How I know I am home
Tom Yarmas
tom at yarmas.com
Fri Jun 5 08:55:32 EDT 2015
Launch Center Pro is an IOS app for the iPhone. When James first wrote up the tutorial on the GeFence stuff someone suggested using Launch Center Pro to execute the url to tell Xtension. I liked it and opted to use it instead GeoFancy or IFTTT which I think was also suggested.
Launch Center Pro costs a small amount, but it does a bunch of things so, I thought I would get my moneys worth.
Good luck.
-tom
> On Jun 4, 2015, at 4:54 PM, George Handley <ghandley at kc.rr.com> wrote:
>
> Hi Tom, and thanks for some good news.
>
> I’m glad to learn that I can probably rule out the AT&T M-Cell as the problem. I didn’t want to climb that ladder anyway. :-)
>
> I am most interested to learn about the Launch Center, and can’t find it on my iMac. Is it a 3rd party App? Is there any way you could give me more detail about Launch Center, and exactly how you use it to do what I’m trying to do?
>
> Thanks,
>
> George
>
>
>> On Jun 4, 2015, at 11:59 AM, Tom Yarmas <tom at yarmas.com <mailto:tom at yarmas.com>> wrote:
>>
>> I use a “mini cell tower” or microcell from AT&T as well since I have virtually no cell reception inside my home. I find that there is no delay connecting to the microcell when I come home. I also do not see much delay in getting on wifi either. Although I have not really tested it much to see how fast it connects. Too often, I find that I turn wifi off on my phone for some reason or other and that’s why it did not connect.
>>
>> I have set up what you are trying to do with Gefancy too. But, I use Launch Center to execute the Xtension script/web connection. I find that it seems to recognize that I have arrived either when I get on my street or into my driveway. I also find that sometimes when my phone is sitting on the kitchen counter, it will execute the script again (meaning that Launch Center decided I just left the geofence). I don’t depend on this and have just been testing for the most part, but I cannot figure out what causes it to think I have moved. I do know that when I drive away from my home, I consistently get Launch Center to recognize that I have left the area.
>>
>> My point is that I doubt the microcell has any effect, it is more about when you pick up wifi and that may depend on a lot of factors, I suppose. I also doubt that the technology (geofence stuff) is quite at the level to be “foolproof”. I think you need to test for several things to determine that you or someone is actually home. My tired and true is that the alarm system in my home is activated or not. Thanks to the work James has done to support the AD2USB device, I can monitor the alarm quite easily now.
>>
>> -tom
>>
>>
>>> On Jun 4, 2015, at 12:43 PM, George Handley <ghandley at kc.rr.com <mailto:ghandley at kc.rr.com>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi Brendan,
>>>
>>> While I admit that is a suspicious possibility, I’m assured by AT&T tech support, that it “should” make it actually faster, but only by seconds at most. Again, that’s what I was “told” by the tech support the outfit that provides it.
>>>
>>> Unfortunately, it’s in a very high location facing a skylight to get satellite reception or transmission… I don’t know.
>>>
>>> I could easily disconnect the net cable to it, but as long as it’s on it, I’m afraid it would still be in the circuit. Still, it just might warrant dragging out the 12’ ladder to try.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> George
>>>
>>>
>>>> On Jun 4, 2015, at 10:36 AM, Brendan O'Dowd <bodowd at yahoo.com <mailto:bodowd at yahoo.com>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I wonder if it is having your own mini- cell tower that is causing the problems.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Brendan.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Jun 4, 2015, at 3:24 PM, George Handley <ghandley at kc.rr.com <mailto:ghandley at kc.rr.com>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Rich,
>>>>>
>>>>> Your entirely different way of doing this needed job intrigues me, as well as being very clever.
>>>>>
>>>>> I would like to know, however, exactly how responsive your system works, as I had some discouraging results yesterday with Geohoppy after the previous day’s total successes.
>>>>>
>>>>> Specifically, there have been a few times over the years I’ve noticed that when I first use my phone at home, even a few times after I’ve been home for almost an hour, that it will start out in LTE, 3G or 4G, and not WIFI from either our Airport Express used here for guests, or our AT&T M-Cell (A mini cell tower with satellite and internet, [Time Warner] access) we have for our phones for best reception.
>>>>>
>>>>> I need a foolproof system to know whether my wife or I or both of us are arriving at home, and I need to know it BEFORE the garage door is opened upon arrival. Geo tags on a set of keys is not a solution.
>>>>>
>>>>> I just ran a discouraging test in that I merely walked down our street three houses watching how fast I would lose our WIFI, and it only took two homes. Even worse than that, as I watched it on the way back, it didn’t revert to our WIFI until I literally was touching the front door knob.
>>>>>
>>>>> I’m going to assume your’s has to work the same way, but I hope I’m wrong, and will sure look forward to your reply.
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>
>>>>> George
>>>>>
>>>>> PS I’ve got it! I just contact the NSA to have chips implanted under our skin! :-)
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> On Jun 3, 2015, at 6:02 PM, rnaleonard <rnaleonard at rcn.com <mailto:rnaleonard at rcn.com>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> When there is motion in selected outside areas like the driveway, and if we are not home, then an external script runs. This script checks the ARP entries for our phones. If either is found, the necessary incantations to update XTension to at home status are issued. My guess is that since the phone(s) have just arrived and are switching from cellular to wi-fi, the ARP tables update immediately. We choose not to let the system determine when we are not home. We have a separate process for that. Here is the external script (with personal identification elements removed and described inside [ ] ). Run the shell script to get the exact entries for your phones. Works every time for us. YMMV. The advantage is that there is no external web service or app involved.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> on arpcheck()
>>>>>> set theMsg to ""
>>>>>> repeat with theCount from 1 to 60
>>>>>> set theResult to do shell script "arp -a"
>>>>>> if theResult contains "? ([Assigned IP for phone 1]) at [MAC address for phone 1] on en0 ifscope [ethernet]" then
>>>>>> set theMsg to "Phone 1 "
>>>>>> end if
>>>>>> if theResult contains "? ([Assigned IP address for phone 2]) at [MAC address for phone 2] on en0 ifscope [ethernet]" then
>>>>>> set theMsg to theMsg & "Phone 2 "
>>>>>> end if
>>>>>> if theMsg is "" then
>>>>>> set theCount to theCount + 1
>>>>>> delay 1
>>>>>> else
>>>>>> exit repeat
>>>>>> end if
>>>>>> end repeat
>>>>>>
>>>>>> tell application "XTension"
>>>>>> write log "Checking for iPhones"
>>>>>> if theMsg is not "" then
>>>>>> set theMsg to theMsg & ": At Home"
>>>>>> [do things here to turn on your at home status]
>>>>>> else
>>>>>> set theMsg to "No iPhones are home"
>>>>>> end if
>>>>>> write log "" & theCount & ": " & theMsg & return & theResult
>>>>>> end tell
>>>>>>
>>>>>> set theMsg to ""
>>>>>> set theResult to ""
>>>>>> end arpcheck
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