Home Assistant is the core of my smart home setup. It ties all my smart devices together and allows me to control how I access them and what automations I can perform with them. Home Assistant offers many different integrations, is entirely customizable, and best of all, open-source.

The bulk of my smart devices use Zigbee instead of Wi-Fi, which would still allow me to control my lights even if my Wi-Fi AP / local network went down. Zigbee operates off a USB dongle with an antenna that I plugged into my Raspberry Pi 4B.

This antenna is what allows Home Assistant to communicate with my other Zigbee devices, like:

With devices like these all tied into Home Assistant, you can then write automations using their exposed features. I currently have a smart home automation that turns on my bedroom lights and announces that the door was opened through my Google Nest Mini bedroom speaker whenever the entryway door is opened after a set time at night.

I’ve tied in my Google TVs that can be controlled through an Android integration with Home Assistant, and my Google Home minis that can share control of some of the Zigbee devices as well.

Through a tie-in with Google Home, I can technically use the Google Home app when I’m away to control select compatible devices. Though, because I like using the Home Assistant android app, and can control way more with the variety of integrations, plus I can support the developers of Home Assistant, I pay for the Home Assistant Cloud service that acts as a secure reverse proxy to access everything, while I’m away from home.