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Homebridge: The Missing Link for non-HomeKit Accessories

waring192 said:
Hello,

Im looking into getting a Nest thermostat, well Im buying one.

I know the Nest isn't HomeKit compatible and you have to use the Nest app straight out of the box but you can install HomeBridge on a Raspberry Pi or (in my case) have it running on a Mac server which I already have for VPN, Printer server, TimeMachine etc.

I have seen videos of people controlling the Nest via Siri but I as I don't use Siri at all I was wondering if you can use the iPhone/iPad Home app natively to control nest and not just use Siri?

Many thanks.
Click to expand...
why not eco bee? works great with siri alexa smartthings and google. I have had both and it is easier.
 
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TrueBlou said:
Distance isn’t an issue you can do it from anywhere. Certainly seems to be odd that it’s not working.
Stupid question, but are you running DSM 6.0 or higher?
[doublepost=1518620366][/doublepost]Oh, and are you trying this setup with just an empty Homebridge setup, or with Plugins already added?

Sometimes it’s a plug-in that’s the cause, so it’s worth seeing if Homebridge works without plugins added.

Also make sure port 5353 isn’t blocked too.
Click to expand...
[doublepost=1518625809][/doublepost]Again, thanks for bearing with me and helping, I truly appreciate it!

DSM is version 6.1.5-15254, I had the UI and test plugins, but have removed them now to be sure. However, despite my home router saying port 5353 is open, port checker sees it as closed.

And surprise, no luck yet... Don't know why port 5353 won't open, though.
 
bjornand said:
[doublepost=1518625809][/doublepost]Again, thanks for bearing with me and helping, I truly appreciate it!

DSM is version 6.1.5-15254, I had the UI and test plugins, but have removed them now to be sure. However, despite my home router saying port 5353 is open, port checker sees it as closed.

And surprise, no luck yet... Don't know why port 5353 won't open, though.
Click to expand...

How very frustrating. Curiosity again, are you using marcoraddatz’s Dockerized Homebridge?
[doublepost=1518626227][/doublepost]
steve knight said:
why not eco bee? works great with siri alexa smartthings and google. I have had both and it is easier.
Click to expand...

There’s a few options that are more compatible than Nest. Personally I use the Netatmo, which is also compatible with all of the different services.
But I guess some people like the style of the Nest.
 
bjornand said:
Thanks, I will give that a try!
Click to expand...
So I tried the Marcoraddatz, but still no luck. However, I just can't get the ZyXel router to open port 5353. Port 51826 is no problem, but 5353 stays closed. If this is the problem, I just don't know why it won't open?
 
bjornand said:
So I tried the Marcoraddatz, but still no luck. However, I just can't get the ZyXel router to open port 5353. Port 51826 is no problem, but 5353 stays closed. If this is the problem, I just don't know why it won't open?
Click to expand...

Have you the firewall enabled on your Synology? If you do you'll have to open the port in the firewall too, otherwise it closes within a couple of minutes regardless of what you've done in your router. I know it's an obvious one and you've probably done it, but what the hey, might as well mention it.
 
TrueBlou said:
Have you the firewall enabled on your Synology? If you do you'll have to open the port in the firewall too, otherwise it closes within a couple of minutes regardless of what you've done in your router. I know it's an obvious one and you've probably done it, but what the hey, might as well mention it.
Click to expand...
You are right, it is probably some small detail, but not this one, firewall on the Synology is turned off.
 
About to give up, I just can't seem to get this working. I am starting to wonder whether I should get a Raspberry Pi and set up Homebridge on that? Would that be easier or I am likely to run into the same (or other) issues going down that route? At least one issue that not even my ISP was able to solve is opening port 5353; if that is required no matter what approach, I can't get around that.
[doublepost=1518685689][/doublepost]One thing occurred to me; I have the Synology connected by ethernet to the home router whereas the iOS devices are connected to a WiFi set up by an Orbi router. Could there be an issue here, that they are on different networks?
 
bjornand said:
About to give up, I just can't seem to get this working. I am starting to wonder whether I should get a Raspberry Pi and set up Homebridge on that? Would that be easier or I am likely to run into the same (or other) issues going down that route? At least one issue that not even my ISP was able to solve is opening port 5353; if that is required no matter what approach, I can't get around that.
[doublepost=1518685689][/doublepost]One thing occurred to me; I have the Synology connected by ethernet to the home router whereas the iOS devices are connected to a WiFi set up by an Orbi router. Could there be an issue here, that they are on different networks?
Click to expand...

Honestly, the Raspberry Pi is ridiculously simple to set up and pretty bullet proof once it is.

I switched to the Raspberry Pi over a year ago and it's been running non-stop ever since.
Well thats a lie, it's been off when I've had to turn the electrics off in the house, but other than that it's back up and running without intervention when the power comes back on.

If you decide to go that way and need a bit of help, I can point you to a great and very easy to follow guide, even if you know nothing about Linux. No as far as port 5353 goes, I don't have that open for the Pi.

And of course we're here to help if you need it....... Though based on the success we've had so far with the Synology 🙄
 
I cannot say how much I appreciate your willingness to help!

Another option is of course to run Homebridge on my iMac, but I tend to turn it off during the night. Is the Pi easier than on the Mac?

I think I'll order a Pi and see how I fare that way. If you could point to the easiest guide for a newbie, that'd be great!
 
Installing on a Mac is pretty straightforward, there's not a lot to it to be honest. Though I do see more people having issues with some plugins when running on macOS or even windows than when using a Pi, which seem to be very robust. And as you mentioned you’re then running your Mac 24/7.

If you decide to go the Pi route then there’s a great guide here I’d say read through it all first before you do anything. Just to get familiar with it. Don’t worry it’s nowhere near as scary as it looks 😀

There’s a section near the bottom regarding auto start on boot, I’d probably pm you something on that bit because it can be nightmarish if you’re doing it for the first time depending on the method you choose (I always favour straightforward and simple, suits my brain 😀 ).

You can run Homebridge on almost any Pi, I’d say get a 2B onwards. The bigger ones such as the Pi 3B have the advantage of an Ethernet port and a good bit more processing oomph, which can make a surprising difference even for something as simple as Homebridge.

But I’ve setup Pi Zero’s with it too and there’s been no problem. If anything I’ve seen occasional slight delays with some requests on the Zero, but we’re only talking in the second range. The newer Pi Zero W is best if you’re going for one of those due to it having built-in WiFi and Bluetooth.

And you’re more than welcome to pm me if you’re not sure of anything, I’ve setup a few on Pi’s now so I’m a bit more familiar with that and I’m sure others would oblige.
 
Thanks, perhaps I'll even try on the Mac first, just to make sure I can achieve what I intend with Homebridge (which is basically two things; using sensor triggers from door/window connectors that are part of our Verisure alarm system and control the Yale Doorman lock). If that works, I can get a Pi and jump into those waters!
 
Just to put my 2p in I second the Pi.

I have 5 or 6 running various home automation tasks and they are really simple to configure and rock solid (i've jinxed mine now) once they are up.

I have had homebridge running for about 18 months now with no issues at all. if you follow the guides that @TrueBlou put up you can't go too wrong.

As you have a Synology running too, if it is anything like my QNAP NAS, you can get it to auto backup really easily too - the only worry on the Pi is that the SD cards can get corrupt sometimes.

Once you get a Pi you will find so many uses for it - I now run Home Assistant, Node Red, HomeBridge, Habridge (Alexa), pihole (really good add blocking DNS server), a MQTT client/server and even a java based app for the smarter iKettle!

If you need any advice, feel free to ask 🙂
 
For anyone not technically proficient enough. I used HomeBridge for raspberry pi app on iOS and it was super helpful and installed the plugins I needed on my behalf without me having to bash through it all.

Hope that helps for anyone using a pi. So far, I’ve got Harmony Hub, Wemo switches working.

Next up is connecting a standard webcam with a motion detector to somehow get notifications and a video stream if somethings up. Not sure if I can implement presence so I'm not constantly pinged when home though...
 
TrueBlou said:
Honestly, the Raspberry Pi is ridiculously simple to set up and pretty bullet proof once it is.

