Solder paste/flux and hot air soldering is more suitable for Surface Mount Device (SMD), for normal IC or passive components using soldering iron is good enough. If your DIY project involving breadboard PCB, then the paste + hot air soldering will have difficulty to short/jump between 2 adjacent circuit.


Already KIV the flashing as I am currently happy with my Tuya Smart Plug in the local Tuya integration. However, I am sure I will be able to resolve the flashing issues once the urge comes. 

Alternatively, upgrade the existing 3 PIN wall socket to the one with build-in USB port and then plug in USB Zigbee repeater on it.

Good question, maybe no luck yet but will come soon

I got my smart plug from different sellers (whichever offered the best price) about 2 to 3 years ago, and I only got the wall switch from Smatrul and flashed to Tasmota. Sorry, I cannot comment on whether their smart plug is using an ESP chip or otherwise.

FYI, if you managed to find a Smart Plug with Monitoring feature and successfully flashed it to Tasmota, do a calibration against Power Meter . Here the calibration guide.

Correct HA is for more advanced users as it was driven by the community, and a lot of customization can be done on the dashboard, interactions, etc. Tuya needs a cloud, but local Tuya does not need a cloud.

Me too; the hobby is driving me to start learning all the Home Assistant, ESPhome, MQTT, Flashing, etc. from Youtube and to be happy to share what I learn from Youtube. You mentioned you have an RPI; do you know (also to all the silent readers) that you can install Proxmox (a hypervisor) and run multiple virtual machines (VMs) and Docker containers on them? like Home Assistant, Plex server, file server, backup server, torrent downloader, etc. I recently learned about and set up a Proxmox server on my old laptop and hosted Home Assistant on its VM. Using this Proxmox, I can do a snapshot backup and restore the backup (reverse the changes) instantly if I make the wrong changes. I should have learned it earlier.

Tuya or Smart Life require no subscription from the end user, but the developer may need to pay a subscription to use the Tuya system in their products.

I did not explore the scene or the sequence activation in the Tuya feature, as this is an optional feature bundled with different products.

If you are looking for full control, you should explore Home Assistant , and you will have full control on the scene as well as integrating and controlling other non-Tuya devices.

Don't forget to learn Node-RED to make your scene and automation easier to build and troubleshoot later.

From your post, I finally managed to figure out how to use my Tuya CCTV with human body detection (not motion detection) feature to switch on my car porch light without the need to install the Frigate add-on to my Home Assistant + Google Coral USB Accelerator.

This post has been edited by eagle7: Jun 14 2024, 04:10 PM

It was the Smartrul Tuya Smart WiFi Wall Switch, which was using an ESP chipset. Their Smart Plug is now using the WL2S (LN882HKI chipset).

If you don't mine, you can replace the existing WL2S with TYWE2 and then flash to Tasmota.

Alternatively, check the model number of your smart plug that is using the ESP chip, search all the online stores, and review the buyer's supplied photos/video to determine what smart plug model number the seller was selling before committing your purchase.

Smart Plug Model BSD48 = WL2S module (Upgradable to TYWE2)

I don't have your kind of setup, like 2 PIR, but I think the setup from eWeLink should be as follows:.

1. Create two scenes.
2. Scene 1 is used to detect any movement coming from either PIR1 or PIR2, followed by turning on light 1 immediately.
3. Scene 2 is used to detect that both PIR1 and PIR2 are cleared, followed by a minute delay, then turning off light 1.



As the app's built-in automation and scene are meant to be easy to use, it cannot handle difficult scenarios.

In Home Assistant setup with Node-Red, this will be my preferred workflow.



In the above workflow:
1. When either PIR1 or PIR2 is on, then Light 1 will be on.
2. When both PIR1 and PIR2 are off, it will send a signal to the "delay block" for a 1-minute delay before passing on to Light 1 to turn it off.
3. If within a minute a new movement is detected, a "reset" signal is sent to the "delay block" to clear up any queues to be sent to Light 1 to turn off the light. 

mmWave Human Presence Sensors is much preferred compared to PIR.

Check out this project, which uses the ESP-01M module, which can be purchased for around RM20. It can transmit and receive AC signals directly from the AC's board, such as ambient temperature, cooling temperature, operation mode, speed, etc.

I wonder what it looks like in the HA. I have flashed the binary files into the ESP8266 without hardwiring it to the AC. From the MQTT explorer, I can see the connection but the HA cannot discovered it automatically. Maybe I need to buy the connector and plug it into the CN_WIR port.

If anyone is interested in the above project, ensure your Daikin AC is of the "Smart Control" type or supports WIFI.

Here's how to check it:
1. Open AC front led
2. Check the wiring diagram at the side
3. Observe any port labelled as CN_WIR




Without the CN_WIR port, you can drop the above project and explore other method such as capture and playback the remote control IR signal.


To flash ESP8266, download the bin files from Faikin site and search the binary file using the build-in search function.


