Hi all,
I’m looking to get started with Home Assistant and would really appreciate some advice. My situation is a bit more complex as I’m planning a setup for two separate physical locations:
- Home (under construction, ready in ±18 months):
Integrations I want: Sonos, Samsung TV, Qbus (via API or workaround), Nuki, geofencing, a self-built cat feeder (ESP32), wastecollection add on belgium, buienradar belgium…
Possibly Zigbee/Matter devices later
Planning to use 3 to 5 IP cameras with Frigate + AI detection (people, vehicles, motion) – ideally using free/local AI (e.g., Coral USB)
- Workshop (hangar 200m²) (available at the end of this year, ~4km away):
Integrations: Qbus and Sonos, geofencing…
3 cameras with Frigate + AI
Fully separate local network, so I’m considering running a dedicated Home Assistant instance there
Might sync a few elements (e.g. temperature, Frigate events) with the home setup via Remote Home Assistant add-on
About me:
No coding experience, but I learn quickly and love to tinker
I’d like to start testing things now (Sonos, TV, Nuki, geofencing…)
No cameras yet, but they’ll be added when i go to the workshop at the end of this year, or to the new home in about 18 months.
Not interested in Docker setups for now because I understand add-ons don’t work there, and as a beginner, add-ons seem very useful and beginner-friendly (e.g. Frigate, ESPHome, File Editor…)(unless you can convince me i don’t need them and i can use a docker as a beginner)
I’m open to either Home Assistant Green or a mini-PC running HA OS (or a synology server?) — whichever is more future-proof without being to much overkill
What I’m looking for:
Hardware recommendations for a good setup to start with (for my home)
Future setup (Frigate-only and separate HA, or full HA and frigrate instance)
Is it worth buying a Coral USB now?
Best ways to sync 2 HA instances across different networks
Thanks in advance for any insights or suggestions!