Yes, yes, I know, I should hardwire it. I can’t for the time being.
I currently have it running on my 3B+ and while the chip itself supports 5GHz ac I couldn’t/can’t for the life of me get it to connect to (or scan for) 5GHz networks. I’ve been through hoops trying to add the country code to my /network/my-network file (I’ve read that should help) as well as through ssh but it just refused to connect to the 5GHz network. And even now, in haos if im scanning for wifi networks it only shows the 2.4ghz network (I have two 5ghz networks).
So long story short, does haos on the Pi5 support 5ghz? Been looking for an excuse to get the Pi5 (want the 16gb model, i know i don’t need it but the nerd in me). My 4 if running retropie perfectly (don’t need the 5 for that), 3b+ has so far been a champ when it comes to ha (apart from a flood of hci0:bluetooth frame reassembly errors). I’d like to try piper and whisper on the 5 too (I know it’s underpowered, but if we get to ai like responsiveness in the next 5 years with the upcoming hardware I’ll be happy). Been getting some out of memory errors after adding matter with my other addons running so it’s really time to upgrade (matter is fine now with the addons other disabled but still).
First thing is if buying new hardware, buy a mini PC. By the time you have bought all the stuff needed to run a PI5 successfully it will be a very similar cost to a more powerful mini PC.
And why can’t you put you HA server near your router and connect it with a cable? I can’t see any reason why you cant.
I prefer a PI. I’m a PI enthusiast and like I said I’ve been looking for an excuse to get a 5 (and justify the cost). I know the prices are up there (I’m looking at 200-250€ for the 16gb model and the accompanying accessories). But if it connects at 5GHz and gets rid of the bluetooth hci0: Frame Assembly errors it will be worth it (for me).
And the router is at the apartment down below and there’s no wire coming up to my floor so I don’t really have a choice. One day, hopefully I’ll get to run a wire up to my floor and install a proper patch panel and switch (already have several drops in my apartment and wires ending up at the planned cabinet).
Atm though, I like my PIs in front of my TV (I even have it hooked up by HDMI to monitor for errors and whatnot) and the inevitable future usb hub if I upgrade behind the TV), rather than further cluttering the space downstairs in the hallway where it’s currently all neat with just the router placed there. If/when the cabinet gets installed it will be another story, but for the time being I’d appreciate a straight up yes/no answer from someone who’s tried it before I drop the cash on a 5.
I mean I’ll probably be a guinea pig myself and report back if no one replies (I need an upgrade to run all my addons anyway, the 5GHz connectivity would just be a cherry on top), but if someone already has a similar setup going, it would be reassuring and nice to hear, that’s all.
I mean it’s 2025. Why is my 3B+ still connecting at only 802.11n when it’s capable of 802.11ac? That’s a homeassistant issue imho. I just hope it has been addressed for the PI5.
Your funeral I’ve seen nothing but problem after problem with the 5 with no real solutions. And the minipc price/perf curve kicks the literal snot out of a pi… It’s not even a contest. Good luck.
I cant see any advantage to using a pi these days, the only reasons could be you already have one doing nothing or you need the GPIO pins, but that is a pain and far easy to esp32 for that sort of stuff.
Worst choice to spend your money, you get probably double (or more) the compute power choosing some random x86-64 platform instead of that old berry (the hype is over and the price is nowhere that nice like it was 10 years ago…)
Don’t look for excuses to waste money but spend it wisely!
I just like the PI’s. And I was kinda under the impression they were the “go-to” hardware for home assistant, especially with the Green and Yellow. I’m not denying the fact that I would get more compute power with an equally priced x86 mini pc, but that’s besides the point in this case.
I’ve had the 3B+ I used for retropie at first, then a shower cabin streaming audio app using the aux jack (now that would be awesome if it were able to smartify it somehow and have it play songs from home assistant, especially using voice assist <3). I’ll have to look into it But yeah, since then I’ve gotten the 8GB 4 when it was released and ever since Jeff Geerling’s rumor abour a 16gb version upon the initial release of the 5 I’ve been waiting for it.
@francisp Ty for the reply bro, exactly what I was looking for. I’m going to order the parts to be delivered to a nearby shop tomorrow morning. It’ll take a couple days to get here but I’ll reply back here as soon as I migrate everything and get it up and running.
Most of the problems I’ve been reading about were with incompatible nvme hats and ssds. I only use HA to control 4 zigbee lightbulbs and now a couple thread smart plugs and lightbulbs. I’m still at a point where double the SD card speed will make me a happy camper. Once the PI5 starts being underpowered for my needs (I might get who knows what in the future) I’ll think about another upgrade. But for the time being, I’m hoping it addresses all my issues I’ve been having my 3B+.
Pi days are pretty much over, i’d say, except for very special purposes. They were great (and first) back then, but with each new major model they went “lower”, with latest pi i’d say they pretty much reached the bottom. They are just too expensive for what they (don’t) offer.
Just one of options: N150 CPU, 15G RAM, 512G SSD
Those were (long gone) days when this was best price-performance option, when mini PC’s were not as cheap and powerfull as today. HA stopped producing yellow, if i’m not mistaken.
