IOT
82 episodes · Page 2 of 4
#4360: How Long Will Your ESP32 Sensor Actually Run on a Single 18650?
Walk through the real math behind ESP32 battery life — from sleep current to LoRa retransmissions in concrete garages.
#4353: GPIO Pins: Your SBC's Hidden Superpower
What GPIO pins actually do, where the power limits are, and which sensors work on each side of the divide.
#4344: Freeing IR Codes from Broadlink's Walled Garden
Dump the firmware, flash Tasmota-IR, and take control of your own IR codes.
#4291: Car Battery Lifespan, Dash Cams & Jump Starters
Realistic battery life, why dash cams drain them fast, and whether portable jump starters actually work.
#4273: UPS vs Generator: Where's the Line Now?
Lithium batteries are making home UPSs bigger and cheaper. But when does a generator still win?
#4230: Modbus to Smart Home: The Real Bridge Guide
Three gateways tested, three hurdles revealed. What actually works when bridging OT gear to Home Assistant.
#4190: LoRa Through Concrete: Real-World Parking Sensor Physics
Why your LoRa parking sensor can't reach through three floors — and how to fix it.
#4124: Building a Safe AC-to-DC Enclosure for MQTT Traffic Lights
Learn to safely build a constant-voltage enclosure for a Raspberry Pi-powered traffic light with MQTT control.
#4123: LoRa Through Concrete: Parking Sensor Deep Dive
Can LoRa punch through 4 floors of concrete? We break down the real-world range, hardware, and regulatory details.
#3999: The VLAN Blind Spot: Why Your IoT Devices Still Talk to Each Other
VLANs isolate IoT from your main network, but devices inside can still attack each other. Client isolation is the missing piece.
#3980: Sewers from Scratch vs. Victorian Patchwork
Do brand-new sewer systems outperform 150-year-old networks? The surprising answer has an expiration date.
#3956: The Four-Second Crossing: How Traffic Lights Actually Work
A Jerusalem crossing gives pedestrians 4 seconds for 12 meters. The hidden safety systems most people never see.
#3918: NFC Tags vs. the "We're Out" Button
One tap to restock milk. Why is that so hard to find on Android?
#3792: Cloud Brain, Local Fingers: Decoupled Home Assistant
Can Home Assistant run in the cloud while Zigbee stays local? We explore the decoupled control plane architecture.
#3245: Why Integrated LED Fixtures Are Beating Smart Bulbs
Smart bulbs cram radios into metal cages. Integrated fixtures solve that—and Matter makes it seamless.
#3168: 30 BLE Tags for $60: DIY ADHD Object Tracking
Stop losing your stuff. Build a self-hosted BLE tracker system for 30 items at 1/8 the cost of commercial trackers.
#3158: How Consumer Drones Really Talk to Their Controllers
From DJI's OcuSync to military SATCOM and 4G LTE — how drone control links actually work and why they fail.
#3079: NFC vs UHF RFID: What Actually Works on Fabric
Why NFC tags peel off fabric and how UHF RFID solves it — plus what hardware you actually need.
#2821: The Trench Coat Is on Fire: Making Smart Home Parts Interrupt Each Other
Three engineering problems in a trench coat. Make Zigbee sirens, Snapcast speakers, and push-to-talk audio actually work together.
#2764: Weatherproofing Electronics: Beyond the IP Rating Trap
How to run Ethernet outdoors without destroying your gear. Cable types, conduit tricks, and the condensation trap.
#2763: Do You Really Need VLANs at Home?
Is VLAN segmentation worth it for home networks, or is it just sysadmin cosplay?
#2762: Thread vs Zigbee: Multi-Floor Smart Home Networking
Can you mix Thread border routers from different brands across floors? Yes—here's how it actually works.
#2759: Why Your Smart Home Can't Mimic a Hotel
Can Zigbee and Matter handle a two-story house with outdoor devices? We break down mesh hops, latency, and real-world limits.
#2671: How Your Phone Helps Strangers Find Lost Wallets
Your phone silently helps strangers find lost items. Here's how the cryptography and mesh networks actually work.