Newbee questions to startup

[WollyCGN]

Hello Domiticz Experts,

I'm sitting in germany/cologne and starting with smart home. Because of non cloud based automation (mostly china) I flashed my devices with Tasmota.
So far this works fine except a smal issue with Alrilux LC-06, but this is another story.

I've god knowledge with Windows, Linux and networking, 2 Windows Servers with each 32GB RAM are running and I can setup any virtual machine as well.

Now, starting with Tasmota and looking for a ´wife friendy´ UI, some people recommend Domoticz and I'm really confused.
Starting up with smart home there are only two devices involved. Gosund SP1 and Arilux LC-06.

My first and most important question is: ´Do I need a MQTT Broker and why?` For my childlike understanding I need a server based software with a WebUI, define a device (i.e. Gosund SP1), giving the IP-Address and DONE!

But I can't get this to work. I'm also confused about the MQTT and Domoticz settings inside the Tasmota UI.
- Do I need both or only one of them?
- What is the shortest way to implement.
- - MQTT Broker and MQTT settings in Tasmota
- - Domoticz settings in Tasmota and NO MQTT Broker

Also I tried to install EMQ X Broker on Windows with a lot of errors, so I removed it because not wasting my time for fixing something I do not understand.

Can someone please point me to a step-by-step information or at least show my the way to proceed?

Thanks a lot and regards from Cologne
... and sorry for wasting your time with this, but I'm flushed with to many informations to see the straight way.

[sancla]

Hi WollyCGN,

First of all, welcome to Domoticz and the Domoticz forum.
You are going to love this platform .

Now, regarding wife friendly, it's my advise to always keep a big red "emergency only" box of chocolates on standby.
Just in case, you know how it works .

For the MQTT part.
You could use it, you do not have to.
If you are knew to Domoticz it could all be a little overwhelming, adding complexity with MQTT is perhaps not necessary.

Basically, MQTT is like a post-office with many post boxes. These mailboxes have been further categorized and named, so we can group them.
Devices, like those with Tasmota (or ESP Easy) can check in their latest temperature values for example.
Now, Domoticz in turn is subscribed to the specific topic (or post box) and basically get's a heads-up by the MQTT service that a new value has been posted.
And now Domoticz knows the latest temperature value and translates this to his own platform.

The cool thing about MQTT is the incredible efficiency with which it can distribute these kinds of short messages between devices and thereby connect different disciplines, techniques and devices. MQTT is really a 'lean and mean' platform, but bares a nice little GUI interface. This is where Domoticz can add value.

There is a lot more to this as we still need to instruct Domoticz to find the right topic and sensor data and how to translate this data to their corresponding devices. As said before, it could be a little overwhelming at first.
To configure a Tasmota device and Domoticz, perhaps this documentation can further guide you with your endeavors:
https://github.com/arendst/Tasmota/wiki/Domoticz

Last tip: Don't give up. It can be a steep learning curve but once you get the hang of it, it's a whole new world of possibilities...
And keep those chocolates on standby hahaha

[sancla]

Hi WollyCGN,

First of all, welcome to Domoticz and the Domoticz forum.
You are going to love this platform .

Now, regarding wife friendly, it's my advise to always keep a big red "emergency only" box of chocolates on standby.
Just in case, you know how it works .

For the MQTT part.
You could use it, you do not have to.
If you are knew to Domoticz it could all be a little overwhelming, adding complexity with MQTT is perhaps not necessary.

Basically, MQTT is like a post-office with many post boxes. These mailboxes have been further categorized and named, so we can group them.
Devices, like those with Tasmota (or ESP Easy) can check in their latest temperature values for example.
Now, Domoticz in turn is subscribed to the specific topic (or post box) and basically get's a heads-up by the MQTT service that a new value has been posted.
And now Domoticz knows the latest temperature value and translates this to his own platform.

The cool thing about MQTT is the incredible efficiency with which it can distribute these kinds of short messages between devices and thereby connect different disciplines, techniques and devices. MQTT is really a 'lean and mean' platform, but bares a nice little GUI interface. This is where Domoticz can add value.

There is a lot more to this as we still need to instruct Domoticz to find the right topic and sensor data and how to translate this data to their corresponding devices. As said before, it could be a little overwhelming at first.
To configure a Tasmota device and Domoticz, perhaps this documentation can further guide you with your endeavors:
https://github.com/arendst/Tasmota/wiki/Domoticz

Last tip: Don't give up. It can be a steep learning curve but once you get the hang of it, it's a whole new world of possibilities...
And keep those chocolates on standby hahaha

Also, if you are looking for some guides, there are many to the found on the Domoticz wiki and on my personal site (I made a couple of step-by-step guides with screenshots)...