Outdoor LoRa Tech in Home Assistant (YoLink Overview)

[@kielsanders4358]

I've looked into these devices before and while I'm impressed by the potential range, I will not purchase anything until there's local control. Great to hear that may be a possibility in the future.

[@donutz1]

Great job on spotlighting YoLink Mark. They really are doing an amazing job in so many ways. In this business it is very rare to find a quality consumer driven company that truly listens to its users, rapidly deploys new product, and has real care and concern for customer support, detailed manuals, and firmware updates. On top of all that, the prices are very fair. YoLink is truly outsmarting and outdoing so many in this crowded space. They really do see and listen to their users. Mark is right, please leave a comment here and let them see the support they'll receive when local hubs start shipping. And dont forget to subscribe to Mark Watt Tech, he knows whats up!

[@WhoCares2509]

As soon as they release the local hub, I'm in. Since moving out to the woods a few years ago I've been looking for stuff like this. Very promising.

[@Joseph-ko2kl]

I own several of YoLink products and love them! Work great for anything you need outside, I use one of their sensors for my mailbox automation, have one on my backyard gate connected to the alarm horn and have one to tell me when someone is in my driveway. Great products IMO.

[@dougmcpherson2045]

Good info here. I'm very interested in these lora sensors for my existing HA setups (mostly zwave-based) and will definitely wait for a local hub solution. Cloud-based HA integration is a non-starter for me.

[@PaulChambers-GadgetMechanic]

I'm using a Yolink garage door (i.e. tilt) sensor on my mailbox door. Works well, despite being inside a metal mailbox. Only caveat is that it reports 'open' when closed, and closed when opened, due where it's mounted due to the mailbox design. I'd also like local-only support to use it for anything more important than mailbox notifications.

[@markprice1734]

Would definitly be interested if there was the local only hub. Have been looking for some good outdoor sensors so will wait to see if they sort it nearer end of the year or look for something else that might suit. Good content as always 👍

[@Joseph-ko2kl]

They have been promising the local hub for some time now......

[@simonknight2973]

Agreed, lack of local control would put me off buying these devices. Not making that mistake again. (Wyze Sense)

[@justatiger6268]

The unbiased nature of this review is what convinced me.

[@rodneycrosslin4405]

Contact sensor works great as a mailbox sensor....so you know when the mail is delivered

[@mambastu]

Got some of these myself last weekend. Very impressed with the range to the speaker hub. One of the sensors is around 100m away at the bottom of a hill on the otherside of a 120ft tall fir forrest and it penetrates that fine. The sensors like being at 90 degrees to the expected travel path. They don't integrate with Google Home unfortunately but the Yolink app works quite well. Also got some Yolink temperature and humidity sensors and they do integrate with Google Home ok. Would like some indoor motion sensors but they're quite expensive for some reason.

[@TerraMagnus]

Years later, they are still just about to drop that local hub. 🤣

[@rmiles7721]

I definitely would be interested once they get a local control option. Already have too much stuff that is cloud dependent as it is.

[@MarkWattTech]

Local control for the sensors state would be amazing. The range and speed is insane (even with the cloud). Fingers crossed a local hub materialises.

[@ypark2877]

Excellent products. Have several outdoor sensors and outdoor electrical plugs. Use sensors to activate and announce activity on speakers for mail and for driveway. The temp sensors are the only product that works for me to monitor freezer temperatures. Looking forward to their new hub this year. It is really long range…

[@CraigMullins1]

love this company!!

[@marcmagus0]

I've been considering getting a couple of their contact sensors, and the lack of a local connection to Home Assistant is the main thing keeping me from trying them out. Not something I need enough to go cloud-based.

[@randycole7921]

yes, would like local hub and control and hooking up to outdoor sirens

[@dab42bridges80]

All manufacturers should be providing local control (and data storage) without the need for a cloud connection - that's always been a subscription money-grab issue IMHO.

[@lawrencemanning]

It’s less about that (most are free). It’s more about the company going bust and leaving you with useless lumps of plastic. Not to mention it’s a near worthless complication and point of failure.

[@dab42bridges80]

@@lawrencemanning Either way it's costing you money.

[@dab42bridges80]

@@lawrencemanning Also, it requires an Internet connection and consumes bandwidth, so not free.

[@brianparker2400]

Will buy a local version when available.

[@benary5620]

Is there something like Esphome, but for LoRa? Let's say I want combine a PIR sensor and a door sensor into one device.... Could I build the device, flash it with some project firmware, and integrate it that way? Perhaps even compatible with the hub from this video so one could use yolink devices AND DIY with one hub only?

[@justthatjoeguy]

I'm definitely interested in a local hub

[@Foggy3657]

Please add local control.

