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Why do my LG smart fridge and my GE washer and dryer all have DNS servers? And is there a way I can control them without the manufacturer's miserable apps? (lemmy.radio)
submitted 5 days ago by early_riser@lemmy.radio to c/homeassistant@lemmy.world
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First thing I do when I get a smart appliance is scan it with nmap. This has revealed some interesting Easter eggs, like my Davis instruments air quality sensors having a local REST API.

Doing the usual scan against my GE washer and dryer shows that port 53 is listening. What could that be for? Is there a way I can at least query their status locally or something?

When I got the washer and dryer I was excited about the smart home features because getting an alert when my laundry is done or starting the washer remotely so the clothes are done when I get home are genuinely useful features. However, last time I checked the app none of that was available, so I just have these Trojan horses in my home spying on me with no benefit in exchange. Their app wanted my freaking mailing address when I signed up for their mandatory account, so the features mentioned above are the least they could offer in exchange for my digital soul. But I digress.

My fridge is in a similar situation. It commits the additional cardinal sin of ONLY being controllable via the app, with no on-board temp or filter status indicators whatsoever.

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[-] Aussiemandeus@aussie.zone 6 points 4 days ago

Simple, just drill a hole into the fridge and use a probe from outside.

/s just in case

[-] Taleya@aussie.zone 3 points 4 days ago

Home brewers are looking at you very oddly right now.

[-] southernbrewer@lemmy.world 4 points 4 days ago

Yep my beer fridge is exactly this :)

Home brewers just set the fridge thermostat as cold as it goes and set the temp externally by turning the power off when it's cold enough.

Not sure i'd drill a hole into my nice-looking kitchen fridge though. Probably rather than connect it to WiFi, but... I don't currently see a need to connect it to wifi anyway?

[-] Taleya@aussie.zone 3 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

We use a kegerator so the probes just run through the pre-drilled hole for the gas. But really the cables are so thin a standard door seal would close over them

I can see where a temp would be useful to detect failure , but a power draw monitor would do the same

[-] claude_flammang@dju.social 2 points 4 days ago

@southernbrewer
I‘m not a Home brewer but three of our fridges get the same treatment as their primitive „thermostats„ are so crappy. Two simply were either too cold or not cold enough with a ridiculous amount of variation while the third one, an outdoor fridge-freezer combo has the thermostat in the fridge compartment and during cool nights sees no need to cool while the freezer compartment gets close to thawing.

[-] KyuubiNoKitsune 3 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

It is a legit strategy.

Or just use thin enamelled copper wire connected to the sensor and tape it down where the door closes, no drilling required.

[-] Aussiemandeus@aussie.zone 3 points 4 days ago

Yeah I've got a multimeter that could do it, but you would need to be careful drilling through to not hit any of the cooling jackets

this post was submitted on 04 Oct 2025
188 points (100.0% liked)

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