Accessing Hubitat VIA the Internet (Remotely)

yeah that's how i found it, it's quite buried.

3 Likes

Because they would rather you chose the paid route even by mistake. :wink:

1 Like

Good Evening All.
Today has been a busy day and I made several decisions regarding the VPN server solution.

To begin, I have had a bad experience with Teamviewer. MANY, Many, many years ago they had a security breach and anyone who had changed the rotating password to a static password was lost to hackers. I learned of this breach quickly and changed my password without incident, but to this day that old password associated with a now defuncted email address is still posted out on the dark web someplace. Every now and then I ask Security Experts to look for that old info and they confirm they were about to find it. So, using Teamviewer, keeping a remote port open just would not work for me.

Today, I went back to my Junk Box and found the old Raspberry PI 3+. I reformatted the SD card that was in it and re-build the PI. Next, I installed IPVPN, using the OPENVPN configuration.

I have not had a chance to test everything at this moment, but thatā€™s a task for tomorrow.

Thanks for responding, I appreciate all the thoughts.
Bill

It would be great if the upcoming paid hub protection service offered the ability to access and update your hub configuration from the internet. I run my corporate VPN all day which disables access to my LAN (not that I would ever be messing with my hub during working hours :wink:). I have RealVNC configured but it would be so much easier if I could just log into a web portal.

1 Like

I have OpenVPN installed on my iPhone using PiVPN and an RPi. I can't figure out how to use it to access my Hubitat Apps and Devices remotely. Am I on the right track? I have Linksys Velop WiFi 6 routers in my house and I'm not really wanting to use a different SIM router if that's possible. I have the port forwarding for the OVPN set to the RPi that I'm using. Should I forward some port to the Hubitat Hub?

Is your OpenVPN app making a connection? If so, you should just be able to connect to your hub by entering the hubā€™s IP address into a browser.

Hi @bcopeland and all on this thread. Sorry to open it again but just want a bit of clarification. You will probably be able to tell that I am not a real network guy by the question I ask :slight_smile:

I have a second home with an Asus router. I currently have two ports opened - one to access the router itself and one to access a IP camera. They both have passwords when trying to get into their specific port addresses. I have moved my main home over from ST to Hubitat and now need to do it to my second home. I will really need to access my Hub remotely.

If I password protect my Hub is that not enough safety to open a port for remote accessing it?

ASUS routers make it really easy to setup both an OpenVPN server, and dynamic DNS built into the router...

1 Like

I use the DDNS setup in my Asus router, then open a couple of ports and have devices that are password protected at those ports. It sounds like VPN is very secure. I have never used or configured VPN's but I'm pretty sure if it available in the Asus router I could trudge my way through it. But I ask again:

Would a hacker have to figure out my hub password to proceed or by the very nature of opening a port they can somehow bypass the Hub all together and gain access to my network?

I'm trying to use Habitat to replace SmartThings. I need to be able to control my house from thousands of km away like I could do with SmartThings using a few taps on an app on my phone. Teamviewer or VNC are just not reasonable alternatives. What I specifically want to be able to do remotely:-
Add and remove lock codes so I can allow AirBnB guests to get in.
Remotely open/close the garage door
Adjust the temperature on the thermostat when there is no-one at home

So far none of these suggestions will work for me. There needs to be a better answer or I'll be moving away from Hubitat

These two tasks are simple to do with built-in dashboards, no other workarounds needed.

This is more of an administrative task and may require a solution that allows for access to the hubā€™s admin interface, like a VPN. Iā€™m not hugely familiar with smart locks and how to change/update codes, so itā€™s conceivable thereā€™s a way to do this without having to directly access the hubā€™s admin interface.

2 Likes

Thanks @marktheknife so if you are saying that app functionality could add the lock code feature to the dashboard this would be perfect for me. Can anyone suggest how this can be done?

My guess would be itā€™s not possible to change lock codes from the dashboard directly (though my experience with locks is limited).

Someone else may have a better idea than me though.

I believe this feature was added by the use of variables to dashboards and rule machine. I'm sure it was something that one of the HE team showed in one of their YouTube videos. I don't have locks so can't test. I would have a look at their channel (they are worth a watch anyway) and see if there is something on there.

1 Like

Yep, I remember that live chat. I think it was Bruce that showed it. I want to say it was from last year (2019)?

Here is the youtube channel.

3 Likes

There was something on Hubitat Live! (as alluded to by @BorrisTheCat and @neonturbo), but I can't find it right now. That being said, I know that @damon.dinsmore posted instructions on how to do it using variables. Here is a link to his post:

3 Likes

For the least path of resistance, I used to use TeamViewer on my windows server (where I run Plex as well), but have actually migrated over to Chrome Remote Desktop. It's a bit lower in quality, less features, etc. but for what I need it is great, and to be frank the Mobile (iOS) client is fantastic in bringing in both Mouse or Touch support to be able to do something from your small phone.

1 Like

@jacobwtyler I have the same hardware as you. Were you able to get this working, any suggestions before I set up PiVPN on a RPi? Did you have to do anything special on your Velop?

Yeah everything is working perfectly now

I used the OpenVPN with my Asus router. its just like being on my home network from anywhere. using my hubitat is just one thing. allows me to remote into one of my computers and watch my home cable. access my home Nas to store videos of grandbaby. whatever I an do from home I can do from states away. I can do it from my computer or android cellphone. just one click away.

3 Likes