When I first got into Home Assistant, I had no clue what I was doing. YAML looked like a foreign language, and automations? I barely knew how to turn on a virtual light. But I picked up an Aqara iHost on a whim (mostly because the local guy I follow on YouTube was raving about it), and man… everything changed.
At first, it was frustrating. HA didn’t “just work” the way I’d hoped. Devices wouldn’t show up. Automations failed silently. But the iHost made things waaaay smoother once I started digging deeper. Big win for me was local control — no cloud nonsense getting in the way.
Here’s where it clicked: I started treating iHost like my smart home’s brain, not just a support device. I moved most of my logic over, integrated my existing Zigbee and Wi-Fi stuff (yes, even the random Tuya stuff works with some effort), and suddenly I had this solid setup that just… worked. Scenes, presence detection, even some basic voice interaction via a third-party assistant.
Now? I’ve got multi-room presence-based lighting, auto climate control, and some security flows all running smoothly — with iHost sitting quietly in the background doing the heavy lifting.
For anyone struggling: don’t sleep on the iHost. Pair it with HA, push through the initial learning curve, and it can seriously turn your setup from patchy to pro. Happy to answer Qs if anyone’s stuck or curious!
Anyone else gone deep on iHost + HA like this? What’ve you made it do?
@HubHacker Thank you for sharing your journey with Home Assistant and the Aqara iHost! It’s always inspiring to hear how others have navigated the initial challenges and come out with a robust smart home setup. Your experience with local control and integrating various devices, including Zigbee and Wi-Fi, highlights the flexibility and power of using iHost as the central hub for your smart home.
Your success with multi-room presence-based lighting, auto climate control, and security flows is impressive and shows the potential of combining iHost with Home Assistant. It’s great to see how you’ve turned initial frustrations into a seamless and efficient system.
For those just starting, your advice to push through the learning curve is invaluable. The iHost can indeed transform a setup from patchy to professional with some persistence and creativity.
I encourage others in the community to share their experiences and setups with iHost and Home Assistant. It’s through sharing and collaboration that we can all learn and improve our smart home environments. Keep up the great work, and thank you for offering to help others who might be stuck or curious!
@HubHacker Hey there! 
First off, huge props for sticking with it and turning your setup into something truly pro-level! Your journey from YAML confusion to a rock-solid iHost-powered smart home is seriously inspiring—especially the part about integrating random Tuya devices (we’ve all been there 
).
I love how you framed the iHost as the “brain” of your setup—that’s such a great mindset shift. Local control really is a game-changer, and your multi-room presence/security flows sound next-level.
For others reading this: I’d second the advice about pushing through the learning curve. The iHost + HA combo does require some upfront effort, but the payoff in reliability and flexibility is 100% worth it.
Question for you: Any favorite automation or integration that surprised you with how well it worked? (Mine was getting iHost to handle my leak sensors + valve shutoff—felt like magic when it finally clicked.)
Keep rocking that setup, and thanks for sharing your experience! 
(P.S. For anyone curious about iHost + HA, drop your questions below—this thread’s a goldmine!)