I am new to HA and I am wondering if there can be general statements made about connection technologies in regards to an offline use in HA. I don’t want to buy devices that end up incompatible with HA.
So far my understanding is:
Wi-Fi:
Fetching the data: Chances are high that implementation only works through the cloud.
Reading data: Many devices have proprietary and/or encrypted communication protocols.
Integrating into HA: Device by device, some may work, some not.
ZigBee:
Fetching the data: Cloud is never needed.
Reading data: The communication protocol is standardized, so data should always be readable.
Integrating into HA: Theoretically every device can work with HA. Maybe not out of the box, but it will be a matter of writing a config file for interpreting the data, not a matter of needing to get an unencrypted version of the data in the first place?
433mhz:
Fetching the data: Cloud is never needed.
Reading data: ??? Is there a standard? Is encryption usually done?
Integrating into HA: ???
Bluetooth:
Fetching the data: I assume some may need the cloud?
Reading data: I assume there will not be much of standardization and data will often be encrypted
Integrating into HA: ???
It would be great if someone could complete and correct my list. Is my assumption correct that only Zigbee devices are guaranteed to never need the cloud and will always at least have readable/standardized data transmission?
Considering Wi-Fi often being cheaper or having a wider range of devices, are there any brands that work without cloud in HA?
Wifi:
If it’s in the Integrations section of the HA docs, you are good. Or, you may be able to flash it with ESPhome if you are that way inclined, totally device dependent.
Bluetooth:
Won’t need cloud as long as HA supports it. ESPhome Bluetooth proxies are your friend here.
Z-Wave:
Fully local, standardised, works well with HA.
Wifi may also be Matter over WiFi. In which case it will be locally controlled.
Matter over thread is also local but will require you to have a Thread Border Router.
Edit: your Sky Connect can act as a thread radio with the multiprotocol firmware and there is an open thread border router addon available for HAOS.
Matter is a fledgling protocol and as such EXPECT issues over the next year but it’s probably a strong bet it’s a future protocol you’ll need to include in your list.
Also, most any WiFi labeled as Homekit compatible will work well. Bluetooth Homekit is also supported now, but I have no first hand experience with Homekit BT devices.
There is no standard in 433mhz, there are thousands of protocols. Rflink and RfxTrx can do a good job of integrating them in HA, as long as the device does not use rolling codes (and that is a form of encryption)
433mhz also lacks a confirmation channel, so you are never sure your action succeeded.
As others started if has an integration it will be native supported in HA, you can look up the option on the github pages and via the main integrations list as well as the HACS and refer to the online video’s of the tested hardware you are looking into at the time.
In terms of priority when it comes to what type you want to find I would go by this order myself based on what I have learned so far:
Matter+Thread - The limit more depends on the other types of networks its being the proxy for in the setup since its being standardized as the cross systems network, not sure of a hard limit as yet.
Zigbee/Z-wave - Zigbee supports up to 65,000+ devices on a network, Z-wave does up to 232
Wifi - You are limited by the range of your Wifi and the assigned IP’s you choose if you don’t have a dedicated VLAN yet in your setup.
Bluetooth - you need to consider how many BT device you will have in your setup and how many BT adapters and proxies you will need as some have a limit of 7 devices per adapter.
If you have a project that needs to be setup in a location with decent range from where your closest access point is in the network then you can also look into LoRaWAN (Long Range Wireless) based nodes and the devices built around them.
A skyconnect will cover the Zigbee and Matter+Thread combo then just use your 2.4Ghz channel for Wifi based devices and slot in a BT adapter with some proxies where needed and that should cover most options.
Currently the only devices that I need to worry about cloud connections in the setup that I have going is my fujitsu AC unit through the FGlair custom integration that needs to have HA reloaded every so often to refresh the connection for it and my Tuya based Lenovo plugs that need the cloud connection via the dev portal for the API when not using the localtuya intergration to add them one at a time.
Most devices its a one time setup via the app for the brand on the phone for the intial setup to connect it to the network etc then you can fully integrate them into HA to never use the brands app once you have it working via your automatons.