Notion sensors

[brettahale]

Has anyone seen this? Notion Sensors + Hub
 
If it's reliable, it's a pretty solid concept. I was recently toying with putting arduino's in every room to get several different measurements / alerts. I couldn't conceptualize how to keeps tabs on each room without tons of sensors all over. I'll be following this closely for sure.
 
 

 

[LarrylLix]

Interesting sensor.
 
A little too expensive and no indication of the API for integration into other systems. Most likely WiFi. Some have run into the 32 device limit with WiFi attempting HA with it.

 

[RAL]

It sounds pretty neat, but it is cloud based.  I would never want to depend on the cloud for these functions.  That, and most Kickstarter projects aren't successful.

 

[Frunple]

How is it any different from http://wirelesstag.net/??
And just like them, the cloud based aspect will be it's Achilles heal.

 

[brettahale]

I would hope you don't need an internet connection to make these work. I get that their learning and logic is cloud based but they have an open API so I imagine a software based HA program or node.js running on a raspberryPi could be quite useful. 
 
@LarrylLix Isn't wifi device limit a hardware/router limit? I can see this would hurt adoption to main stream but for the right product, I would upgrade if I needed to. I just bought a new router so hopefully I wouldn't need too

 

[mikefamig]

If nothing else you gotta love the name. Cloud scares me away but then I'm probably just kidding myself if I hink that I havev any privacy now with all of the online banking and mapping and all else that I do online.
 
Mike.

 

[RAL]

According to the Q&A on the Kickstarter web page, the sensors simply send the data they collect to the hub, which then forwards it via WiFi and the internet to the cloud.  All the analysis of the data and how it is to be interpreted is done in the cloud.  The sensors and hub have no smarts - they just collect the data.
 
These guys seem to feel that the interface and protocol is proprietary.  If they disclose that, then they open themselves up to anyone creating clones of their hardware.  I don't think they will disclose this no matter what. 
 
They also say that they will be using DigitalOcean to host their cloud services.  If you dig into DigitalOcean a bit, you'll find that they have frequent network outages and also have had data center outages.  They clearly don't run a data center that is at the level of a UL certified central monitoring station.
 
And what happens to your investment if Loop Labs goes out of business a year or two down the road?   No more cloud services and your hardware is now a nice set of paperweights.
 
I just wouldn't want my security system to depend on such a shaky infrastructure.

 

[LarrylLix]

@LarrylLix Isn't wifi device limit a hardware/router limit? I can see this would hurt adoption to main stream but for the right product, I would upgrade if I needed to. I just bought a new router so hopefully I wouldn't need too

No.
 
It has come to light recently that after about 32 devices the overhead sorting out the MAC and/or IP addresses on a Wi-Fi network exceeds the bandwidth capacity availability. The data clashes and resends bog the network to a standstill. I can't seem to find the study published a month or two ago.

 

[brettahale]

If you happen to dig that up, I would love to read it. That seems like it could be a major problem with they way things are progressing.

 

[az1324]

Move your high bandwidth devices to 5GHz and use multiple access points on different channels to serve your low bandwidth devices on 2.4GHz. 

 

[Timoh]

I am across these a few days ago...
http://www.miwsn.com
 
Very similar to wirelessTag & Notion, but can happily exist without a cloud.  It sends data out via email.  There are couple of utilities posted on the site on how to receive the email and transform it into a url.  Presumably which you could then poll with your favorite HA software.  I have asked if their are other ways to push or pull data.
 
These sensors also seem the cheapest of the bunch (wirelessTag, Notion) and are available now. 
 
Every sensor is temperature + motion...  That is the only model they have, but check this out...  The most impressive feature IMHO, is each sensor has an external "port".   You can hook up pretty much anything to this port.   Photoresistor, current meters, wet detector, humidity, dry contacts, voltage, + + +.
 
Extra gateways can act as repeaters if some sensors are too far away from the main gateway.
 
Now only if it came in white.
 
Tim