Robust Smart Home Setup Using Multiple Aqara Hubs: Observations & Best Practices

Aqara Products
, , ,
1

As someone managing a large property with a complex smart home ecosystem, I’ve invested significant time and effort into refining a robust and resilient setup. With over 200 devices deployed and a variety of hubs in use, my experience may help others designing or scaling their own systems. Below are my key observations, the progression of my setup, and recommendations based on extensive testing.

Current Hub Deployment

I currently have the following hubs strategically distributed throughout the property:

3 x Aqara M3 Hubs
4 x Aqara G5 Camera Hubs
4 x Aqara M2 Hubs
3 x Aqara M100 Hubs (under testing)
1 x Aqara G410 Doorbell Hub

Evolution of My Setup

Initial Phase: Floor-Based M2 Hub Setup

I began with three M2 hubs, allocating one per floor. While this approach worked reasonably well, I occasionally encountered issues such as:

  • Devices going offline without warning
  • The need to manually restart hubs or power-cycle devices to restore connectivity

Despite otherwise solid performance, these periodic glitches indicated some systemic instability.

Upgrade to M3 Hubs: Improved Signal, Same Glitches

When the M3 hubs were released, I replaced the M2s with M3s, expecting:

  • Enhanced signal strength
  • Improved reliability
  • Better automation performance

While signal strength did improve significantly, the rare connectivity glitches persisted. This suggested that signal alone wasn’t the root issue—it pointed more toward architecture or mesh stability limitations.

On the plus side, the M3s introduced local automation control, which proved to be a substantial improvement:

  • Most automations now run entirely on the hubs without requiring internet
  • Confirmed by physically disconnecting internet and successfully triggering automations
  • The hub clustering feature, though still not fully transparent, seems to designate a master hub for local app control

Final Optimization: Room-Based Hub Deployment

Rather than segmenting the home by floors, I decided to allocate a dedicated hub to each primary room. This meant:

  • Reprovisioning the M2 hubs for use in individual rooms (Kitchen, Living Room, Office, Bedrooms, etc.)
  • More granular control and fault isolation
  • Greater reliability and reduced complexity per hub

Result:

This has been the most effective and stable configuration. System uptime has been near-perfect for months. If a hub does fail, it typically impacts just one room instead of several, making troubleshooting and recovery far easier.

Outdoor Coverage with G5 POE Cameras

For perimeter and outdoor smart devices (motion sensors, relays, etc.), I’ve integrated them with the G5 POE Camera Hubs, which offer:

  • Excellent Zigbee signal strength, even across distances and through outdoor walls
  • Local automation handling directly on the G5 units
  • Seamless integration into the larger Aqara system

This has enabled reliable motion lighting and perimeter security triggers independent of the core indoor system.

Device Count and Stability

With over 200 smart devices (sensors, switches, relays, locks, cameras, and more), my home automation system pushes the limits of typical residential setups.

Despite the complexity, the system has proven rock solid thanks to:

  • Room-based hub isolation
  • Local automation processing
  • Reliable camera hub performance outdoors
  • Thoughtful pairing of devices to the nearest appropriate hub

Final Thoughts & Advice

  • Clustered local control via M3/M2 hubs works well, though transparency on “master” logic would be helpful
  • Signal strength alone isn’t enough—device distribution strategy is key
  • Resilience improves dramatically when you decentralize your hubs
  • Outdoor automation benefits from camera hubs with built-in Zigbee radios
  • Internet independence is now a reality for most automations
  • Scalability requires clear mapping and documentation of device-hub assignments

While individual mileage may vary, my journey through numerous home automation configurations has led to a solution that balances performance, reliability, and fault tolerance.

If you’re scaling up your own setup—especially in large or complex properties—my strongest advice is to decentralize and think in rooms, not floors. Your future self (and your family) will thank you.

18 Likes
2

Good afternoon, @david .
Good story, everything is laid out on the shelves. I have another request, maybe in the continuation of the story you will tell about your organization of uninterruptible power supply, which greatly affects the reliability of automation. And also, how you have organized critical automation in case of a lack of industrial power supply. This information will be useful for beginners.
Thank you.

3 Likes
4

Really nice post! Thank you for sharing you experiences.