Oh did they? Fair enough. Be as it may, I’ve been wanting one and I think I’ll treat myself to one. Once I outgrow it, it’ll replace my PI4’s retropie or something. And yes, I agree the 5 is a bit of a let down as a whole But the enthusiast in me still wants one. It’s like with cars, someone wants a BMW or a Mercedes. I drove a Fiat Punto and a Renault Clio. But I like my PI’s to be as beefy as they can
As for HA, I’m ever so slowly easing myself into it. For almost two years I only used it for diyHue/Hue Essentials android app to control my 4 zigbee ceiling lights to set the mood in the evenings because I had a 3B+ laying around and didn’t want to cash out for the Philips Hue bridge and original Philips hue bulbs. This way I’ve completely eliminated the Philips Hue bridge out of the equation and I’m using some knockoff chinese GU10 bulbs for fraction of the cost of a Philips Hue. I’ve been waiting for Matter and Thread to (somewhat mature) before I hopped on the bandwagon and got any more devices though. Now I ordered some Nanoleafs that also work with Hue Essentials thanks to diyHue so it’s been fantastic. I have two wall mounted lamps on my terrace I nanoleaf’d and I turn them on for an hour or two in an orangey hue during sunrise/sunset hours and I think it looks pretty (or if someone comes over or whatever :D) Add a few smart plugs, a couple sensors and addons and the 3B+ starts running out of memory.
The 5 may be an expensive toy, but if it’s functional and it addresses my problems (which it sounds like it will), I will be happy.
And once voice assistants/llms mature, I won’t be against a dedicated AI GPU or a server for that matter when it comes to home assistant. I want a local Alexa/Siri, not local Ryan (love Ryan). If it takes 5 or 10 years, so be it. Just wanna have fun in the meantime (just set up Google Drive backup yesterday, felt awesome).
I would expect “enthusiasts” want to get the most bang for their bucks. They probably invest $50 in a used thin client or tiny PC that allows upgrading (RAM, SSD, NPU ) then throwing money into a dead end street (no upgrade possibilities).
I expect only fanboys/girls to spend money with a device/toy like a RPi 5 with 16GB. Can’t think of any real usage that wouldn’t saturated the raspberry processor long before even 10GB ram could be occupied
i second this i was exited to upgrade to pi 5, i now have it sitting running android os on a touch screen display for home assistant dashboard and my 4b getting dusty , wile my intel nuc runs my ha server. the increase in performance at about the same price is unbeatable and the power draw remains around 12 watts for me not a huge increase from pi. i highly recommend it. There’s gonna be a point in your automation journey the pi’s arent gonna cut it anymore, and even one mini pc wont due and youll have a server stack if your an addict like me lol
I really don’t get the negativity. I wasn’t asking about the “best” system, I wasn’t asking about the “best-buy” system, I simply asked if the 5GHz wifi worked on the PI5 (since it doesn’t on my 3B+ and by all accounts it should).
I don’t even plan on using an SSD (at least not yet), so twice the wifi throughput and twice the IO speed on the SD card are enough to justify the cost as far as I’m concerned. And if it gets rid of the flood of hci0 bluetooth errors I’ve been getting I’ll be ecstatic (never got an answer to what’s causing them). To actually have a clean CLI interface. That’s the dream Plus like I’ve said, I’ve been secretly wanting/waiting for a 16GB version since Jeff Geerling dropped the rumor on day 1, otherwise I would’ve long gotten the 8GB version (and then felt horrible when the 16gb dropped, because it’s unupgradeable as someone mentioned, and I want one as a novelty/keepsake, much like the rest of them). But I have a soft spot for SBC’s, especially PI’s. Been thinking about the BananaPI R4 as a wifi7 router, but heard horror stories. Waiting for the new revision to see if they fix stuff.
But yeah, I don’t use frigate or have any need for super high speed storage atm (I may or may not opt to go with a USB SSD disk at some point just because of the wear and tear). But for my current needs to flick a couple switches/lights on an off? An SD card is perfectly adequate. And if it fails? Big whoop, I have my daily backup stored on GDrive and several SD cards. But when it inevitably fails, I’d probably switch to a USB SSD. I don’t like the way the PI5 SSD HAT situation turned out. Was hoping for an official solution as was originally announced, but that apparently flopped and now we’re spoiled for choice with each HAT missing something or having something wrong with it (doesn’t fit, blah, blah).
I just want to have a 16GB PI5 laying around, that’s really all there is to it, I don’t see why it’s such a big deal. HA for the time being, God knows what in a year or two or three. Maybe a hexapod I mean people drop far more money on things I never would, you don’t see me going around poking fingers at someone who dropped 3k on a gpu calling them stupid. It’s their money.
And yeah my 3B+ was $35ish as well. Then again two years ago I could eat a hefty cheeseburger for $3. Now I’m left hungry after spending 10.
OK back to the original issue of connecting to 5ghz WiFi. It is probably due to the distance and number of walls between your pi and the router. 2.4 will travel far better through walls and floors. WiFi is a 2 way thing and even if you can get 5g on one device it doesn’t mean the pi will connect to it properly as well. It will all be down to anttena quality, which are compromised on pis. Hence why cables are recommended
But yeah, since then I’ve gotten the 8GB 4 when it was released and ever since Jeff Geerling’s rumor abour a 16gb version upon the initial release of the 5 I’ve been waiting for it.
But the enthusiast in me still wants one. It’s like with cars, someone wants a BMW or a Mercedes. I drove a Fiat Punto and a Renault Clio. But I like my PI’s to be as beefy as they can 
) then throwing money into a dead end street (no upgrade possibilities). 
Plus like I’ve said, I’ve been secretly wanting/waiting for a 16GB version since Jeff Geerling dropped the rumor on day 1, otherwise I would’ve long gotten the 8GB version (and then felt horrible when the 16gb dropped, because it’s unupgradeable as someone mentioned, and I want one as a novelty/keepsake, much like the rest of them). But I have a soft spot for SBC’s, especially PI’s. Been thinking about the BananaPI R4 as a wifi7 router, but heard horror stories. Waiting for the new revision to see if they fix stuff.