I have tried Home Assistant several times. Each time I try it, I get it installed on a VM under my Proxmox hypervisor and start configuring my devices. I'll use my most recent try as an example. I have several Wyze WiFi power switches, and two "Smart Life" (Toya internally) combination thermometer/switch devices. The Toya devices integrated with HA after I signed up for a Toya developer account and did a bunch of configuring. I was able to read the temperature values, but switching the devices on/off did absolutely nothing. I didn't even try the Wyze devices; apparently Wyze doesn't integrate with HA.
I'm not opposed to buying new "smart home" devices, but I want something that actually works properly. What I'm looking for are:
- Devices that don't require internet access and an external API; I want to control them directly over my LAN.
- Devices that have built-in integration with HA.
Is there a list of devices that just "work" with HA? I've looked at the list of available integrations that "technically" work, but they often require signing up for API access with a 3rd-party company and jumping through hoops to get the devices working. I want something where I can assign it a static IP or DHCP lease and HA just talks to it. I was able to get my BlueIris DVR integration working, and it can double as a motion sensor, so I'm specifically looking for plug-in switches, thermometers, sensors, etc.
As everyone else said, basically, don’t get WiFi devices - they generally expect to be cloud controlled and call home. I suppose that’s fine for people who don’t want to set up a hub, but even then would be a hassle unless all your devices are from the same brand.
Look for an open standard local-only network protocol, starting with Zigbee or z-wave. Could also try Thread, Bluetooth, or a couple other choices, but they might be more involved/limited.
If you’re using HA, spend $30 on a dongle to get a transceiver for whichever local protocol you use, and you’re good to go. Actually with HA, you don’t need to be limited to one, but I would start with one for your sanity
I started with z-wave, because that’s where I found the most devices that I wanted (light switches) in my area. However at this point I have equal number of Zigbee and z-wave. Actually all the Zigbee claim to be flashable to Thread, which is why I chose them.