Ten cameras, one account — and the model decides
Five of my Blink cameras deliver an image every day, three almost never. Not location, not battery, not signal strength separates them — the product line does.
Topic
Security and access
Cameras, doors, remote access. And the difference between "works" and "proven".
16 articles
Ten hours without water, and the watchdog said nothing
A valve closed at midnight and never reopened. The monitoring built for exactly that stayed silent — for a reason that affects every alarm in the house.
A guessed wait is not a check
The lock needs 38 seconds; my automation waited 20. The second command hit the motor mid-travel — and took the confirmation down with it.
The UPS shuts nothing down — and that is deliberate
Every guide says: shut down cleanly on power failure. Mine keeps the Pi running. The reason lies in a property no UPS puts in its datasheet.
Your remote access works — but you have not proved it
Three flats, three answers. Why a successful request from home proves nothing, why bans never expire — and why one location has nothing at all.
The sticker does not know who is there — the calendar does
The request was an e-ink display with a rotating QR code. What was built is a sticker with no power. Why that answers the same question better.
The maintainer replied — and corrected me, rightly
One of my measurements did not measure the camera but a default setting shipped with the project. The third error of the same kind in a single day.
The switch says requested, not running
The pellet stove has no network. The relay only reports that heat was asked for — whether it is burning is revealed solely by the ignition spike in the power draw.
Blink answers with 202 — and nobody got in
The login failed in the version I tested. Three days later the project had three new releases. What lay in between was not code.
400 Bad Request, and my config had never been active
Remote access answered with 400 and nothing else. Three suspects cleared — until it turned out Home Assistant no longer reads that file at all.
Four stars, no licence — and I was wrong
A project with four stars, built in a day, untouched since. My assessment stood in bold in my notes. Four days later I had to retract it.
Two masters on the same light
The Hue bridge automates by itself, even when Home Assistant is off. Use the same sensor twice and you will later wonder why the light goes out on its own.
Port 554 stays closed — and that is not a fault
The new Tapo camera would not integrate. The reason is a protocol change you will need again at your next purchase — and that nobody prints on the box.
The calendar knows in advance, the phone knows now
No tracker can predict an arrival, no calendar can safeguard a departure. Why both are needed — and where the eight and ten hours come from.
Both came home — and the automation said nothing
Unlocking the door was supposed to produce a photo. None appeared. The trigger was waiting for a state change this lock never makes.
Signal does not notify you about your own messages
Home Assistant was paired as a secondary device and sent under my own number. The images arrived, the notification never did. Only a foreign sender triggers it.