Introducing the Hornet Nest Alarm Panel: A 42-Zone PoE Security Solution for Home Assistant & ESPHome!

Hardware
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Hello, Home Assistant enthusiasts!

I’m excited to introduce a new project designed specifically with the Home Assistant and ESPHome communities in mind: the Hornet Nest Alarm Panel! This device aims to bridge the gap between traditional wired security systems and the flexibility of modern smart home automation. If you’re a DIYer who loves control over every detail of your security setup or just someone looking for a reliable solution to integrate multiple zones into Home Assistant, this might be exactly what you’re looking for.

What is the Hornet Nest Alarm Panel?

The Hornet Nest Alarm Panel is a PoE-enabled (or externally powered) security panel featuring:

  • 42 optoisolated zones/inputs for maximum security and customizability.
  • 3 relay outputs for activating or deactivating 12V devices.
  • A pre-flashed wESP32 to make integration seamless with ESPHome and Home Assistant.
  • 3-12V DC trigger input support to cover additional automation needs.
  • Full compatibility with both PoE and external power configurations for flexibility.

Hornet Nest Alarm Panel Installation
Hornet Nest Alarm Panel Installation3000×2250 929 KB

I’ve designed this with the DIY security enthusiast in mind—it’s a plug-and-play solution that maintains open-source principles, allowing the community to expand and modify its functionalities as they see fit. It also features onboard thermal heat sinking to keep the microcontroller cool during heavy use.

How It Solves Problems for Home Assistant Users

For many of us, integrating traditional alarm systems or large numbers of sensors into a smart home setup has required multiple devices or pricey commercial solutions with limited zones. The Hornet Nest Alarm Panel is designed to replace multiple boards by offering 42 customizable zones, simplifying complex security installations and providing unparalleled control through ESPHome and Home Assistant.

Early Adopters & Community Involvement

The Hornet Nest is still in its final stages, and we’re launching soon on Crowd Supply. We’d love to have early adopters and enthusiasts test and provide feedback to help refine the project. This is where the Home Assistant community shines, and we’re excited to bring you into the development process as we grow.

Open-Source & Customizable

Keeping it open-source is a priority. We’ll be releasing the full ESPHome YAML configuration and the board’s schematics under both the GNU General Public License (GPL) and the MIT License. This way, everyone in the community can modify, distribute, and even build upon the Hornet Nest to fit unique use cases.

If you’re interested in learning more, following the project, or even getting involved as a tester or early adopter, visit our pre-launch page on Crowd Supply here.

Thanks for taking the time to check out the Hornet Nest Alarm Panel! Your insights, questions, and feedback would be invaluable in making this the best security panel for Home Assistant and ESPHome. Looking forward to connecting with the community and hearing your thoughts!

Best,
Christopher Greenlee
Technology Automation Consulting LLC

2 Likes
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Subscribed and definitely watching. Doing a new house build next year, have been looking at Konnected.
Given the similarities, what does this intend to offer differently?

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Konnected makes great products and I was planning to use them for my new house however, I plan to wire all exterior windows/doors and interior doors and the number of zones would have necessitated 5 or more Pro modules. I wanted a single network cable system with enough zones to suit my needs while keeping the cost down as much as possible.

Feature Hornet Nest Alarm Panel Konnected Alarm Panel Pro
Zones/Inputs 42 optoisolated 12
Relay Outputs 3 for 12V devices 3 (mix of 3.3V & 12V)
Power Options PoE or external PoE or 12V DC
Protection Optoisolated, fuse-protected No specified optoisolation or fusing
Platform Compatibility Home Assistant, ESPHome Home Assistant, SmartThings
Approx. Price ~$250 $229

With more zones and integrated protection, the Hornet Nest Alarm Panel is ideal for large, complex setups.

1 Like
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Thank you. Watching with interest.

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Will this have support for remote monitoring with SIA or CID?

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No. I’ve started researching the SIA-DC09 protocol set to see how feasible it would be to include this functionality on-board. Since it’s all software thou, I would think that this would make a good integration for Home Assistant as well.

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Interesting post - recently moved home. Old wired alarm is defunct. Considering smart options. In Hornet Nest couple of questions:

  1. Will the zones be O/C or EOL ?
  2. Will all 42 zones be detectable / addressable from Home Assistant or will they have to grouped ?
    TIA Phil
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Just got mine in the mail today. Looking forward to getting it installed/trying it out.

EDIT: Went ahead and installed it over lunch (replacing two existing Konnected Pro panels). Easy to install, working exactly as expected.

Very cool, thanks!

1 Like
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How has it been working for you? I’m really interested in getting one but haven’t heard anything from someone who has received one. How does it compare to Konnected?

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It has been working very well. And I love that it has so many inputs, so I could break apart every window/door into individual inputs, instead of combining a room’s windows all into one input (for example).

My main drivers in changing were:

  1. the additional inputs
  2. On 1 of my 2 Konnected Pro boards I could only flash firmware via USB - it would fail every time OTA. No idea why, worked fine on the other board.

In the end they both work about the same. I just prefer the single board of the Hornet Nest.

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Thanks for the update, that sounds perfect. I had an EnvisaLink hooked up to the Honeywell system in my last house but I found programming the panel super clunky and there was always a bit of a delay with sensors reporting to Home Assistant. I’m excited to get away from the legacy systems and have all sensors reading directly into HA.

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I’m wondering this too since without E.O.L. resistors there is no protection against wire/device tampering. That’s why commercial systems use what is essentially an analogue input which can then measure the differing voltages as the end contact opens and closes across resistors.

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I was also concerned about losing the ability to distinguish between normal and short with an EOL resistor. My solution is to connect a 5.1 V Zener diode (1N5231) from the primary zone that the loop is attached to (e.g. Zone 1) to a second zone (e.g. Zone 2). For loop resistance in 0–450 Ω range (short/trouble), both zone 1 and 2 will be off. For a loop resistance in 1.1–7.8 kΩ range (normal), zone 1 will be off, and zone 2 on. And for loop resistance > 21.8 kΩ (open/alarm), both zone 1 and 2 will be on. The stripe on the diode should be on the secondary zone side. Works great. Program zone 2 to be inverted, and then zone 1 = alarm, and zone 2 = trouble.

Data Plot and Schematic