I’m planning to build several WiFi connected devices for home automation: an AC remote control and air quality sensors. These devices would send data and be controlled through a local server. I’m considering two approaches: running custom software on a server PC (hardware to be determined) or integrating with Home Assistant’s protocols and purchasing their hardware. Would using Home Assistant be excessive for this use case?

  • tofu@lemmy.nocturnal.gardenEnglish
    1·
    8 days ago

    If you aren’t locked in yet, I’d recommend against WiFi devices. Check Zigbee or similar. It won’t clutter your LAN and is independent. You usually need some kind of central station for that but it’s worth it imho.

    • mangaskahn@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      7 days ago

      The exception here would be ESP32 devices. These have been some of the most reliable devices in my home and the most versatile, no Internet access required. Zigbee works well, but runs in the same frequency space as wifi and Bluetooth. Matter and thread are the new hotness and run in that space too. They all work well together, but something to consider. Z Wave is in a separate frequency space, but is a less open protocol. I have at least a few of all of these and they all play nice. Consider your priorities and choose what’s best for your application.

      • ego@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        1·
        7 days ago

        Seconding esp devices. Especially running open source firmware (I used tasmota, there is also esphome and probably others) super reliable and much lower risk of spyware.

      • tofu@lemmy.nocturnal.gardenEnglish
        1·
        7 days ago

        Both! Connecting Iot devices to your LAN is a security risk, since they sometimes carry malware. Many DDOS these days are performed by smart bulbs or the like. May even sniff in your network. Of course you can firewall them, but why bother with wifi at all then? Zigbee is pretty reliable and works even if your router goes down (you probably can’t access Home Assistant Web interface anymore, but zigbee light switches etc will still trigger zigbee bulbs, zigbee thermeters will still report their sensor values etc).

        I’m a Zigbee user so I use that in the examples but I’m sure the other options are fine as well.

  • hendrik@palaver.p3x.deEnglish
    1·
    8 days ago

    HA isn’t the only option. I think there’s two other open source smarthome solutions out there(?) And you could probably do with just an MQTT broker and a Python script, or something like that…

    But HA isn’t a bad choice. They’re doing a phenomenal job. And related projects like ESPHome make it really easy to integrate microcontrollers. And if you want to do more smarthome stuff, it has a plethora of features, integrations, an app…

    Extra hardware isn’t absolutely necessary. I have one server at home which does NAS, and I use 4GB of it’s RAM to run a virtual machine with Home Assistant. That’s enough for it, including a bunch of Addons.

  • AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    8 days ago

    In terms of software, yes. But HA can be run on nearly anything—there’s no need to buy their hardware to use it.

    • roofuskit@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      8 days ago

      Adding to this, I recommend a used mini PC. There’s lots of cheap used office hardware out there on eBay that is more powerful, more serviceable, and more flexible than the hardware they sell or a raspberry pi.

      • dan@upvote.auEnglish
        1·
        8 days ago

        Companies are throwing away old hardware (like 8th/9th gen Core i5) that’s perfect for running Home Assistant. See if there’s an e-waste recycler near you - they might let you buy an old system for a nominal fee.

      • Goodlucksil@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        0·
        8 days ago

        While there are some problems with used minipcs (notably drivers), i don’t think they are relevant if it is only going to be used as a Home Assistant

        • Trilogy3452@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
          0·
          8 days ago

          That’s a good point. This can help me with things like adding a DNS server (I’m assuming pi-hole can be run standalone on a mini PC)

          • SeductiveTortoise@piefed.socialEnglish
            1·
            8 days ago

            I bought a used mini PC and then set up Proxmox. This little thing is a lot more capable than the Raspberry I used before and it runs my complete home lab, excluding my NAS.

    • i_am_not_a_robot@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
      1·
      8 days ago

      Just be careful with SD cards if you’re using SBCs. Home Assistant does a lot of writing and if your SD card can’t handle repeated writes you may suddenly lose everything. Keep backups to another device and have a replacement SD card ready if extended downtime is going to be a problem for you.

  • James R Kirk@startrek.websiteEnglish
    1·
    8 days ago

    As others have said, you can run Home Assistant on anything if you want to just test it out. Their own hardware is a great choice though.

    But to answer your broader question, yes. Home Assistant is the choice. It works better with literally everything else out there.