#Device Tracking

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

random knoll
#

Hi All,

I'm struggling to setup device tracking. I'm at the point where I just want to be able to confidently say which of us (family of 4) are in the house - not even worried about where we are when we leave the house. I've tried the TP-Link Router integration, but for some reason it does not recognize any of our phones being on the network even though I can see them when I log into the router.

I've also tried Home Assistant App, but again it always says everyone is home even though I have all the settings in our phones set:

Home Assistant Settings:
Allow location tracking = true
Allow precise location = true
Allow background refresh = true

I'm hoping some of you can share how you are doing it in your systems.

Thanks.

grave shore
#

regarding the companion app - in order for the app to be able to report its location so it can be updated as out of home, it needs to be able to connect to home assistant. So you need to have remote access to home assistant set up and working.

random knoll
#

oh, I didn't realize that. so I need to have tailscale (or which ever remote connection I want) always running on everyones phone for this to work?

rancid sable
random knoll
#

is this the best way to know who is currently in the house? I don't need to track where they are when not home

rancid sable
#

if you want to use the campion app to track location then there needs to be remote access. you could use something like home asssitant cloud from NC to make external access easy.

cursive moth
rancid sable
#

using tracking by wifi devices connected has some issues.
you need to turn off randomising mac address on each device for your home network.
it takes a while for it to update when someone leaves as there is a "timeout period"
some setups work better than others but its not a super responve method.

#

you could use BLE tracking which is more responsive but comes with its own issues. you most likely need a few BT proxies and depending on the device your tracking may have to do some hoop jumpiong.

#

I use a combination of wifi and BLE for "at home" tacking for some automations.

random knoll
#

wondering if Nabu Casa subscription would be most straight forward...would rather not spend the $100 a year but if it works....

rancid sable
#

ah canada

#

you can get a 1 month trial and see if it works for you.

#

Also paying for it gives you the warm fuzzy feeling inside of helping support the project 😛

#

having full tracking can be kinda nice too. can automate on other locations.
"leaving work"/"5 miles from home"/etc...

random knoll
#

I will look into the free trial. good idea!

#

I currently have tailscale installed on my phone, but never have it on, unless I'm trying to do something while I'm out. I'm about to head out for a bit, so will see if I leave it connected what happens to my status in HA.

grave shore
#

i use wireguard for mine, but i occasionally run into issues with apps that don't work unless I turn it off (android auto is particularly annoying) so it's kind of a pain.

#

doesn't even fail with a good error message, just fails to connect to the car without explanation :)

rancid sable
#

fully UDP with no handshake is fantastic for reducing attack surface but some devices/networks just end up blocking it completly

grave shore
#

fwiw, wireguard does have a handshake for key agreement and forward secrecy, but once the keys are set up it doesn't require a "connection" and can deal with devices switching ips and stuff. It has to re-handshake periodically to re-key the connection.

rancid sable
grave shore
#

not sure what you mean by that; the initial wireguard handshake contains authentication information and therefore acts as a "login"?

rancid sable
#

UDP has no active connection at all, it just flings packets and hopes for the best

#

WG only flings data back if you have the right config. if not it stays silent.

grave shore
#

it's… more complicated than that. wg technically supports both sides trying to connect to each-other (if both sides know the ip address of each-other), so the handshake can be established in either direction, and the "no response" only applies to the handshake packet; once the handshake is done and the connection state is set up it does fling data back to you (or, to the last ip you sent data from) until it hits a timeout without any re-handshake.

rancid sable
grave shore
#

anyways, kind of off topic for device tracking :/