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Recommend me a smart watch I can track remotely in Home Assistant (lemmy.nz)
submitted 16 hours ago by to c/homeassistant@lemmy.world
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I'm after a watch that I can put on a kid when they are on their own at a park etc.

What I'd like:

  • It's own data connection so it doesn't need a phone with it
  • Home Assistant support so I can track it remotely via home assistant, automations, etc
  • Some way of calling them when it's time to come home, or them calling us when needed
  • We don't have an iPhone so I think Apple is out since it needs an iPhone for setup
  • No subscriptions outside of the cost of the cellphone plan
  • Preferably doesn't need OEM servers, just connect to Home Assistant
  • Handling knocks and bumps would be a bonus
  • If you can run a non-google OS without tracking etc GrapheneOS style then yay but I don't know if that exists

Any suggestions?

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[–] 12 points 15 hours ago (4 children)

https://meshtastic.org/docs/hardware/devices/lilygo/twatch/. (or similar)

If you have a relatively well-established mesh network in the city, this could be an interesting option. I haven’t tested the watch myself, but I’ve been considering similar ideas and will likely give it a try in the future.

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  • [–] 3 points 15 hours ago

    Nice! This was my first thought too.

    I think Garmin makes some satellite linked rescue devices but they cost a small fortune and require a subscription. Not to mention a clear view of the sky, which seems a bit oxymoronic now that I'm thinking about it.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 15 hours ago (2 children)

    As I understand it Meshtastic is for messages as the bandwidth is really low at those frequencies. But it has a camera and microphone, so can you actually do video calls?

    I am not convinced this is the answer I'm looking for, but I am intrigued enough to possibly buy one anyway. Would you get two so you could call between them? I'm just not really sure how this works!

    I couldn't find a map of nodes so I'm not sure how the network is here, but the main use case is near my house (so the kids can go and play with the neighbourhood kids, which they do anyway but I'd like a way to find them at dinner time). So if the network isn't great here I assume I can put up my own node - understanding nothing about meshtastic...

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  • [–] 4 points 14 hours ago (1 child)

    it has a camera and microphone, so can you actually do video calls?

    I don't think any of the T-Watches have cameras. But you're right about the meshtastic bandwidth, it's more for some simple messages.

    So if the network isn't great here I assume I can put up my own node.

    Yep, and a node is just another LoRa device, like the T-Watch. If it's just near your house, it should work great. My Wio Tracker L1 picks up a repeater on the other side my suburb, and that gives me some crazy range.

    It doesn't sound like you do, but if you need intercity range, LoRaWAN might also be worth looking into. In Queensland, many city councils (Brisbane, Gold Coast, Moreton Bay) have their own LoRaWAN networks that peer with The Things Network, and you can integrate it with Home Assistant using an integration, or my preferred way is through MQTT. You would probably have to write the firmware yourself with this option though.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 14 hours ago

    I don’t think any of the T-Watches have cameras. But you’re right about the meshtastic bandwidth, it’s more for some simple messages.

    Sorry I misread, it said speaker and microphone. So it can do voice calls?

    Was I right about just getting two watches for communication? Is there a good crash course on understanding this stuff?

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