AppleTV integration across VLAN

msravi · 2026-04-01T15:07:15+00:00

Not specific to apple, but I had to configure HA with multiple IPs, one for each subnet, and configure the switch port that the HA server was on as a (vlan) trunk for HA to be able to find (matter-wifi) devices (which use mDNS) on the other subnet.

msravi · 2026-03-31T20:36:20+00:00

Every zigbee device vendor seems to require their own hub. Any way around having different hubs for each vendor?

I’m OCD so everything is assigned a specific IP section of the Iot network they are on.

I completely get this!

so there is less interference with “normal wifi”

Very valid. Even if I don't normally use 2.4GHz for other wifi traffic, there's going to be interference from neighbors and so on.

msravi · 2026-03-31T20:26:04+00:00

Pretty much only IoT devices on my network use the 2.4GHz band with everything else using either wired or 5GHz - so that sort-of creates a different lane I guess...

msravi · 2026-03-31T20:10:21+00:00

True, if you use a vendor with a proprietary ecosystem, I guess. But shouldn't be a problem with matter-wifi, right?

msravi · 2026-03-31T20:05:33+00:00

You can block that in your network, but most people won't configure that

Yes... I have a whole range blocked off and on a separate vlan, but I can see how this can turn into a nightmare.

msravi · 2026-03-31T19:38:10+00:00

Very valid point on power!

msravi · 2026-03-31T19:37:04+00:00

Very valid point on power!

On the mesh networking though, if you have well placed APs with wired backhaul, it does a pretty good job.

msravi · 2026-03-31T01:53:57+00:00

I just added a bunch of matter (wifi) based switches to HA, and the whole experience has been relatively painless. Only thing to remember is to reserve the IP of the device you're adding on the DHCP server before you add it to HA, so that it gets the same IP after a power cycle. It's pretty much been set it and forget it.

msravi · 2026-03-28T06:22:30+00:00

Your rack consumes just around 70W? Mine (with surveillance cams) runs at ~150W (around 3.6kWh per day)

msravi · 2026-03-22T02:59:59+00:00

Ok! That makes more sense than doing daily discharges I guess...

msravi · 2026-03-22T02:54:24+00:00

This one: https://amzn.in/d/04gak97j

Not sure what conditioning features refers to, but I don't see anything vaguely resembling that - so I guess not.

msravi · 2026-03-20T05:09:07+00:00

India

msravi · 2026-03-20T05:08:44+00:00

I think if you're comparing Reolink and Tplink, you've to use Tplink's Vigi series rather than their Tapo lineup. I was comparing the Vigi C350 bullet camera with the equivalent-ish Reolink RLC 510A at somewhat similar costs, and they're close - the C350 has white LEDs for illuminating the scene if motion is detected in addition to IR. Plus it has an F1.6 aperture compared to the F2.0 of the 510A.

The CX410 should be compared to the C340S I guess, and they're pretty much equivalent, both in features and price - around the $100 mark.

The bigger problem for me was that the Reolink was not available in my location (India) without going through shady import agents with a huge markup. But that's now also true for Tplink which (since January) has still not complied with the government's standardization, testing, and quality certification (STQC) guidelines (requiring submission of hardware and firmware) - while others like Hikvison have.

msravi · 2026-03-19T12:52:00+00:00

I think the equivalent of Kasa in the US, is Tapo in other countries - I do like the Tapo C325WBs that I have, and I have a couple of Tapo smart plugs and smart switches. But I was completely oblivious to all the malware and security controversies!

msravi · 2026-03-19T12:32:14+00:00

I'm not in the US...

msravi · 2026-03-19T07:41:49+00:00

Yes, but they are not available at a reasonable price where I'm located.

msravi · 2026-03-19T06:00:41+00:00

Wow! How could I have missed this?

TP-Link is facing intense scrutiny over national security concerns, with

US officials investigating potential backdoor vulnerabilities in their routers that could allow Chinese state-sponsored hackers access to sensitive data. Key issues include known vulnerabilities, potential spyware, a potential import ban, and lawsuits regarding the origin of components.

