Hi guys,
I just moved to my new apartment from old one where i was running few aqara door/window sensors, aqara flood sensors, temperature and few other xiaomi devices (vacuum,air purifier). To be honest it wasn't running that great as constantly at least one zigbee device was offline, but it was somewhat working. With wifi there was no issues, but i know that wifi isn't that great for sensors with battery. As my new apartment is bigger and have more devices like smart ventilation. 2 fujitsu air conditioners with wifi, 4 roller shades running shelly wifi, garage gates, water softener and garder watering systems, I want to integrate this together with Home Assistant and i don't need to stay with aqara/ zigbee enabled system. Apartment has 2 floors with 50 square meters per floor and solid walls, so my range of my xiami smart hub will be questioned. Which sensors are not the most expensive and reliable? Shouild I go with matter, stay with zigbee or go with zwave? I've heard some good opinions about zwave in terms of reliability and range, but it doesn't seem future proof. My wifi setup consists of 2x u7-pro on each floor. What's your take on this? Your help will be greatly appreciated!
#Home Assistant setup in new apartment with existing devices. Throw them out? Integrate?
fickle cradle
unborn salmon
Zigbee is fine, simply add (Zigbee) routers
fickle cradle
another xiaomi smart hub or something else?
from what i understand, I also need usb dongle to use zigbee devices in HA
unborn salmon
I'd go with ZHA and a coordinator rather than any shitty hub
fickle cradle
but those coordinators can be connected to pc only, right?
so this hub which i own is basically useless in HA setup?
unborn salmon
Or connected to the (wired) network
And yes, hubs are largely pointless papeweights
fickle cradle
Do You recommend any coordinators which are working with HA? I'm not sure which are and which aren't.
fickle cradle
i've found some coordinators, but it seems that all of them are diy-like
okay, thanks!
fickle cradle
@unborn salmon if i want additional coordinators in my house, do i need additional software on every pc where dongle is connected?
fickle cradle
so what can i do to extend range?
robust shoal
Let's be clear on one thing - nothing is truly 'future proof' but there are better bets than others. I personally use WiFi and Z-Wave. Both have been around long enough to be mature, but not so long as to be obsolete. Many folks use Zigbee cause (let's be honest) it's often cheaper than Z-Wave but not as power-hungry as WiFi but sometimes there are compatibility issues. So - you are always placing a bet with something. Personally, matter/thread are not nearly mature enough.
fickle cradle
Okay, for starters i just bought SLZB-06M
unborn salmon
Also, when it comes to "future proof"... nothing is, not really, other than HA
If you can connect (integrate) it to HA then it works with anything else in HA
fickle cradle
i just want to have as small list of integrations, dongles as i can
unborn salmon
As long as you have local access, no cloud crap, no manufacturer hub, then they can't take it away from you
fickle cradle
it seems that this dongle i just bought fits my needs
as it can work with matter and zigbee
unborn salmon
i just want to have as small list of integrations, dongles as i can
On the first... that's crazy, the point of HA is that it supports tens of thousands of integrations
fickle cradle
yeah, but sometimes there are too many "moving parts"
more things to break during upgrades
unborn salmon
That's only likely if you use third party stuff, like Alexa Media Player, that's no longer supported
I don't remember the last year I had things break on update
fickle cradle
i work as sysadmin and some solutions have so many moving parts that it's sometimes nightmare to perform an upgrade 😛
i want flexibility but still keeping it simple
ah, so simply zigbee routers are devices powered from power outlet
native pebble
(with some exceptions - there's a few smart bulbs out there which don't act as routers)
unborn salmon
Sengled only as far as I know