CliveS wrote:aldera wrote:Looks like I'll have to do some reading up on the MQTT subject. I don't have any Zigbee devices right now but I noticed that a lot of them are somewhat cheaper now. When I first started playing around with HA, I could have sworn that Zigbee was at least as expensive or even more. Thanks for all the info so far and I'll take a look at the MQTT stuff and see if it's worth it.
Ralph
And remember that MQTT is not just for Zigbee devices, the Shelly devices can use MQTT and they are much cheaper than Fibaro and Aeotec, I have a motorhome with Victron Solar Controller and Shunt which is wired to a Raspberry Pi running Victron software with built in MQTT and Node Red which when on the drive outside can see our WiFi so with Joe's plugins I can now see realtime the volts, current, power, State of Charge of the lithium battery and days left before it is empty, you can also use it to interface with personal weather stations and numerous other devices, which is why it is the standard for IoT interfacing.
BTW, I am no geek whizkid, I cannot code a plugin, my python is basic (very) and I had a lot of trouble getting my head around MQTT (still get confused with Shims), Node Red looks fun but I cannot do much with that either so don't give up, ask here and we all learn a bit more.
Yeah, I think I'll be doing a little reading up on the MQTT subject and see what it can offer me. Technology is moving so damn fast that it's hard to keep up with it all.
Ralph