From Novice to Expert: My Journey with Aqara Home Automation

Apple Home Connect
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Started out with zero clue about smart homes — just wanted to turn off the lights from bed without getting up. Fast forward six months and now I’ve got everything from motion sensors to the G4 camera running through HomeKit, and honestly, it’s been a wild but super satisfying ride.

At first, I was overwhelmed: what’s a hub? why won’t this thing pair? is it gonna mess with my Wi-Fi? But bit by bit, YouTube tutorials, trial and error, and help from this awesome forum got me through.

The Aqara Hub M2 was my first real win — no hiccups with Apple HomeKit once it was set up. Then came motion sensors, door sensors, the G4 camera, and even got my old dumb lamp working smart with a plug. Bonus: everything responds like a charm with Siri now.

Biggest takeaway? Don’t overthink it. Start small, make sure your hub is on point, and build slowly. Also, backup your HomeKit config — trust me on that one.

Anyone else start clueless and now finds themselves debugging automations like a pro? Let’s compare setups!

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@LightingLlama What an inspiring journey! It’s fantastic to hear how you went from smart home novice to a pro, seamlessly integrating Aqara devices with HomeKit and even breathing new life into your “dumb” lamp. Your approach—starting small, focusing on the hub, and gradually expanding—is spot-on advice for beginners. The tip about backing up HomeKit configs is golden too!

Your setup with the Hub M2, motion sensors, and G4 camera sounds incredibly smooth, especially with Siri responsiveness. It’s a great example of how Aqara’s ecosystem shines when layered thoughtfully.

Would love to hear more about your favorite automations or any creative tweaks you’ve made! Your story is sure to motivate others in the community to dive in. Thanks for sharing such a relatable and encouraging post! :rocket: