I have a few devices in my house that I purchased before I started smart-homing, and I’d like to gain some control over them. Before I started with Home Asisstant, I put together an rpi that could learn IR codes and transmit them, but it wouldn’t learn the IR codes for one of my devices - I assumed it was because the device manufacturer used cheap equipment and didn’t follow standards, but that doesn’t really make sense if the rpi was simply watching the IR from the remote and then replaying it. Also, if I did that again I don’t know how I’d integrate it with Home Assistant.

Anyway, I just learned about IR blasters, thanks to BeardedTinker, and he mentioned that there are also RF blasters (I also have a few RF devices I’d like to control).

I’d like a device that doesn’t phone home and can blast IR and RF - but I’d but fine getting separate devices for IR and for RF. Do you have any suggestions for such devices? Which ones might have a better chance at learning IR codes that may not follow standards? For IR devices, is range or directionality an issue?

Thanks for sharing your experience.

  • @killeronthecornerEnglish
    1•1 year ago

    This doesn’t meet your criteria for not phoning home, but still worth sharing: I use Logitech Harmony Hub and find the experience of using it with Hass to be excellent.

    Harmony is really good at onboarding devices and has a huge library of supported devices, but the interface for using them is awful. Hass makes it much easier to build simple multi-device remotes, and to create nice automations. (Harmony’s version of this is utterly useless)

    You also get a nice physical remote to use with it too, which I’m personally not interested in but the less technical members of my family love it.

    Worth considering I think. You can always block the phoning home using Pi-hole, as I have.

    • Mike WooskeyOPEnglish
      1•1 year ago

      Thanks. I’ll take a look, keeping an eye out for phoning home. :)