# Smart home in an RV

**URL:** <https://community.homey.app/t/smart-home-in-an-rv/106209>\
**Category:** Questions & Help\
**Tags:** homey-pro\
**Created:** [March 13, 2024, 4:35pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/smart-home-in-an-rv/106209 "2024-03-13T16:35:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![John\_Cooper](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/john_cooper/32/79366_2.png) [@John\_Cooper](https://community.homey.app/u/John_Cooper)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 4:35pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/smart-home-in-an-rv/106209/1 "2024-03-13T16:35:10Z")

</div>

New to home automation and have a million questions. Currently debating between a Homey Pro and Home Assistant. Have some Raspberry experience so that would not be totally new teritory.

Questions

1. Will not have internet most of the time so I understand that the homey Pro will be 100% functional without the internet, is this correct? I understand that it will need to connect occasionally for updates and if I want remote access.

2. Since it has WiFi on board and I plan on using it in a stand alone configuration, will I need a wifi router in the motorhome or will all the devices connect directly to the Homey Pro?

3. I really want voice command capabilities, would this be accomplished with a Amazon Dot or Google assistant?

4. my main objective is lighting and security in the motorhome. Does this sound like a good fit?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![robertklep](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/robertklep/32/160628_2.png) [@robertklep](https://community.homey.app/u/robertklep)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 4:46pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/smart-home-in-an-rv/106209/2 "2024-03-13T16:46:39Z")

</div>

> [@John\_Cooper](#):
>
> - Will not have internet most of the time so I understand that the homey Pro will be 100% functional without the internet, is this correct?

As opposed to Home Assistant, Homey and its apps will need regular connections to the internet, otherwise its authentication token expires and you won’t be able to control it anymore. Athom has stated that once every two weeks should be sufficient, but as we’ve seen earlier this week with a big cloud server outage, Homey’s authentication and discovery mechanism are prone to issues that will cause your Homey to be inaccessible by the apps.

> [@](#):
>
> - Since it has WiFi on board and I plan on using it in a stand alone configuration, will I need a wifi router in the motorhome or will all the devices connect directly to the Homey Pro?

Zigbee, Z-Wave and RF devices will be connected directly, devices that use WiFi obviously need a WiFi access point and possibly an internet connection if the devices use vendor cloud services.

Also, you would need a local WiFi network to be able to control Homey from its app.

> [@](#):
>
> - I really want voice command capabilities, would this be accomplished with a Amazon Dot or Google assistant?

Those will require internet access, since most of the processing is done in the cloud.

> [@](#):
>
> - my main objective is lighting and security in the motorhome. Does this sound like a good fit?

Homey isn’t a security system (but neither is Home Assistant). Lighting shouldn’t be a problem (but to be honest, I think Homey is overkill for just that).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![John\_Cooper](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/john_cooper/32/79366_2.png) [@John\_Cooper](https://community.homey.app/u/John_Cooper)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 7:25pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/smart-home-in-an-rv/106209/3 "2024-03-13T19:25:18Z")

</div>

Robert, thank you for the information.

A little disappointing about the connectivity issues.

Just so I understand, either Alexa or Google home will need a constant internet connection to work. If I have a local wifi with no internet that would not be enough?

One of their promo videos makes it sound like it could work 100% with out the internet except for a connection for updates, sounds like that is not the case.

I expect we will be without internet for days or weeks so maybe this is not the best solution.

Again, Thank You

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![robertklep](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/robertklep/32/160628_2.png) [@robertklep](https://community.homey.app/u/robertklep)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 6:06am UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/smart-home-in-an-rv/106209/4 "2024-03-14T06:06:28Z")

</div>

> [@John\_Cooper](#):
>
> Just so I understand, either Alexa or Google home will need a constant internet connection to work. If I have a local wifi with no internet that would not be enough?

AFAIK, if you want to use them as a voice assistant, they will require an internet connection. But you may have to search some more relevant forums to check this.

> [@](#):
>
> One of their promo videos makes it sound like it could work 100% with out the internet except for a connection for updates, sounds like that is not the case.

Marketing vs reality 🤷🏼‍♂️

> [@](#):
>
> I expect we will be without internet for days or weeks so maybe this is not the best solution.

No, that won’t work with Homey.
