Which hub?

So I’ve always avoided stuff like Zigbee because it’s proprietary and I’d feel like I’ll always be dependent on others to keep my stuff running smoothly.

It is for that reason that all my smart devices have been WiFi-based, most of them running via the Tuya app for easy integration. The problem with that is latency, of course. A lot of devices just take a few seconds to respond because of that.

I’ve been advised numerous times to get a Zigbee hub and use that because it’s all local. I don’t even know if my things will work with Zigbee, but we’ll see.

My question is: which hassio-friendly Zigbee hub would you all recommend to a n00b like me? I don’t mind spending extra for a powerful, reliable hub. All advice is welcome.

Thank you all very kindly in advance.

First that couldn’t be further from the truth. IN this context, Tuya is proprietary and Zigbee is an open standard. While true the standard was fragmented by some vendors (Tuya in particular is one of them) Don’t be mistaken that Tuya is a ‘standard’ Its a platform built by one vendor and resold to other organizations to use. They WANT you in their cloud.

Let’s start with why. Sounds like you want to eliminate cloud lag. Zigbee devices would do it - because they run locally and don’t require a manufacturer cloud. But you also say the statement above. If your devices are NOT Zigbee, they won’t work with a Zigbee hub - its like Wemo or Kasa switches not working on Tuya’s cloud. They’re not interchangeable. You can’t just get a Zigbee hub and onboard all manner of random devices - they have to be Zigbee devices. So if you dont already have zigbee devices - this won’t do you a lot of good unless you intend to switch everything out.

If you’re trying to get better response on your tuya stuff - how about LocalTuya? It’s a royal pain to setup and a pain to maintain but it works in most cases.

Personally I dont use Tuya stuff because of the cloud requirement - but in the few cases I have had to because that was the only way to get a certain device class - localtuya to the rescue.

If you DO intend to swap everything for Zigbee -
1 - Matter is out now, If I were starting from scratch, I’d get a coordinator like the SkyConnect that can do BOTH matter and Thread and prefer Matter devices.
2- If you dont want to use Matter - that’s fine, pick your favorite Zigbee integration (if I were starting new today I’d do ZHA) and use the reccommended stick for that system.

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I am very happy with the Smartthings V3 (currently sold under the Aeotec brand).

I had this hub before I discovered Home Assistant and I think it is integrating very nicely with HA, so much so that I decided I do not in fact need HA to have a zigbee radio since the ST hub has z-wave, zigbee and it is also working with matter. And ST works for example with Ikea buttons, which HA cannot handle (info as of last year).

Bonus point is that since the ST hub integrates with Alexa & Google, I do not need to integrate HA with these 2 assistants. And ST also executes a lot of automations locally.

PS wi-fi devices will not work with a zigbee hub - you need zigbee devices.

The ST hub doesn’t help Op’s requirement to reduce cloud lag. The link between HA and ST is currently through the ST Cloud API. Therefore, every call to the ST hub requires 4-6 comm calls. Request > (internet) > ST Cloud > (Internet) ST hub > ST Hub actions on Zigbee network > Acknowledgement to hub > (Internet) Acknowledgement to ST Cloud > (internet) Acknowledgement to HA.

Wouldnt reccommend for this application if Op’s requirement is to reduce cloud lag.

I understand what you are saying, but what I am saying is that there is virtually no cloud lag with ST and HA.

I also have the Aqara E1 hub and as far as I can tell, it is accessed locally by HA. Downside is that it accepts only Aqara devices, whereas ST accepts almost everything that runs on zwave / zigbee.

But it looks like the OP should not be looking for a hub, but for a Zigbee stick or… maybe Home Assistant Yellow?

I will tell a very different story. I used ot have well over 300 devices on a ST install. I’ve done it with BOTH groovy and Edge based devices. You simply cannot eliminate a 30-100 ms lag (best case from every call, it’s physics - it’s impossible. - but that’s when it works correctly.) I came from ST and cloud lag was the first thing I was trying to get rid of.

If and when (because I thnk it’s inevitable at this point - or Matter makes it moot) someone creates a local connection between HA and ST (using Edge most likely - look at the work TAustin has done around connecting a Rpi to ST as a direct connected device) I will change this recommendation.

In your install you’re not using HA in so much as you’re using Alea and ST with Edge. The more stuff you keep ‘inside’ edge the better. Crossing the cloud boundary sucks. When it works well it’s tolerable (but still noticeable from local) when it breaks its infuriating, and you can’t do anything about it because its problems off your network.

If Op wants a ‘box’ that doesn’t have the cloud lag limits then go Hubitat. But again if it’s new anyway skip the middlemen and go native.

My recommendation is still SkyConnect / Matter, then Zigbee on ZHA or mfr reccommended coordination on HA native integration.