Your washing machine could be sending 3.7 GB of data a day — LG washing machine owner disconnected his device from Wi-Fi after noticing excessive outgoing daily data traffic
www.tomshardware.comThe owner was puzzled why a clothes washer would need so much data.
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Who would buy a washing machine with internet access? Why? Not feeling like you are giving enoigh of your privacy and personal data to Google or FB or Apple? They should just sign up to TikTok, much cheaper.
I don’t have even money for such washing machines haha
Which software did he used to monitor the data usages?
Edit: nvm, looks like it’s priority one from Asus
Would be funny as fuck if they were using these devices as Bitcoin miners.
Hackers have used wind turbine farms as bitcoin miners. It’s not that far fetched.
woohoo high tech everything is the best
You mean 3.7kg of load right?
Right? …
Bloatware has spiraled out of control. It’s a consequence of coding becoming easy and accessible. Programming is no longer the domain of idealistic nerds. It is possible for anyone to make garbage tech wares.
Wait, wait, wait. Let’s not aim at the wrong thing. Programming becoming accessible is a great, and is not the cause of bloat. Bloat is not even something that can be easily pointed to a single cause, and a lot of things played a role, like poor tech education, companies not giving a fuck and relying on hardware replacement, lack of regulations, big tech corporations having practically monopolies and no incentive to create better products, the high demands of timing for projects, etc.
Not to mention plain old fashioned bad management.
I’ve been looking for a breast pump recently - I’d like electric so I don’t have to manually pump. All of the ones I could find in the shop required an app to connect to the device. Why? What purpose does that serve me? I’d have to make an account, accept needless permissions and cookies and give them access to very personal data about my boobs and milk production - I went with a manual one instead
It could be a cost issue. A chip that collects data from connected sensors and sends it via Wifi is small and cheap. Adding a display and buttons ads size, complexitiy and costs. Therefore manufacturers offload the interface to an app and a device you already own, and they can update without expensive recalls.
If the task or device is more complicated and the device would also need it’s own storage, CPU, display, sound etc. the product costs could go up by hundreds of dollars, depending on functionality and how many units they plan to ship.
I also hate apps. Still have my 2010 smartphone in a drawer that still turns on, however it;s useless because google playstore, maps and email now used an more modern SSL standard that this phone does not support anymore, and it won’t receive any updates. I expect the same will happen to a lot of devices that are controlled by apps when the manufacturer decides he won’t support it anymore, or Google breaks the app because some new protocol must be supported now that didn’t exist 2 years ago when the app came out.
Lets not pretend that it isn’t about data collection though. If they cared about protecting my data, they’d spend a little more money and either make 0.1% less profit or pass the cost onto the consumer
Have you checked out Medela, we used one of those a couple years back and there was no app involved. No data collection, just plug it in and go.
Thanks for the recommendation
I’m guessing so the Republicans can punish you for being reproductive in an unapproved way? Is why they require attaching to the internet?
Fortunately I’m not in the US so I actually have reproductive rights
The spectra is both the highest rated and it doesn’t use an app. We have the one with the battery and it is so so convenient and easy to use.
Thanks for the recommendation
Any device that requires an app to function is an immediate deal breaker for me. Same for most things that require “the cloud” to work. Garage door openers, doorbell or other cameras, cooking appliances, door locks, cars, even a basic pedometer to name a few. All of these things will only work temporarily until the company decides it’s end of life for any reason.
Yes, that’s another reason. I’m reliant on the app for the device to function - if they stop supporting it, the company goes bankrupt, my wifi cuts out - I now have a very expensive piece of plastic.
Do not buy BS internet connected devices period. There was a time when internet connected devices did exactly they were supposed to do and nothing more. There is literally no reason why most of these devices can’t act as their own server and keep your data local and private. Corporations have become far too greedy to trust their cloud won’t sell you out in every way it can. The ONLY two reasons a manufacturer adds internet connectivity are:
To monitor and collect as much data as possible and/or:
To implement a subscription service for something that normally wouldn’t require monthly payments.
Corporate closed clouds have proven time and time again that they can’t be trusted.
I do home automation… And no, its not…
They do it because everyone wants to control these appliances when away from home. And port forwarding isn’t an awesome idea honestly.
A lot of the devices we used to port forward honestly, ended up getting hacked because of out of date firmware or whatever
As much as I dislike cloud stuff. The cloud is by far the easiest solution for support and average users.
Your not dealing with end users calling in and having to diagnose why two devices on their network are not talking to each other.
As long as both your devices have Internet it will work.
Bob! Is it still spinning?.. yeah Fred! Hold on I think this cycle is almost over…get ready folks! A few more seconds and the bets will close!
3, 2, 1!!! And the winner is…! Drum roll please!
Green tipped socks!!!
Meanwhile at the Vegas Casino… I got it! Look! I got the bonus roll! All green tipped socks!
If you bought a washing machine that needs Internet access you are a fucking idiot.
They don’t need wifi, so no, you’re not an idiot if you buy one and just leave it disconnected
But you are an idiot if you buy one that NEEDS wifi to function.
Can you share a washing machine that only works with wifi?
Why pay for features you aren’t going to use?
Most of them don’t have non-wifi variants, at least not that I know of
I have a Speed Queen washer and dryer. Quality products don’t rely on gimmicks, they do their job.
Verbosity level 99999
It’s over 9000!
My heat pump can be controlled by an app but it all goes through an external web page for some reason so I noped out of it.
The reason is so you can control it from anywhere without setting up port forwarding and a static IP. Most people don’t understand, or can be bothered, doing that. I get why you don’t like it, I wouldn’t like it either, but it’s not some conspiracy.
