So I’ve been playing around with integrating my Aqara gear into a fairly mixed smart home setup — not just sticking with the “official” platforms like Mi Home, but trying to make everything play nice together. I’m talking Home Assistant, Apple Home, Alexa, even some older Z-Wave devices I still have lying around.
For context, I started with a few basic Aqara sensors (motion, door/window, temp/humidity) tied to their hub. Then the addiction began. The thing is, I didn’t want to live inside one ecosystem. I wanted the freedom to trigger a Shelly relay based on an Aqara motion sensor, or get Siri to control stuff via devices that aren’t HomeKit-native.
Enter Home Assistant. Absolute game changer. Once I got my Zigbee devices talking through a SkyConnect dongle and set up Zigbee2MQTT, my Aqara stuff became way more flexible. Scenes, scripts, fine-tuned automations — all without relying on any cloud connection. Plus, no more bouncing between multiple apps just to adjust a trigger.
Some hiccups though — battery reporting with certain sensors is hit or miss, and there was some fiddling required to get round things like occupancy sensors reporting properly. But damn, once it’s up and running, it’s slick.
Has anyone else gone down this road? Got any pro tips or workarounds for more edge-case integrations? Would love to hear how others are stretching the Aqara lineup beyond the “plug-and-play” use case.
@DoorBellDude It’s fantastic to hear about your journey with integrating Aqara devices into a diverse smart home environment! Using Home Assistant truly opens up a world of possibilities, allowing for more customized automations and integrations beyond the standard offerings. Your experience with setting up Zigbee2MQTT via a SkyConnect dongle is a great example of how to enhance flexibility and reduce dependence on cloud services.
Regarding your setup, it seems you’ve navigated the integration landscape quite effectively. The challenges you mentioned, like inconsistent battery reporting and occupancy sensors needing some adjustments, are common. These can sometimes be addressed by ensuring your firmware is up-to-date and exploring community forums for specific tweaks or scripts that others have found useful.
If you’re looking to expand further, consider utilizing the Aqara Hub M100, which acts as a Matter Bridge and Controller, offering compatibility across platforms like Apple Home, Google Home, and Alexa. This could potentially streamline some of your device management and expand your integration capabilities even more.
For those reading this and considering similar setups, feel free to share your experiences or tips. Collaboration often leads to discovering new, ingenious solutions to common integration hurdles. Keep experimenting and sharing your insights — it’s what makes this community thrive!