Google Home FAQ

thecivvie

Patww79 wrote: »

Perfectly timed after they'd flogged a load of them on a sale too.

I think either Google or Netflix changed something and it has affected us. I reckon they will hopefully undo change

DoubleJoe7

Any ideas on how to add a user? Have had no joy looking at the home app on my wife's phone, no option available under devices to add her account

Kintarō Hattori

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

I'm having a strange issue which I can't quite figure out. I have two Yeelights in the living room- one as the main light and one in a lamp. The GH unit in the living room is the larger unit with a mini in the kitchen and one upstairs. The Home unit couldn't turn on or off the lamp. It had no issues with the main and could even change the colour of the lamp- just not turn it off. The weird thing is I could turn off the lamp from the mini in the kitchen.
I reset the bulbs, rebooted the GH unit, unlinked and relinked the actions but it still flat out refuses to turn the lamp on/off.

Any suggestions? It was working fine up until yesterday.

Back working fine now. No idea what it was.

OldMrBrennan83

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The high horse brigade

Patww79 wrote: »

Is there a good bulb go-between thing that works with this and doesn't have a hub? I might as well get started on lights and I don't want to be tied into always having to replace a really expensive hue with a really expensive hue when one blows. No interest in dimming or colours either.

I've not heard of a Hue bulb blowing

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

The high horse brigade

Patww79 wrote: »

Yeah but they will at some stage, they have to.

Yeah of course after 25,000 hours or so

RonnieL

I've got a chromecast audio hooked up to an AV receiver in my playroom. It buzzes a bit when it's turned on without music playing though, and having to walk in and turn it on kindof ruins the buzz. Any recommendations on a smart socket i could buy so i could turn on the receiver using google home before sending music to it? Happy to wait for delivery if there's a lower cost alternative from the east.

OldMrBrennan83

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bk

RonnieL wrote: »

I've got a chromecast audio hooked up to an AV receiver in my playroom. It buzzes a bit when it's turned on without music playing though, and having to walk in and turn it on kindof ruins the buzz. Any recommendations on a smart socket i could buy so i could turn on the receiver using google home before sending music to it? Happy to wait for delivery if there's a lower cost alternative from the east.

TP-Link HS100

Patww79 wrote: »

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It sounds like you are looking for something like Sonoff. Or perhaps a smart switch like LightwaveRF (expensive).

However to be honest, I find simple on/off to be of very limited utility.

White Ambiance is brilliant, Colours handy in certain context, but it is really the motion sensors and smart routines and scenes (e.g. sunset routines, motion sensors turning on lights at minimum setting after a certain hour, etc.) that really makes Hue a great system.

Atomic Pineapple

Anyone else notice that home doesn't turn on or off a TV that has a Chromecast connected now either, I was full sure I was able to tell it to turn on or off a TV that had the newer chromecast plugged into but not the older one but tried today and nothing happens.

Kintarō Hattori

Atomic Pineapple wrote: »

Anyone else notice that home doesn't turn on or off a TV that has a Chromecast connected now either, I was full sure I was able to tell it to turn on or off a TV that had the newer chromecast plugged into but not the older one but tried today and nothing happens.

I could be wrong but I don't think that could have been the case. It plugs into a HDMI port which is a video input, there's no way for the Chromecast to control power.

ilovesmybrick

You can if CEC is enabled on your TV. When I turn on my raspberry pi it will also now turn on the TV.

CantGetNoSleep

RonnieL wrote: »

I've got a chromecast audio hooked up to an AV receiver in my playroom. It buzzes a bit when it's turned on without music playing though, and having to walk in and turn it on kindof ruins the buzz. Any recommendations on a smart socket i could buy so i could turn on the receiver using google home before sending music to it? Happy to wait for delivery if there's a lower cost alternative from the east.

Are you powering the Chromecast Audio using the AV receiver / a USB port somewhere or the USB plug / charger you received with it?

Sometimes you can get interference that will be fixed by using it's own power source. You can also sometimes fix this just by moving it away or moving it around a bit.

