Independent Research

Privacy Smart Home

Privacy-focused smart home comparisons, buying guides, and local-first implementation playbooks.

Technical buying guides and product comparisons for privacy-minded users who want local control, data ownership, and a cloud-optional smart home.

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Hardware benchmark comparison chart of Scrypted NVR versus Frigate running on Intel N100 mini PC and Raspberry Pi 5 hosts, showing CPU and GPU decode overhead, Google Coral TPU passthrough paths, and wall power consumption for privacy-focused local smart home surveillance deployments in August 2026.
Comparisons

Scrypted NVR vs Frigate: Intel N100 vs Pi 5 Benchmarks

Scrypted vs Frigate hardware benchmarks on Intel N100 and Raspberry Pi 5: CPU and GPU decode load, Coral TPU passthrough, power draw, and six-camera planning.

Aug 17, 2026
Privacy Smart Home August 2026 Valetudo 2026.08.0 local robot vacuum video setup guide: duststreamer gstreamer binary on supported Dreame L10s Ultra and Eureka J15 models, HTTP MPEG-TS jsmpeg stream over LAN without vendor cloud, IoT VLAN WAN deny rules, and manual control live feed integration.
How-To

Local Robot Vacuum Video: Valetudo 2026.08.0 Setup Guide

Enable local-only vacuum camera streaming on Valetudo supported robots: upgrade to 2026.08.0, deploy duststreamer, HTTP/jsmpeg paths, and LAN privacy hardening.

Aug 16, 2026
Step-by-step workflow infographic for migrating Home Assistant ZHA to Zigbee2MQTT without re-pairing Zigbee devices in 2026, showing zigbee.db extraction, open-coordinator-backup network key transfer, IEEE address preservation, database.db generation, and MQTT discovery on a local-only privacy-focused smart home network without cloud pairing.
How-To

ZHA to Zigbee2MQTT Migration Guide: No Re-Pairing

Step-by-step guide to migrate Home Assistant ZHA to Zigbee2MQTT without re-pairing: preserve IEEE addresses, network keys, and entity IDs locally.

Aug 14, 2026
Smart home cloud survivability matrix infographic showing WAN-block firewall on an IoT VLAN, protocol paths for Shelly REST, Aqara Zigbee hub, Tuya cloud dependency, TP-Link Tapo local API, and Meross Matter plug with offline survivability scores per ecosystem.
Smart Home Privacy

Smart Home Cloud Survivability Matrix: Local Offline Test

Interactive checklist and database verifying which smart home protocols and devices continue to function during a total WAN/internet outage.

Aug 13, 2026
OPNsense firewall diagram fixing isolated IP camera reboots and RTSP stream drops: NAT redirect for hardcoded NTP on UDP 123 to local chrony server, Pi-hole DNS redirect on port 53 for camera VLAN, Frigate RTSP keep-alive paths from NVR to PoE cameras with blocked WAN egress for privacy-focused local-only surveillance as of August 2026.
How-To

How to Fix Isolated IP Camera Reboots and Stream Drops

Stop isolated IP camera reboots and RTSP stream drops: redirect hardcoded NTP and DNS in OPNsense, tune Pi-hole, and enable Frigate RTSP keep-alives—Aug 2026.

Aug 12, 2026
Privacy Smart Home August 2026 Valetudo rooting compatibility matrix for Roborock and Dreame robot vacuums: OTA laptop exploit tier for legacy S5, Dreame UART breakout PCB with secure-boot firmware gates, Roborock FEL disassembly with SkyHigh NAND lockdown warnings, and MQTT IoT VLAN hardening for cloud-free LiDAR maps.
Buying Guides

Valetudo Rooting Guide: Roborock & Dreame Compatibility Matrix

Step-by-step UART flashing and Roborock disassembly guide with a live compatibility matrix: which valetudo supported robots root via OTA, UART, or FEL—and which are locked.

Aug 11, 2026