1 Like
5

Hi David,

thanks a lot for sharing your experience! :+1:

We’re currently renovating and expanding our house, and I’ve got over 400 Aqara devices in use – including several hubs. I’m using two M3 hubs in central locations, and each of the main rooms (living room, bedrooms, office, etc.) is equipped with an S1+ panel that also functions as a hub.

One important thing to note – which might be helpful to others as well – is that each hub has a maximum number of devices it can support, and Matter signals count toward that limit!

What I personally find a bit frustrating is the lack of a simple way to move a device from one hub to another. Unfortunately, there’s no native transfer option – you have to re-pair the device manually. In our living room/loft, I’ve installed 64 downlights in the ceiling, and I’d really like to switch them to a different hub without having to physically remove each one and trigger pairing mode with five manual power cycles.

Do you happen to have a workaround for this?

In any case, it’s great to hear from someone else working on such a large-scale Aqara setup! I’d love to exchange more experiences with you if you’re open to it.

3 Likes
6

The best way to move a bulb to a different hub is to do this 1 at a time using the following method. This assumes that you have access to the physical hub for button press.

In the Aqara app, delete the appropriate Bulb.
On your Aqara Hub that you want to pair the bulb press the button 3 times, this will put the hub into Pairing Mode and automatically pair the bulb with the same name, All automation will continue to work.

If you do not have access to the physical button then you will need to add the light through the app.

The above method is for Zigbee Only.

2 Likes
7

Our hub team should take a look, thanks David

2 Likes
8

@david Thank you, David, for the detailed insights! Your “room-centric” approach is spot-on, and it aligns perfectly with Aqara’s own deployment recommendations. In addition, the Aqara Hub team has two extra suggestions:

  1. Separate 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi
    • If any hub only supports 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, create a dedicated 2.4 GHz SSID exclusively for IoT devices.
    • Reserve the 5 GHz band for phones, tablets, cameras, and other high-bandwidth equipment.
    • Phones and cameras generate continuous video streams that can severely degrade Zigbee or Thread traffic on 2.4 GHz, causing instability .

  2. Lock the 2.4 GHz channel
    • Once the system is proven stable, set the 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi channel to a fixed value (e.g., 1, 6, or 11) and avoid “auto” selection.
    • Router reboots may otherwise shift the channel, potentially overlapping with Zigbee or Thread channels and degrading wireless quality .

By keeping IoT traffic isolated on a dedicated, fixed-frequency 2.4 GHz network, you ensure both high reliability for smart-home devices and optimal performance for user-facing 5 GHz clients.

5 Likes
9

Hello, and thanks for the additional advice.

I take a proactive approach to securing and optimizing my smart home network:

  • Dedicated IoT VLAN and SSIDs:
    I keep all IoT traffic completely separate from other LAN traffic by using dedicated SSIDs for my IoT devices, both for 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. This segmentation reduces security risks and limits the impact of potential vulnerabilities in IoT devices on the rest of my network.
  • Hardwired Hubs with Redundancy:
    All my smart home hubs — including M3, M2, and G5 models — are hardwired using Ethernet connections with Power over Ethernet (PoE) injectors. This ensures stable connectivity and reduces reliance on WiFi, which can be less reliable for critical automation devices. Additionally, every hub is connected to an uninterruptible power supply (UPS), so they stay online during power outages. For rhe M2 hubs I use a POE Injection power supply.
  • Static IP Assignments:
    Each hub has a static IP address reserved on my DHCP server. This simplifies device management, integration with home automation systems, and makes troubleshooting much easier.
  • Fixed WiFi Channels:
    I manually set and fix the WiFi channels on my access points to prevent automatic channel hopping, which can cause unexpected disconnections or latency for devices sensitive to WiFi changes — particularly relevant for many IoT sensors and older smart devices.
  • Router and Access Point Choice:
    For anyone interested, I use MikroTik networking equipment throughout my home. In my experience, MikroTik hardware offers exceptional configurability, performance, and reliability compared to other brands I’ve tried, which is especially important for a complex environment with multiple SSIDs, VLANs, and high device density.
5 Likes
10

@Brudy In your response you mentioned “Aqara’s own deployment recommendations”.

Are these recommendations available and accessible somewhere? Would love to learn more!

Thank you!

1 Like
11

I would suggest tying those lightbulbs to a switch. And replacing the switch with a Smart switch and regular lightbulbs. Saves a lot of work.

1 Like
12

Great post and insight. This will help me out in my continued smart home journey. Thanks for the info.