Someone once told me that it works better if you use the cables that came with it but i didn't notice a lot of difference

Kintarō Hattori

ilovesmybrick wrote: »

You can if CEC is enabled on your TV. When I turn on my raspberry pi it will also now turn on the TV.

Well knock me down with a feather- you learn something new every day.

Benzino

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

I could be wrong but I don't think that could have been the case. It plugs into a HDMI port which is a video input, there's no way for the Chromecast to control power.

I am able to power my TV on our off via the old Chromecast and Google assistant on my phone. Hope it works on on GHomeb when I open it up.

ilovesmybrick

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

Well knock me down with a feather- you learn something new every day.

You can also control Kodi with the TV remote this way, though I'm setting up the pi for voice control this week.

RonnieL

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

RonnieL wrote: »

I've got a chromecast audio hooked up to an AV receiver in my playroom. It buzzes a bit when it's turned on without music playing though, and having to walk in and turn it on kindof ruins the buzz. Any recommendations on a smart socket i could buy so i could turn on the receiver using google home before sending music to it? Happy to wait for delivery if there's a lower cost alternative from the east.

Are you powering the Chromecast Audio using the AV receiver / a USB port somewhere or the USB plug / charger you received with it?

Sometimes you can get interference that will be fixed by using it's own power source. You can also sometimes fix this just by moving it away or moving it around a bit.

Someone once told me that it works better if you use the cables that came with it but i didn't notice a lot of difference

Thanks for the tip - I will try it with a dedicated power source and see if that helps. The setup was kindof thrown together so I'll try some things later when I get a chance.

RonnieL

bk wrote: »

RonnieL wrote: »

I've got a chromecast audio hooked up to an AV receiver in my playroom. It buzzes a bit when it's turned on without music playing though, and having to walk in and turn it on kindof ruins the buzz. Any recommendations on a smart socket i could buy so i could turn on the receiver using google home before sending music to it? Happy to wait for delivery if there's a lower cost alternative from the east.

TP-Link HS100

Thanks for the reply. I'm thinking of ordering a good handful of smart sockets so I did a bit of searching on aliexpress. Would these be ok? I haven't bought from here before so I'm wary of knock offs etc. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Sonoff-S20-Wifi-Wireless-Remote-Control-Socket-Smart-Home-Power-Socket-EU-US-UK-Standard-Via/32832385095.html?spm=2114.search0104.3.3.bXsMcL&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_1_5130011_10152_10065_10151_10344_10068_10130_10345_10324_10342_10547_10325_10343_10546_10340_10341_10548_10545_5000011_10541_10084_10083_10307_5080011_10539_5690011_10312_10059_10313_10314_10534_100031_10604_10603_10103_10605_10594_10596_5060011_10142_10107,searchweb201603_31,ppcSwitch_2&algo_expid=2ad406cb-c0a1-4ac4-9495-95b3dd60197b-0&algo_pvid=2ad406cb-c0a1-4ac4-9495-95b3dd60197b&rmStoreLevelAB=2

bk

RonnieL wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. I'm thinking of ordering a good handful of smart sockets so I did a bit of searching on aliexpress. Would these be ok? I haven't bought from here before so I'm wary of knock offs etc. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Sonoff-S20-Wifi-Wireless-Remote-Control-Socket-Smart-Home-Power-Socket-EU-US-UK-Standard-Via/32832385095.html?spm=2114.search0104.3.3.bXsMcL&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_1_5130011_10152_10065_10151_10344_10068_10130_10345_10324_10342_10547_10325_10343_10546_10340_10341_10548_10545_5000011_10541_10084_10083_10307_5080011_10539_5690011_10312_10059_10313_10314_10534_100031_10604_10603_10103_10605_10594_10596_5060011_10142_10107,searchweb201603_31,ppcSwitch_2&algo_expid=2ad406cb-c0a1-4ac4-9495-95b3dd60197b-0&algo_pvid=2ad406cb-c0a1-4ac4-9495-95b3dd60197b&rmStoreLevelAB=2

These seem to be a new option that just popped up on our radar yesterday. I don't think anyone has bought these yet or tried them.