I switched to the Raspberry Pi over a year ago and it's been running non-stop ever since.
Well thats a lie, it's been off when I've had to turn the electrics off in the house, but other than that it's back up and running without intervention when the power comes back on.

If you decide to go that way and need a bit of help, I can point you to a great and very easy to follow guide, even if you know nothing about Linux. No as far as port 5353 goes, I don't have that open for the Pi.

And of course we're here to help if you need it....... Though based on the success we've had so far with the Synology 🙄
Click to expand...

My Raspberry Pi was delivered last night. I will be attempting to get Homebridge setup in the next couple of days with a view to getting Nest working on HomeKit. Thanks for the links above I'll have a read of those and give it a bash.

Dumb question, perhaps, but I assume it has built in wifi on this? I have the Pi 3

sigftw said:
For anyone not technically proficient enough. I used HomeBridge for raspberry pi app on iOS and it was super helpful and installed the plugins I needed on my behalf without me having to bash through it all.

Hope that helps for anyone using a pi. So far, I’ve got Harmony Hub, Wemo switches working.

Next up is connecting a standard webcam with a motion detector to somehow get notifications and a video stream if somethings up. Not sure if I can implement presence so I'm not constantly pinged when home though...
Click to expand...

This is a great tip. I will look into this. Thanks.
 
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AdamA9 said:
My Raspberry Pi was delivered last night. I will be attempting to get Homebridge setup in the next couple of days with a view to getting Nest working on HomeKit. Thanks for the links above I'll have a read of those and give it a bash.

Dumb question, perhaps, but I assume it has built in wifi on this? I have the Pi 3



This is a great tip. I will look into this. Thanks.
Click to expand...


The Pi 3 does have built-in WiFi and Bluetooth, so you’ve no problems there.
 
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groovyf said:
For OSX, I used this: https://github.com/nfarina/homebridge/wiki/Install-Homebridge-on-macOS

Hadn't gone as far as the setting up of auto-launching/restart after crash... but have just completed those steps now.
I'll see how it goes, as homebridge crashed twice today :/
Click to expand...

You may or may not be using this but I’ll ment it here for anyone else as well.

If you use the Homebridge Harmony Remote plug-in, keep your activities to 6 or less. There’s been an ongoing issue with it that causes Homebridge to become quite unstable if you have more than 6 activities set up for the Harmony.

It’s something the developer has been looking into for a while. But last I checked he still hadn’t found a resolution for it.
 
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I do have the Harmony plugin installed - and have 6 activities... Thanks for the heads-up on the instability issues.
 
This is probably the wrong place to ask, but I've just run sudo apt-get upgrade and I've encountered the below. Not sure what option to select?

Configuration file '/etc/lightdm/pi-greeter.conf'

==> Modified (by you or by a script) since installation.

==> Package distributor has shipped an updated version.

What would you like to do about it ? Your options are:

Y or I : install the package maintainer's version

N or O : keep your currently-installed version

D : show the differences between the versions

Z : start a shell to examine the situation

The default action is to keep your current version.

*** pi-greeter.conf (Y/I/N/O/D/Z) [default=N] ?
 
AdamA9 said:
This is probably the wrong place to ask, but I've just run sudo apt-get upgrade and I've encountered the below. Not sure what option to select?

Configuration file '/etc/lightdm/pi-greeter.conf'

==> Modified (by you or by a script) since installation.

==> Package distributor has shipped an updated version.

What would you like to do about it ? Your options are:

Y or I : install the package maintainer's version

N or O : keep your currently-installed version

D : show the differences between the versions

Z : start a shell to examine the situation

The default action is to keep your current version.

*** pi-greeter.conf (Y/I/N/O/D/Z) [default=N] ?
Click to expand...

If you know that you haven’t made any changes to the file, then choose the Y option to keep it up to date with the changes made by the distributor.

If on the other hand you have modified the file then you’re going to want to choose the default option, N, otherwise the configuration you have setup will be overwritten. The new file will be saved with the -new extension so that you can compare changes.

If none of this makes any real sense and you just did a standard installation in the first place, you should be ok to just select Y to stay up to date.

If you’re really unsure then choose Z so that you can compare the files before making a decision.
 
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