Hi, I’m brand new here!
TL:DR, do I need special adapters to communicate with Zigbee/Z-wave if I set up HA on a mac or can I just use my SmartThings hub and connect those Zigbee devices through that integration?
More details:
I’ve been dabbling in home automation for about five years now and have gradually expanded from Hue and Alexa to Kasa and SmartThings and others. I am trying to keep my list of device manuafacturers and apps to a minimum, but it is getting harder and harder to do. I’ve shied away from HA becuase of the front end set up time and equipment it takes, and becuase my current set up with smartthings and alexa has basically served my needs. But this set up has gradually restricted me more and more and I persistently see HA as a better option for managing them. That said, the equipment issue is still a big barrier, and since it is particularly hard to find a raspberry pi for a reasonable price at the moment, I haven’t taken the leap.
But, I realized that I have an old mac mini not being used very much that I could possibly set up as the server. I think it could work well for my purposes. That said, given I have mostly zigbee devices and some z-wave devices, I am curious as to whether I should by a zigbee and z-wave adapter to connect to the mac, and if so, which one I should get. OR can I simply use my SmartThings hub to register all the zigbee/z-wave devices and then integrate smartthings with HA? I know that latter option might not be the most ideal situation, but it might be the easist for me, if it is possible.
If anyone can provide insight, advice, or guidance about this issue, I would be very grateful!
Thank you!
Dan
SO yes. Both answers are true. YES, you can setup HA on your mac (I’d recommend in virtual, and load up HAOS, but TBH im not a Mac person so I’ll defer to those as to the specifics.)
Once it’s setup you have MULTIPLE options as to how you connect Zigbee / Zwave, etc.
For each Zigbee and Zwave, you need:
A coordinator
An integration (Software that drives the coordinator stick - HA needs something to translate from network specific to HA native)
HA
So that could be:
Zigbee / Zwave Coordinator: SmartThigs Hub
Zigbee / Zwave Integration: SmartThings Integration
HA
OR
Same as above but use ZwaveJS2MQTT for yout Zwave Integration and Zigbee2MQTT for oyur Zigbee Integration
OR DeConz
or…
Yeah.
My CURRENT (July 20220 recommendation coming from ST. Dump your ST hub and move your stuff to supported sticks.
Why:
SmartThings is STILL in their transition from Groovy to Edge (LUA) and has at least 6 more months. Stuff is changing and in transition. I wouldn’t want to deal with that AND integrate ST into HA at the same time.
If you use the ST integration it’s a Cloud<>cloud integration. Means you’ll have to make a decision on HOW you connect HA to the outside world (A consideration you didn’t have to make with ST. Using a local coordinator stick / integration eliminates that concern.
ST integration being cloud = Cloud lag. But it’s a special kind of Cloud lag -
You could potentially have a message to ‘turn on a light’ (Assuming HA mobile app initiation, not on WiFI) do this:
Your phone > HA (if you’re outside your network you’re transiting the firewall/proxy
HA > ST Cloud (Crosses the firewall AGAIN)
ST Cloud to ST Hub (Again across the firewall)
Hub to Zwave Network device (Zwave Network Message)
Device State update Zwave Message to Hub
Status Update Hub to ST Cloud (Crosses the firewall YET AGAIN)
ST Cloud to HA (Yep firewall)
HA to Mobile App (ONE LAST TIME)
That’s NO LESS THAN 6 transits across The Internet for ONE device action. 4 if you were on your local WiFi and have the Mobile App setup properly.
Vs.
2 or None if you use a stick and HA integration.|
Man THANK YOU! What an excellent reply! This was so helpful… and I decided to pick up a windows computer and install HA on a VM. I finally decided that using a mac potentially limited my compatibility, and there was a night that the ST serve went down, while I had guests, and none of my automations or lights worked correctly. It resolved over night, but I don’t want that to happen again. I’m a ways away from replicating all of my automations, so I’ll be with ST for a little while longer as I work through that process, but I did take the dive in to Home Assistant. That said, I also picked up the Nortek HUSBZB-1 stick and installed it successfully in windows. But I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get HA to find it and recognize it and integrate it. Edit: After reading these forums, I am going to send it back and buy a dedicated zigbee and zwave dongles.
That said, do you know where updated instructions are for adding zigbee sticks to HA?
lol Thanks Nathan! I’ve read some of your other posts around here and I have to say you are so incrediblu helpful and kind and generous. I grateful for your presence and assitance!
Apart from that, how do I know if the installation I used was thr right one? And if I need to install a new one, how do I do that? Like, can I install it on top of my current installation, or do I need to go through whole vm set up process again with a fresh install? Is there just an upgrade process? I’m not too deep in yet so I could start over if necessary without much loss.
Regarding the installatio i used, I am pretty sure I installed Home Assistant OS, as that was the first set of links I found on this page: Windows - Home Assistant
I was unaware of the other installation options, but to be honest, I am not sure I would have understood that I needed a different one, even if I knew there were options.
And congrats.