I’m looking for a vacuum robot preferably under 500€ and with a cleaning station. My main concern is that most robot vacuum providers seem to need to be connected to the internet. Are there any providers that either don’t need that, where I can block the internet connection or any other way not getting a spy in my home? I’m fine with it if some work is needed

  • ExtremeDullard@lemmy.sdf.org
    1573·
    11 个月前

    “I’m looking for a privacy respecting vacuum robot” must be one of the most dystopian sentences I’ve read in quite some time.

    I mean there is no lack of dystopian stuff going around these days. But if you imagine someone saying that 30 years ago, that someone would have conceivably ended up in a lunatic asylum. In 2024 however, it’s a perfectly valid and apropos question.

    What a sad, sad world we live in…

    • otp@sh.itjust.works
      3·
      11 个月前

      OTOH, “I’d like a TB that doesn’t show me its own ads” would’ve been perfectly predictable.

      People were predicting it as soon as devices other than computers started connecting to the internet. Maybe even before that.

      • brokenlcd@feddit.it
        40·
        11 个月前

        The problem is that they are closed off systems; you need to do full on reverse engineering to even understand what you are dealing with; plus there is the fact that these appliances are expensive and, unlike people modding consoles, there isn’t mutch gained for the majority of users

    • besmtt@lemmy.world
      24·
      11 个月前

      +1 for Valetudo! I’ve installed it once via OTA and twice by FEL. The OTA was obviously a breeze, but FEL wasn’t that bad. I just watched videos on YouTube for the disassembly and took my time doing each step. I love the UI and the fact that I can SSH into them just for the sheer coolness of it! I think one great thing about it is that it doesn’t affect the software that the robot uses for all its tasks and functions (e.g. vacuuming, mopping, sensors), just that it replaced the cloud and runs it on device.

      • brokenlcd@feddit.it
        20·
        11 个月前

        No problem; do note that in most cases you are going to need to open the vacuum to access the serial interface; so make sure you are comfortable with doing that and that you have the necessary adapters… That last one bit me on numerous projects

    • Salix@sh.itjust.works
      2·
      11 个月前

      I use a Dreametech L10 Pro with Valetudo and absolutely love it!

      It is quite nice to be able to map your whole house for the vacuum in your own cloud rather provide a 3rd party that data.

    • skimm@lemmy.sdf.orgAfrikaans
      11·
      11 个月前

      I’d definitely recommended valetudo, but wanted to mention that eufy has some easily repairable non WiFi vacs that work reasonably well with no smart features. Eufy has a rough track record regarding privacy with their other smart products but can’t spy without a connection.

  • Filtatos@lemmy.world
    541·
    11 个月前

    You can check out Valetudo. It is a custom firmware you can flash on many robot vacuum cleaners. Think of it as a layer between the robot and the manufacturer’s cloud that exposes the robot’s capabilities locally thus making the connection with manufacturer’s cloud redundant. There is a section with supported robots and instructions on their site making it very easy to install.

  • bionicjoey@lemmy.ca
    9·
    11 个月前

    You could get one of the older models where they don’t connect to the internet and instead just bumble around bumping into stuff until the place is clean

  • JoeKrogan@lemmy.world
    9·
    11 个月前

    I have an ecovacs deebot n79S and it just uses a remote. You put it on auto and let it do its thing. The pathfinding isn’t great but it does the job and you can manually control it if needs be. There is an option for connecting an app but thats not happening. As long as it comes with a remote you should be good.

    I should also add that its easy to clean and pop the front wheel and rear brush out as well as the 2 spinning brushes. The dust compartment slides out easily too.

    We have had it for about 2 years so far and it still runs fine.

  • dd56English
    73·
    11 个月前

    Remind me in 1 day

  • rustydomino@lemmy.worldEnglish
    106·
    11 个月前

    Another approach is rather than worry about whether the robot or IoT device is respecting your privacy, set up your network to be segmented with VLANs so that the IoT devices can only reach the internet and nothing else on your network. Then just provide fake info for setting up accounts with the IoT devices.

    • Xavienth@lemmygrad.ml
      8·
      11 个月前

      Isn’t the whole idea that they’re using the internet to relay information about the layout of your home

    • Atemu@lemmy.ml
      5·
      11 个月前

      That mitigates a rather minimal leak while ignoring the gaping black data hole.

    • pearsaltchocolatebar@discuss.online
      3·
      11 个月前

      I do the reverse. My IoT devices that I didn’t make myself get shut out of communicating with anything but Home Assistant.

      I’ll let them have internet access if there’s a firmware update, but that’s it. Anything that requires an internet connection to work doesn’t get purchased.

      • SergeantScar@lemmy.world
        2·
        11 个月前

        … I may need a tutorial on doing this… My HA works great, but I have a ton of Hue in my house from before and really like the bulbs and stuff… It would be nice to block those off from the Internet… Is that doable on the router or do I need to upgrade my network (been thinking about doing some upgrades anyways).

        • pearsaltchocolatebar@discuss.online
          3·
          11 个月前

          The easiest way is to put your IoT devices on the guest network and block internet access to the network, but you could do firewall rules if your router allows that.

          Or, get a home lab router instead of consumer grade. I went with MikroTik, and it’s a great bang for your buck. It’s not too dissimilar from Cisco in the cli, but the GUI is nice too.

    • soloner@lemmy.world
      31·
      11 个月前

      I like this approach cuz it plays ball and can be reused for a number of products. Could have an “appliances” network and make a reusable fake “appliances” identity for any device that wants to IoT.

  • eramseth@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    11 个月前

    I’ve had several brands. I’m sure none were privacy respecting. But beyond that they’re all crap. They all break down and end up requiring near constant maintenance. They also don’t do a very good job of vacuuming.

    Better off getting a half decent vacuum (extra points if it uses bags because… Bagless is fucking stupid) and for little clean up jobs get a manual sweeper like some restaurants use.

  • LainOfTheWired@lemy.lolEnglish
    510·
    11 个月前

    Why don’t you get a shark vacuum cleaner. Honesty those make vacuuming kinda fun( it even has headlights!). You can stick some headphones on, listen to some music you like, and you even get some exercise! And you can still vacuum when the WiFi goes out!

    Now if you’re disabled or something I understand the need for a robot, but otherwise you could save a ton of money, get exercise, and have zero privacy concerns.

    • wreckedcarzz@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7·
      11 个月前

      Ha, you mentioned my use case: disability. I got my first robot as a ‘this is cool’ curiosity, and to try and take a bit of the burden of running a household + working + supporting two disabled adult children off my folks. It gives me a small manageable task (maintain the robot) and gives them ~90 minutes of their time back to work on other things like budgeting or meal prep, or relax for a bit after coming home from work.

      7 years later (and 6 robot models; run awayyyyy from irobot or shark models!), and they’ve only had to pull out the manual vacuum twice. Though I prioritize cleaning ability over privacy concerns, seeing as if they have to vacuum regularly, the robot has no value to me.