My house is full of cheap Wi-Fi smart bulbs that were hard to pass up because of how little they cost and how easy they are to install. But as I got more involved with lab work at home, I began to question how much my setup depended on cloud services for just basic functionality.
When I found out there was a way to completely replace the cloud layer with an on-premises solution, I didn’t hesitate to rebuild my entire setup.
Why did I want to take my smart bulbs off the internet?
A lamp should not need internet
When you think about it, it seems strange how much of the technology we use every day depends on the cloud.
I don’t really mind it on my computer or phone because it usually adds convenience and reliability, but controlling something as simple as the lights in my house really shouldn’t depend on the cloud, especially when you’re talking about cheap, off-brand Wi-Fi smart bulbs that are probably cheaper than a decent meal.
Apart from the very real security concerns that come with these random instances I bought the smart lamps from Temualso it doesn’t make much sense to rely on an internet connection and some remote servers to turn the lights on and off.
It’s something I didn’t think much about until I encountered a few times during an internet outage where I could technically still see my lights, but I couldn’t actually control them because they couldn’t talk to a server on the other side of the world.
Of course, cloud control is handy for those rare occasions when you want to do something remotely, like turn off a smart plug when you’re not home, so I’m only talking about smart bulbs here, not my plugs. But realistically, I control the lights when I’m home anyway, and no, I don’t really care if they stay on while I’m away as long as I run the usual “everything off” automation before I leave.
Even when the internet is working, there is still no guarantee that the cloud side will behave correctly or that every bulb is actually responding. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve run the automation to change the lights in four bedrooms and only two or three people have done what they were told.
It is worth noting that local systems Smart switches like Zigbee and proper don’t really deal with these issues, but I’m still here Wi-Fi relies on smart bulbs. Oh well.
Between the inconsistency, the dependency on external servers, and the occasional failure, it finally made sense to try to take these smart bulbs offline.
- Brand
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Oraluce
- Integrations
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Sincerely, Google Home, Alexa
Oraluce Smart light bulbs are WiFi and Bluetooth enabled E12 LEDs that are dimmable, color changing and easy to install. They are compatible with Alexa, Google Home and the SmartLife app, which makes remote control and smart home integration simple.
I moved everything to Home Assistant running on my NAS
Replacing the cloud with management
My unbranded Wi-Fi smart bulbs are actually compatible with Tuya, and luckily for me, my colleague Adam Davidson mentioned that he’s had success controlling Tuya devices locally at home using the Home Assistant integration. Your Local. I already had Home Assistant running in a Docker container on my DIY NAS, so this project was a perfect fit.
The name Tuya Local is almost exactly what it implies – it allows Home Assistant to talk directly to the IP addresses of Tuya devices over my local network instead of using the cloud. This means that integration It continues to work even when the internet is down, with significantly more responsive and reliable management. It makes me responsible for being my own cloud.
It’s likely that most of these unbranded smart home devices should be able to communicate via Tuya Local, even if they don’t explicitly mention Tuya support, so if you’re in a similar situation to me, it’s worth a try.
Note that there is an old integration called Your Local which does essentially the same thing, it’s also worth a shot if you’re having trouble with Tuya Local.
To set up Tuya Local, I had to first Install the Home Assistant Community Store (HACS).it only took a few minutes. From there, the installation of Tuya Local was done with a few clicks in HACS and I was good to go.
Next, I had to connect the bulbs to the Tuya Local. There are several ways to do this, and I chose an automated solution that involves using the SmartLife app that comes with my smart bulbs.
You can repeat this in Home Assistant Dashboard > Parameters > Devices and services > Add an integration > Your Local. choose SmartLife cloud-supported device installationthen follow the on-screen instructions to submit the required information to Tuya Local.
When done, add your devices. You need to define an individual IP address for each device you want to monitor and set static IP addresses for them (you can reserve through your router’s DHCP server).
And just like that, the bulbs are now controlled by your Home Assistant setup. Note that this does not block the cloud and devices can still call home.
If you want to take them offline like I did, you have to take a few extra steps.
I restricted their internet access through parental controls by blocking internet access from 00:00 to 23:59. I tried to do a more “proper” setup using a firewall, but unfortunately my router doesn’t have granule support and just completely blocks them from accessing the network, which completely breaks the Tuya Local integration.
If you run away AdGuard Home or Pi-holeyou can also use them to restrict access. Parental controls definitely did the trick for me!
Local control turned out to be simpler than I expected
I’ll admit that at first I was a little intimidated by how complicated the setup for Local Tuya seemed. However, it only took about an hour from start to finish, and most of that time was spent setting up static IPs and blocking internet access through the firewall before realizing that parental controls were a simpler option.
Now I get the benefits of installation: offline control that responds instantly to my light bulbs without worrying about privacy or security issues.
