Not new to home automation, but new to HA. I have a smart door sensor that is not compatible with HA. I know there is a big list of compatible hardware, but I am wondering if anyone has feedback on what I am looking for.
door/window sensor
wifi compatible
hoping NOT to have to use a bridge or hub
It seems a lot of the sensors these days are requiring hubs. Am I missing something? I know zigbee is the hot way to go currently, but i dont want to toss all my sensors that are working fine already.
The Shelly door / window sensor works directly with home assistant via wifi.
It’s only drawback is that it takes a while to wake up and connect (~10 sec). Which is ok for an alarm sensor (the alarm will go off eventually) but not so good for door controlled lights (you will be in the dark for +10 sec before the light comes on).
Zigbee is much better for this (very fast, small, great battery life). But it does require a hub. What makes you think you have to throw out your other sensors if you add some zigbee devices?
What Tom said. With HA you can mix and match technologies. There is no need to throw your existing sensors away when you add a Zigbee stick to your HA setup.
I am sorry for the confusion. What I was trying to say, and wrote it poorly, was that I dont want to buy another hub just for one sensor. However, I suspect I will slowly start cycling out other sensors or adding new ones as I build.
Okay okay, lets say I go zigbee - manufacturer recommendations? I see there is a lot out there.
what other say might be not always be clear enough without being familiar with terms. you don’t need hub for zigbee. zigbee can be controlled without it. instead you need a zigbee communication device connected to your HA. usually in form if USB sticks. there are variety of options from diy to commercial like conbee II.
If you really want wifi sensor, Shelly is the best option (price and feature wise). in fact it’s multisensor incl accelerometr (vibration, tilt) , temp and light. But the more you are sensing the highest battery drain obviously
Thanks, everyone. To make sure I am getting this correctly:
I can get a ConBee II dongle and then it will manage any Zigbee devices I add to HA? If I got sensors from a company like Aqara, would I still need the Aqara hub as well, or would the ConBee replace it?
I took a look at the list of Zigbee coordinators that Tom shared. I only saw one that listed CC2652P2 and it looks like it is out of country for me (I am in the US).
Do you have any specific recommendations for zigbee hubs that have the CC2652P2 chip? I am not having much luck searching on Amazon or even the web. Tom mentioned Aqara devices, but i assume the Aqara hub is only for Aqara devices, so i should probably look for a universal controller, yeah?
Sorry for all the simple/noob questions. Im still learning about Zigbee
Just to name it right: it’s not a hub (in the same meaning as for aqara one). it’s radio device (usually usb dongle) which is able to create zigbee network. But provide no automation logic. think of it as of wifi router.
In that case, the functionality of a hub is moved to 3rd party software, in our case to HA. and obviously there are no limitations in regard of brands.
However there might be cases, where selected zigbee devices are not supported or are somehow limited. nothing to be worry in case of popular brands/devices. But might happen. Usually documentation of zigbee integration (there are more than one to select from) provides information about compatibility.
I’ve been using a aquara switch for over two years on the same battery. They communicate with HA though https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io so I dont need to use a hub.
I just have a simple push notification (pushover) that pings me when the doors open and I’m not home.
