If you are thinking of setting up a Zigbee network for your Home Assistant installation, the USB dongle (co-ordinator in Zigbee-speak) you choose will have a significant impact on how reliable your network ends up being. Which in turn impacts how much time you spend trying to troubleshoot your ...

I have been on a smart lighting and smart relay installation spree in my new home. So far I have got the Wi-Fi Shelly 1PM, Shelly 2.5, and the Z-Wave based Shelly Qubino Wave 1PM set up in Home Assistant. So what's missing? Zigbee relays!I have been using Zigbee devices such as Sonoff sensors ...

Since I moved into our new home this year, I have been making upgrades to turn it into the ultimate smart home. At the top of my to-do list is smart lighting, because it easily has the single biggest impact on comfort and how we experience our home.Soon after setting up my Z-Wave and Zigbee ...

I recently installed Shelly smart relays in most of my light switches. So now I can control them from my phone through Home Assistant. But even better, I can now integrate my home lighting into my automations - such as linking lights in a room to occupancy.But to detect motion, you need a ...

Ever since I started setting up the VueVille DIY Smart Home, I have been focused on Z-Wave. Back in 2017 when I was starting out, Z-Wave was the only reliable DIY option for smart home enthusiasts who didn't want to rely solely on Wi-Fi.Zigbee was beginning to make a mark but lax ...

Its been a few years since I reviewed the Aeotec Multisensor 6. Since then I have bought more of those for different rooms around the house. They have been very reliable and have served me well over the years, especially for automations such as auto room humidity control, lighting automations and ...

Smart power plugs are perfect for turning dumb devices in your smart home into truly useful smart devices.The best kind of smart power plugs are the ones that not just act as a relay and can turn attached devices on/off, but can also measure power consumption.Apart from knowing how much ...

If you are building a new home or renovating, it makes sense to go for Z-Wave wall switches from the start. But if you want to add smart lighting to your home without changing wall switches, smart bulbs are a great option.Multi-colour (RGB) LED smart bulbs have been around for some time now. ...