New Home Assistant user

tizgal · September 21, 2020, 5:38pm

Hi everyone,
after one year of frustration using Smartthings, I have decided to move on and build a system that works locally and in addition in the cloud for remote control.
I have decided to try Home Assistant on the Raspberry Pi with ConBee II and deConz.
So far I am impressed by the HA features that repay the time needed to install and configure. I need to control about 50 devices, mostly Ikea and Aqara, but I intend to replace also the security system (Gigaset Elements) once I am sure the system is stable.
So far so good!

nickrout · September 21, 2020, 7:35pm

Welcome to the community. Cheers.

aceindy · September 21, 2020, 8:50pm

Welcome to the fiddle club

tizgal · September 22, 2020, 1:57pm

So far so good.
I have connected a double button Aqara wall switch, few Ikea bulbs, Sunricher dimmer and switch, Ikea repeater, and two Ikea motion sensors.
Created all the needed automation and enabled HomeKit so that I can control the system remotely and with a nice mobile app.
Wondering how HomeKit access my system when not connected to WiFi, is maybe using the AppleTV as iCloud/local hub?

Again, so far I am impressed by deConz and Home Assistant, if the system stays stable, I am totally sold.

aceindy · September 23, 2020, 9:38am

There is also a native HomeAssistance app available

tizgal · September 23, 2020, 1:17pm

Yes, I use it on my phone, but for the rest of the family Apple Home is more friendly.
I haven’t explored the dashboard customisation yet.

tizgal · September 25, 2020, 7:30pm

Update:

after 3 days I have completed the transition from SmartThings to HA and disconnected the ST Hub!
Now my home is running on HA and, thanks to the AppleTV that works as local hub, I can control remotely using HomeKit integration.

I have installed HomeHabit on my cheap Samsung tablet that I use to control everything. Nice app HomeHabit, there is for sure room for improvement.

After one week of use I can say that HA is powerful, stable, and fast. I had no time yet to fully exploit its potentiality but I intend to do so.

Just the UI could have been more user and mobile friendly, and for sure we could benefit from a better dashboard that is tablet friendly.

A big thanks to all the developers that actively develop HA and everyone helping in the forum, I have used it a lot lately

Is HA accepting donations?

nickrout · September 25, 2020, 8:59pm

There are quite a few frontends if you look around this forum.