The “first” post

Well this is it… the “first” post.

There are a million and one different articles across the dark and light sides of the internet about how to do this correctly.

Some say that you need to do a tonne of research and identify your key audience demographics, competition and what your angle will be.

Well, that seems to be for those driven entrepreneurs who have laid careful tracks and are powering along the road to wisdom and fame; each post adding to their credibility and drawing in the attention of each reader.

This is never going to be that sort of website, nor will the content reflect that of a master of his craft pondering the path that lead him to where he is.

How It All Started

My journey into smart home technology began, as most good adventures do, with frustration. A $200 WiFi light bulb that refused to connect. A “smart” lock that drained batteries weekly. A security camera that decided 3 AM was the perfect time to announce firmware updates at full volume.

Sound familiar?

I grew tired of devices that promised convenience but delivered complexity. Tired of apps that required accounts for every manufacturer. Tired of cloud services that went down when I needed them most. Tired of paying subscription fees for features that should just work.

So I went down the rabbit hole. Home Assistant. Zigbee. Z-Wave. MQTT. Docker containers. YAML configurations that would make a developer weep. Late nights debugging automations that worked perfectly—until they did not.

What Sparked the Journey

The turning point came during a power outage. Our “smart” home became utterly useless. Lights that needed cloud connectivity to turn on. A thermostat that would not function without phoning home. A security system that decided we were intruders because it could not reach the manufacturer servers.

That night, I made a decision: our home would work without the internet. Every device. Every automation. Every feature. Local first.

That single decision transformed our house from a collection of frustrating gadgets into something that genuinely improves daily life. Lights that respond in milliseconds, not seconds. A security system that works when the NBN decides to take a holiday. Automations that run reliably because they do not depend on someone else servers.

Lessons Learned Along the Way

If I could go back and whisper advice to my younger self starting this journey:

• Start simple. Do not try to automate everything at once. Master one room, then expand.
• Local control matters. When your internet goes down (and it will), your smart home should still work.
• Choose protocols wisely. WiFi is convenient, but Zigbee and Z-Wave handle hundreds of devices without choking your network.
• Document everything. Future you will thank present you when something breaks at 2 AM.
• The “wife acceptance factor” is real. If your partner cannot use it without instructions, it is not truly smart.

What This Site Is About

Instead, this will be a collection of lessons learnt, experiments undertaken and mistakes made. Sometimes it may border on nonsensical rambling and if we are lucky, one day we may even reach the highs of structured musings.

You will find reviews of devices actually available in Australia (yes, we pay more, and no, not everything ships here). Guides for setting up local control with Home Assistant. Honest assessments of what works and what was a waste of money. And the occasional rant about cloud-dependent devices that should know better.

So read on and delve deeper at your peril, I cannot promise it will be an enjoyable ride, but somewhere along the way, we may both learn a thing or three about any random number of things.

Welcome aboard and good to have you here!

J