I would like to start with Zigbee world (for the beginning with sensors from Aqara). Until now I have only Philips Hue, Homematic IP and Shelly products.
My Home Assistant is running on my Synology NAS (VM) in my cellar. Because of that I think a USB coordinator does not make any sense? So I found, that Sonoff Zigbee Bridge can be use as Bridge between Zigbee & WiFi… Now my questions to You:
ZHA or Zigbee2MQTT? What I found in internet, the people prefer ZHA (when You start new) but what about software/firmware updates? Allegedly ZHA don‘t support it?
Is the Sonoff Zigbee Bridge a good choice in my case? If yes, what is the different between ZB Bridge and ZB Bridge-P?
Both have some OTA support, z2m is probably better, but the latest zha toolkit can now use the z2m OTA repository, leveling the playing field, even if not fully GUI integrated.
Sonoff WiFi Bridges
I’ve seen mixed reviews on the Sonoff WiFi bridges, but have no first hand knowledge. If you must go WiFi and you’re OK with flashing, they may be OK. Ideally use something wired like Coordinators | TubesZB Store.
The difference between the two models is the chipset. The original is a Silicon Labs chip, the “P” is the TI cc2652 chip. For ZHA either should be OK. Theoretically both are supported by z2m. but the SI Labs chip is still marked as experimental in z2m (but there is some current discussion about removing the “experimental” label). For Z2M I’d get the “P” version since the 2652 is what the z2m developer uses and will likely remain the best supported.
Also, If you have a spare Raspberry Pi , similar SBC, or other always-on pc, you can run a USB dongle (or even the full z2m container) remotely from it as well.
My personal take is that ZHA is easier to set up and get going, but z2m has a lot more device support. I prefer z2m but I also have a small install (for a relative) using zha.
This is the older version and is well supported. Dongle-e is still very new and from what I can see doesn’t offer much improvement.
Once set up MQTT is pretty bulletproof. I use Z2M as there is more device support but it’s ultimately an individual choice. In my experience Z2M is extremely reliable and well supported also.
One thing I’m starting to realize about HA (and probably any similar project) is that change is a constant. Things get updated, things get a major re-write, things get bumped to new versions. Changes introduce bugs and incompatibilities. The more components you have, the more effort goes into maintenance, and the more frequently problems affect you.
I have nothing against MQTT. If you already use it, great. But if not, you might want to consider the cost of adding two new components (MQTT itself, and Z2M) in terms of maintenance and reliability.
ZHA is native to HA, and for me, it works right out of the box. Until that changes, I’m going to stick with it.