[@weirdedhimself]

I have the hub and some of the fob remotes. Every few days, the remotes stop working until I reload the HA integration. Unlike what mark says, the fobs are supported by the integration. They send events.

[@MarkWattTech]

I added new footage to the video and text that says this can all be done in HA now - and also show button presses as actions.

[@weirdedhimself]

@@MarkWattTech very cool. We use ours to open gates and garage doors.

[@anthonysalisbury6945]

Would be good to have a local hub, also can you connect third party devices from different lorawan brands

[@gumby2241]

I've had the water leak sensors for several years now and they work flawlessly. One important thing you didn't mention is that you get free sms notifications on your phone when a leak is detected and when your network connection to the hub is down. A local hub would prevent these from working BTW.

[@MarkWattTech]

I will be covering “strategies” (YoLinks alert controls) in another video. Strategies like SMS could still be used with a local controlled hub. It would be an optional setting like it is currently. Using it would obviously require external connectivity but you could still have it as a secondary option whilst keeping all of the inner communications local to the device.

[@mastweiler22]

Apparently the EU version of the hub does NOT (Yet) work with HA! Or so their support just told me. I can see the device in HA but not it's status... Hopefully an update will resove it at some point...

[@MarkWattTech]

The Hub model I use in the video is YS1603-UC (I'm in the UK)

[@mastweiler22]

@@MarkWattTech YS1603-EC is the model I'm using which Yolink support says won't work (yet) Still no news on when it will. Currently only have a single door sensor and I'm fudging it into HA using the Amazon integration and virtual switches in HA

[@VastardokKukiao]

The problem with this brand is that the software is all bugged as hell and it is tricky to make the actual products working the way you want to. For example, deactivating automations will not actually stop them in some cases for no reason at all. You actually have to quit the app once you deactivate them for them to properly turn off but even doing so wont turn them off sometimes. The siren batteries die very quickly (even if they are good). A couple of activations and the battery is pretty much gone and/or bugged. You will see it randomly go red and then not red anymore. The motion sensor will only sense up to around 10-12 meters. So you might want to know that before getting one. But it is really good in the sense that cats wont trigger it unless they just jump in front of it. They will definitely be triggered by big dogs tho. So they definitely DO NOT work as expected but more you just gotta know how to work with them and the crappy software and live with their malfunctions. They are not just plug in and you forget about them for sure in most cases. Still a good option and I use them all the time. Things are pretty modular so you can do a lot of stuff with these.

[@jellyjenn12291]

I'd love a local hub, and for you to also review other YoLink devices

[@mikewickens2016]

Great was looking for outside solutions, 1) Would local control require a new hub or software update do you know. 2) I understand their static, but would be nice to see them improve hinges for left and right adjustments. 3) being outside surely solar would be the way to go with battery as backup. Great review thanks for introducing this brand.

[@vegaswayne247]

It looks like it is time to get a 3D printer, so you can make your own custom mounts and stands.

[@Albert-the-Astro]

Killer intro music

[@laurierbelanger625]

So, if I'm not home and the motion sensor goes on and/or the siren goes on, then I will get a notification on my phone I presume. But how would I know if there's a burglar or a deer walking by. Yolink has no outdoor camera that I could view the scene. Any way to do this? Is there a camera that can link with the hub or would I have to get a separate non Yolink camera? Anyone have ideas?

[@pizzadave9812]

I have 3 door sensors a garage sensor a hub and a speaker hub and a siren alarm.. i want to have a arm and disarm scene to turn this all on but i cant figure it out .....i can do an automation but that's too make things to turn in and off .... nobody can tell me how to do this.... please help me.

[@eadweard.]

Deffo cool for outdoor stuff!

[@MarkWattTech]

I would highly recommend the contact and motion sensors :)

[@BlackYmas]

I think someday I also have to buy a 3D printer XD nice video

[@gerryf7015]

Any commitment from YoLink on a local HA integration? They said they would over a year ago and then silence.

[@MarkWattTech]

This video was from a couple of months back and the word at the time was “hopefully at the end of the year”. It’s definitely something I am interested in and something I will be chasing up as the tech works great. It will be a new hub that works locally. If I get any concrete information I will be sure to post an update 👍🏻

[@gumby2241]

works fine in HA for me, at least for my water sensors.

[@brianparker2400]

Purchased Yolink hub and motion sensor after this videos recommendation for use with HA. Motion sensor works well in the Yolink app but I cannot get it to function with HA. The device appears in HA but whatever I do the entity states remain "unknown". Very frustrating. Any ideas how to fix?

