Are Tuya local keys permanent (like a MAC address)?

6 months ago by batmaniam to c/homeassistant

Hi All,

Bargain outlet near me had a bunch of the “monster smart illuminessence” stuff at a price that made me try one.

A few hours later and I have them running properly on LocalTuya. I went and scooped up a bunch more given the success.

My question is: When is the local key issued and when does it change?

I’d like to get them all taken care of and put in the box with key written down so I can delete the official tuya app, and also not have to worry about if Tuya will change it’s dev policy so I can’t get access to the keys anymore.

As a side note, I’ll give Tuya credit, I can easily see where that is a great tool for folks looking to offer smart goods… it’s also exactly why I’ll always be local only.

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YodaDaCoda 12 points 6 months ago

I have a few devices I've connected via Tuya Local. The key seems to change upon removing/re-adding to an account. Definitely not burnt-in like a MAC address.

In the past I've just re-installed the Tuya app when I've added a new device, but I also have concerns about Tuya disabling local control in future so I'm trying to avoid Tuya stuff and run esphome instead where possible.

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limelight79 3 points 6 months ago

Yeah I've had some I had to redo when they were offline for a while (weeks, not hours or days - but I don't know how long).

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batmaniam 1 point 6 months ago

"re-adding to an account" as in an official tuya account? That makes sense. Awesome to hear about re-installing the app with no problems, thanks!

Yeah, esphome is by far the better way to go, but at $2 a bulb (plus a short RGB addressable wifi LED strip), I'll take some headache until they break...

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limelight79 3 points 6 months ago

I highly recommend setting up a zigbee network. Avoids these headaches, saves wifi bandwidth, etc. Just be careful about what channel you use for zigbee and wifi to avoid interference.

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vividspecter 3 points 6 months ago

I'm going to echo the zigbee recommendation for bulbs. Can be had for dirt cheap and work reliably (and there's high end options too if you want that). And are fully locally provisioned and controlled.

Matter over thread is also becoming an option but the default provision option requires Google (including play services and an account) and they tend to be quite a bit more expensive.

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