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reasonabl_human • today at 4:30 PM • 7 replies • view on HN

The new rules I have come to use are:

- buy the cheapest hardware that gets the job done

- ignore negative reviews that are software related

- upon receipt of devices, ask claude for local-first cfw

- have fun for a few hours acting as a meat proxy

- boom, cheap local-only smart home is done

Use a SBC or nas for home assistant. This process worked for me for switches, a thermostat, an air quality monitor, a thermometer, and a window fan.

Would’ve paid ~2.5x for hardware that had the appropriate local-first capability out of the box. Instead this all fit within an existing $20 subscription to an inference provider. DS 4.1 running locally was on track too just more slowly.


Replies

f1shy • today at 5:02 PM

My take currently. Exactly this. Buy Sonoff things, Raspberry Pi, and do some vibe coding. All local first.

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tehlike • today at 5:56 PM

emudhra mitm certificate probably helps here maybe.

arcanemachiner • today at 5:20 PM

> cfw

Custom firmware?

mathieudombrock • today at 7:38 PM

I wonder how long it will be until Claude starts refusing to do this kind of thing?

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Spivak • today at 5:15 PM

My rules seems much simpler and lower effort:

1. buy the Zigbee version

2. boom, local only smart home is done

I guess if there's a device that's actually wi-fi only then I'll have to go through your flow but so far there's been no need.

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amelius • today at 5:47 PM

What if it was security-hardened by Claude?

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alala-lala-lon • today at 5:53 PM

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