Why are people asking the same questions over and over again? (Or the Regulars' Chatroom) šŸ¤·

I recently bought one that tom_I mentioned in some topic. Still have to install it. And just bought one without USB-cable too.

Iā€™ve been tempted to try a couple of these and see how they work.

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I have five to install this weekend. The one sitting on my desk has been performing well.

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It occurred to me today while watching the 2024 State of the Open Home as they were talking about the topic of devices and sustainability that it might be nice if there were a list of device reviews (like Zigbee/Z-wave) or at least links to the Z-wave-JS device database and Zigbee database for new users.

The integrations have a rating on the quality scale in relation to Home Assistant
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It seems in the goal of keeping devices for years (the sustainability topic) that it would be great if a new user knew if a particular device had a solid reputation of working with Home Assistant.

As of today it seems to be all over the forum for device discussions.

Thoughts? Too much effort?

Maybe something for the cookbook ?

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Why not? The first one in the ā€œexperienced usersā€ bit, I should think.

This has been tried a couple of times on a simpler level, but as you say, the difficulty is grouping them together.

Maybe in Community Guides with a ā€œproductreviewā€ tag?

I think the template is a good idea. Iā€™ve got quite a few Z-wave devices. The Z-Wave JS Config DB Browser can be tricky - I moved from HomeSeer to Home Assistant and had the GoControl Z-wave Irrigation Controller. Even though itā€™s listed in the DB, Home Assistant doesnā€™t support the Irrigation Command Class, so it was the one device that I couldnā€™t move over from my existing network. Fortunately with a little research I knew that up front. I wound up selling the 2 units I had so Iā€™m sure they are still in service.

As you said, this has been discussed for a few times, and unfortunately it always ends inā€¦nothing. :laughing:

The problem with reviews is, somebody has to control them, ideally test the devices and foremost, stays on top of updates. This is a Herculian task, so to say.
Even a project as big as Zigbee2MQTT, where hundreds and thousands are involved, didnā€™t find a way to set this up and maintain it.

I personally think, itā€™s just not practical, spending that much effort in a database, that would need updates nearly every day, and is outdated very fast.

Letā€™s take an example, just to think it through:
We take one of the Xiaomi temp and humidity sensors. There are sold at least under three different manufacturer names. And for the six devices, I have three different up-to-date firmwares on them.

Just taking this one device, we might have nine different versions. I know, they changed something in the design two or three years ago, so these ā€œnewā€ nine versions have to be maintained as well. Makes 18 versions for ā€œoneā€ sensorā€¦ Not that pretty.

If we take into account, that these sensors are sold on different markets, with different firmwares, we had to at least add another two versions (EU + China).

You see, where Iā€™m going with this. And it is not trivial to get all the information either. Eg. Aqara doesnā€™t give out anything, regarding updates.

Honestly, my best recommendation, if Iā€™d be asked by a user, would be the search here in this forum with the exact model code, filtering for the last six months. If the entries are older, likely theyā€™re outdated.

Iā€™d go another way regarding the Cookbook entries, similar to the Z2M database. Just list, if it is working. Nothing else. No reviews, tests or anything else. Just a yes or no. And then a link to the search, Google or only this forum. Anything else, would be way to much effort, in my opinion.

And on a not unrelated question, why are we talking about this here, and not there? :laughing:

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Sounds reasonable to me!

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Wait, thatā€™s the only reasonable thing you got out of that long post? :cry: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: I need to work on my arguments! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: Ha! Acknowledgement of one point doesnā€™t imply disagreement with the others :slight_smile:

I understand there are a lot of difficulties around device recommendations. Zigbee isnā€™t my most used device integration so Iā€™ve a bit naive of the nuances. Z-wave on the other hand seems more straightforward as the devices have to be certified and I havenā€™t experienced as many variants of the same device.

Of course, now Iā€™m just continuing the conversation I agree should be moved to the ā€œCookbook Discussionā€. :slight_smile:

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Please feel free to start your own Wiki in the Community Forum. Iā€™ll be happy to contribute. We already have this going and have no plans to scrap it.

More Data More Betterā€¦

No, no, you misunderstood, sorry! :slight_smile: I have no intention whatsoever to open a Wiki. I find the cookbook very, very good and useful! :+1: And if I find the time in the next days, Iā€™ll have to search my bookmarks, to add to it! :slight_smile:

What I was talking about, was in regard to this:

What Iā€™m saying is, I wouldnā€™t like to have reviews, tests or such things in the Cookbook. If a list of devices would be necessary, my suggestion would be to make a simple works-yes-no list, nothing else. :slight_smile:

4 days ago Yolink was an HA core integration and the stuff was awesome, best stuff ever, supposedly.,
3 days ago the API was turned off. Today nothing works with Home Assistant.
And Life360.
And Chamberlain.

How could the info added today be of any use in April 2025?

(I think thatā€™s 2.4.1, inside jokeā€¦)

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@ShadowFist
I donā€™t know, if you read it above, a few days ago, we had it about the igno list.

And after the response to your post in the other topic, I just remembered, why I had put @Br***dr73 on mine. :laughing: :rofl: Some people really go the extra mile, to piss others off! :rofl: :rofl:

Done. I hadnā€™t come across the Z-Wave database before - very useful.

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@armedad

OK, got it. Deleted my post, I thought you meant something else.
I change my top joke to Iā€¦
The joke still worksā€¦

sry, I wasnā€™t clear enough!

With the introduction of these social areas (this topic and the future regulars space), Iā€™d like to remind people to keep things civil. When venting about specific topics (with provided links), please do not turn these topics into ā€œlets gang up on them and pick apart their point of viewā€.

Thanks.

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