Hello,

I don’t have any ‘smart’ items in my house (or home assistant currently) but I want to set this up but I have questions about compatibility with hardware before I purchase. They have a integration page does that mean all of those hardware devices work? Or do some work better than others? According to a person on Reddit they recommend https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/supported-devices/ I’m just curious if anything has changed in the past year. Or if anyone here has a list of recommendations. I plan to start with some lights and a thermostat.

Cheers and thanks.

  • @AA5BEnglish
    4•2 days ago

    There’s an important consideration to use local mesh radio networks or not - for responsiveness, privacy, not being dependent on a vendor to continue supplying cloud services. I always prefer one of these, but as I continue to grow, there’s always a reasons to support more networks, and HA excels at that. HA also excels at the number of devices it supports: I suppose it’s a good idea to check compatibility but the only ones that won’t work are devices too tied to a specific vendor, and you should probably avoid those anyway

    In theory I prioritize z-wave devices, but I also have Zigbee, WiFi, Ethernet, and Matter devices working together flawlessly. I have a z-wave IR blaster to integrate an air conditioner by acting as its remote control. I’ve considered Bluetooth and Thread devices, which I expect to be just as convenient

    While it’s prudent to check compatibility, I guess I’m recommending to not over-think it. Concerns like vendor lock-in, responsiveness, reliability, no ads, are more important to think about

    • BlxterOPEnglish
      1•2 days ago

      so by vender lock in a good example is I should get matter compatible lightbulbs and not buy into per say Phillips brand

      • @AA5BEnglish
        2•1 day ago

        Ideally, yes, Matter/Thread has a lot of potential to be that common framework that makes everything work together. I want to recommend it for everything new …… but products have been really really slow to come out, so your choices may be limited.

        My understanding of Philips Hue is limited but I believe they do use Zigbee as a standard network, but functionality is extremely limited unless you use their hub. That’s been more than enough for me to stay away

        Clarifying the terminology for the new standard:

        • Matter is Ethernet/WiFi, based on IPv6. Great for powered devices, especially those that do need to connect to the internet. Many powered Matter devices will route Thread traffic
        • Thread is a local wireless mesh network, similar to Zigbee or z-wave. The range should cover a home, but it is low power, low latency, suitable for all sorts of devices that do not need internet access, or where low power is important
        • Device Profiles are a feature that the standards committee has spent huge amounts of time on as a way to make everything’s work together. These define what a device can do, so all such devices work the same way. For example, it defines a light that has statuses and operations for on-off, brightness, color, and maybe more. Instead of a company like Philips having proprietary definitions, now all lightbulbs can be controlled the same way
        • BlxterOPEnglish
          2•23 hours ago

          Thanks so much for the information Im going to start with some general matter / thread bulbs looking into good thermostats currently looking at the Honeywell ones and ecobee and venstar.

          • GreatAlbatrossMEnglish
            1•20 hours ago

            Hue bulbs now work on standard zigbee.
            I’d have to double check that the newest ones still do, but unless Signify are being complete bell-ends, it should just work.

            I switched mine over after I got fed up with that bloody hub requiring an app to do any serious config, and randomly disconnecting.
            The response time seems better when using HASS too. Bulbs that are not yet paired can be easily added to the network, ones that have been paired need to be deprogrammed first.

            This is how the Hue RGB bulb I have can be controlled in HA:

            It’s fair to say that there really isn’t one standard yet for home automation.
            You’re likely to end up with multiple radios just due to availability of products.
            I started with a zigbee dongle, then got a z-wave one when I started finding products I wanted that only came in z-wave.
            Then I got an SDR dongle to use 433MHz (lots of cheap gear uses 433)

            I personally haven’t touched thread/matter yet.

            The really nice thing about HASS is that if you can get it to talk to HASS…It can be integrated with anything else you integrate with HASS.
            For example, I have some cheap zigbee push buttons.
            One click toggles the hue bulbs for that room on/off. Two clicks toggles a daylight mode.
            Press+Hold toggles a dim yellow mode for night.

            Or for another, I have central water heating.
            The toggle for heating on/off is a simple smart switch.
            This is linked to a virtual thermostat in HASS, which in turn is fed by a simple thermometer that also feeds into HASS.

            You can often make really nice integrations by keeping the hardware as simple as possible, then stitching it together with HASS.
            Rather than buying one thing for all, and hoping it integrates well.