[@geidorei]

Hi posted comment at top - YoLink said to me that they are not supported in the UK at present, nut the integration is coming soon. Mark must be a genius to get them to work! 😁

[@jameshendry3571]

Felt like I was watching an episode of The Bill when that siren came on!

[@MarkWattTech]

Old school 😂

[@jameshendry3571]

@@MarkWattTech my parents used to watch it religiously on a Saturday night on the ABC in OZ!

[@MarkWattTech]

@@jameshendry3571 when I was a child that sound meant bed time. I would turn into a statue and hope my parents forgot I was up 😂

[@mastweiler22]

Perfect, been looking at these for a while wondering if it'll work ok with HA.

[@MarkWattTech]

The devices work great, but bare in mind currently they are cloud only :)

[@yestrdave9236]

Any update on local hub?

[@MrMosvold]

Looks like it uses 923.3 MHz which is north america and not for europe.. Am I right?

[@ronm6585]

Thanks Mark.

[@MarkWattTech]

Cheers Ron. Did you spot the subtle Ron reference at the end of the video? 😂

[@ronm6585]

@@MarkWattTech Lol, I didn't spot it Mark, sorry.

[@terrybates6066]

These look really good. I need some longer range sensors. Can you connect the sensors direct to Home Assistant or do you need the hub as well?

[@MarkWattTech]

You will need a hub as the devices speak LoRa :)

[@pflinn]

It would be nice if the "New" HUB came with MQTT.

[@MarkWattTech]

That would be great. It would be even nicer ifthey allowed local control on existing devices with no new hardware needed.

[@SebastianCortese-sw7kv]

Can the hub run without internet access? What about battery life for the IR sensor?

[@SebastianCortese-sw7kv]

Ah, i hear. Needs internet. So sad.

[@MarkWattTech]

Internet is needed for the hub to communicate with the app and HA. For the battery life these devices are still going strong now :)

[@geidorei]

Hi Mark - me again.... Got a Speaker Hub, door contact and motion sensor after watching this vid (never heard of these devices before) as I needed to put some security on the garage, As a note, the garage door is metal and the door contact was very intermittent inside, so its mounted on the outside, not ideal but it works. YoLink state they should work on the inside of a metal door, hummmm. Re HA, integration setup and devices found but the entities show as unknown. Have reinstalled, rebooted the Pi but still showing as unknown. Any suggestions on this?

[@geidorei]

FYI: Got a message back from YoLink and they have stated that their UK (EU) products don't integrate with HA currently, but its on their to do list. No idea why your door contact and motion sensor are working in HA?

[@MarkWattTech]

Heya. I'm in the UK and I haven't had an issue. My hub model is : YS1603-UC (none speaker hub model) and is running the latest firmware.

[@geidorei]

@@MarkWattTech I wonder of it could be the Speaker Hub that's the issue? They just said YoLink wasnt supported in HA in the UK. Hummmmm lol

[@juanramon1997]

if you recomend ..... why why we can se how the alerts goes to you phone?????????????????????????????? Reply

[@algre977]

What is the frequency these sensors use ?

[@steffenfrkjr1424]

Go local :-) no cloud here.

[@zyghom]

@7:13 - "cloud based integration" - thank you no, thank you

[@bat3332]

I am big fan of yolink I have the speaker hub, motion sensor , water leak sensor and water valve closer. I am fan of it is because of its distance and penetrating capacity. But the biggest challenge with yolink i am facing please let me know if you can help me on this. I want the motion sensor to detect motion and play a recording on the speaker hub only when me and my wife are not in the house. For the life of me i cannot figure how to do it. It keeps detecting motion even when were are at home and give false notification on speaker hub. anyone using yolink can you help on this

[@bat3332]

anyone can suggest me something to achieve this on my yolink motion sensor " I want the motion sensor to detect motion and send notification only when I and my wife are not in the house"

[@MarkWattTech]

You could simply have a sensor that reports the state of you both not being home. If it is true (both not home) a notification will send based on the motion alert. This is quite simple and easily achievable if you are using Home Assistant. Feel free to reach out if you would like some help. My discord and Facebook group are a great place for assistance.

[@ezekielmillard-stead4827]

I was playing minecraft with this video in the background how could you😭1:11

[@fergusgarber6151]

I know this will come accross as a little personal, but it is just a suggestion I promise. Its about the way you talk to us. All your sentances rise at the end. Most poeple don't have conversations like this. They don't talk to their friends in this way and it is not very natural. You are my go to guy for home assistant stuff on You Tube and I just wonder if you could have a listen to your clips and see what I mean. If you think its OK then thats fine of course. As I say its just an observation and not meant to be rude or disrespectful.

[@pjh5135]

Not interested in being spied on, no local, no way.