Home Assistant is open source home automation that puts local control and privacy first.
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Home Assistant can be self-installed on ProxMox, Raspberry Pi, or even purchased pre-installed: Home Assistant: Installation
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They seem to be anti home-assistant on that site.
Even the article linked from this one is a pro-Samsung household over HA...
I get the point that not everyone wants to be a sys admin, but the site is called "how to geek", so I'd expect a tech-savvy audience would like a more balanced article.
In 2026 being a geek I being picky between choosing a Ps5 or a Nintendo idk. The word is so washed out
Self proclaimed geeks are often the least tech savvy. They just collect and consume they are passionate about their hobbies but they stay on the surface level. Unlike a nerd who deep dives into material and becomes a knowledgeable expert.
A nerd is someone who buys all game consoles and a new phone every year.
A geek is someone who owns more than 2 board games besides Catan and Uno.
A hacker though, that's someone who can vibe code an app.
To quote Merlin Mann:
"A geek can fix your computer. A nerd can fix your computer, but first he's gonna talk to you about your computer first: 'ermm. You know you could be running any of several Linux distros on this...'"
Which is why very shortly after I found homassistant, I moved all my sensors/devices over and decommissioned my smartthings bridge and never looked back.
Same, I completely killed my ST as soon as they killed webCORE functionality.
Yeah, it went from awesome to useless
That's what I'm working towards right now. We just sold our home and I left all my SmartThings installed for the new guy.
The gift thst keeps on giving :)
I opted out about the time they were releasing their second gen hub, so it's been a while now. I'm on my second iteration of HA hardware (rpi5) now. Still have old iris window sensors I bought way back when I had ST. (From lowes). Their biggest issue is the battery life on them kinda sucks.
I will miss the water sensors though. Those plus IFTTT were so good at alerting us and shutting off the water. Any suggestions for replacing those? I use HA currently
Idk about the shut off but I liked the third reality sensors
IKEA ones
I am not using any water sensors, so can't speak to that
Hey me too. Well, left it all for my ex but yeah. I'll be switching to home assistant once I get some of the more pricy renovation stuff done here.
I was excited for 30 seconds until I downloaded it and realized it isn't the same as my smart things app where I can just add my TV to it and just turn it on and off when my x box doesn't. But it looks like you have to set up a whole server config to get it working.
Apps like Smart Things are more than just an app. Home assistant too. If you want freedom, you sometimes have to move away trib your comfort zone. Once you have the server running in your home network, which you can do from literally any computer, you will find that it gives you so, so much more freedom than any other system. I'm pretty sure you can connect you TV, Xbox and whatever else, and make them turn on the moment you arrive home.
You can buy a Home Assistant hub which is a raspberry that comes with Home Assistant on it. It's designed to be mostly plug and play, but isn't near the simplicity of SmartThings yet.
Once it's setup, a lot of devices can be just added and go. I've got my LG TV added and can turn it on, off, change inputs, etc. I have way more powerful automations and more devices on HA than I ever could on SmartThings.
Depends on your comfort level and interest level
I'm in IT. Do this for a living. Don't want to do this at home. Smart things is a free app that lets me click to turn on my TV. But that device may be useful for someone that wants to tinker and do more things.
Same.
Same here. For a trial period I kept the ST hub but as soon as was happy with home assistant the ST went.
I moved to Hubitat. Been much happier.
I was excited for 30 seconds. Until I downloaded
Never buy anything that needs to be online to function
Nah. Online functionality is great for lots of things.
As others pointed out, the issue lies with it being "need" instead of "can".
optional online functionality. I don't want my HA stuff, all on the same local network, to refuse to function because some random ass server somewhere isn't working.
Exactly. Cloud connected devices should still be able to do all the offline and/or local things when its connection to the server is down.
My lights, door lock, air conditioning, and smoke detector all have some online functionality, but they all still work normally locally and offline when my Internet is down, including programmed functions by time of day, etc.