Folks here have used other Sonoff gear (inline controllers) and seem happy with it.

If you do order these, let us know how it goes, would have a few questions.

RonnieL

bk wrote: »

RonnieL wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. I'm thinking of ordering a good handful of smart sockets so I did a bit of searching on aliexpress. Would these be ok? I haven't bought from here before so I'm wary of knock offs etc. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Sonoff-S20-Wifi-Wireless-Remote-Control-Socket-Smart-Home-Power-Socket-EU-US-UK-Standard-Via/32832385095.html?spm=2114.search0104.3.3.bXsMcL&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_1_5130011_10152_10065_10151_10344_10068_10130_10345_10324_10342_10547_10325_10343_10546_10340_10341_10548_10545_5000011_10541_10084_10083_10307_5080011_10539_5690011_10312_10059_10313_10314_10534_100031_10604_10603_10103_10605_10594_10596_5060011_10142_10107,searchweb201603_31,ppcSwitch_2&algo_expid=2ad406cb-c0a1-4ac4-9495-95b3dd60197b-0&algo_pvid=2ad406cb-c0a1-4ac4-9495-95b3dd60197b&rmStoreLevelAB=2

These seem to be a new option that just popped up on our radar yesterday. I don't think anyone has bought these yet or tried them.

Folks here have used other Sonoff gear (inline controllers) and seem happy with it.

If you do order these, let us know how it goes, would have a few questions.

I reckon I'll give them a try alright. Bit more searching and I came across this youtube video - sounds like an Irish guy, and they look to work well, and he speaks a bit at the end about their build quality:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKbP9oD15iI

bk

^^^

More info here:
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2017/05/review-sonoff-s20-wifi-plug/
https://nathan.chantrell.net/20170523/itead-sonoff-s20-plug-in-wi-fi-sockets-esp8266/

The plug seems to be just the Sonoff inline controller packaged in a plug, so that seems good.

I wonder if it canwork with Sonoffs new IFTTT channel and what state it defaults to after a power outage.

BTW In case Stoner reads this, no unfortuantely it doesm't seem to support 433MHz

DoubleJoe7

Atomic Pineapple wrote: »

Anyone else notice that home doesn't turn on or off a TV that has a Chromecast connected now either, I was full sure I was able to tell it to turn on or off a TV that had the newer chromecast plugged into but not the older one but tried today and nothing happens.

My TV on/off through the Chromecast worked fine this morning.

bk

FYI HDMI-CEC has always been very unreliable standard. Works great on some TV's, terrible on others. Quality of cable, connectors, other devices connected can all make a difference.

kkhornet

Atomic Pineapple wrote: »

Anyone else notice that home doesn't turn on or off a TV that has a Chromecast connected now either, I was full sure I was able to tell it to turn on or off a TV that had the newer chromecast plugged into but not the older one but tried today and nothing happens.

Mines still turning power on and off

postsnthing

ixoy wrote:

I'm also unable to play any Netflix content on it anymore. I keep getting "I looked for but it either isn't available or cant' be played right now". This was working for months.

This still isn't working for me and reading the Google forum doesn't give me much hope !

Is there also a Google assistant app that we can't get here that can be used to change settings and send commands to the home ?

randombar

postsnthing wrote: »

This still isn't working for me and reading the Google forum doesn't give me much hope !

Is there also a Google assistant app that we can't get here that can be used to change settings and send commands to the home ?

If you have a revolut card you can change your address to the Uk, change the store to the uk, and download the app. Handy for typing commands to test, and also to send broadcasts home

Shlippery

Just did the change yesterday with Revolut too - app is great for typing out a broadcast :P

mloc123

Netflix is disappointing. When I first set up my Netflix account about a month ago I had the same issue, I put it down to having multiple profiles on Netflix and removed all but one... it worked (coincidence?).

Hopefully it is sorted soon. Any word on when Home will be officially rolled out in Ireland?

postsnthing

It won't even tell a story anymore something seriously up with them at the moment...