We all know that HA hardware is very dependent upon the location where one resides. Often I come across very interesting hardware-related posts and yet it is difficult to decide whether the solution/topic is relevant to where I live (e.g. most discussions about KNX hardware).
My quick way of deciding, is simply to click on the poster’s profile to see which country he/she lives in … Yet, more often than not, such information is NOT there.
The alternative would be to ask each user to specify the country related to whichever hardware is being discussed.
This is especially true for ANYTHING related to Z-Wave since there are 19 different world regions with incompaible hardware due to frequency differences.
on a separate note, make the location as clear as possible.
For instance, is @JB_63 in Chicago Zimbabwe?
Well this is up to each individual. Some prefer not to share their location, e.g. due to security reasons.
Just imagine someone talking here about the smart door lock and the problems he´s got with it.
He may even post information about how he interfaced it.
If someone is able to link this information with the location he/she is living in, chances are that, with help of a simple phonebook lookup, the persons postal address could be figured out.
And, derived from the information about not inexpensive hardware used (e.g. the mentioned knx bus) he/she may become target of some criminal activities.
You may see this as a more theoretical threat, but I understand everybody who does not maintain his/her location information.
My impression: Security is somehow often not thought about well enough when it comes to fancy bells and whistles in home automation.
