I've been trying to set up my home network so that I can access specific servers, computers, or devices on general so i can get data, files, or control the home automation while I'm away. I've tried many things, but it hasn't successful.

There's a lot of ways to get IoT devices connected through to the Internet. Usually they're connecting through a hub (via Zigbee or Z-wave), Bluetooth, or WiFi.  But connecting so many devices can start leading to issues.

IoT Security issues

There are a ton of manufacturers making smart products, but not every one of them are stringent about keeping your security top notch on every device, the proprietary apps they run on, and even the server handling your data. There's so many ways that your data can be lost, so it's smart to know what to do to mitigate the risks.

One way is to get a top notch password manager to store your logins. Shared passwords between sites is an easy way for hackers to get into your accounts and take over.

The other way is to separate out your WiFi network into different networks that don't interact. Some of the high end routers are able to do this, but the one I'm using is the Synology RT2600ac, which is like WiFi 5. The newest standard is WiFi 6 (ax), even going into WiFi 7, but it's so expensive and we're not at the bleeding edge of technology. But the nice thing about this router is that it uses the same interface as the Synology DiskStation Manager. The Wi-Fi networks I have set up are the main network, the guest network, and the IoT network.  It can create more networks, but that would be unnecessary work.

IoT Number Issues

The other issue with Wi-Fi IoT devices is that you can start to crowd the network.  I'm probably sending too much data for regular consumer routers. I've gotten 3 Netgear a nighthawk routers, and I've completely bricked them - can't even try to put an alternative operating system on it, they just won't respond. Maybe it's because I'm constantly sending data through the security cameras. But either way, the specs on the router says that they can usually handle up to 25 simultaneous devices. Between the laptops, phones, video game consoles, TVs, Google homes that we have, we can easily hit that number, and that's without the IoT smart devices.

Thankfully the Synology router can be expanded with another node for mesh networking. Each node is sale to process their own connected devices, and so hopefully splits the connected devices and reduces the workload. I can't say the same for other manufacturers or there, but I'm happy with the Wi-Fi so far.

So to conclude, when buying IoT devices, try to stay away from WiFi devices so your network can be nice and zippy. But if you have to, take precautions to protect yourself and not damage the quality of the network speed.

For a while now I've been trying to fully switch over from the SmartThings ecosystem over to Home Assistant.  Although Samsung is a great company and there was great support within the SmartThings community and developers when it was more open, there were a couple of things that I didn't like about the SmartThings ecosystem.  For one I didn't like that there was always a delay to process commands since they had to get sent to a cloud server to process, and then sent back to the hub to carry out the command. The other reason is that data and all the devices are not fully under my control.  And this is why I like the open source nature and self hosting that Home Assistant provides. 

I started moving over by installing Home Assistant on a Synology NAS with DiskStation Manager 7.1 with Docker.  (On a side note I'm hearing things that DSM 7.2 might not be so great with compatibility with docker.) However the Synology server doesn't seem to be compatible with the z wave stick that I have.  I've followed a lot of guides online on installing different drivers, but it just doesn't work like other Linux operating systems.

Then I've bought a Raspberry Pi 3 A, and that's just because it's almost impossible to source a Raspberry Pi B+ or 4 right now.  Installing on Home Assistant 2023.5.4 was giving too many memory issues, and 2023.6.1 wasn't much better.  At least I'm getting to run Home Assistant, but I'm still getting memory overload problems in the CLI.

I'll try a few more routes to get this going. I'm willing to turn an old Linux PC into a dedicated Home Assistant server, but it seems to be such a waste of an entire setup. I'll also try getting a new z wave USB stick. But I'm really hoping that those Raspberry Pi manufacturing issues resolve now that Sony is willing to help manufacturer some of the chips.