I want to get a family matter a HomeAssistant hub. But I don’t want to have to install an OS, use docket, etc. I thought Home Assistant Green would be perfect for a noobie. But then I realized it doesn’t have zwave/zigbee or matter/thread dongles. Is there a product out there that has the HA OS and dongles (multiple, plus room for expansion)? I’m unsure of Green. You can’t even find it on Amazon so I’m wondering if it’s too finicky. Whatever I get them, I want to be absolutely positive that if a new dongle comes out, there’s expansion room available.
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Haven’t heard of devices with onboard Z-wave. I would look at getting a mini PC and some network based coordinators for both Zigbee and Z-Wave. Installing the OS isn’t too difficult, and there are loads of guides available.
Get an HA Green with a ZBT-2 to get them started with Zigbee devices. A 2nd ZBT-2 would be suitable to add Thread/Matter devices. A ZWA-2 for z-wave could be utilized instead of or in addition to ZHA.
Links to it all is in the hardware section of this site:
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Green allows add-ons to be installed, yes? Are there any downsides to going Green?
If I were to go with a Mini-PC and set it up for him, would this be essentially identical in function to a Green unit? What OS is a Green unit using?
What’s best is not always what’s easiest
X86 PC + zwa-2 + just install HAOS
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Ok, I see Green uses HAOS. Is this the OS of choice if you want your end user to be able to focus on HomeAssistant?
My current HA setup is on a mini PC running Windows and that’s running VirtualBox, running Ubuntu as a Guest. Also using docker… I’ll stop there because yes, it’s complicated but it works for me. However for my fam I just want something simple where they can focus on HomeAssistant, not the OS, not docker, etc. I want a simple web interface for editing .yaml files. In other words, no having to SSH into the box, etc. no messing with permissions, no using git for backups, and any number of intermediate to advanced skills needed to get HA to work.
This is the ONLY OS if you want your end user to focus on HA.
No need to do any Windows nor VM nor Ubuntu nor docker.
Rather limited expansion capability comparing to a mini-PC, but if you don’t need any expansion, then it’s a moot point. And maybe more expensive than a mini-PC.
When you do HAOS, yes, it would be the same as Green.
HAOS, which is the same as you would want to install onto your mini-PC, and yes, HAOS can do add-ons.
Not for a newcomer. I used HomeKit and Hubitat prior to it being recommended to try HA. So much of HA is above my knowledge, but the Green has allowed me to control my lights and thermostatS, monitor my whole house electric usage/costs, and slowly get up to speed with YAML. And it helped me get a handle on what and how I"m using energy to keep us comfortable. Being retired, this is a daily hobby for me to pursue. It wasn’t like that prior to getting into HA, mind you.
Your relative’s interest in this, and amount of effort willing to be put into this ‘hobby’ plays into it. Is setting up a mini-pc and networking something they can handle, or would they be intimidated by it?
I don’t think my HA-Green is up to the 8 cameras streaming, I still rely on Apple HomeKit to handle that. But otherwise everything else I have installed and automated in HomeAssistant, with system resources and memory to spare. I send it all to HomeKit for the family’s convenience. I’m quite pleased with the HA-Green, it does a lot that I couldn’t do in HomeKit alone. And I don’t mind monitoring it daily, because it’s like school - I know enough for my current needs, but always want to learn more.
I don’t know if that’s helpful, but . . . good luck to you and yours in the pursuit.
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WHY do people want to complicate Home Assistant?
I don’t understand the fascination with ProxMox on minimal hardware.
It is a huge mistake to send new Home Assistant users to install ProxMox or virtualization on a dedicated server like a Raspberry Pi, Intel NUC or other micro PC. IT IS NOT NEEDED.
HAOS bare metal- No learning curve for Proxmox, Docker, VM’s. No USB or Network issue. No managing disk or memory allocations.
The downside of bare metal? Your Home Assistant host computer is just that. Dedicated to one task. It just works.
There is a very good reason that the Green has HAOS preinstalled.
You’ve been told countless times what advantages virtualizing brings, why do you keep ignoring it?
And you have been told many times: IT IS NOT NEEDED.
Especially new users.
Especially new users who aren’t familiar with Linux in the first place.
If a new user wants to join the Proxmox pissing club later, that’s fine. But let them first gain some familiarity with Home Assistant.
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Who are you to judge what skills new Home Assistant users have? Your anti-virtualization crusade has no merit and is quite honestly annoying.
Read the first post!
I am not anti-virtualization. I am opposed to making containers or virtualization the default first installation. I am always adding:
If the user needs to run other programs on their Home Assistant server that aren’t available in an add-on, migrating to ProxMox can always be a solution later.
Later!
You didn’t add that though. You gulped up something about a pissing contest, and as always when you get confronted with your anti-virtualization crusade you either dodge or go mute.
For some reason (lack of experience perhaps?) you think of adding a hypervisor as a huge, unclimable mountain that users are nowhere close to climb.
Green + ZBT-2. If you have an apple ecosystem it will run your thread. Matter is built in, if you need a thread option as well, just get a 2nd ZBT-2.
It’s a very simple and straight forward setup if you understand Home Assistant. I went into it blind and was setup in an hour. I did not order from Amazon.
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It is for users whose total experience with installing programs is the App Store or Microsoft store. How many potential Home Assistant users do you want to discourage with complications that are not necessary.
Installing ProxMox requires an understanding of Linux, and if a new Home Assistant user could get ProxMox installed and configured, then they wouldn’t likely be here asking how to install Home Assistant.
Feel free to take your argument to messages so we can help the OP. @fleskefjes
Thank you!
Not an argument., just a different perspective.
@FutureTense - If you will likely be the tech support for the family, look at Zerotier.
ZeroTier is a virtual network that lets your devices anywhere in the world connect as if they were on the same LAN.
I think you definitely should run HAOS on some computer. Personally I think that the Green device is too expensive and too limiting. I would rather purchase a mini computer (new or used) and install HAOS on that.
Home Assistant keeps getting new features and functionality. This is great, but it also means your computer better have some spare capacity to allow HAOS to “grow” over time. I personally think Green is going to be too limiting moving forward, even for the most average setup.