Reverse-engineering is cheap now

https://simonwillison.net/2026/Jul/20/cheap-reverse-engineering/

by ingve • 2 days ago

13 1 2 days ago

dgently7• 1 day ago

this checks out.

Not the most technically impressive feat but i was able to do this with some remote controls for some ceiling fans. figured out the protocol, wired up an esp32 with a radio chip, and had the whole thing integrated into HA in about 1 day. with maybe 3 hrs max of active effort, much of it from my phone with claude remote control while i did other things.

idea to done realtime was thursday to saturday. and that was mostly waiting on the same day shipping for the 6$ radio chip i needed. no way i would have ever even attempted that project perviously, but now i have ceiling fans that are massively more capable, and i can throw away the cheap terrible remote and replace it with a dedicated in wall switch controller.

previously devices with those terrible cheap remotes were a downside, now its almost a selling point.

Reverse-engineering is cheap now

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