[starflyte1]

I have had Apple home kit for over a year with limited succes.

After reading about Alexa, I think I want to change from Apple home kit to Alexa.

Am I right thinking that Alexa will be easier to set up and use? I have everything Apple. That is the reason I went wit home kit. I also have a Yale door lock and a Ring doorbell. The Ring is ok, but after the first few months, I have not been able to ask Siri to unlock the Yale door .
I would appreciate any thoughts or suggestions.

TIA

[pheffner]

As always with these devices, the details are essential. How does your Yale lock communicate, is it WiFi, Zigbee, or Z-Wave? Can you toggle it from your phone or is that not working either? Are you using an Apple Homepod for voice control and want to switch to Echo?
Likewise are you controlling anything else like lights and fans? Home device control can be a deep rabbit-hole where you can go crazy controlling your stuff (I can tell you that happened to me...)
There's a newly emerging Home Automation platform protocol called Matter that is supposed to work across most vendor's systems (if so equipped) which is only slowly rolling out now, you may want to wait for that. (Google for 'matter smart home' for lots of details on that...)

[Bill14564]

Thoughts:

I have a very simple Alexa implementation using an Echo as a hub for the devices that require one. There have been a few times when the hub has lost contact to those devices and the only way to correct it was to power cycle the Echo. If you haven't already tried it, perhaps power cycling the Homekit hub may help with the Yale.

I also have some bulbs that are controlled through their manufacturer's software. (This is integrated with Alexa so I don't need to use a separate App but the point is these devices don't need the Echo hub) On occasion these bulbs have become unresponsive and I have needed to power cycle them to regain control. I'm not sure if this would be applicable to the Yale or whether you would lose configurations and codes if you tried it.

I have not graduated to a true hub yet. While Alexa works for me I believe there is much more that can be done with a true hub designed for automation.

[capecoralbill]

I've been wondering why anybody would have a smart home system, by that I mean having the doors, lights, thermostat and security system all Wi-Fi based. I have Ezviz cameras on my home that I can access from my cell phone when I am up north, but in a signal interruption I will be unable to reboot the modem if required. I installed a Chamberlain "MyQ" that is supposed to open your garage door to allow people to put deliveries inside. Occasionally it lost its connection, and the close command would not connect when away from home. I returned it. I believe Comcast / Xfinity also offers cell phone access that competes with Verizon and the others. It seems like a lot of these products can be extremely unreliable and dangerous. I also use the Echo/Alexa products for music and general questions, it is fun, but still unreliable and sometimes wrong. I am going to avoid these "smarthome" wifi products until they are more reliable.

[wisbad1]

Originally Posted by starflyte1

I have had Apple home kit for over a year with limited succes.

After reading about Alexa, I think I want to change from Apple home kit to Alexa.

Am I right thinking that Alexa will be easier to set up and use? I have everything Apple. That is the reason I went wit home kit. I also have a Yale door lock and a Ring doorbell. The Ring is ok, but after the first few months, I have not been able to ask Siri to unlock the Yale door .
I would appreciate any thoughts or suggestions.

TIA

I have Alexa, great system. Plus I can talk all day with her and she never gets mad. Never any snotty answers. I love her!

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by wisbad1

I have Alexa, great system. Plus I can talk all day with her and she never gets mad. Never any snotty answers. I love her!

Careful, someone might accuse you of being "misogynistic and/or sexist"...

Oh, wait... It was just a silly joke....Never mind...

That said, my wife refuses to get an Alexa. She doesn't want "someone listening to her all the time". I told her she should get one, so that "someone" would pay attention. Lord knows she complains that I don't...

[charlieo1126@gmail.com]

Originally Posted by capecoralbill

I've been wondering why anybody would have a smart home system, by that I mean having the doors, lights, thermostat and security system all Wi-Fi based. I have Ezviz cameras on my home that I can access from my cell phone when I am up north, but in a signal interruption I will be unable to reboot the modem if required. I installed a Chamberlain "MyQ" that is supposed to open your garage door to allow people to put deliveries inside. Occasionally it lost its connection, and the close command would not connect when away from home. I returned it. I believe Comcast / Xfinity also offers cell phone access that competes with Verizon and the others. It seems like a lot of these products can be extremely unreliable and dangerous. I also use the Echo/Alexa products for music and general questions, it is fun, but still unreliable and sometimes wrong. I am going to avoid these "smarthome" wifi products until they are more reliable.

I have a no worry system , I’m on my 6th home here 5 new , 1 preowned , I’ve never locked any of them even when I’m away , I have no computer and have an iPhone 14 with 2apps Uber and pandora , I don’t have all those things people talk about to run there tv and I pay whatever there charging for direct tv and nfl ticket , life is good and uncomplicated at 83

[tophcfa]

Originally Posted by wisbad1

I have Alexa, great system. Plus I can talk all day with her and she never gets mad. Never any snotty answers. I love her!

Sounds like my dog : )

[Debfrommaine]

Originally Posted by wisbad1

I have Alexa, great system. Plus I can talk all day with her and she never gets mad. Never any snotty answers. I love her!

Me too! Use her skills all the time, reminders for household tasks, future appointments, birthdays whatever! If she listens in I don't think she'd be too impressed.

[starflyte1]

Thank you for all of the replies. I have been out of town for a while , so will get started with Alexa, etc now

I also try to “power down” my home kit to see if solves the Yale lock problem.

Thanks again for the replies. Now I will study each one and see what happens.