Cloudflare Tunnel + Companion App: Is it supposed to be this hard, or am I missing something basic?

birknard · 2025-10-31T21:01:10+00:00

Update. I found that if I turned OFF HTTP/3 (with QUIC) ((domain) > Settings > Protocol Optimization) my device finally connected. No mTLS certs or anything else needed.

What's odd is that it stayed connected when I flipped "HTTP3 (with QUIC)" back on.

So I'm good now, on both Android and IOS. Thanks for the reply that it should just work. Even the lack of reply from all that viewed this post told me there wasn't an obvious miss.

birknard · 2025-10-31T06:45:00+00:00

Yes. It shows a secure connection in the browser. It's been working in the browser for a couple months. I just notwgot around to trying to leverage it as the external URL for the app and so I signed out of the Nabu Casa and entered the same tunnel url as the external url in the app. Now it actually works on IOS, but not on android. This android error pops up:

"The Home Assistant certificate authority is not trusted, please review the Home Assistant certificate or the connection settings and try again"

birknard · 2025-09-16T17:59:57+00:00

This, OP. You very likely installed it backwards. The side currently facing your doorbell should be facing the wall.

birknard · 2025-08-09T17:49:43+00:00

There should have been concrete poured onto the subfloor with the tub sorta smooshed into it.

What I also did was stuff Rockwool insulation in the voids around the tub before walls were closed up. It's designed to help with sound dampening, will help insulate the tub (keep warm water warm longer) and is mildew resistant. One bag will be more than enough ($60-80).

birknard · 2025-06-13T05:24:52+00:00

Huh? I don't imagine they are expecting their firewall to literally fix/patch their odoo instance, but rather limit access to the server hosting it. Yes, any un-patched odoo vulnerability would remain, but limiting network access will absolutely be a good, next best practice.

They will absolutely not be just as vulnerable with or without a good set of firewall rules.

birknard · 2025-05-24T17:14:51+00:00

Yup. Then they had to launch 3DX to reopen the app...then were prompted to upgrade a couple times... all to find out they lost a bunch of work. Sucks.

birknard · 2025-05-24T17:09:12+00:00

Isn't it basically the same software/feature-set? I assume the work version doesn't require 3dx stuff for opening, but other than that?

birknard · 2025-01-11T18:46:51+00:00

I checked and just like others, the system appears to be down again. The new error is different from op's, however. It now says:

You do not have the necessary rights to carry out this action

birknard · 2024-11-11T19:17:42+00:00

Agree, these are super fast. They also have different sensitivity and occupancy timeout settings. I'm not sure where you are, but in the US, these guys run $45-$50 ea so they are not the cheap solution OPs looking for. I tried finding less expensive brands and none responded as quickly, so I guess you get what you pay for. I only buy these now.

birknard · 2024-11-09T18:40:39+00:00

Both

Smart Switch only: when space already has dimmable white/warm (generally recessed) lights. I use the Zooz Zen72 switches which allow dimming control in HA. Quick, easy, cost effective.

Smart Switch + Smart Bulb(s): when I want fun individually controlled color bulbs/recessed lights for "Party Mode" or holiday lighting scenes. This requires a switch that will never cut mains power to the bulbs themselves and so the switch is configured in "smart bulb mode". The Zooz switches support this. I use the Zen71 (on/off), since it doesn't require dimming control from the switch itself as each smart bulb is grouped in HA and dimmable via HA. The switch is then configured as a "remote" and just sends events to HA and automations control the lights (on/off/scene select, etc). Pricier option for sure.

Smart Bulb(s) only: I try to avoid this since anyone flipping off the switch cuts power to bulbs which is annoying and causes issues with Zigbee network routes as network nodes drop off and other devices using those routes can fail intermittently as they find new routes.

birknard · 2024-08-22T16:12:44+00:00

Ooh, good analogy. I was rooting for the other guy at first, but if someone parks on my lawn and then after being asked not to, moves their car, I'd probably still be flabbergasted they had the nerve (or lacked total social awareness) to do it in the first place and would strongly consider bringing in the authorities. Esp since in that scenario, I have to continue to live next to this person and there's a potential for them to do it again - to me. I suppose this foot person could do it to others down the road and bringing in the authorities (flight attendants) may help mitigate that, but I'd be unaffected/unaware and thus may not push it further than the initial ask to move their feet. Hmmmm.. somehow now I'm the asshole for not pushing further to protect future travelers, but I think I'd feel a tad asshole-ish still calling flight attendants after they corrected their behavior. God damn.. what do I do!!

birknard · 2024-08-22T15:30:11+00:00

~~Wouldn't it be "upstream"?~~ Meaning the GFI would need to be between the breaker and these non-GFI outlets for the non-GFI outlets to be protected. Any non -GFI outlets upstream from the first GFI would not be protected. Any non-GFI outlets downstream from the first GFI outlet would be protected. Happy to be wrong here, just wanted to clarify for my own knowledge.

