I'd like to send some sort of message to my phone when my system senses certain conditions.
I'm currently using an iPhone and I'm on TMobile.
I don't want to use email since those notifications don't really get my attention very well.
I've seen posts that say to use Telegram, others recommending a service called pushover, and few suggesting SMS via my carrier's SMS bridge.
I also see a number of nodes in the library when I look into push notifications.
It's a lot of info to take in and I don't see lots of info to help me sort through it all to select an option.
So I'd like to find out what is the general wisdom from the Node Red userbase?
Hi I recommend telegram. Works well. Had lots of help info, built in example flows (CTRL+I ->examples), it is kept up to date by developers & there are hundreds of forum threads to get help from.
Like Steve, I recommend using Telegram. I've never had any problems with it once set up and I have several different bots now. I also use a standard little flow that lets me send something to an MQTT topic and it will be formatted properly with the last part of the topic taken off and used as a title. The rest of the topic defines which bot it goes to. That is for simple alerting. I have more complex flows that handle things like querying the status of the lights and heating, turning lights on/off, etc.
I'd had problems with pushover in the past so stopped using it. I don't like SMS. For starters, there didn't really used to be any reasonable free options in the UK other than via email, it also isn't terribly secure.
With Telegram, you pretty much get the security for free. While not as secure as Signal, it is very much easier to deal with and is certainly going to be more secure than faffing with trying to put a web interface over the Internet. You also get the messages on any number of devices at the same time and there are no real limits to the number of messages you can send for free. And you can have a bot in a group or a one-on-one dialogue (or indeed both).
To get going, use the node-red-contrib-telegram node and work through the simple examples first to get a feel for how things work. The terminology and the steps are really confusing to begin with so take it slow and steady. You will soon be a Telegram Bot Master
By the way, for home automation, I tend to have two bots. One is quite "chatty". I have that connected but muted and it lets me see what is going on. The other is fairly sullen, rather like a teenage boy It only says something when it is really important and is more family friendly.
Fair enough. When I first tried it, it had terrible problems dealing with message volume but I'm sure it has moved on. Also, I'm not familiar with the security model of Pushover but I am with Telegram.
I wasn't super worried about security right now since I'll only be sending messages, my deployment is about home monitoring.
But considering security may not be a terrible idea since I am considering ways I could roll my own version of a Nest or Ring doorbell camera.
There are things I'm an uber geek at and I have enough experience to appreciate how nice it can be to just be a muggle
I think I'll look into Pushover as a start and then look into Telegram.
I also think I'll do a bit more digging into using my carrier's email to SMS bridge as a backup mechanism for cases where I need to do something like have the server send a notification to my wife or perhaps a house-sitter.
Your provider's MMS to Email gateway has the major virtue that if you are also pushing notifications to your wife and/or others (relatives, neighbors when on vacation etc.), you don't need to install anything on their phones or show them how to use it.
If its just you. it won't matter as long as you are happy with it.
It only says something when it is really important and is more family friendly.
