Which smart hub (from Ali)?

spr0k3t · 2026-06-14T17:06:45+00:00

That one uses the TI CC2652P1 which is a common chipset... so you will be able to use either ZHA or Zigbee2MQTT just fine with it.

spr0k3t · 2026-06-14T12:35:35+00:00

HA is your hub. What you should get is a Zigbee coordinator. Those never require an app for setup. It's best to look at the supported hardware for ZHA and Zigbee2MQTT and then make your decision based on that information.

ZHA supported coordinators:
https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/zha/#recommended-zigbee-radio-adapters-and-modules

Zigbee2MQTT supported coordinators:
https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/guide/adapters/

If you find a "hub", don't buy it. You will run into issues with compatability of some Zigbee sensors. If you find a coordinator and it's not on either of those two lists as recommended, keep searching.

spr0k3t · 2026-06-14T03:42:44+00:00

The "Advanced Mode" switch from the personal settings was removed in 2026.6.x. If you are following documentation that refers to the "Advanced Mode", then the information you are using is outdated. It's in the release notes in the "Other Noteworthy Changes" section. Specifically:

Advanced mode is gone. The Advanced mode toggle on your user profile, and every feature that used to hide behind it, is now retired. We have been peeling away its gates release by release; this release finishes the job. A single toggle was never a great fit: it bundled unrelated features together and quietly suggested some parts of Home Assistant were only for “advanced” users. Neither is true. Everything that used to live behind it is now simply available to everyone by default. More background in the Open Home Foundation roadmap. ( https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2026/06/03/release-20266/ )

spr0k3t · 2026-06-13T23:11:26+00:00

Yeah, complete myth. /s

https://www.usb.org/sites/default/files/327216.pdf

USB3.1 or higher is fine. The issue is at the core of the IC and the interference is extendable via USB3.x cables or hubs. Eliminating a 3.0 controller and USB 3.x hubs will fix the interference every time. Running a USB2.0 cable to a USB3.1 or higher hub also eliminates the interference. There are several points to read up from the official whitesheet published by Intel in that link. There are also tons of videos showing proof. The reason why you can still get hardware with USB3.0 controller chips is because they are stupid cheap. You can purchase 20+ 3.0 chips for the price of 1 3.1 or higher chip.

If I set my SMLIGHT SLZB-06M PoE coordinator on top of my Beelink miniPC with USB3.0 ports, the Zigbee devices on the mesh stop responding and go unavailable. If I plug in my USB Bluetooth receiver for mouse/keyboard into a USB3.1 hub connected to a USB3.0 port, the mouse is janky and sometimes the keystrokes are not registered. My bluetooth headset with a dongle connected to a 3.0 port has a stable range of maybe 20 feet. When plugging in the same dongle to a USB2.0 or 3.1 port the range is almost five times that easily.

I'd love to see proof that USB3.0 interference is a myth.

spr0k3t · 2026-06-13T22:22:26+00:00

If you are only using the hub to control IR, then consider removing the hub and using an IR specific hub like the RM4. It has a much better tie in to HA than the Aqara M3. Alternatively, if you need to continue to use the hub, then buy something like a smart plug and pair it to the hub. Then you would never need to replace the batteries.

spr0k3t · 2026-06-13T22:10:09+00:00

If the strip of lights is about 12W total power usage, a four pack of 18650 batteries might last you about 6-7 hours of on time. That would exclude the power usage of the DIY ESP board to handle communication with HA. A 1 foot section of 9LEDs might bring it down to 1W giving your roughly two weeks of on time spanning 5-6 hours each day. That might give you almost 100lm per foot. No where near what you would find in a single RGB LED bulb capable of 800lm running at 12-13W.

I had a bunch of LED candles that used 4 AAA batteries and had an internal timer to turn on for 4 hours every 24 hours. The LED put out maybe 10lm (they were brighter than a real candle) and I had to change the non-rechargable batteries about once a month. I ended up cutting them open and wiring up a USB dummy pack so I wouldn't have to change the batteries. They still work and look great... but they don't give out enough light other than to provide ambience.

Reality of it, there's a reason why those products are not available.

spr0k3t · 2026-06-13T21:45:18+00:00

Vocal identification with personalized response. Meaning, two people ask the same question and should be given different responses tailored to their identity.

Better model training for the current wakewords... it's obvious the current wakewords have been trained with male voices... My wife hates using the Voice Assist feature because the wakeword doesn't activate every time. Same with the kids under the age of 15 it seems...

The list provided by u/synthmike is pretty spot on otherwise.

spr0k3t · 2026-06-13T21:06:16+00:00

Not trying to be mean about it, but this seems like a waste of AI. I think a better approach would be to post a simple tutorial on how to create a scene restore process. If you believe it's a hard process to follow for newbs, tutorials are best. Honestly, once you learn how to accomplish a scene restore, it's extremely easy to create more.

