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Home automation builder Spencer Kittleson says his household’s core devices continue working when the internet is down because controls and automations run on hardware in his home. His report argues that smart devices should retain ordinary local controls, while noting that the approach requires more setup and maintenance than relying on vendor cloud services.
Home automation builder Spencer Kittleson says the core systems in his home keep working when its internet connection fails, describing a local-first setup built to avoid dependence on vendors’ servers. His report, published in October 2026, argues that lights and other essential controls should remain usable offline, an issue for households whose connected devices rely on cloud services.
Kittleson says he runs key automations on equipment he owns: Tasmota software on ESP boards, an MQTT broker and Node-RED on a Raspberry Pi. These components allow devices and automations in his home to communicate locally. He says Alexa and some AWS services are also present, but Alexa is an optional control method rather than the only way to operate a device.
His main rule is that essential functions must work with the internet unplugged. He also argues that adding a smart control should not remove the old one: a wall switch should still operate a light, for example. That principle addresses a common installation problem he describes, in which a smart bulb becomes unusable from its ordinary switch because the switch has been left on to preserve power.
Kittleson says experience with cloud-dependent products shaped the approach. He reports that a Nest integration stopped working after Google changed an API, and cites a Samsung refrigerator displaying a TLS certificate error and a Camp Chef grill controller requiring Wi-Fi to show its temperature. These are examples from his own experience, not a measure of how often such failures occur across all products.
Keeping Essential Controls Local
When a device depends on a remote service, a home internet outage, service disruption or change to a vendor’s software can affect how people control it. Local operation reduces that dependency for the functions configured to run inside the home. A light controlled by a local switch, for instance, can remain available even if an app or voice assistant cannot connect.
The approach also affects privacy and household resilience. Kittleson’s report frames the choice as a trade-off: cloud-connected products may be easier to set up, while devices configured for local control can demand more installation work and ongoing attention. Keeping a physical control offers a fallback for household members who do not use an app or voice assistant. The report does not quantify reliability or privacy gains, but it illustrates how design choices can preserve basic access when network services fail.
Local control is not a guarantee that every smart-home feature will work offline. A system still depends on power, functioning devices and properly configured software. Kittleson’s point is narrower: households should know which functions rely on the internet and avoid making a remote service the sole route to essential controls.
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From Cloud Integrations to Local Rules
Kittleson says the rules developed over roughly ten years of building home automations. His earlier experience with a Nest integration that stopped working after an API change led him to plan for vendor-side changes, not only home internet outages. He presents the project as a personal account and set of practical principles rather than an independent test or industry-wide study.
Alongside offline operation and retaining conventional controls, his rules call for automations that are easy to change and checked for conflicts. He recalls finding four scheduled triggers acting on the same garden pump. He also says he keeps configuration in one place instead of across multiple vendor apps, and expects cloud-connected devices to provide an API with logs. His setup uses MQTT, a messaging method that lets a device publish data for multiple systems to receive without requiring a separate direct connection to each one.
His examples include a garage system that checks whether the door is closed before opening it and turning on a fan, plus a sprinkler controller built with Tasmota and Node-RED. He says these systems have changed over time and that automations can break. The report therefore treats local control as a maintenance practice as well as a purchasing preference.
“No internet, no problem.”
— Spencer Kittleson, home automation builder
Limits of the Offline Approach
Kittleson’s report describes one household’s setup; it does not provide independent reliability testing, comparisons across product brands, or data on how frequently cloud outages disrupt smart-home devices. The examples of vendor changes and device errors are his reported experiences, and the article does not establish how widespread those problems are.
It is also not clear how every device in the home behaves during an outage. Kittleson says that core systems run locally, but does not claim that all cloud services or connected features remain available offline. Functions that rely on remote servers may still stop working, and local equipment can fail or require troubleshooting. The report does not provide a cost comparison or a complete installation guide for readers seeking to reproduce the setup.
Auditing Devices and Automations
The report offers no announced product launch, policy change or scheduled follow-up. Its practical next step for readers is to check which home functions depend on internet access and what alternatives remain if a service is unavailable. That can include testing whether a physical switch still works and identifying whether an automation runs locally or through a vendor’s server.
Kittleson also recommends reviewing automations for overlapping triggers and keeping a fallback control rather than relying on a single app or assistant. His report’s examples show why those checks may need to be repeated as household routines, devices and vendor software change. Whether manufacturers will make offline operation easier to identify or support is not addressed in the report.
Key Questions
What does it mean for a smart home to work without the internet?
It means that core functions, such as operating a light or running a locally configured automation, can continue over equipment inside the home when the internet connection is unavailable. Online-only services and features may still stop working.
What technology does Kittleson use?
He says his local setup uses Tasmota on ESP boards, an MQTT broker and Node-RED on a Raspberry Pi. He also uses Alexa and some AWS services, but says they are not the only way to control essential devices.
Does local control prevent every smart-home outage?
No. It can reduce reliance on an internet connection or a vendor’s server for configured functions, but it cannot prevent power loss, hardware faults or software problems. Some device features may continue to require cloud access.
Why does Kittleson recommend keeping ordinary switches?
A physical switch provides a direct control that does not depend on an app or voice assistant. Kittleson says a smart upgrade should add a new option without making the familiar one unusable.
Source: docodethatmatters.com