Every third party cloud is going to do a heel turn one day and extort their users.
Just good motivation to migrate your zwave devices to a local USB stick.
A lot of SmartThings devices are not using Zwave, but like ovens connect via WiFi and communicate over their cloud
Well you just have to learn the lesson of not buying cloud connected smarthome stuff the hard way sometimes.
It is not critical by any means, utility of a dual-cook oven is nice, even when it’s not connected to smart home. And so doubt I should be getting any „lesson” from home appliances manufacturer, they should NOT be taking any functionality away. And I don’t believe there are many local only options (are there any you can list for this appliance type?).
| Oven Model | Supported Local Protocol(s) |
|---|---|
Samsung Bespoke AI 7 Series Single Wall Oven (NV51CB700S12AA) |
Matter 1.3 |
Samsung Bespoke AI Single Wall Oven (NV51CG700SSR) |
Matter 1.3 |
Samsung Series 7 Dual Cook Steam Oven (NV7B7997AAK) |
Matter 1.3 |
Bosch Series 8 Built-In Oven (HBG7741B1) |
Matter 1.3, Home Connect Local |
Bosch Series 8 Single Steam Oven (HSG7364B1B) |
Matter 1.3, Home Connect Local |
Bosch Series 8 Built-in Steam Oven (HSG7361B1) |
Home Connect Local |
Bosch Serie 8 Pyrolytic Oven (HRG6767S2A) |
Home Connect Local |
Siemens iQ700 Built-In Oven (HB676GBS1) |
Home Connect Local |
Siemens iQ700 Combi-Steam Oven (HN678G4S6) |
Home Connect Local |
Miele H 7000 Series Oven (H 7260 BP) |
Miele@LAN |
Miele H 7000 Series Oven (H 7464 BP) |
Miele@LAN |
Miele H 7000 Series Oven (H 7860 BP) |
Miele@LAN |
Thanks for the list! What do they communicate over? Some proprietary protocol locally over WiFi, or are there any matter/Zigbee options?
The protocol is shown in the right hand column. Matter over thread, the rest over wifi.
Sorry, I’ve missed the columns when looking at it on my phone
@spitfire
At least the Matter compatible products are local and non proprietary by definition, guess that these device use WiFi as Thread would require a border router.
What the fuck do I need to connect my oven to my smarthome for?
Been running Home Assistant for years. never once have I ever considered adding shit like my oven or fridge. The hell would I learn? Ovens get hot, fridges get cold? I could put a temp sensor in the fridge I guess and it would read the same temp all the time. Unless it is a total POS, it's not going to stop doing the ONE thing it does.
If it has a temperature probe, monitoring the temperature of the food is useful. Of course you can just buy a wireless thermometer and get the same.
In theory, it would be great to have your smart home be able to preheat your oven. Or to turn it off if you forgot to do so.
I doubt any of these stop there though
And as for fridges I’d love if mine would report real (not just set) temperature. I’d learn about it failing last time it did, before it defrosted.
If you have no use (or imagination about how to use it), don’t.
Yep, that's what I'm doing with my door sensors. Just bought the adapter
Well, glad I walked away from SmartThings a couple of years ago. Went with Home Assistant and have never looked back.
At the time I remember being concerned about whether they were going to kill SmartThings off or start charging a subscription as the hub called home for everything. Server time costs and they weren't charging for it. TANSTAFL. Kinda surprised it's still alive at all
Yes, there were things that have been free for a long time that seem like it's inevitable to charge for. Smartthings was great for my first years of smart home use, helped me automate a lot of stuff, keep track of a sketchy landlord, etc. But it's time to move on
The integration for my washing machine is so bad, I will do without. The login process for the app is an atrocity btw
well thats interesting, I have a sammy frame TV and pay for the art. I've not had any comms about API charges, that could be cuz I dont use smarthings I guess