It would be far better if somebody sold a single VPN device for the mass public to be able to access home devices. Something wireguard based could be so simple for people to use. Even better if your ISP had this as a standard feature which they made easy to setup Then none of these devices would have an excuse to go out to the company’s servers. Any that did would be obviously spying and they could be shamed.
Better yet if the lasy ass ISPs would move over to IPv6, ditch CG-NAT and give static addresses for all. I suspect there is a deeper issue as I believe that even on IPv6, mobile phone internet is still hidden behind CG-NAT.
Doesn’t wireguard’s zero config work by relaying through an outside web service? Seems like the LG solution with extra steps.
Yeah, when I bought mine I saw to it, that it had a local API. That’s a buying requirement by now.
Check yours, often they speak at least modbus TCP and then one can hack something with HomeAssistant.
How to check this? I’ve got an LG heat pump…
It was in the manual. There’s an extra piece you connect inside and an app.
Smart devices are great, but if it’s not Zigbee or Zwave and Home Assistant, it can fuck off.
Zwave chips are all made by one company, and the old ones can’t be updated against a newer vulnerability.
But each to their own
I like my devices to be dumb but be able to function without internet.
What do Zigbee and Swave do better than others? Btw Tasmota is cool too
I’m a little new to this stuff myself, but basically those devices are robust enough to get the job done but also simple enough that they don’t do anything else. I have Z-Wave for my shades, a temperature/humidity sensor, a tilt sensor for my garage door, a relay for the opener, and a light switch/scene controller for some physical button shortcuts. Very different things, and I don’t need an app from each manufacturer. Each device also creates a mesh network with one another, so these devices can have a pretty low-power, low overhead radio for battery life and still work pretty well even if you’re reaching far away from your hub.
I haven’t used Zigbee but I understand it works pretty similarly. They seem to have some pretty cheap scene controllers so I was thinking of getting on that bandwagon (my shades were Z-Wave and that’s what got me into this rabbit hole so I’ve been using that to start)
Also, an honorable mention for TP-Link’s Kasa series. Hardware is pretty solid and while I do need their app to get a device going, it’s made pretty well and integrates nicely to Home Assistant. Now if only they’ll put out that fan controller they announced a year ago and haven’t given a meaningful update over since!
Zigbee and zwave are fully local. They can’t decide to phone home over the protocols without your consent. The hubs can if they are wifi connected but that’s a different issue.
Anything on a network, be it wifi or Ethernet, can (attempt to) phone home without any use intervention, and without a wifi connected hub.
Believe it or not, you can set up wifi or ethernet in your home without any access to the internet.
Yes, and you can also set up plumbing without connecting it to a water source. It’s just not the norm.
Though I admit it’s more likely to have a segregated network than plumbing without water.
They cannot access the internet because they need a bridge to work. The bridge can be open source software like Zigbee2MQTT.
Picturing Paul Hibbard looking at you in a way that says “hate yourself too, eh?”
What program is that?
Seems like the interface for the router. Asus rog gaming router.
pfsense can do traffic monitoring too but idk if it can track devices like this.
Looks like Synthetics and Cottons at 60° and 1200RPM. But my guess is that all programs will send data.
asus’s router webui
I don’t understand the craze of slapping wifi or bluetooth connectivity to everything without giving proper thought. Cameras, television, vehicles, coffee pots, medical devices, laundry machines, hipster juicers… what’s next? Is my salt shaker going to have it?
Something something “the internet of things is the future”…
And the bad part is that it is being forced upon us. You can’t even find non-smart TVs to buy anymore.
I wouldn’t be surprised if appliances come with their own data plan, because the data they collect is valuable.
That’s a great idea! You can check your salt levels while at work or on vacation. You could even have your salt shaker automatically order more salt from Amazon when the level got too low. Or how about you program your maximum daily salt intake so it closes up when it’s reached.
So much potential!
Not even a little far-fetched
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Every washing machine I’ve owned for the last 30 years has had a delayed start function and I’ve never used it once, if that simple function is useless I donno what else a WiFi connection could offer
I do use the timer delay to run the wash cycle when the power is cheap. I’d really like it if I could set it as “ready to go” and something else give it the “go” when the power is cheap.
Once I have that, it’s also useful to have something to tell me there’s wet washing that needs to be unloaded.
If my washing machine was older I could do all of this with a remote power switch and sensor, but because my washing machine has touch buttons instead of click/clacks, I can’t. Turning the power on just makes it wait for a button press.
Ok setting the delay for off peak electricity actually does make a bit of sense
Notify you when a cycle is done, but you could do that with a vibration sensor over zigbee and home assistant, or an outlet power monitor.
People simply don’t understand there are other low-band wireless local communication protocols other than wifi and maybe IR, and that is completely taken advantage of by companies who deal in user data.
That’s so odd to me, too. I’m notified when the buzzer goes off. I would hear the buzzer before I heard my phone.
And who needs to be notified immediately when a cycle is done? I’m lucky if my laundry doesn’t sit there for hours after I’ve heard the buzzer and said to myself, I should do that laundry.
I had a WiFi enabled range and the only remotely useful thing it could do was send my phone a notification when the timer went off.
It could preheat the oven via the app too but I wasn’t too keen on turning on my oven when I wasn’t near it.
I have a wifi enabled AC unit. It also has a remote control.
No, I have never used wifi to control it. Why would I? It has a remote control.
Delayed start, but from your phone, via their totally-not-tracking-infested app. That’s why it needs wifi.
Not sure if I need the /s but here it is just to be sure.