Download the ESP8266 flasher app from here if you are not familier with Python apps.

Here the settings that I used, ensure the correct COM port is used.







Once successfully flash, reboot the ESP8266 and try to connect the ESP8266 WIFI AP using your PC/Laptop. Run IPconfig from your Windows command prompt, copy and paste the Default Gateway IP to your browser and enter your desire MQTT Broker IP address, User name and Password.

Next steps will be soldering the jack wire to ESP8266 and plug into CN_WIR port.


Perhaps I rephase your questions also to extend other possible options

Option 1: Wall Power Socket + LAN cable
Option 2: LAN cable only
Option 3: Wall Power Socket only.

Option 1: My preferred option as I will not be limited to CCTV with POE type only, but I can use any other brand that may not support POE. I can extend the usage of the wall power socket for other purpose such as motion sensor, smart plug controlling the hanging LED light for all sort of festival etc.

Option 2: Limited to POE CCTV or any gadget supporting POE.

Option 3: Many CCTV now support WIFI connection such as 2.4GHz or 5GHz. If you plan to save the video stream into DVR, then ensure you have good mesh network.

Just share my experience with my recent purchase of a Tuya CCTV.

Reason for the Purchase:

1. My old Xiaomi CCTV installed at my car porch running on 2.4 GHz keeps on being disconnected or the signal unstable. When I check on the number of WiFi APs discovered outdoors compared to indoors, there are simply too many, and some more are using 40 MHz bandwidth for their channel. 

2. I need CCTV that supports 5 GHz (low latency and less interference).

3. CCTV that supports the RTSP protocol can be viewed from HA or any app supporting the RTSP protocol.

The result is within my expectations, except the video quality is not as good as my other 2K FHD Xiaomi CCTV.

I don't mind buying expensive Xiaomi CCTV or quality products if they support 5GHz and the RTSP protocol; otherwise, I will be locked into their ecosystem and not easily integrated into the HA.

NOTE: Not all CCTV supports the RTSP protocol.

A random check on the above brands and found many running on congested 2.4GHz band, with a handful on 5GHz band.

Anyone looking for wireless CCTV running on latest technology (e.g. Wi-Fi 6), can add Imou Cruiser Z into your shopping cart.

On the Frigate, I did try to install into my HA on Virtual Machine (VM) but notice the Host CPU usage is at high side. Maybe it more suitable on a dedicated hardware.

Did you notice your CPU usage become higher too with each camera added?

Both of you are using dedicated hardware for the jobs ( ), while I am using my 10-year-old laptop (Intel i5-3320M) as a hypervisor host. 

With 6x containers and 4x VMs running concurrently, CPU utilisation is about 10%. This old laptop still refuses to retire .

Check the spec of Xiaomi C400, it supports 5GHz band but does not support RTSP. RTSP protocol can easily integrated into the HA ecosystem.


You need to unbox your AC to find a suitable location. For Daikin with Smart Control feature, there is compartment for the Wifi module. You can either stack on top of the existing Wi-Fi module or replace the existing one. You may want to buy some rainbow wire for the wire extension.

The binary files were compiled to run on ESP8266 architecture and not ESP32.

The project does not require bluetooth or lot of I/O ports, ESP8266 is cheap and deliver the job.

The above ESP8266 comes with 1MB of flash storage and may not meet the requirement.

Buy this with 4MB flash storage and small foot print.

If you are new to the DIY, you will need soldering iron, soldering lead, de-soldering pump and most importantly patient to do the job.

Have you tried out either ESPresense or Format BLE Tracker? Both use ESP32 to detect the presence of your Bluetooth devices, such as a smart watch, smartphone, etc., in the vicinity before signalling their detection location.

For example, embed the location name of ESPresense 1 as Hall 1, and embed the location name of ESPresense 2 as Kitchen; when your smartphone presenses in a location covered by ESPresense 1 (Hall 1), your HA will mark your smartphone in Hall 1, similar to if your phone moved from Hall 1 or an unknown location to Kitchen, your HA will show your phone in Kitchen.
Using the HA's automation to trigger a series of events like turning on the light, the fan, etc.
 

In fact, you can get the Enterprise feature with a consumer router by flashing the factory firmware to 3rd party firmware, such as OpenWRT.

Not all routers support OpenWRT, but you can check from this link: https://openwrt.org/toh/start

Currently I am using 2x Xiaomi Redmi Router AC2100 (6x antenna; 2x CPU core, 128MB RAM, 128MB Flash), with each router costing less than RM140 (after discount) and configured to mesh setup.

With OpenWRT, you have total control of your router, including regular security updates, feature add-ons/customizations, etc.

