Smart Home Hubs 101 – The Ultimate Guide
Smart Home Hubs 101 – The Ultimate Guide
The ultimate guide to Smart Home Hubs is here! Whether you want to understand how a smart home hub works, what a smart home hub is, whether or not you should buy a smart home hub, and how to organize both your home and your automations when using a smart home hub, this is the ultimate guide to smart home hubs and the smart home platforms you’ll be looking into.
I’ll also guide you through which smart home hub to buy, and how to locate your smart home hub in your home. We’ll talk about interference, the smart home protocols like Zigbee, Z-Wave, Thread, WiFi, and Bluetooth, plus I’ll give you the best practices with hubs.
This is as much detail as I can give you about hubs, and the future of hubs (or Matter controllers and the Matter smart home protocol)
My 3 most recommended hubs:
Aeotec’s Samsung SmartThings Hub – https://geni.us/AeotecSmartThingsHub (Amazon affiliate link)
Echo 4th Generation – https://geni.us/Echo4thGen (Amazon affiliate link)
Philips Hue – https://geni.us/AYLHueHub
Timecodes for Today’s Video:
00:00 – Smart Home Hubs 101
1:19 – What is a Smart Home Hub
3:06 – What Does a Smart Home Hub Do?
10:53 – Should You Get a Smart Home Hub?
15:51 – Organizing Your Smart Home Hub Automations
28:02 – Can you use multiple Smart Home Hubs?
36:56 – The Best Practices With Smart Home Hubs
42:28 – How to Locate Your Smart Home Hub
47:06 – How Matter Changes Smart Home Hubs
51:32 – 17 of the Best Smart Home Hubs
51:50 – Flic
52:47 – SwitchBot
54:28 – Aqara
55:42 – YoLink
57:35 – Philips Hue
59:11 – Lutron
1:00:27 – Homey
1:01:29 – HomeSeer
1:02:32 – Google Nest
1:03:49 – Apple HomeKit
1:05:59 – Amazon Alexa
1:07:46 – Ring
1:09:00 – Tuya
1:10:02 – Ikea
1:10:47 – Hubitat
1:12:25 – Home Assistant
1:15:07 – SmartThings
1:17:47 – Put it all Together
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Thanks for watching, and Don’t Hate, Automate.
Brian
good job buddy.love your work
Sadly this option isnt available for iPhone ๐ข
Question: I currently have no โofficialโ hub, but have about 50 Smart devices connected to WiFi. If I buy a hub, like a Homey Proโฆ. Will all of those devices still connect to my WiFi, and also connect via WiFi to the hub? I feel like thatโs how it would work
Hey There,
I am currently in the process of starting a smart home, and ill be truthful, for the most part I did start off with just adding new gadgets to the wi-fi network, but now realize that things are
starting to slow down, so now that I know that I need a hub besides my Echo, what would you recommend?
Recommend a house for me, please. I have different plugs and switches. I would love to have a if it makes everything work faster
Brian,
I’m just getting a notification for this upload today. I think you should contact YouTube and say, What Gives? Now that I think ๐ค about it, I rarely ever see a notification for your uploads. You are Tech with Brett. I don’t see any notifications for Brett. Do he even do this anymore ๐ค? Maybe y’all blocked me. ๐ซ
Switchbot Hub, broadlink RM4Pro, Smartlife zigbee hub and a Smartlife IR/RF hub (doesn’t like rolling codes, hence I still have RM4Pro). Was planning HA on one of those PC sticks, but cancer got in the way.
I have a question though. I have reptiles and I want to light them using smartplugs.. Do I just put a daily light timer on the plug (advantage: reliability, disadvantage: light period) or use the sunrise/sunset option (advantage: light period change, disadvantage: relies on the ‘net)? Questions open to any reptile keepers.. It’s the breeding part that is important to me…
I have a question. For example I have a jbl speaker the link 10 which has google assistant. Can I use that as my hub or do I need something else
I have a philips hue system with 2 bridges and multiple lights how can I connect both hue bridges to my smartthings? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
love the shirt
Hooray For Science!!!