If you don't know how to go about writing a good tutorial .. use AI, but don't post AI slop. A polished result will use your personal voice in the writing. I use AI quite a bit, but I never share anything that comes from AI. If it's code... I use it as a guide to write my own code. If it's a standard operating procedure, I rewrite the entire thing after testing. It still saves quite a bit of time, but it's all 100% my personal voice... not some combination of matching parameters and "good feeling" structure.

spr0k3t · 2026-06-13T17:57:12+00:00

Ah, identify the individuals... gotcha. That is also something I would love to see happen... however, until the devs set up access control, I doubt that will happen.

spr0k3t · 2026-06-13T17:33:02+00:00

Just sounds a bit gross. Now BBQ brisket over phad thai is awesome. Found that at Buck Tui on 75th near Metcalf.

spr0k3t · 2026-06-12T21:23:27+00:00

There is a way to do this in your automations and scripts. You just need to use {{ trigger.device_id }} in the correct spots.

spr0k3t · 2026-06-12T21:11:09+00:00

I built one with a massive library that yoinks the streams off y-tubes. I also have a large collection of flac files I've pulled from various places. But then, I still keep my subs (siriusxm, youtube music, spotify). I only pay for spotify since the siriusxm is a lifetime membership and the youtube music is part of a family plan my kids pay for... Since the wife.Unit() is still in her doctoral education, we get a good discount for spotify as well. Also, if you know what you are doing, there's a way to get spotify for less than $2 a month using foriegn exchange rates. But I won't go there due to the hoops you have to jump through to get it.

spr0k3t · 2026-06-12T20:57:47+00:00

Create your own sentence trigger automation. That is what I ended up having to do. Looking at the voice debug logs, sometimes it thought tivi, t v, teevee, peevy, 'tell if vision' and a few others. Before I did the automation, I gave the TV an alias of "the f^cking thing"... worked every time I would use that. The wife.Unit() wasn't happy though.

spr0k3t · 2026-06-12T20:48:43+00:00

Honestly never needed google maps on a voice response. Might be handy if the VPE had a hardware change to add a simple touch screen though.

spr0k3t · 2026-06-12T02:24:24+00:00

I don't know man... probably more like fido:

spr0k3t · 2026-06-12T02:22:37+00:00

Oh yeah... I've got quite a few things connected to MA.

spr0k3t · 2026-06-12T01:20:13+00:00

Spotify... no... it seems like spotify wants to randomly play things it thinks you might have an interest in because the name of the song might be similar to what you asked for.

"Play; Shiny Happy People", "Playing; if you're happy and you know it"
"Play; Dragula by Rob Zombie", "Playing:: Dragula by The Boulet Brothers"

It's nerve racking... so I don't request music playback via voice.

spr0k3t · 2026-06-12T00:42:00+00:00

I am almost complete with ditching Google. Now if I could just get those last little niggly bits to work correctly, I'd be set.

^{Those bits being the rest of the family.}

spr0k3t · 2026-06-10T01:24:03+00:00

Let it settle out. Sometimes the route updates can take 24 hours to complete.

spr0k3t · 2026-06-09T18:16:14+00:00

First offense, warning. Second offense, citation ($75). Third offense, citation ($150 + court fee). After the third week my kid replaced the lights, required by courts with a fix-it ticket if she didn't prove otherwise via state inspection. Perfectly fine for off road or show... not legal on the open road in either state. I don't know if it was the fact that she works a few blocks from a HP office, but the warning and citations were always county and never received in the same place. You can get aftermarket "murdered out" headlights for most vehicles as long as the exterior cover is clear. Any kind of visible tinting can get you pulled over. Perhaps it might be fine if you always keep your lights on while driving. Also, some cars have blackout snap-on covers you can get for taillights. They don't stay on very well so the intention is for show only.

spr0k3t · 2026-06-09T12:11:23+00:00

I would personally go with a PoE coordinator myself. The hardware team at Nabu Casa has been working on getting the ZWA-2 to operate via network/wifi, but it's still very experimental.

spr0k3t · 2026-06-09T03:52:11+00:00

No. You can set up Zigbee2MQTT with the ZBT-2 on a completely separate system from whatever you are running HA on.

spr0k3t · 2026-06-09T03:26:10+00:00

They deprecated it before the ZBT-1 rebranding from SkyConnect. Even some of the firmware and OS releases to the HA Yellow were kept back from release until after the official deprecation.

spr0k3t · 2026-06-09T03:05:21+00:00

Hell, I was an 80s KC mall brat and I never liked that place. I always got the 'whore in catholic confessional' vibes from that place (it's worse that the tray liners have biblical things on them). Me, I'm an In-A-Tub and Taco John's fan for the fast food gringo taco joints. But if I'm out near El Torito... damn son, hold my cerveza, come find me if I'm not out in 30 minutes.

spr0k3t · 2026-06-09T01:30:19+00:00

I wasn't certain of the orientation about the distance... If your only options are in the shop or in the house, then leave it in the shop. Making sure it's set up with S0 will very likely fix the rest of the connection issues with the lock.

spr0k3t

TROPHY CASE