Aqara Buyer’s Guide 2026: Hubs, Sensors and Locks for Home Assistant and Matter
An Aqara buyer’s guide for 2026: how the Hub M3, P2 and T1 sensors, FP300 presence sensor and U100 lock fit Home Assistant, Matter and Thread.
Home Assistant
Server Closet Temperature Monitoring: Sensors and Alerts Before Your Home Lab Overheats (2026)
How to set up server closet temperature monitoring: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Zigbee sensors, sensor placement, alert thresholds and fan automation for home
Fixing Smart Home Dead Zones: Zigbee/Z-Wave Range Extenders That Actually Work (2026)
A Zigbee or Z-Wave device that works perfectly in one corner of the house and drops constantly in another isn’t usually a broken device – it’s a dead zone, a spot outside reliable mesh range from the nearest working node…
Robot Vacuums With Real Local API / Home Server Integration (2026)
Most robot vacuums still lean on the manufacturer cloud for setup and control. A newer set of models and firmware options now support genuine local control – what actually works with Home Assistant without phoning home.
Newest Matter/Thread Smart Home Hubs Worth Buying (2026)
Matter and Thread both moved fast over the last 18 months – new hub hardware, a jump to Matter 1.5 with real camera support, and a hard cutoff on old Thread certifications. What actually changed and which new hubs are worth buying.
How to Diagnose and Fix Zigbee Devices That Keep Dropping Off Home Assistant 2026
A Zigbee device that worked fine for months and then starts dropping offline intermittently is almost never actually broken — it’s a network problem, and Zigbee networks have a specific, diagnosable set of failure patterns once you know what to…
How to Access Home Assistant Remotely Without Port Forwarding 2026
Port forwarding Home Assistant directly to the internet works, but it also puts a home automation server with control over locks and cameras directly in the path of internet scanners. Three genuinely better options exist, and each fits a different…
Best Presence Detection Sensors for Home Assistant 2026: Ultrasonic, mmWave, and BLE
Standard PIR motion sensors miss a lot of real presence — someone sitting still at a desk stops triggering a PIR sensor within seconds. Presence detection technology fixes exactly that gap.
How to Migrate to Home Assistant from SmartThings or Hubitat 2026: Complete Guide
Migrating an existing smart home setup to Home Assistant is more approachable than it looks, but going device-by-device without a plan is the most common way people get stuck partway through.
Best ESPHome-Compatible DIY Sensors for Home Assistant 2026
ESPHome lets you build genuinely custom sensors for a fraction of the cost of commercial smart home devices, once you’re comfortable with basic wiring and flashing firmware.