If you’re feeling a little lost and need a more basic video, check out our How to Build a Smart Home 101 video here: https://youtu.be/53PeEdJIPfM
The biggest question is does different brand can talk to eachother or specific hub only talk to their own brand devices ๏ผ๏ผ๏ผ
hello,My friend .I am an AliExpress seller. I want to cooperate with you. I have some ZigBee devices that I can give you. I want you to send me an operation video to your account.
thank you for all this information
Thank you so much for this video! Iโm really passionate about automations and Iโve been building mine for years. I have a question. I use Philips hue bulbs and sensors and other devices on Smartlife App without a hub. I integrate them all using Alexa. Since hue does not offer door sensors, I bought a couple to use with Smartlife app to trigger some routines, but it takes a while to trigger. The communication is slow. The question is: what door sensors can I use with the hue hub to trigger the routines on Alexa? Thank you very much!
so if I have a Tuya Zigbee water leak sensor automated to switch on a Tuya Zigbee power outlet connected to a Tuya zigbee hub on Smartlife app : Should that automation work even if I lose my internet but still have WIFI ?
To use Home Assistant remotely you can use Tailscale or Twingate. The first is more powerful, the second is easier to use
Awesome video โค
Using home assistant for the first time. I am an electric vehicle technician (so I understand networks and sensors etc mildly well) I have done some very minor coding in the past and used APIโs. I am having a wonderful time with home assistant so far but I also feel like Iโm swimming in the deep end and gotta be careful ๐
Best explanation on YouTube๐
Hi Brian, great video!
I have been using a SmartThings hub (along with a Lutron secondary) for a few years now. I am moving into my new house and leaving both hubs behind. Which means I am starting fresh. I was quite happy with my setup.
Question I have is, should I go with the Aeotec Hub or wait for the new SmartThings Station (that, I believe, is not out yetโฆ)
Thanks for all your help!
Hi : Do you know a way to do the following: We have a Firsstick and live in Canada the problem is to watch CTV (Canadian chanel) you have to open the app click it’s me, move over 4 places press enter, arrow down press enter. Is it possible to use the cube to do this as I haven’t been able to create a routine to do this
Hi Brian ! I’m watching this now ! Wow, only about 1/2 way in and this is GOOD ! …. if YOU are a beginner like me, make sure to watch this video. โ Thank you Brian for suggesting it.
What a great Monday! I have discovered your channel! Can you offer the script? Many people need to read to maintain the thread of thought in spoken words, especially second language speakers/listeners that cannot process so much new content delivered so quickly. (I know that the glory of a video is that the user can stop, start wherever, replay, but the written word is still a useful tool. This video is over an hour long and could be broken into chapters. (The video is chapter-friendly!)
The graphics are SO useful.
We built a new home this year with smart devices & automations as part of the design. I picked Home Assistant as my main hub (unfortunately, you often need another hub to set up devices depending on manufacturer, but once setup, they’re controlled by Home Assistant). It isn’t likely to die tomorrow and leave me with a house full of devices that don’t work anymore or automations that fail because the server in the sky was shutdown. I can use virtually any smart device and control it with Home Assistant. I’m not locked into one ecosystem and I don’t have to worry about a proprietary implementation’s corporate parent to decide they’ll support (or not) a potential competitor’s similar products.
BTW, your comment about remote access (1:14 in the video) is not correct. There are many ways, some with subscriptions like the Nabu Casa Cloud service, but many free methods as well to enable very secure remote access to your Home Assistant implementation. You can find several of them by checking out some of the Home Assistant oriented YouTubers out there. Whether it’s port-forwarding, Wiregard VPN or the no-config Tailscale option, there are alternatives to paying the $5/month to Nabu Casa.
For the non-Canadians, dedicated Home Assistant hardware like the Home Assistant Yellow (just plug it in and go) or an Odroid N2+ that you first need to load HA onto are pretty cheap. Yellow is under $150 and an Odroid is under $100. Of course a PC, Mac or other computer you’ve got hanging around can also be setup for HA but with a bit more complexity although those options are basically free. There are options in between – from RPi (somewhat hard to find due to chip shortages) or Intel Nucs that can be dedicated Home Assistant hosts for far less than that $500 CAD you spent on your Home Assistant Blue (the Odroid by the way is the old Home Assistant Blue).
good
Wow! So much unfo stuffed into 1 video. I have a feeling I wasted lot of time searching for different videos on these topics. I just had to find this one! Thanks a lot for this ๐
Hey Brian!
Big fan! I’ve been watching videos on smart home hubs ad nauseam and still can’t get a direct answer… Perhaps you could direct me to the right video?
Here’s the question: I hate the lag between voice command/routine and operation (especially with lights). Will a hub help this? Is it speeding things up because it’s bringing everything local? I certainly don’t have to many items placing a load on my router or GH.
I have a simple setup:
Everything wifi!
Several Google Home speakers and displays
Google DNS (configured)
Lights – yeelight, xiaomi, wiz
Several ac outlets (switcher)
Water heater switch (switcher)
Xiaomi fan
Everything is connected to the Google home app and generally triggered by routines (often voice commands).
can I hook my nest door bell to my nest hub? if so will I be able to hear and see on my hub. I have a google door bell and hub?
Hi great video,I’m wanting too start a smart home. But I’m really only interested in using it for security,which road would you advise to go down. I’m not massively tech savvy but can get my head round different things eventually,like I said I’m only wanting too go down the security items,what would you advise, thanks in advance. ๐ค๐
I’ll be honest I just bought a house and I’ve been looking for info on what everything is and how everything works, and by God you’re so amazing. I absolutely love how you explain things and your tone and voice and explanations are amazing!
Very insightful video about Smart Home technology. I was able to watch all of it through, in one sitting. A superb guide for anyone who wants to get into Smart Home.
I plan on using Home Assistant as my go-to hub for the flexibility alone.
I love having the ability to code and fully customize everything to my liking.
Brian, please don’t do it! Please stay on the Smartthings Side. Please?
Bedankt
What if you made a mode why no oneโs home but you have a dog?
I’m doing research to design a smart home for my new house. I’m interested in Aqara products due to the quality and features. One limitation is that some products are only available on the China server. Will it work if I have 2 different accounts on 2 servers connected to China and another region (for global products), then use SmartThings hub to connect to both and create an automation using that. One advantage of this method is that I can still add other products to my automation like Govee, Tuya, Broadlink, etc. Please advice.
This is a great synopsis. Thank you.
Personally, if it involves "cloud" then it is a no go for me. Using cloud means a few things. Two of them you are going to lose control of your house from time to time as the Internet Connection to the "cloud" based service is going to fail. Cloud services come and go. We have seen that happen many times, even in the "Smart Home" market.
Also, having to use a cloud connection increases the chances of being hacked as well as a dependence on a service provider what may (and many have) force you to update when you really do not want to due to feature loss or connectivity loss.
The Matter standard may help, or it may not, depending on what the device providers choose to do and how they choose to implement the standard (think USB confusion). Over the years, I have learned to be wary of industry standards implementations.
Loving the Mass Effect t-shirt ๐. What a great franchise.
Great video! Thanks for the info! Did you happen to see the video on Athom Homey with their new Homey Pro? It will support Matter and Thread! By the way: Athom does offer a subscription service for their non pro variant, but they are always promising the purchase of a Homey Pro will always be sufficient….without subscription
Thanks for the breadth of research and wealth of knowledge you shared here. While much of what was said is way above my expertise I am getting a better concept of the technology. I want to find a smart lock that I can also manage with an app. Can you either do a video on these or recommend a few? I do not have a security system but need to be able to unlock my door for others while I am away from home. Thanks.
Do you think they will eventually create a device that intrigants a hub with a matter controller? Why or why not?
I am not a fan of loads of wireless radiation, I also don’t care about matter, thread, ipv6, iot, or m-vave presence detection… That said I’ve gone with Home assistant on an old pc, a zigbee dongle, and a mix off zigbee and x-10 in my setup… While I have not yet integrated x-10 into HA, I am very happy so far!!! I set up port forwarding for free remote access and I didn’t invest much money….๐คช
How would you configure a "mode" in a household that uses both Philips Hue hubs and also a Home Assistant server? What "configuration item" would you use to create a "Mode" in?
Can you get a hub that works with different namebrand switches and plugs?
The only place I have seen coverage that actually clarifies things!
This channel is clearly underrated, you deserve more popularity. ๐ซก
CAN A COMPUTER BE A SMART HOME HUB? I AM JUST STARTING
Hi, how set up smart home.
This should become an annual review with updates on which hubs got better over the year plus what is new or what actually went by the wayside since the last video.
So i just want phillips hue for music sync and 4 or 5 indoor cameras that arent expensive. Maybe a light switch/controller for the phillips hue. So what did i need because this is confusing? Id prefer to use smartthings since it’s already on my phone. I want an echo show for the cameras but the cameras i liked arent compatible with smartthings