• Willdrick@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    Thanks for this! I have been using HA for a year now but only with stuff I already had on my network and a few Wiz lights. The whole ZigBee zwave thing has been a pending rabbit hole to fall into for a while and this was been an interesting read.

    • huskypenguin
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      8 months ago

      Definitely start with a beefy zigbee coordinator. I like the Ukrainian made SLZB-06. It can be USB or networked. I prefer networked, that way I can move it to a more central location in the house and keep my HA running as a VM in the basement.

      • DreadPotato@sopuli.xyz
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        8 months ago

        Uh, it even runs POE, I just use a sonoff USB dongle…I’ve just been using my lightbulps and 230VAC relays as receivers/routers for nearby battery powered ZigBee units. There’s always a mains powered ZigBee device within good range so it can reach my server in the laundry room.

        • huskypenguin
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          8 months ago

          Sonos is great but it’s just a few dollars more for an even better device with more flexibility (if you’re starting fresh).

          I started with a conbee which led to a lot of issues.

  • Jakor@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    This was a surprisingly well thought out and educational article - thank you! Was expecting a super basic article for the masses, but this had a number of quality suggestions, pros and cons of the different options, and even the authors personal opinion on preference of Z2M in case the reader wanted a real suggestion.

    Thanks so much for this!

    Only thing I think I noticed that could be corrected is OTA updates are no longer exclusive to Z2M - ZHA recently added this too, though I haven’t tried it yet and don’t see a reason to ever switch back from Z2M.