HomeKit How do I prevent smart plug from accidentally being turned off?

[Mac Write]

Hello all,

I have a closet (full of stuff) and in the back of the closet in the wall is the apartment NOC panel. There is only 1 outlet on the bottom of the panel facing up. I have my AirPort Extreme and Telus Router plugged into them. Power cycling them is very difficult due to the location. So today I installed 2 smart Plugs so I can power cycle either device when things go wrong.

The problem I have is "accidental power off" from rogue Siri commands etc. I removed them from favourites and status.

So how can I truly hide them or password protect them?

I will do a "Reboot Internet" shortcut with safe guards in it. Would naming the outlets gibersish make them harder for Siri to accidentally turn them off?

Any other ideas?

We need "Child lock" for a smart devices. a "Protected" group that has to go through layers of security to access would be the perfect solution but isn't there in the stock app (I don't want to setup a server, etc for homekit)

Thanks for the help

 

[dotme]

Stick them in a room with an insanely crazy name - and give them unpronounceable names too. As a last resort, create a scene with both smart plugs set to "on" and then create automation that, when an outlet is turned off, set the scene.

The only downside to the second option above is that the "off time" is short - not sure if that is enough to restart them. I assume you have more than one WiFi access point, or reaching those plugs once the Extreme goes dark would be a challenge...

 

[Mac Write]

I have 1 access point. and an Airport Express (2nd gen). It's setup as a extended network.

and no way am I letting Telus's router touch my network. They have full remote access to my router, no matter what I disable.

 

[chown33]

I'd go old school, and use a "dumb" outlet. More specifically, a switched power outlet strip, mounted on the back or side wall of the closet, and close enough to reach without needing to move anything.

Depending on the height of the child, simply mounting it higher on the wall could be an adequate "child lock". That might need a strip with a longer cord, say 6 ft instead of 3 ft, or maybe even 9 ft.

 

[Mac Write]

The cabinet is slightly deeper then the 2 outlet floor mounted (of cabinet), and a door closes onto that. Child proof I mean Home app accidentally turning it off. I may need to get the Philips outlet as it's bluetooth, but that has security issues of it's own. I don't have kids.

Even us adults can kit the wrong button and then our entire automated home goes bye-bye

 

[cynics]

If its that big of a concern I would get an "extension switch". It plugs in to the outlet, the devices plug into it, come off that tiny extension is a cord X feet long with a switch at the end.

No need to worry about it working properly or accidentally getting activated. Caveat you would need to manually walk in there and switch it on and off.

Most smart plugs I've used use HAP through a wifi layer. Meaning if the router drops out the device drops out. So you could turn it off but not back on....Never looked for alternatives....