I am here because the internet algorithm keeps pointing me in this direction.
I just installed a mini split that has Wi-Fi (Pioneer) but I do not want to create some cloud account to use its controls. So now I am down the rabbit hole to figure out how to hack passed this. I don’t understand how this protocol works. I keep seeing stuff about MQTT but I don’t know much about it and I don’t even know if that is what this AC unit is even using…
I think if I understood the following questions at just a high level I would be able to figure out the rest on my own.
How do I get this Wi-Fi module connected to my private LAN?
Why would it ever need a cloud service to set its IP address and LAN connection?
Isn’t there a piece of software that can scan and configure the module that doesn’t require me to have a cloud login, and if not, why?
That should be covered in the device’s manual. “a mini split that has WiFi (Pioneer)” doesn’t give us much to go on. But this is usually specific to the device, not generic.
We don’t know the device but typically most of these devices do not have a local API. They only support interaction through their cloud API. Once set up, all communication to the device goes through their cloud.
Depends on the specific make and model of the device. Occasionally someone will have developed an alternative firmware you can use to replace what it came from the factory with. Often this will require some special equipment and soldering to pull off. Also occasionally someone has reverse engineered how the cloud services communicate with the device and develop a service that can bridge between them.
But most of the time, you are stuck with the options the vendor give you.
That is sad to hear though. The though that in order to turn my air conditioner on requires me to logon and for the “on” command to be relayed and somehow encrypted by a cloud server that I have no control over is crazy. What a world we live in…
I suppose I will remove the radio forget about automation then.
Well, you do have a choice in the products you buy and the technologies they employ. And there are good technical reasons why devices work this way, the most important being it’s the safest way to provide remote access to a device for non-technical people.
We don’t know the device but typically most of these devices do not have a local API. They only support interaction through their cloud API. Once set up, all communication to the device goes through their cloud.