ZigBee base stations are like 20€ or so if you get a simple usb dongle
Comment on Is H9me Assistant recommended?
tofu@lemmy.nocturnal.garden 2 days ago
If you aren’t locked in yet, I’d recommend against WiFi devices. Check Zigbee or similar. It won’t clutter your LAN and is independent. You usually need some kind of central station for that but it’s worth it imho.
Sibbo@sopuli.xyz 2 days ago
Trilogy3452@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Will do. Is it more for security purposes? Reliability?
tofu@lemmy.nocturnal.garden 1 day ago
Both! Connecting Iot devices to your LAN is a security risk, since they sometimes carry malware. Many DDOS these days are performed by smart bulbs or the like. May even sniff in your network. Of course you can firewall them, but why bother with wifi at all then? Zigbee is pretty reliable and works even if your router goes down (you probably can’t access Home Assistant Web interface anymore, but zigbee light switches etc will still trigger zigbee bulbs, zigbee thermeters will still report their sensor values etc).
I’m a Zigbee user so I use that in the examples but I’m sure the other options are fine as well.
Trilogy3452@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Thank you for the info! I’m guessing that I could use a mini PC with a zigbee adapter to create my own dashboards or bridge to home assistant, unless zigbee hubs offer similar capabilities
tofu@lemmy.nocturnal.garden 1 day ago
Home Assistant has a great integration, ZHA, which “drives” the Zigbee device. So having the Zigbee dongle on the machine HA runs on is very common. In my case it’s a raspberry with a RaspBee dongle but every MINI PC will do. Recommended devices: www.home-assistant.io/integrations/zha#recommende…
The other common setup is using Zigbee2MQTT which allows different devices that communicate over LAN. it’s been the go to recommendation as it has some compatibility improvements for devices that don’t properly follow the Zigbee standard. ZHA is keeping up though and is natively supported by home assistant. I’m using ZHA and check for compatibility before buying devices.
You can theoretically switch later, but you’ll have to reconnect all devices which can be a hassle.
ClownStatue@piefed.social 2 days ago
Most wi-fi smart devices use cheap components and will often drop off the network for seemingly no reason. As long as you do some basic planning, Zigbee and Z-Wave are pretty solid. There are some folks here who will say one or both of these technologies are on their way out because Matter & Thread. I’m not sure I agree with them, but even so, HA supports Matter, so… when Thread devices become as ubiquitous as Zigbee & Z-Wave devices, you can replace them as they die.
4am@lemmy.zip 2 days ago
Most WiFi devices these days are cloud-based, at least on the American market.
If you can find a Zigbee or Z-Wave (or the up-and-coming Thread), those only work locally. The only way to get remote control is to expose HomeAssistant (or a similar hub) to the internet - usually using a VPN from your remote devices into your network.
It’s a bit more upfront work, but no one can track your devices, they’re off grid/much harder to hack remotely, etc.
Trilogy3452@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I’m planning on assembling and coding w/e needs coding on microcontrollers, and a mini PC/HA hardware won’t be connected to the cloud. But generally speaking yes: most IoT devices in the US connect to someone else’s computer these daya
mangaskahn@lemmy.world 1 day ago
The exception here would be ESP32 devices. These have been some of the most reliable devices in my home and the most versatile, no Internet access required. Zigbee works well, but runs in the same frequency space as wifi and Bluetooth. Matter and thread are the new hotness and run in that space too. They all work well together, but something to consider. Z Wave is in a separate frequency space, but is a less open protocol. I have at least a few of all of these and they all play nice. Consider your priorities and choose what’s best for your application.
ego@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 day ago
Seconding esp devices. Especially running open source firmware (I used tasmota, there is also esphome and probably others) super reliable and much lower risk of spyware.