Hi
I want to buy a remotted lock and the one intereting me is available with Tuya or ewelink.
I don’t like Tuya because internet is needed and I don’t like being dependant or leak of personal informations.
I don’t know ewelink. Does it need internet or is it just local wi-fi?
They don’t talk about this in their web site.
Usually I prefere Zigbee to avoid all this problems but the product I’m looking for is not available with this protocol.
Best regard.
Lots of stuff runs with local wifi or global wifi but I don’t think they sell a lock? Maybe it is a new product I did not hear of.
hi
As far as I know, eWeLink is less reliant on the Internet compared with Tuya. And its devices generally would have an option in the setting allowing you to control them locally.
Once you get them paired, they should work well without wan connected.
It depends on the specific device and its use pattern. Generally, ewelink needs the Internet.
Only some Sonoff devices have a LAN mode that allows operation without the Internet.
In addition, without at least an iHost, many devices without the Internet will not be able to access and operate the scenes.
Since the device is supposedly Wi-Fi, theoretically there may be a chance for operation in LAN mode, but it may as well not be possible.
However, without the Internet, the device will definitely not be able to be controlled via scenes.
I advise you to carefully verify the specific device model, the scope of its functions, and the need for interaction with the ewelink ecosystem. Because it may quickly turn out after purchase that without access to the Internet, its functionality decreases by 90%.
If the device is WiFi, any operation of the device via ewelink scenes will be impossible without Internet access. Even if the device is compatible with ewelink and can be added and supports LAN mode, the problem of lack of local scenes will still remain…
The lack of local scenes in offline mode is very harmful to functionality.
A simple example, Sonoff RF Bridge, RF remote, Scene ewelink… The bridge has LAN support and it works when there is no Internet, but so what if all the variables that are needed to control the behavior are per cloud and when there is no Internet, control anything via RF Remote and RF bridge do not work, and in the LAN network in LAN mode there are both intelligent sockets and the mentioned bridge, so what if the devices have active LAN mode if they cannot be controlled according to the scene diagram. And manual operation of the device via an application is not a solution in such a situation because it contradicts the point of “automation”. 
Yes, zigbee using iHost or Pro bridge is supposed to support local scenes, but for rf and wifi it is still a hopeless situation.
Yes, you can theoretically go towards HA, Node, etc. for local automation or experiment with iHost, but this is a separate expedition into the unknown for the OP.
As they were talking about a door lock I suspect they were talking about accessing it locally using a phone on the same network rather than a scene. Pretty sure most devices don’t have enough memory to save local scenes. The iHost runs scenes locally as long as the device has a local mode. Same is true of the Home Assistant integration. The Zigbee Bridge Pro runs a certain number of Zigbee only scenes locally. Pretty sure it’s limited by memory. I think the default NS Panel Pro is Zigbee only too but could run wifi ones locally too if you installed the Android Debug Bridge and the Node Red APK. Not entirely sure why local scenes involving wifi can’t run by default (if they don’t) on the NS Panel Pro, as it’s relatively powerful. Everything else makes sense. Maybe they could make a scene app that runs on old phones like their camera one… personally if I was automating something as important as a door lock I’d buy either an iHost or a Home Assistant setup after checking the door lock had a local mode and then firewall it from the outside world so it couldn’t be hacked.
Years ago I used a Sonoff basic switch with the existing electrical 12 v doorlock. You need to add a relay because Sonoff works on 230 and the lock is 12 . In the router I blocked access to the internet for this switch, so it can only be used from the wifi. You might need to add an access point for enough signal outside.
In such a situation, iHost is the solution.
Sure, but…
I was considering purchasing it, but observing the number of potential problems people have and the relatively high price considering what you get in return, it is not the best solution, although in many respects it is one of the few.
That’s why I was and am more interested in CUBE and not specifically iHost, I don’t need such a box, but I can host CUBE myself without any problem. The problem, of course, is that CUBE is not available to the masses in this form and only iHost.
In addition, I still have some doubts about certain functions and compatibility of iHost with my needs… a CUBE simulator would be useful.
It’s quite clear imho that iHost is primarily a zigbee ecosystem, I mainly have a mix of rf433 and wifi and extensive scenes.