Hey everyone – just wanted to drop a quick post for anyone thinking about moving from HomeKit to Home Assistant, especially if you’re using the Aqara G4. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t as painful as I thought.
Long story short, I was pretty deep in the HomeKit ecosystem but started feeling limited. I’ve got a bunch of Aqara devices (G4 doorbell, motion sensors, etc.) and I finally made the leap to Home Assistant after hearing all the hype.
Here’s the good news: the G4 works surprisingly well with Home Assistant, especially if you’re using MQTT or leveraging the Aqara Home app integrations. The setup wasn’t plug-and-play, but with a bit of fiddling (and digging through forums), I got the G4 streaming to my dashboard and triggering automations better than it ever did in HomeKit.
One tip – make sure you keep the firmware updated through the Aqara app before integrating. Saved me a stack of troubleshooting.
Anyone else here made the jump? Curious if others had the same smooth-ish experience or if I just got lucky. Would love to hear your setup tips!
@IoT_Ninja Thank you for sharing your experience with transitioning from HomeKit to Home Assistant using the Aqara G4! It’s fantastic to hear that the process was smoother than expected. Your tip about keeping the firmware updated through the Aqara app is invaluable and can definitely save others from potential headaches.
For those interested in connecting Aqara products to Home Assistant, it’s worth noting that all Aqara products supporting HomeKit can indeed be integrated. Typically, this involves setting up the HomeKit Controller in Home Assistant, discovering the device on your network, and entering the pairing code when prompted. Once successfully paired, your devices should be ready for control and automation within Home Assistant.
Your story about leveraging MQTT and the Aqara Home app integrations adds a nice touch of technical insight that could inspire others to explore similar setups. Sharing your personal journey with the community enriches our collective knowledge and encourages more users to explore the flexibility of Home Assistant. Thank you again, and I look forward to hearing more about others’ experiences and tips!