HomeKit Blog

A simple but incredibly useful hack for Logitech Circle 2 wireless cameras is to breathe new life into the HomeKit solution. While the wired version of Circle 2 has had support for HomeKit and HomeKit Secure Video for some time, the battery version has always been on the sidelines.

Recently shared by ReyG on YouTube, a piece of electrical tape is all it takes to bring HomeKit to your camera completely wireless. According to the video, Rey says that during a support investigation for a faulty Circle 2 wired camera, Logitech told them that the battery version could work with HomeKit, simply by inserting it into the existing wired media.

Subsequently, Rey received a suggestion from a viewer and, through a little research, they managed to get the camera added to the HomeKit with just a piece of electrical tape and without the use of older mounting. Because the actual camera portion of the Logitech Circle 2 is identical between the two versions, a HomeKit setup code is included on the battery model, even if unused.

The frame in which the camera portion has a set of pins that make contact with the back of the camera to distinguish between the two models, thus allowing HomeKit only for wired cameras. For the hack to work, the camera just needs to be fooled into thinking it's on a wired mount.

This can be done by placing a piece of electrical tape over a single needle that rests on top of two other pins in a series on the battery / mount. Once the pin is covered and the camera is mounted, you can now add the camera to the HomeKit via the Logi Circle app or directly via the Home app.

Of course, there are some disadvantages to using this method. Lastly, the camera's battery drains incredibly fast when used with the HomeKit. According to Rey, you can expect to see about 12 hours of use before being recharged. You can, however, keep the camera connected to deny this problem, but it will almost certainly make the camera sensitive to external elements with the port and cable being uncovered.

As the hardwired version of the Logitech Circle 2 becomes increasingly difficult to find, this hack may be the best bet to score a solid, reliable camera that bears the company's name. For an in-depth look at the hack, be sure to check out ReyG's amazing video, which includes everything you need to know for it to work.

eero is launching a new software update to its series of Wi-Fi network routers that add support for the latest security protocols and channel selection technology. Update 3.19, which applies to all eero routers, is only available through automatic updates, due to the flow of network usage and new users in the last few months.

Security updates for the new update include support for Wi-Fi Protected Access 3 (WPA3) under a beta tag found in the eero Labs portion of the company's app. WPA3 was introduced in 2018 as a successor to the ingrained WPA 2 standard and brings greater security through encryption updates and makes connections to devices without a display easier to manage.

Wi-Fi Protected 3 (WPA3) access is the latest standard for wifi encryption. Enabling WPA3 on your eero network provides additional security for devices that support the WPA3 standard. This includes a new encryption method, SAE (simultaneous peer authentication) and MFP (Management Frame Protection).

Many modern smart devices, including Apple iPhones and iPads running iOS 12 and later, already support the standard. The hero implementation of the feature comes in the form of a "transition mode" that allows compatible devices to use the new standard, while older devices can still remain on WPA2.

The new update also adds Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) for eero Pro system owners. DFS allows eero routers to search and operate over 5 ghz Wi-Fi channels that are used by other industries, such as Radar.

Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) allows eero to operate on RADAR shared channels, which are usually much less congested than other 5 GHz channels. Less congestion means better performance and reliability for your network.

eero Pro routers will automatically switch to these channels, which are often less congested and do not require any user intervention. As with most updates, version 3.19 also includes several stability fixes and bug fixes, which include HomeKit Secure Router updates, port forwarding, and UPnP.

While eero provided a brief recap of the changes through a support document, a company developer shared a more detailed list via Reddit:

• Main features:
• DFS support for eero Pro in the US and Canada; it provides access to tons of almost completely unused channels
• WPA3 transition mode support in Eero Laboratories
• Major bug fixes:
• Fixed UPnP and port forwarding (port mapping should no longer be missing when changing upstream IP addresses)
• Several memory leaks affected
• Improving network stability
• Improved channel selection
• IPhone 10 compatibility issues
• Better refinement through code improvements
• Fixes internal things to improve memory usage
• Better automatic channel selection improves automatic channel selection
• Correction tones on the HomeKit router
• Also, a lot of fixes to the customer management service, improving the accuracy of the information about the device of the application
• The travel conditions in the customer's roaming are set
• Mahoosive DNS and eero safe updates, including some I'm not allowed to talk about yet
• literally a few dozen other pieces and pieces, none of which are important enough to call, but all are heading for a substantial update