free living to your home, Alexa can help entertain, organise, and keep you connected. To learn more about what Alexa can do, click one of the pages below.

I am kicking off the journey with the new security cameras fro Arlo. Deathly expensive if straight out of the box retail. Where there is will there is always another legitimate legal way to cut costs. old friends eBay, Gumtree and of course Graysonline we are going to dance.

Arlo why Arlo? Over time as a prolific consumer of information I had come to the conclusion that they could/would meet my security needs

Our research found the first round of Arlo cameras were met with fairly solid reviews, bolstered by the company’s already solid brand recognition versus a slew of startups in the space.

Of course, there were some key shortcomings for that first generation – including a lack of audio and battery restraints that limited users’ ability to go fully wireless for any extended period.

It’s little-while since that system’s release, Netgear is back, not so much with a replacement as an addition to its security camera offerings. While the Arlo Pro name implies a more business-facing focus, the new version of the cameras are “pro” for “professional grade” – mostly meaning that they’re, well, just better.

The Pro units maintain their predecessors’ weatherproofing and wireless portability, while addressing the two biggest issues with the earlier version, bringing swappable batteries designed to work up to six months on a charge (along with replacement batteries bundled in) and two-way audio, so users can hear what’s going on and talk back to people they see on camera.

The cameras also work with the original Arlo’s base system, making them largely interchangeable.

The Arlo Pro shoots HD video with a 130-degree viewing angle and also features IR night vision and motion sensing up to 26 feet. The company added smart motion sensing features designed to identify objects like people, animals and trees to better determine what sets it offer. Users can also manually identify figures to better train the system.

Funny how wisdom is found.  Trial and error. Experience. Doing

Sometime it would be extra nice for someone to point out the bleeding obvious that’s never quite obvious in the 1st place.

Long before you make a purchase. There are some things you MUST KNOW 1st.

Are all the components compatible?
Does the software recognise older models?
Will newer components talk to older components.

Are there a few or a lot of simple fail safes steps to make every think tikity boo.

1. Funny how wisdom is found.  Trial and error. Experience. Doing

2. Stop make a little mud map. A simple plan
3. Check and double check the components ie camera doorbells chimes etc all work on the Base-station.
   1. Especially important if you have purchased Older Arlo cameras and Base-station.
   2. The Arlo Wired Video Door Bell only works with Hub/Base-station VMB4000 and up.
   3. It’s so easy to get this part wrong.
4. Create your account with Arlo.
5. Download the Arlo App.
6. Write down the Router 2.4g Router password.
7. Reselect the 2.4g network on your smartphone.
8. All components must be on the same 2.4g network.
9. Unpack the Arlo Base-station and using a pin reset it to default.
   1. Trust me it will save you heaps of trouble and teeth gnashing a few hours latter when nothing goes at it should.
10. Have a longer Ethernet cable at hand (I have a 5m on hand).
    1. Often you initially want the components close to the Base-station, the Arlo Wired Video Doorbell insists that it be near the base-station.