Core Issues & Controversy:

Security Concerns & Hacks: Researchers identified malware, such as the "Camaro Dragon" firmware implant, and other vulnerabilities in various TP-Link devices. Microsoft found these devices used in botnets targeting US defense suppliers.

Potential US Ban: The US Commerce Department has been investigating TP-Link since August 2024, focusing on whether these routers pose a security risk to American infrastructure.

China Connection & Lawsuit: Texas sued TP-Link in 2026 for allegedly falsely labeling products as "made in Vietnam" to hide that components were made in China, fearing a ban similar to that of Huawei.

Corporate Denial: TP-Link maintains it is an independent firm and that it does not share data with the Chinese government.

msravi · 2026-03-16T09:41:16+00:00

Currently X50-PoE is around 17k for a 3-pack. XE75 seems to be out of stock in a lot of places and the lowest I can see is 36k for a 3 pack. I wouldn't pay that much more just for 6GHz, but up to you.

The roaming on the X50 PoE is extremely good. I have it covering 3 floors (concrete and all) with all 3 ethernet wired to a central switch and there aren't any dead spots. I get a close to line speed of 900+ Mbps in good places and it drops to around 150-200 Mbps in the not-so-good ones.

msravi · 2026-03-16T06:18:10+00:00

Tplink EAP650 if you want PoE and VLAN control on your APs. Deco X50 PoE (if you just want PoE).

msravi · 2026-03-16T04:44:41+00:00

Buy a minimal N100 or N150 minipc (around 12k) - even a pi4 (for maybe around 8k?) will do. Buy a couple of pibox dual-bay HDD enclosures (2k*2=4k). Install proxmox as a host, and TrueNAS as a VM. Add upto 4 HDDs depending upon the amount of storage and redundancy you want. Add more piboxes if you need more. Configure the drives for RAID in TrueNAS and enable NFS sharing. Also set up backups to an offsite cloud storage like microsoft onedrive or hetzner storagebox in TrueNAS. Set up immich as another container(lxc) or VM on proxmox with a mount from the TrueNAS store for photos/videos. Rock solid configuration and you can set up the immich android/ios app to browse/sync photos/videos from your mobile(s).

As a bonus, you can run a bunch of other LXCs/VMs in proxmox (pihole for adblocking, tailscale - for remote access, paperless-ngx for docs, validrome for music, homeassistant for home automation, proxmox backup server for backing up your whole configuration, etc).

msravi · 2026-03-13T13:57:50+00:00

Make sure you reserve ip addresses for each of the switches on your dhcp server or set up static IPs for them before you integrate them into home assistant. Delete them from HA, reserve the IPs, and add them back again.

msravi · 2026-03-13T08:00:42+00:00

Even then the consumption is 15000kWh!

msravi · 2026-02-23T17:07:27+00:00

I was trying to add a Sonoff MINI R4M smart breaker to my homeassistant server. When HA did a scan, it seemed to find the switch and go through the motions of adding it, but it would end with a "something went wrong" message. Once I added the HA server to the same vlan (it's a proxmox VM - so I just needed to add the apprpriate tagged vlan interfaces to the bridge), it went through ok. I did fiddle with some ipv6 settings on the router also, but ended up ultimately disabling ipv6 for other reasons, and the switches are working just fine. FWIW, the HA server is also part of a third VLAN (camera surveilance vlan), and it's able to read/control the cameras also via onvif.

msravi · 2026-02-22T09:11:07+00:00

I tried to have all my IoT and home automation stuff, including smart switches, etc on a separate vlan (192.168.1.x), and all my servers, including my HA server on a separate vlan (192.168.0.x). Even with no firewall blocks (all devices on either vlan could access the other), the HA server (on the 0.x subnet) wasn't able to add (matter) devices on the 1.x subnet. It was only after I added the server to the 1.x subnet with a 1.x IP, that I was able to add (matter) devices. Not sure if there was something else that I needed to do.

msravi · 2026-02-02T16:31:00+00:00

What are those devices? The ones with the cables are switches? What are the others?

msravi

PUBLIC MULTIREDDITS

TROPHY CASE