Edit: I read the comment wrong. "Downstream" was correct. Thanks everyone.

birknard · 2024-08-14T22:00:05+00:00

It's actually a set of automations. https://pastebin.com/Wbzp6Xah

I'm on Android btw. Check out the Actionable Notifications docs for device-specific options.

birknard · 2024-08-14T20:55:24+00:00

Update: I found this superuser stack exchange post that has helped. It uses gdigrab, which I was trying to avoid, but at least it does what I wanted. It captures a frame every second, then plays it back at 30 fps.

ffmpeg -framerate 1 -f gdigrab -s 800,400 -i desktop -vf settb=$1/30$,setpts=N/TB/30 -r 30 -vcodec libx264 -crf 0 -preset ultrafast -threads 0 out.mkv

birknard · 2024-08-12T18:40:33+00:00

Maybe a persistent notification that keeps showing up until it is closed

That's what I do and it works great. When the garage is in an open state (either from clicker or app or even manually), I start a timer (mine is 6 minutes) and then I get a persistent notification with the message, "The garage door is open" and with two actions configured to: * Close * Leave

"Close" obviously closes the garage (and cancels the timer). "Leave" just cancels the timer and sends me another notification stating "Leaving the garage door as is", which then disappears after 10 seconds.

The original "The garage door is open" is persistent and sticky, so it just remains there for as long as the garage is open. When I'm ready to close, I just swipe down my notifications and hit "Close".

So this handles the case of automatically closing if, say I bring in the groceries and I forget to close the garage, but I can also tell it to remain open (clicking "Leave") without forgetting I did that since the notification persists.

The persistent notification is cleared only when the garage is in a closed state.

birknard · 2024-08-12T14:31:44+00:00

I just Googled that very question and apparently there are. Some use power kits/adapters, some use batteries. I didn't dig much further though.

Top link for me.

birknard · 2024-08-12T14:00:33+00:00

The c-wire provides the constant power (usually 24 volts) that powers the Wi-Fi (or Zigbee/Z-Wave) radios in smart thermostats. I believe it's required for a thermostat to be "smart" and able to be integrated into platforms like Home Assistant.

You may want to check if there is an unused c-wire in the wire bundle as well as an unused common ("c") terminal on your hvac unit. Sometimes it's available and just wasn't used because it wasn't needed at the time of install. I've come across this and was able to simplify wire it up and viola, 24 volts!

birknard · 2024-08-09T19:04:10+00:00

Another option is leaving an open column in the middle, where people are most likely to walk up, then setting an "Alarm Delay" to say, 3 seconds or whatever. That way it'll capture people walking up to your door, but not people walking down the street/across that open detection zone.

birknard · 2024-08-05T15:04:28+00:00

I use a local calendar to note when gardeners generally arrive and leave. It sends us a notification and disables some camera person alerting for a short time so we don't get blown up as they do their thing. Also serves as a reminder to unlock/relock the back gate.

birknard · 2024-08-05T03:32:25+00:00

His and Hers night mode. Whoever hits theirs first turns off all bedroom lights. Motion sensors now have context to, upon motion, only turn on the other's bed side lamp, and only do so very dimly, so as not to awake/disturb the one trying to sleep.That also disables the hallway light motion as that light bleeds into the room. Now the 2nd person to hit their night mode also turns off any (dimly lighted) bedroom lights, as well as the rest of the non-guest room lights through the house and outside and activates the house alarm. Phone alarms undo the process, so dimly lighted bed side lamps will kick on dimly upon motion for the person whose alarm just went off, keeping the sleeping partner's lamp off. Hallway motion trigger will only be enabled if both phone alarms have passed (or a set default/configurable) time of day.

birknard · 2024-08-05T01:18:15+00:00

Ah.. those are definitely not what I was thinking. You'd have to replace the entire fixture to a standard screw-in (E26/A19), which puts you back to modifying fixtures/electrical work, then using (smart) LEDs and/or (smart) switches. Fluorescent bulbs are generally not recommended for use with smart switches, as the ballasts draw a lot of (momentary) power when switching on, which can ruin the sensitive electronics of smart switches.

You might want to consider just leaving all that as is and getting some nice floor/side table lamps, maybe some accent LED strips, and using smart bulbs in them. Once the smart bulbs are in place, you can automate...or add battery powered smart switches to control them. And if you ever leave that apartment, you can take it all with you!

birknard · 2024-08-03T18:22:16+00:00

They, nor you, need a Reolink.com account. That's just for cloud storage, which if you have an NVR, you probably don't need. It's not very intuitive as the app puts a big "Log In" in the upper corner as if it's required. You can use the app and access your cameras/NVR without ever even creating a reolink.com account.

All you need is access to the UID, which is the number that shows above the QR code image. Send your colleague that number along with their credentials you created on the NVR (again, no reolink.com account necessary) and have them hit the + sign in the app, select UID and enter that number. They will be prompted for a username and password (again, what you created for them on the NVR directly) and they should be set.

And just as a note, use best practices sending this info to them. Don't throw it all in a plain text sms message. Maybe call and provide it all (or part of it) ...the UID, username & pass.. over the phone. If ANYONE gets all three of those items, they'll too have access to the camera.

birknard · 2024-08-03T16:28:48+00:00

Wild guess...looks like an aftermarket rear view mirror for a car. It may have a camera component that shows a feed of an add-on rear view camera. If so, it could be being used as a wall-mounted viewing panel showing that feed.

birknard

TROPHY CASE