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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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[-] grue@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago

Show me where the spec sheet for a typical smart appliance tells me if it has a good integration with Home Assistant, whether I can flash it with ESPHome, etc.

Usually spec sheets only talk about a bunch of proprietary bullshit I don't give a fuck about (or actively don't want).

[-] lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 23 hours ago

Show me where the spec sheet for a typical smart appliance tells me if it has a good integration with Home Assistant, whether I can flash it with ESPHome, etc.

People who use and develop integrations for Home Assistant.

[-] grue@lemmy.world 1 points 12 hours ago

Are those on the manufacturer's spec sheet? 'Cause that's what the comment I was replying to was talking about.

[-] lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago)

No, they often aren't. Any that are, are not going to be permanent, either (see what Chamberlain did with their garage openers).

My personal take: unless it can function as a "smart" device without a constant connection to the internet, a company-provided HA integration is kinda useless.

[-] ragas@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 day ago

You can find out about home assistant support on the home assistant webpages.

[-] grue@lemmy.world 2 points 12 hours ago

In other words, you're proving my point that you have to do research to find that stuff out.

this post was submitted on 04 Oct 2025
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