Post #2019323

If you’re starting with ha, don’t feel confined to only one. IMPORTANT: a local area mesh is not just a low powered way of connecting devices but is inherently local-only. Highly recommended The more common local area meshes include - Zigbee - open standard, lots of inexpensive sensors - Z-Wave - devices need to pay for certification but are more standard. I found more smart switches using this in my area - Thread - the new standard. Same frequency as Zigbee but IPv6 based. Slowly rolling out. The new Matter/Thread standard has support of the major players (Apple, Google, Amazon) so seems like the way to go for the future, but products are slow to roll out so you can’t count on it yet Personally I found the strengths of each compelling so quickly added all three of the above to my ha setup. Ha is fine with it so why limit yourself I follow the principle that devices must work “as expected” for my users, automation adds capabilities but does not replace them. This comes together with a focus on smart switches - can be used interactively just like any switch - continue to work as expected even if ha is down - typically act as routers to strengthen your local area mesh. I have switches acting as routers for Zigbee, zwave, and Thread, so all my local area meshes are solid everywhere - then I can automate