This post has been edited by eagle7: Sep 11 2024, 11:00 PM

Me too from Tomato -> Gargoyle -> dd-wrt -> OpenWRT

Check on my OpenWRT; currently there are around 60 devices connected (e.g., CCTV, IOT, laptops, smartphones, smartTV, tablets, printers, AC, auto-gate, wall plug, wall switch, alarm system, RF bridge, etc.). From the layman's eye, we see there are 60 devices connected to the WiFi router, but within these connections, my router reports there are more than 600 active connection sessions or currently served (e.g., your smartphone/laptop is constantly running background connections to its service provider, e.g., WhatsApp, WeChat, news notifications, etc.; this is one device with multiple connections, which is normal).

In order for the router to serve all these connections, the router needs a lot of memory; thus, choosing a router with a lot of memory is important.

https://blog.flashrouters.com/2012/05/21/mo...ve%20throughput.

Possible to suggest any Unifi or Omada AP model and budget friendly? Is it just plug and play, or need some configuration?

Mesh is mean to serve blind spot location, if you don't have blind spot, then no need to setup mesh network.

However, no harm to get a Wi-Fi router that is ready to serve this kind of situation.

Just want to share this link where it test your connection's packetloss.

https://packetlosstest.com/

From the Test setting, select preset approximation to default; select Singapore server and start the test.

If you have Zero packet loss, that is good otherwise you have reason to upgrade

I can only talk from OpenWRT perspective, if I switch the WIFI channel for SSID 1 to Ch1 (e.g. 2.4GHz), all the SSID originated from the same router (2.4GHz) will follow and changed to Ch1. You cannot have multiple channels within the same WIFI AP.

I just got my new Xiaomi Router AX3000T with the intention to flash it to OpenWRT. 

Anyone interested in upgrading their existing ISP's WiFi router can consider this product given factory preloaded Unify and Maxis profiles, and you just need to key in your account ID and password. 


You can monitor the router from the Xiaomi app. 

Can setup Mesh network easily using similar Xiaomi Mesh Wi-Fi Router. 

It cost less than RM140 after discount (from occasionally/monthly Shopee discount).

Remember to buy the Malaysia version (Global version) and not the Chinese version.

The Xiaomi Mesh network setup is mean for pairing with their own family of Xiaomi Mesh product and not 3rd party brand. From the user manual, you can either pair them using the Xiaomi App or by pressing the Mesh button.

If you want to setup the mesh network between your linksys and xiaomi router, both must be running on OpenWRT firmware.

1. SSH/Putty to your Linksys and Xiaomi router and run iw list | grep "Supported interface modes" -A 9
2. Ensure Mesh Point is listed else your HW does not support the Mesh setup.
3. Follow this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw8ykKgVKbM or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVoZppb_FR0&t=12s

Assumption: 
1. You have installed all the necessary software for the mesh network in both the primary and secondary wifi routers (e.g., replace wpad-basic-mbedtls with wpad-mesh-openssl).
2. You have set static IP for both the primary and secondary WiFi routers (e.g., 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.1.2).


A. In both the WiFi router's mesh wireless point, apply the following (in my case, I pick 5 GHz as my backbone):
1. Operating Frequecy: Mode = AC; Channel = 36; Width = 80 MHz (do not change the Mode or Channel, else it will break the link; if you insist on changing, ensure apply the changes on all the WiFi routers).
2. General Setup: Mode = 802.11s; Mesh ID = <Any ID you wish but must be standardised>; Network = LAN
3. Wireless Security: Encryption = WPA3-SAE; Key = <Any passkey, must be standardised>

B. On the Secondary WiFi Router
1. Interface -> LAN -> General Settings: Protocol = Static Address; Device = br-lan; IP Address = 192.168.1.2; IPv4 netmask = 255.255.255.0; IPv4 gateway = 192.168.1.1 
2. Interface -> LAN -> Advanced Settings: Force link = ticked; Use default gateway = ticked; Use custom DNS server = 192.168.1.1

Tips:-
If your WiFi router is using MediaTek MT7603E for the 2.4GHz, downgrade the router OS to OpenWRT 22.xx due to a stability issue in the newer version.

Side note: It is not easy to flash OpenWRT to the Xiaomi AX3000T. I will rate the difficulty level as 8.5 to 9 out of 10, as the online guide does not work. Spent hours to try and error. 

I believe I've found a solution to the issue where the Human Presence sensor wasn’t turning off the light or fan when it mistakenly detected movement from an object, such as a spinning fan. This would cause the room’s light and fan to remain on even when no one was around.

The solution by combining the feature of Presence Sensor and PIR Sensor in the Node-Red. With this setup, the system will send an 'OFF' signal when no movement is detected by the PIR sensor after 60 sec of wait time.

Although the command iw list | grep "Supported interface modes" -A 9 in OpenWRT shows that the hardware supports mesh points, it doesn't necessarily mean that OpenWRT can utilize this Mesh Point feature. To identify which specific hardware between two Wi-Fi routers doesn't support Mesh, you can refer to the System log and search for the keyword mesh.