First thing I do when I get a smart appliance is scan it with nmap. This has revealed some interesting Easter eggs, like my Davis instruments air quality sensors having a local REST API.
Doing the usual scan against my GE washer and dryer shows that port 53 is listening. What could that be for? Is there a way I can at least query their status locally or something?
When I got the washer and dryer I was excited about the smart home features because getting an alert when my laundry is done or starting the washer remotely so the clothes are done when I get home are genuinely useful features. However, last time I checked the app none of that was available, so I just have these Trojan horses in my home spying on me with no benefit in exchange. Their app wanted my freaking mailing address when I signed up for their mandatory account, so the features mentioned above are the least they could offer in exchange for my digital soul. But I digress.
My fridge is in a similar situation. It commits the additional cardinal sin of ONLY being controllable via the app, with no on-board temp or filter status indicators whatsoever.
Upon installation LG’s app helpfully informed me that to be notified that my LG refrigerator temperature is high or my washer’s cycle is complete I am expected to inform a Korean company of my exact location at all times. The reason LG gives for this bullshit is “analytics”. There is no way in hell.
I disconnected my LG appliances from wifi, deleted their spyware from my phone and duplicated the functions with Home Assistant. A couple of inexpensive sensors and a power monitoring plug provide almost all same functions without getting Korea (or the Internet) involved at all. Surprisingly this setup is much more reliable than LG’s spyware too.
Which sensors did you use? I like how the oven can display how many minutes left, same with the laundry stuff.
For the washer a smart plug with power monitoring. The current draw goes to almost zero when the cycle’s finished. A Zigbee vibration sensor for the dryer and temperature sensor for the fridge. All in they were less than $20.
That’s called a CCD ;-)
Learned something today, thanks! CCD is the type of screen that’s likely on these types of devices.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge-coupled_device